“God, I really love being your friend,” he proclaimed, grinning like a little boy. “No one stirs up shit better than you, Josie Jo.”
Ignoring Micah, Mads chewed on her lip. She painted her lips a burgundy so deep it almost looked black. I couldn’t help but think that Ainsley would have approved. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Positive,” I replied, with no hesitation, slamming my locker shut and glancing up at the graffiti one more time before I headed to class.
Let it be known that the jackass meant nothing to me. He thought he could hurt me by vandalizing my locker? It seemed like a huge fucking step backward from being held a gunpoint.
“What did Kenna’s say?” I inquired, remembering Micah had mentioned my locker wasn’t the only one vandalized. “Also, how the hell did they know what locker would be hers? Today is her first day back.”
Micah shrugged. “Good question. No clue, but it said, ‘Too late, KK. You’ve already been replaced.’ In pink spray paint as well.”
I sunk against my locker. To me the message was clear, and in a way still directed at me. “I’ve seemed to have pissed off everyone at this school.”
“Not everyone,” Fynn said, joining our little group and moving in between Mads and me. He put his arm around me, giving me a gentle squeeze. “I still like you, JJ.”
I was tempted to rest my head on his solid shoulders. Fynn Dupree was someone you could lean on. He would never falter or fall. “Where’s Brock?” I asked, glancing sidelong at him.
His features became offended. “What? No hello, Fynn? How you doing?”
“Where’s Brock?” I reiterated, not falling for the woe-is-me act.
Fynn’s lips twitched. “Grayson asked him to help with Kenna.”
Disappointment swirled with the anger still flowing inside me. And then came the guilt. I shouldn’t be upset. He was being a good friend, not just to Kenna but to Grayson as well. “Oh. That makes sense.” It was her first day back, and she was already being attacked. Of course, they would want to keep an eye on her. Fucking Carter was still at-large, wandering the halls of the Academy and torturing us all with his evil presence.
Fynn caught the crestfallen expression I poorly attempted to hide. “Kenna can be… difficult. She tries to be tough, but none of us want to see her go down a bad path again. This isn’t an ideal time for her to come back. Not when so much is going on.”
“Everyone keeps hinting at things like that, but I still have yet to see what they mean.”
“You will,” Mads said. “Just wait.”
Did I want to? I was rooting that she would be able to weather the storms to come. That we both would.