Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
AKIO
Ten at night on Saturday, I sat in Imani’s car, driving around Nicole’s block.
I didn’t want to be here with Imani, sitting with my thoughts and imagining what Nicole was doing with Jace in her living room. I balled my hands into fists by my sides and stared at her house as we passed, wishing that she were with me.
The only reason that I’d actually gone to the football game last night was to see her cheer. I usually didn’t do school activities, but Nicole had made me feel things that I had never felt before at my house … then in the hallway the other morning.
“Fuck,” I whispered under my breath.
Imani glanced in the rearview mirror at a car parked a little ways down the street, and then she clutched the steering wheel tightly and looked back at Nicole’s house. She had told me that we were here to spot Jace Harbor in the act with Nicole so she could protect her best friend, Allie. But with that look on her face …
“Are you okay?” I asked Imani. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
“Not a ghost,” she said. “But maybe my death …”
I peered into the rearview mirror to get a better look at the car Imani had spotted and saw Jo?o, Landon, and Kai from Poison sitting inside it. What the hell were they doing here? This late at night and two doors down from Nicole’s place?
“Fuck it,” Imani mumbled to herself and parked across the street.
Why are we stopping?!
After she cut all the lights, she pulled out a pair of binoculars from the center console.
“Why do you have binoculars in your?—”
“Bird-watching, Akio,” Imani snapped, zooming in with the dial on the top, “aka none of your business.” She nodded to the glove compartment. “There is another pair in there for you if you want to snoop. I know you like her, so you might as well see how big of a bitch she is.”
When I opened the glove compartment, sure enough, there was a pair of binoculars.
“Why do you care that I like her so much?” I asked, putting the binoculars to my face.
“Because friends don’t let friends make bad decisions,” she said.
First of all, I didn’t know we were friends. And second …
“You let Allie fall for Jace again.”
She paused. “That’s different.”
I zoomed in with the dial to get a better view of Nicole’s dining room. The light from the living room flooded in and hit the glassware stored in the china cabinets, which meant that Nicole and Jace were in there, doing God knew what.
And it pissed me off.
Last night, Nicole had been the one to come on to Jace, unlike all the other guys she had been with. To my understanding, they all came on to her, touched her, used her for their pleasure. I was still trying to piece it all together.
But … this didn’t make sense.
Why Jace? And why had she been crying yesterday in her car after she flirted with him?
Suddenly, Imani pulled the key from the ignition. “Come on.”
“Come on?” I asked, glancing over at her.
Imani snuck out of the car and shut the door quietly behind her. Then, she sprinted across the street and slipped between Nicole’s house and her hedges. I stared at Imani with wide eyes from the passenger seat of her car.
What is she doing?!
If Nicole saw me with Imani and saw me stalking her, I’d be screwed!
But I ran across the street after Imani because I didn’t want her getting into trouble.
“What are we doing?” I asked. “We can’t stalk someone. It’s against the law!”
Though … I wasn’t about to tell Imani what I did in my free time with Nicole.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Imani said, waving me off. “There is a better place to see into her house around the back.”
“How do you know this?!” I asked, hurrying after her. “It’s Poison, isn’t it?”
Stopping on her heel, she whirled around and poked a finger into my chest. “No, it’s not Poison. I did this far before I ever met them, so stop thinking that I’m such a good girl, and let’s have fun, snooping on Jace Harbor and the girl you like … and Poison.”
After slumping my shoulders forward because she wasn’t going to budge, I followed her around to the back. We pressed our bodies flat against the house and inched closer to the back door that led to the pool.
“Are you sure this is okay?” I asked.
Desperate to persuade her to leave … but also desperate not to see Nicole and Jace.
Together.
“No, but we’re doing it anyway.” She glanced over her shoulder at me. “You ready?”
“Uh …” I scratched the back of my head. No! “Sure?”
She crouched and glanced in through the back glass door. I looked over her shoulder and gritted my teeth. Inside, Nicole sat on her knees in front of Jace Harbor, who smirked down at her.
Suddenly, Imani pulled back and hit her hard head into mine. “Jeez, Akio,” she said, rubbing the spot. “You have a hard-ass head. Now, do you see who Nicole really is? Look at how uncomfortable she’s making him, and she—” Imani glanced back into the room. “Wait.”
Uncomfortable? Jace didn’t look uncomfortable.
If anything, Nicole did.
Or at least … I could tell that she did because when she was really comfortable, her smile wasn’t as tight, her shoulders weren’t as stiff, and her eyes weren’t stricken with as much fear as they were right now.
We both peered back into the house, only this time, my gaze drifted behind Nicole and Jace to Poison, who had snuck through a back hallway. Imani cursed and shoved me back so I stumbled into the bush.
Is this all some kind of setup? For what?
“Go, Akio!” Imani shouted, pushing me around the house and making a beeline for her car.
I stumbled along in front of her, trying to regain my footing.
“They’re going to see us if you don’t get your ass in gear!”
Behind us, the front door opened.
After we reached the car, I glanced through the passenger window. Imani fumbled with the keys in an attempt to turn on the car, terrified of Poison, then slammed her foot on the gas pedal to speed the hell out of there.
I gripped the seat to steady myself and gazed at Kai, who pulled off his ski mask and stared at us as we peeled out into the road. Kai already didn’t like me because I kept hanging out with his girl.
Now, he really wouldn’t.
“Fuck!” Imani whispered. “He saw us.”
“Why are you so scared?” I asked. “I thought you didn’t take Poison’s shit.”
“Ha-ha,” Imani said, still peering into the rearview mirror. “Funny. But you don’t understand … Kai will …” She took a deep breath, cheeks reddening, even in the darkness. “Let’s just say, he’ll do to me what you hope to do to Nicole one day.”
I furrowed my brow. “What?”
“He’ll punish me.”
“I don’t want to punish Nicole.”
“You know what?” Imani said, turning on the music. “Forget it. They’re not following us anyway …”
I didn’t want to punish Nicole, but maybe I wanted to punish Jace Harbor for touching her. Maybe later tonight, I would pay him a visit. Maybe … maybe I would show him and the rest of Redwood Academy that Nicole was my girl.