Frost

04 | DREAD

"She goes to our school."

I blink rapidly and whip my head to her. Disgust curls in my stomach and the urge to vomit rests in the back of my throat. "What?"

"I-I might be crazy, but I feel like I've seen her before."

"Shit. What the fuck? That's disgusting."

Reyna digs her fingers through the thick of her hair and chews on the skin of her bottom lip. "When I went home after walking you to work, sh-she was in our house. She looked so shocked that I'd shown up. David was a nervous wreck and stumbled over some explanation that excused her being there with him alone."

Fire surges through my veins and solidifies the rage in my bones until I'm gripping the steering wheel and clenching my teeth so tight my jaw cries out in pain. "So he has other victims."

"I think she wanted to be there..."

"It doesn't matter. If she's a minor, he's manipulating her and it's wrong and disgusting."

"We don't know anything for certain." Disgust and grief intertwined cracks in her voice. She fiddles with the butterfly pendant at the end of the silver chain around her neck. The necklace I bought her for our two year anniversary. I'm sure she hasn't taken it off since I gave it to her.

"We've gotta tell someone. Report him to the fucking cops."

"What if I'm wrong? But what if I'm not? What if no one believes us or-or they deny it? I want Mom to believe me, but she always listens to him no matter what. You know that."

The weight of failure falls on my lungs. The anger that once broke storm inside me cools into the thickest ice. "I know," I whisper.

"He'll always get away with everything."

No, he won't.

Those wishful words beg to fly off my tongue, but every time I deny her bitter truths, reality plays a cruel joke on our lives.

Just like I won't reassure her that we'll have a good first day of school as we pull into the half-empty student parking lot. We exit my truck in false tranquility and treck towards the massive building.

Seneca West, the biggest campus in the surrounding districts and the holder of our hell.

Reyna slips her fingers through mine as we enter the air-conditioned building. Familiar teachers and advisors greet us and every kid after with eager smiles. Freshmen pace around with schedules in hand while asking the surrounding teachers where their first classes are. Senior classmates scan the halls for friends, snicker at the lower classmen, and let their gazes linger on us in silence.

Silent fury.

The first class we share is halfway through the day, meaning we'll be separated until lunch. Though we've already planned to text each other as much as we can throughout the day, and I plan on walking her to every single class she has.

"I already miss you," soft murmurs flutter from her lips as we stand before her first class. She tugs the front of my shirt between her delicate fingers. Hazel irises, large and hopeful as they linger beneath heavy lashes, hold me captive.

"It's only for half a day. Maybe you'll make a friend."

Though we both know that won't happen. I don't even need to witness the doubt morphing across her face to know it's there. Reyna wouldn't be able to make a friend even if she wanted to. Her aura repels everyone who gets close to her. Everyone besides me.