Seth stared at the Harrison house. His lip curled, Josh Harrison was nothing more than a spoiled brat. The kid had enough money to do anything and he spent his time throwing useless parties. He could travel the world, see new places, and meet people. Get the fuck out of this crappy town, but he didn't do that. He settled further into the bushes. This little recon mission was necessary in case he needed to enact his next plan to keep the charges against Zayden alive. Plus, he had a little surprise for Zay and his little crew, one that would remind them he was in control of the situation.
His eyes tracked Alyssa and Josh as they got into Josh's truck and left for school. Several minutes later West came out followed by Zayden.
"You sure you don't want to ride with me?" West asked.
"I would but I'm working after school."
"Come on, Zay, I can drive you it's not a big deal. You know what Mr. Salazar said."
Zay groaned. "Fine, fine, let's go them. Don't you have practice after school though?"
West shrugged as they climbed into his car. "Then Alyssa can take you to work. The point is that you're not alone. Ferrel may be out of the picture and Blaine might be suspended but that doesn't mean Seth won't send someone else after you."
Zay paused in the act of shutting the door. "West, what if he pulls another stunt like he did with Alyssa's car? I couldn't bear it if any of you were hurt because of me."
"Hey, relax, I don't think Seth is stupid enough to pull the same sort of stunt twice. It would raise too many questions. The last thing he wants is people looking in his direction. Especially the cops."
Zay nodded and shut the door. Anything else they said was lost.
Seth grinned. He definitely wasn't stupid enough to pull a stunt twice but he had plenty of other ideas to keep Zayden on the hook. His issue was getting his hands on the proper bait to keep his prey dangling. He waited until he was certain they were gone before he crept out of the bushes and dusted himself off.
"I think it's time for me to leave my little gift. Wouldn't want Zay to believe I've forgotten about him." He hummed as he strolled up to the front door and carefully left his gift. He gave it a pat, turned, and left.
***
Zay nodded. "Do you think they'll react badly to the announcement?"
The boy he was speaking to nodded and sank further in his seat. "Not only will they react badly, but I'm also quite certain it will be the thrown down of the century."
Zay grinned. "It's always possible. If you want to tell them then I suggest putting plans into place in case you're forced to leave the house."
"I already have. My aunt told me I can stay with her."
"If you have a support system then you can do this. It's what has helped me. My parents disowned me, threw me out of the house, and refuse to acknowledge I still exist. My father canceled my car insurance so I was forced to have my car towed from the house."
"Dude, that sucks."
"It did but I'm happy I finally told them even if it went horribly. I wasn't happy pretending and the only future I could see for myself was marrying some woman and both of us being miserable because we were pretending there was any sort of a relationship. It wasn't the sort of future I wanted for myself. I wanted to be free to be myself," he explained. "Look, I can't tell you what to do, and to be honest, I shouldn't because it's your decision, Hunt. Think about it and if you decide to tell your parents I suggest bringing a friend to show support. My best friend Alyssa was with me when I told my parents."
Hunt smiled. "That's a good idea. I'm going to talk to my aunt and my best friend and see if they can both be there. Maybe if they see my aunt supporting me it will help to know that family can accept me as I am."
"Have you made any decisions about how you want to move forward once you've told them?"
He shook his head. "I can't think that far ahead yet."
"All right, if you want to talk about any sort of changes, give me a call I can help you find resources. It's a big decision."
"It is but I'm glad I'm finally making a decision. I can't pretend anymore." He waved a hand in the air. "I'm not this guy. I don't want to play football, I'd rather be on the sidelines in a cheer uniform."
Zay smiled. "Then do it."
"That was an example, I don't really want pom poms and a short skirt."
"You'd rather have the skirt than the uniform though."
Huntington chuckled. "Yes, I would."
"There's no shame in that. If making that change is what is going to make you happy then do it."
"Thanks. This has been a lot of help and if I decide to move forward at some point with gender reassignment then I'll need help. I appreciate all of this." He stood.
"I'm happy to help. Let me know how it goes with your parents."
"I will. Thank you again."
Zay handed him his card and walked him to the office door. "Good luck." He watched Hunt walk down the hallway and vanish around the corner. He hoped everything went well with Hunt's parents. It was good that this aunt was supporting him, it meant he'd still have a family connection if his parents rejected his decision. He turned and went back to his desk when his phone vibrated across the surface.
"Hey, Lyssie, I have one more appointment then you can come to pick me up."
"Um, Zay I'm sending you a picture."
"A picture?"
"Yeah, I stopped at home because I was going to grab some stuff before I came back to get you and ... it was hanging on the front door. I don't know what to do."
With a shaking hand, he switched the phone to the speaker and navigated to his text messages, and opened the message she'd sent. He stared down at the picture.
"Zay, what do I do?"
"Call the police and Mr. Salazar. We have no idea if there's anything inside it. For all we know, it could be a bomb."
"Okay. I'll call now."
"I'll find a ride and get there as quickly as I can."
"No, stay there. That could be his plan, Zay, he wants you to rush over here. It could be a trap. Stay there and keep your last appointment. I'll call Mr. Salazar and the police then I'll call Josh and West. One of them will pick you up. Do not leave without one of them. Okay, promise me."
"All right, fine. Please let me know what happens."
"I will, bye."
They hung up and he continued to stare at the picture. He sank into his chair. It was so innocent and benign. They knew Seth though, it was a message. It told them that he could get to them any time, anywhere, and it would be easy to do.
Mrs. Roman stuck her head into his office. "Zay, your last appointment was canceled. She rescheduled for next week. Seems her best friend volunteered her for the dance committee without telling her."
He laughed. "All right, thank you."
"Do you need a ride home?"
"Alyssa said West or Josh will pick me up and I'm not to leave without one of them to escort me home. I don't think I should disobey her," he replied with a grin.
"Best not to upset her," she said with a laugh. "If you need anything let me know."
"I will, thank you." His eyes went back to the picture. When his phone rang he nearly jumped out of his skin. "Hey, West."
"I'm on my way to pick you up, I'll call as soon as I'm out front."
His voice was hard, angry. Zay couldn't blame him. He'd had Seth overshadowing his life a lot longer. He couldn't imagine having that sort of threat hanging over him for so long. "All right. I'm ready to go as soon as you get here. Has there been any word from Alyssa?"
"Nothing yet. I should be there in five minutes or so. I'll text when I get here."
"Okay, thanks." He hung up. He gathered his things and headed up to the front of the building. The words Alyssa spoke about this being a trap paraded through his head and he stayed back away from the windows. He hated this. The fear and the feeling that he had to hide. His text tone went off and he smiled. West was here. He exited the building and went straight to West's car and climbed in.
"Josh made it back to the house. Alyssa is fine."
"What did the cops say?"
West sighed. "Nothing dangerous. No bomb. Not threatening notes. Nothing. It was empty."
"Then why leave it?"
"A message. He walked right up to the front door and left it. The Harrisons' property is secluded, Zay. No one saw him. He's telling us we aren't as safe as we believe," West replied.
"Do you think he could bypass the alarm?" Zay asked.
West shrugged. "With Seth, anything is a possibility. We need to remain alert and if we see anything suspicious then we report it."
Zay's phone went off and he frowned at the text message. "It's from Seth."
"What does it say?"
"Thought you'd want your stocking. It was left behind when they picked up your things. Left it at Josh's place," Zay read.
"And that would be his way of keeping us from claiming it was a threat. I hate that sick bastard."
Zay sighed. "A normal person would mail the damn thing."
"Or just throw it out."
"He knows what celebrating Christmas meant to me. Could it just be him innocently returning the stocking, are we making too big a deal out of it?" He looked at West.
"Do you think we are?"
He sighed. "No, I don't. I want to but I can't. Not with everything he's done so far. You're right, it's a message of some sort." He looked down at his phone. He tapped the message, stared for a moment then blocked Seth's number and deleted the message. "I should have blocked him right away after all of this happened."
West reached over and squeezed his hand gently. "Hey, you want to see whatever good is in him, I get that, Zay. None of this is your fault."
Zay's responding laughter was bitter. "It is. I could have listened to what you were trying to tell me. If I had then we wouldn't be in this mess. I was stupid."
"No, you wanted acceptance. I wanted the same. Seth can see that in people and he gives you everything you need, everything you want. He sees what a person is lacking and he becomes exactly what they need. Even Kootz and his crew. They needed a brain behind the scenes, Seth gave them that."
"Until he had no more use for them."
"Exactly. He fits people into his life until the puzzle pieces change and no longer serve a purpose in the image he's creating. Seth's one constant is he hates how he grew up. He hated being poor and he hated his parents. He wants to be set for life and he isn't going to let anyone get in the way of that."
"Yeah, he mentioned to me once that he wanted to be sitting on a pile of money."
West nodded and pulled into the driveway. The cops were gone. He parked and looked at Zay. "We can't give in, Zay. If we show him any weakness he'll leap on it and destroy us."
Zay fiddled with his phone. "I'm not sure how much longer I can do this. I'm not as strong as you are. I don't think I can let him hang over me forever, I'll fold and give in."
West reached over and took his hand. "Hey, you're a lot strong than you believe. Look at all you've done, Zay. You stood up to your parents and left home. You have started a wonderful new life for yourself. That took guts. Don't forget one thing, you aren't alone. We're all here to support you."
"Thank you." He sighed. "We should get inside before Alyssa mounts a search for us."
West chuckled. "Knowing her she'd get most of the neighborhood involved."
"She would." Zay sighed.
"All right, let's go then. Zay, we'll get through this."
"I hope you're right."
"Have some faith," West told him as he opened his door.
Zay opened his door and stepped out of the car. "I'll try but my faith has been severely compromised by the crap my parents' church spewed." He followed West to the door.
"Hey, it's time for some new faith. Faith in your friends, in this new life you've made. Forget faith in a higher power, have faith in all of us." He slipped an arm around Zay's waist and drew him closer. "Have faith in me."
Zay smiled. "I do, West. I do." He sighed and reached up and placed a hand against West's cheek. "Thank you for not giving up on me."
West leaned in and set his forehead against Zay's with a smile. "Never. I told you there was something here, Zay, and I meant it."
Zay closed the space between them and touched his lips to West's briefly. "Thank you for that push by the way."
The door opened. "Oh thank God! I was worried something happened to you two!" Alyssa grabbed them both and hugged them. "Come on, inside now."
"Yes, mother," Zay replied with a smirk.
Alyssa ushered them into the living room. "They're here," she called out.
Josh stuck his head into the living room. "Oh good! Food is almost ready!"
"You let Josh cook?" West asked. "He better be making burgers because other than frozen pizza that is all he can make."
She laughed. "I cooked, he was just keeping an eye on things while I was panicking about where you two were." She slapped first West's arm and then Zay's before she hugged them again. "I was so worried! Don't do that to me!"
"Sorry, we didn't mean to worry you," Zay told her.
"Well, everyone is here safe and sound so let's eat!" West darted past her and ran for the kitchen.
Alyssa grumbled and started after him. "Next you two want to hide somewhere and kiss, do it in your room."
"I can have boys in my room! Wow thanks, Mom!"
She burst out laughing. "I hate you."
He wrapped an arm over her shoulder. "Nah, you love me."
"All right, fine I do."
Josh came out of the kitchen with the phone pressed to his ear. Alyssa turned with a frown as he passed them. His head was bent and he was chewing on his thumbnail.
"That can't be good. I better see what's up." She followed Josh from the room.