"Sorry to hear about Frisco."
Sudden rush of anger flashed in me.
"He's in a fucking coma," I spat.
Scout sighed and looked down. We were at the parking lot of the hospital, in the dead of night. Alfie leaned on the back of Kurt's truck, his arms crossed as he scowled at Scout. The cold didn't seem to bother him. He was too pissed off.
Like me.
"Your boy Finn got out of jail last week." I watched Scout Crimson closely as I laid him this information. "Know anything about that?"
His head snapped up, eyes wide.
"What?"
Guess he has no clue.
"Yup," I nodded. "He got bail, and then this happened." I shrugged, cocking my head to the side. "Call me paranoid but that sounds too much of a coincidence, don't you think?"
"No, he wouldn't," he defended, crossing his arms.
"You thought he was a saint just last month," I pointed out icily. "Are you seriously telling me you don't believe his fucking ass can do shit like this? You can't be that stupid."
His jaw clenched, his eyes hardened, and his hands balled into fists.
I could tell he wanted to hit me. I thought by this time, he wouldn't be blinded by their fake friendship anymore. Maybe he thought there was still hope in Finn McKinley.
Maybe there was, and I was wrong with my assumptions. But what if I was right? He should open his eyes to the cruel reality of that possibility.
"Cut the blind loyalty, Crimson," I told him.
He raised an eyebrow. "Do you have proof?"
A smile that didn't reach my eyes appeared on my lips.
"That's why you're here. You said you wanted to help us, remember? Here's what you can do to 'help.'" I took a step forward. "Track down your so-called fuckface best friend. We need to chat about a couple of things."
Scout stared at me thoughtfully for a minute or two.
"So what's it gonna be?" I asked. "I promise not to kill him on sight."
He frowned and pointed to me. "I'll do it, if you promise to let me talk to him first."
I would've disagreed if he didn't look pretty damn determined. But I was asking him a favor. I needed him on my side, even for just a little while.
I gritted my teeth. "Fine."
"If he's guilty," he paused, lowering his hand, "you'll let the cops handle it."
I kept my mouth tight shut. No way in hell was I gonna make a promise I knew I couldn't damn well keep.
"What the fuck are they doing here?" growled Alfie.
I glanced at him. He looked furious, his jaw tightening the longer he kept his eye on the other side of the lot. I followed the direction of his eyes and saw Cameron Wood and Jay Lawley walking our way. I found myself repeating Alfie's statement.
Scout's forehead creased as he watched them approach us.
"Guys?"
"We heard," said Cameron, looking down and holding on to his crutches. As far as I knew, there were only a couple of weeks left for those. Then, he was good for therapy.
He should be thankful his chipmunk ass ended up only getting crutches – unlike Frisco who almost fucking died.
Lawley rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "Frisco's a nice guy, even if he runs with the wrong crowd," he added, glancing at us. "He doesn't deserve this."
Aw, how fucking nice of them to think that way.
"Now that you've stated the fucking obvious," I started coldly, "what the hell are you two doing here?"
Cameron looked at Lawley, then switched his eyes to Scout.
"We know you found out about the fire, man."
Scout's expression darkened, and he looked away from them.
"Dude, we're sorry," added Lawley.
Alfie couldn't take it anymore. He walked towards Lawley, about to lash out. But I put a hand on his chest to stop him. He glowered and bared his teeth, barely in control.
"It's not me who needs your apology," Scout told Lawley, nodding to us. "They're the ones you did wrong to. They're the ones who deserve it. Not me."
They were quiet for a moment, then Cameron took a deep breath and looked down on his shoes. With a sullen face, he spoke.
"I'm sorry."
Lawley's eyes traveled to the hospital building before shaking his head and mumbling, "Yeah, sorry for everything."
"Sorry my ass," muttered Alfie.
Wow. After all this time, they finally had the guts to own up for their shit and fucking apologize. But if truth be told, it didn't make me happy. Not when one of my closest friends was on a hospital bed right now.
"We were drunk and fed up with the rivalry," added Cameron, running a hand through his hair. "Everything just got out of hand super fast."
My eyes narrowed as I listened more.
"I mean, we were only supposed to trash your gym but then Finn got the idea that we should scare you so we set up the thing with the light bulb."
I saw fucking red. Finn McKinley was starting to piss the fuck out of me. I was itching so bad to hunt him down at this damn second.
Lawley sighed and rubbed his face. "We thought it would only create a little spark. We didn't know it would flare up like that. We didn't know that would happen to Adam."
My hands balled into fists, reigning in the surge of rage.
"We were about to turn ourselves in but Finn convinced us not to. He said, what was the point? It was already done. Nobody knew it was us. We were clean," whispered Cameron. "None of us wanted to get in trouble so we kept quiet."
"But we figured it out," I stated tonelessly.
"None of us expected that," replied Cameron, shaking his head. "But see, you had no proof. Nobody believed you – even Snow didn't. So," he paused to let out a shaky breath, "we didn't say anything."
I was so too livid to move or speak anymore. I just wanted to bash someone's face in. I wanted to smoothen the cemented ground using someone's head. I wanted to let this out.
I needed a fucking outlet.
"You were fucking dicks about it!" snarled Alfie, struggling to get past me.
"We were trying to be tough because we knew you were out to get us!" replied Lawley, frowning indignantly.
"What the fuck did you expect, you cocksucker?" bellowed my best friend, lunging for Lawley but I put both my hands on his chest and blocked him to keep him at bay. "You fucking set fire on our fucking building and almost got one of us fucking killed! You deserve to fucking die! Not Frisco! He shouldn't even be in that fucking bed right now. He shouldn't be a fucking vegetable!" I felt his body shook, before he pulled away from me and stepped back.
"Alfie," I called, trying to keep the surprise from my voice.
I honestly didn't expect him to go apeshit and blow up like this. Then again, I could barely contain my anger, too. So I couldn't really blame him.
"Fuck!" He punched the air. "THIS IS BULLSHIT!"
"Calm the hell down, Alfie," I ordered.
Seriously, it was as if he took out all the fury in me.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" he snapped, his face red and his eyes on fire. "How the fuck am I supposed to calm down when every-fucking-thing had gone downward spiral?"
"Acting like that will do nothing –"
"It helps me let off some steam." His wicked eyes wandered to Lawley. "It would help a ton if I had a punching bag, too," he added seriously.
Lawley stepped back, tripping on his own shoes in the process. Alfie just stared at him with dead eyes. Shit. It was hard to control my best friend whenever he was like this.
I sighed. "Alfie, chill the fuck out."
Before he could answer, my phone rang. It was Kurt. Damn good timing, this big guy. Grateful for the distraction, I answered in a beat.
"Yo, any news?"
"A hella big one," he panted. Was he running? "I'm on my way out, left the girls in the waiting room with Frisco's folks."
"It's Kurt," I informed Alfie, hoping this could get his attention because I caught him inching towards Lawley. "What's up?" I asked Kurt.
"Uncle called."
I shifted. "And?"
"The license plate of the car who hit Frisco, guess who the fucker it traced back to?"
My jaw clenched, already knowing the answer. I shut my eyes closed for a second in an attempt to prevent myself from throwing my phone to the sky.
"McKinley," I grunted.
"Yep," he confirmed grimly.
I gripped my phone hard. "Motherfucker." Hanging up, I pressed my knuckles on my mouth and took deep breaths. I kept my eyes on Scout as I told my best friend, "Kurt's on his way here. His uncle confirmed it was McKinley."
Alfie exploded, sprouting nonstop profanities. Cameron and Lawley exchanged antsy looks. When Scout saw my face, he stepped forward and he shook his head.
"Oz, come on," he reasoned, tilting his head. "Don't do anything drastic. I'll inform the school, the cops, and everyone about everything."
I noticed Cameron and Lawley stilled. They'd get in serious trouble if Scout did that. My eyes traveled down to Cameron's crutches. And I shook my head to Scout.
"No, it's done," I decided. Then, I nodded to his friends who bothered to come here for him. "They've paid their price. No need to rehash it."
Finn, on the other hand . . .
"Let's go!" barked Kurt, heading straight to his truck. "Let's take my truck so we can easily squish the little shit."
"Keys," ordered Alfie, already holding up his hand. "I'll drive."
Kurt threw the keys to him and swiftly jumped at the back, while Alfie headed straight to the driver's side and I turned to leave for the passenger's. Time to crush a cockroach.
"Oz," called Scout sternly, grabbing my arm. "You're not thinking clearly."
I looked him dead in the eye, and shrugged off his hand.
"My mind has never been more cleared up."
His eyes narrowed at me, as if he was looking for something. I wasn't sure what he was hoping to find, probably some humanity left? Empathy? Ha. Fat chance.
I was numb. All I wanted was to avenge my friend.
He opened his mouth, and said, "You –"
"There's no point, Scout," said Cameron. "They've made up their mind."
"They might kill him," argued Scout.
Lawley snorted. "He asked for it."
"They're going to end up in jail." Scout turned to us then, frowning in concern. "If you go on with whatever plan you have, there's no going back. You have to think about this."
There was silence.
Alfie, Kurt, and I looked at each other. Without word, we agreed. We were bound and determined. We didn't give a fuck about the outcome.
We were ending the bastard once and for all.
_____________
Aaaaand another problem rises. But at least everything is out now. Finn is a serious piece of work, ain't he?