Senior Year

Chapter Twenty-Three

SHOCKING
POV: Apollo

"You're three seconds short of the time you're supposed to have," Coach shoves the timer in my face. "What the hell is the matter with you? You need to pull yourself together boy." Coach has been giving me tough love for the past couple weeks. My chest rises and falls without a constant beat.

When Coach walks away I jog to my water bottle. "It's alright man," Aiden pats my back. "You'll get it next time." I hate how sweet the boys are to me. It makes me uncomfortable.

"Thanks," I mutter before I chug my water. Denver walks up with sweat running down his forehead. He downs a water of his own.

"Are you doing okay?" Denver asks. I nod my head, but give him no verbal response. Denver has been the hardest to speak to. All he wants to do is cheer me up. It's been getting on my nerves. "You could at least talk to me," he says under his breath.

I shake my head. "I'm done talking about my feelings," I say with a look of disgust on my face. I've been nothing but angry for the past few days. I feel unsettled and I want to scream until I lose my voice.

"Maybe it would help you," he suggests.

"It's not going to fucking help. I don't want to talk about Haven or any of the shit that happened. So stop fucking asking about it." A vein in my forehead twitches. I feel like a ticking time bomb that is ready to explode any second. In a split second I'm being shoved into the wall.

Denver holds me against the wall. "Stop being a dickhead! All these boys care about you and you keep putting us down and turning us away. If you want to be a leader of this team then you need to act like one." His face is red with anger.

"Hey," Coach calls. He pulls Denver off of me. "Both of you need to get your heads out of your asses and get back on the track!" I sneer at Denver who is walking off.

I leave school after the practice from hell. I'm surprised when I'm met with flashes of light. It's paparazzi. What the hell is going on? I pull my hoodie up over my wet hair and cover my face with the stack of paper my teacher gave me. I'm confused. The paparazzi never bother me when I'm at school unless something happened with the company.

I'm swarmed with the hornets. "What do you have to say about what your parents did?" "Do you support your parents' shady business?" "Any comment on Laurant Software?" "Were you aware Laurant Software has been sharing customers personal information?"

My mind swirls. Selling information? Shady business? My phone begins to vibrate in my pocket and I immediately pull it to my ear. "Hello?" I ask. A resource officer escorts me to my car, breaking through the wall of news reporters.

"Son, you need to get home. Do not answer to any reporter." My father's voice is cold.

"What the hell is going on? A reporter said you were selling people's information. They said something about you and Mom being involved in shady business." I start my car and carefully back out. The officer holds back the mob as I peel out of the parking lot.

"We can't talk about it over the phone. We'll talk when you get home," dad says before ending the call. My heart beats rapidly.

When I make it home I throw open the front door and storm off to my father's office. I can hear voices coming from inside the room. I knock twice and I'm met with someone saying come in. The door creaks open and there are a bunch of people in suits making phone calls and on their laptops.

My father locks eyes with me. He looks guilty. "Come sit," he gestures to the seat in front of his desk. I pull out the chair and plant myself in it. "There have been some accusations going around about our company. We're being accused of selling people's information."

I furrow my brows and my lips part. "Well is it true?" I ask leaning forward. He gives no response. His lips form a grim line. It must be true then. I rub my temples. "Why?" I ask. "Was it because of Mr. Lombardi?" I ask. He gives a single nod. Mr. Lombardi is a nice man, but has a shady past.

"We're bankrupt, son." My jaw drops to the floor. Bankrupt? How could this be?

"Where's Mom?" I ask.

"She's in New York at one of our headquarters. She's preparing for a press statement." I release a shaky breath. What did this mean for us? "I want you to avoid the paparazzi. I'll be sending a bodyguard with you to school." I nod my head. "I'll be gone for a while. Your mother and I have some things to do before we hold a press conference next week. Everything I tell you here is not allowed to leave this room. Do you understand?"

"I understand," my voice doesn't even sound like my own. This all seems like a terrible nightmare. It's crazy how things can just turn on a dime.

"Don't do anything to draw us any more unwanted attention. And if your friends ask about anything that has to do with business; do not answer them. No doubt reporters will pay to get the inside scoop." I nod obediently. "You are dismissed."

When I make it to my room I pull out my laptop and begin doing research. I have to get down to business and find out what the hell is going on. I dig and find that someone who works for Laurant Software came out and anonymously told a news channel about what my parents have been up to with Lombardi Hotels.

Apparently they have been stealing information from the people who use their software. They have sold it to many people and teamed up with Lombardi Hotels to get back at their competitors. I'm shocked that my parents would snoop that low. They did it to save their business and now they have gone bankrupt. Our whole lives were about to change.