A/N Thank you Ripley for editing this. It makes such a difference to me!
Dr. Green POV
We are supposed to be at the school early today to help out with registration. It starts at 9am and we should to be there at 8am but we need to figure out what to do with the stepfather, Marc.
Sang swears that he is innocent in her 'punishments' and I am leaning toward believing her. We haven't found any kind of criminal record on him, but then we hadn't found one on Sang's mother either.
Owen got my attention by tapping me on the shoulder. I look up at him and see the same worries in his eyes that I knew were in mine. We have to go talk to him before he realizes Sang isn't coming home to meet him before school.
Someone had been watching the Sorenson house all morning. Kota is at the school with most of the others setting up our surveillance. North called to tell us that Marc arrived home at 6:30am. Owen and I are waiting in the gutted church down the road that the Taylors bought to turn into a diner. We set up a little meeting space near the old chapel. Hopefully, we can bring him back here after school. We don't want him to come to any of the residences or meet any of the boys in case he wants to call the police on us and we have to disappear Sang.
We pull up to the grey two story. It looks like a normal house, but knowing what went on in there makes it seem like it had a haze of black surrounds it.
Sang said that her mother usually slept in. We are hoping that is the case today as well.
I tap my knuckles on the door and wait, holding my breath.
The door opens and a slight man about my height with curly brown hair and dark brown eyes smiles at us. Here we go.
"Mr. Drillings?" Owen asks.
"Yes?"
"I am Mr. Blackbourne and this is Dr. Green. We are here about Sang."
"She's probably asleep still, do you need me to go and get her? What is this about?" Marc asks, his smile fading off of his face.
"She's not here, actually." I state. "She hasn't been all weekend, since Thursday." Marc's eyes widen and he starts to open his mouth in alarm.
Owen cuts him off. "Mr. Drillings, Sang is being abused at home. By her mother. We have been keeping her in a safe home the last few days. Mrs. Sorenson has made it clear to us that should Sang return home, the abuse will continue. We would like your help. Also, Sang would like to see you to explain. It needs to happen after registration for school today though. Are you amenable to meeting later today?"
He swallows visibly and nods. "Yes, I want to see her."
"Good. Miss Sorenson will text you on your phone later today from a new number and tell you where to meet us." Owen turns and walks away. I stay a second longer to see the devastation on Marc's face and I knew Sang was right, he didn't know about the abuse.
****
Sang POV
North is taking me to registration. I can move much better today. I am so glad I can dress myself, even if I am wearing exactly what Gabriel told me to wear for registration. It is nice not to have to worry about it. I am not sure why I need to dress up but I feel good in the blue skirt and modest white blouse they bought me yesterday. I have a notebook and a pencil with me along with the course schedule we figured out together tucked inside.
We take North's custom motorcycle to school. I have never been on one before. When I ask him if he would let me go for a ride he seems surprised. He rubs a hand over the back of his neck, looking down at me and lifts a dark eyebrow. "You'll have to hang on to me."
"Is that a bad thing?" I ask.
His mouth quirks up "I'm just warning you"
I slide onto the seat with help from his hand. It is a little awkward in my skirt but the fabric pulls across my thighs so it doesn't fan out and blow up higher in the wind.
I can feel his warm back pressing against my chest and smell his musky scent as we slide through traffic on the way to school.
We get there early and Kota and Victor meet us in the parking lot. When North helps me off of the motorcycle I murmur to him, "My legs are tingly."
He smiles with that slight tilt to his lips that softens his rough face and makes me melt. "Mine too."
Apparently their job at school had them setting up surveillance early this morning because everyone else is already here. Mr. Blackbourne and Sean—Dr. Green at school— got here just a little while ago after talking with Marc and asking him to meet with me this afternoon. I am nervous about that. I have to come clean about lying to him all this time and get him to believe it was my mother abusing me all along. But right now I have to worry about registration.
Victor helps to straighten my clothes and Kota grabs my hand to start walking into the school. North catches up and hands me my notebook from one of the saddlebags and I smile a thanks to him.
The rest of the boys converge on us when we enter the west entrance. Gabriel sighs and tugs me in for a hug. "Thank fuck you are here. Today has already lasted for-fucking-ever!"
"GABE!" Kota chops him on the top of the head.
"Come on, let's go get Sang Baby registered for classes." North pulls me from Gabriel and walks toward the line for juniors and the rest of the boys follow, doubling the amount of people in line.
"We can't all stay here with her, we are taking up too much space. Who is staying?" Kota asks.
They all say, "Me," at the same time and I giggle, making them all turn and look down at me with confusion.
"Victor and Silas, you stay with her. The rest of us can meet up in the courtyard." They nod and go their separate ways.
Silas stands a bit behind me. It feels like he is guarding my back, and it is very comforting to have him there. Victor stands to my right and holds my hand. He asks me about what classes I am taking and I pull out my sheet to go over it with him. The three of us talk quietly while we wait.
"You are up next. We will wait over there for you to get done." Victor points off to the right wall and I nod moving forward.
***
Victor POVs
Silas and I wait off to the side for Sang to finish her schedule. These kids are so.. normal. No one even takes a second look at me. I am not Victor Morgan, child prodigy, famous pianist here. I am just some guy.
I look over at Sang just as she signs to Silas that she is done. We break away from the wall and follow after her so we can meet her in the offices.
Suddenly she is gone. I can't see her. I grab at Silas to get his attention as we try and break through a knot of teenagers going the other way. He shakes his head at me. He can't see her either.
I redline Doc. "Can you see her on the cameras? We lost her."
I know it is a bit premature to worry, but with her mother out there actively wanting to do her harm, I am worried she might try and take her from the school. That is why we were supposed to be with her and now she is gone. We couldn't even keep track of her for five minutes!
"There are so many people it's impossible to see. Owen is looking on camera. I am walking through the office now, on my way to you," Doc answers grimly.
The Vice Principal shunts his way past us and then comes to an abrupt halt when a girl falls into him. It's Sang.
"Doc. McCoy just ran into Sang. He seems to be taking an interest. He's making a big deal about her clothing." I hiss into the phone.
"I see them. I'm almost there." The phone clicks as Doc hangs up and comes into view.
*****
Sang POV
It takes a long time to get my schedule worked out. Some of the classes I want needed prerequisites. I had them in my old school but they stubbornly wouldn't count those classes here. Most of my AP classes won't be approved because they won't allow more than two at a time. So I'm added into the required gym class and an art class. I hope that I'd at least be with Gabriel in the art class.
I finally move away from the scheduling table and look around for Silas and Victor. I see Silas's head above the crowd and wave my paper at him. He points toward the office where we have to take our schedules and turn them in, then himself and I assume Victor who I can't see. They will catch me up.
I start walking toward the corner, side-stepping people. I make it to the wall and feel a hand smooth over my back. I can't believe they made it through that crowd and caught up to me so quickly. I look up over my shoulder and meet the sparkling blue eyes of Ryan. Suddenly I am hit with a heavy cologne and menthol cigarette smell coming from my other side. I look around seeing a lean boy with a thin angular face and a goatee wearing oversized clothes staring at my chest. He leans in and his arm brushes my breast. "What's your name sweetie?"
The two of them leaning together block my view of everyone else around. I stand on my toes and try to look over Ryan's shoulder to find Silas or Victor.
"Her name is Sang. Be polite to my friend Greg, Sang." It is a command.
"Sang? That's fucking weird. Do you sing?" Greg asks.
I shake my head. "I'm sorry, I have to go."
Greg braces his arm on the wall across my neck while Ryan leans into me. "Emily and Dad aren't too happy with you Sang... I'm not either. You know what happened last time you left me?" He whispers the question in my ear.
I feel my heartbeat thud in my ears and my fingers tingle with fear.
"Watch out!" Greg calls out to Ryan.
Ryan straightens up and pulls back. Suddenly, I am pulled from the wall and pushed out into the stream of foot traffic right into a man in a brown corduroy suit. He has brown hair and a bristle-brush mustache with watery eyes behind thick glasses.
"No need to push." His name tag says Vice Principle McCoy.
"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to! It is just so crowded in here." There was no point in telling him I was pushed by my evil step-brother.
"I saw you with those two boys just now!" he hisses at me. "That is very inappropriate behavior... and your skirt it too short. What is your name?"
"Sang"
"Last name, girl"
"Sorenson"
"You are going to have to go home and change. We can't allow kids to run around dressed like this" He motions to my legs and runs his eyes over my body. "I'll be watching you to see your behavior is more appropriate with the opposite sex from now on."
I hang my head, I hadn't done anything, but I feel like I'm in front of my mother again. Like I am a whore. "I'll just turn this in.."
"Oh, no you won't. You will go home and tell your parents you weren't dressed appropriately for school and then you will come back. I will hang on to this and you will personally come and get it from me." He reaches out and grabs my schedule. "Typical, art, gym, typing and choir."
I want to say that typing and choir are my reserve classes. That they made me choose those in case my others don't go through. But I am too afraid of him.
"Mr. McCoy," a voice behind me calls. I know that voice. I can hear the smile and laughter in it. I turn and see the sandy curls and sparkling eyes coming toward me. The smile that usually graces Sean's face is absent, but I can still hear the good humor in his voice. "I was just looking for you."
I almost open my mouth to say, 'me?' but I notice he hasn't looked at me once yet.
He finally looks down at me curiously, but with no familiarity and then back at Mr. McCoy, "Am I interrupting something?"
"No," Mr. McCoy answers. "She is going home to change before I allow her to register."
Sean looks me over from head to toe then quirks an eyebrow. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Her skirt is too short," McCoy bites out.
"The rule book states that the skirt must be longer than the lady's fingertips. Miss ...?"
I snap to attention and put my hands down against my thighs. There is at least an inch and a half to spare.
"I still don't think it is appropriate," McCoy seethes.
"Be that as it may, it is what the rule book says. There is no use putting the counselors through more work today." Sean gives him a slight smile at this.
"She's not one of your boys, Dr. Green. You can't just walk in here and do whatever you want!"
"We were brought in to assist in any way we can. So, I will just take that," Sean snatches my schedule out of Mr. McCoy's hands and offers me an elbow. "I can escort her to the office. I was just headed that way myself."
****
Dr. Green POV
I take Sang's arm and lead the way to Owen's and my office. We go through the main office to get to the hallway that leads there. I knock once and then open the door.
Owen is at his desk working on some of the files the boys gathered earlier today. He looks up as we enter and then stands. "What has happened?"
"McCoy was trying to send her home for inappropriate dress and wanted to keep her schedule until she came back to get it." I give him a look. We need to watch that man. There is something predatory about him. There is nothing in his files but everything about him screams pedophile.
"Did you get the classes you were hoping for Miss Sorenson?" Owen asks Sang as she sways to the music filling the room.
She stops and straightens her posture to be ramrod straight and looks up at him where he has drifted toward her. "Yes... Well, no. Most of the classes I wanted require prerequisites that they say I need to take again."
Owen holds out his hand to me. I am still holding Sang's schedule so I hand it over to him and ask her as I walk to my desk, "What would you like to take?"
Sang flushes a pretty rose color and presses her lip to her teeth as she looks between Owen and myself. When she doesn't answer right away Owen looks up at her from her schedule and quirks an eyebrow. "Miss Sorenson?"
She pulls out a piece of paper and puts it down on the desk next to my computer. Owen adds her schedule to the desk and we compare the two. I open the scheduling program and start to create her schedule with the changes as we go over them.
AP English, AP Geometry, Violin, AP World History, AP Biology, Japanese, Gym. Apart from Gym, which was mandatory in any case, it's the schedule she wanted. We have her in a class with at least one of the boys every hour.
Owen's phone vibrates and he pulls it out of his pocket, checking it quickly. "It is Victor. They are wondering if you are done with us yet."
"Greedy little bastards!" I say winking at Sang, making her laugh.
"We should probably do some work today, Dr. Green. That way we will be able to do our afternoon meeting with Miss Sorenson and Mr. Drillings."
Damn Owen. Reminding her of that right now is not the way to keep her from worrying for the rest of the day.