THIRTY
Milan
PRESENT
Early Tuesday morning, I’m just stepping out of my car when Shin meets me. Even though I lack enthusiasm for basketball this early, I always have to show up whenever Coach calls for training.
“Where’s Damian?” I ask, slinging my sports bag over my shoulder.
After I dropped Aliya off at her place yesterday, the guys came over to mine, and we watched the soccer game. We drank and smoked late into the night, and now I’m clearly feeling the aftereffects of my indulgence.
Shin, on the other hand, seems perfectly fine, as if he wasn’t drinking a few hours ago. “He’s probably still asleep.”
I pat my pocket for my pack of cigarettes, pull one out, and stick it between my lips.
“I need to show you something, but first promise me you’ll stay calm.”
I pause while lighting my cigarette. His serious expression and his request for me to stay calm make me feel suspicious.
“What happened now?” I stow the lighter back into my pocket, watching as he pulls out his phone.
“There’s a video going around.”
My back stiffens. A video?
Did someone film us yesterday?
I throw away my cigarette and pull Shin’s phone out of his hand.
If I find this fucker who’s constantly up my ass, trying to post videos and photos of her, I’m going to kill him.
I swear to God, I’ll hunt him down and make him pay. No one messes with a Shane without facing the consequences.
But my eyebrows knit in confusion as I realize it’s not Aliya and me in the muted video.
It’s Aliya … and McKinney?
My hands clamp around Shin’s phone, my knuckles turning white as I watch him push her roughly against the wall. The sight of him pressing himself against her body with an open fly sends a surge of hot rage through me.
How dare he force himself on her like that?
But then Shin shows up and McKinney backs off. The person recording ends the video as Shin walks toward the door, clearly the spot where they’d been filming.
With a tense jaw, I look up at Shin, who’s watching me nervously. This bastard was there, witnessed all of this and didn’t tell me?
“Hey, before you do anything drastic, let’s talk about it calmly, shall we? I can explain why I kept it to myself. Just promise me that you’ll listen before you try to kill me,” he blurts out.
“When was this?”
“Last week.”
I close my eyes, struggling to keep my temper in check. A fucking week, and he said nothing?
As I remember how Aliya and Shin walked into the clubroom together that day, realization dawns on me. Suddenly, everything starts to make sense.
Shin’s silence, Aliya’s nervousness.
Could it be that he and Aliya have been keeping this secret all along?
The thought sends a new wave of anger coursing through me. That’s probably why they’ve been getting along so well lately, considering he used to despise her.
“I thought she wouldn’t want me to tell anyone.”
“Am I getting this right?” I reply calmly. “You’ve known about this incident for a whole week, but you stayed silent because you assumed she wouldn’t want you to tell anyone?”
My fury flares up again as I question the validity of his excuse. But I have to control myself. Shin isn’t the one I should be taking my wrath out on.
It’s McKinney.
And he’s done.
Fucking dead.
“He’s been telling everyone at school that she made a pass at him and he had to reject her.”
“What a scummy piece of shit,” I snarl through clenched teeth.
As if his actions weren’t enough, now he’s spreading lies about her?
And of course she didn’t run away from it. She probably took all the whore and slut comments, and death wishes without showing a shred of resistance until she finally broke down yesterday.
So he’s also responsible for her tears.
My jaw tightens. No one messes with me, especially not with what’s mine.
“I don’t know who’s responsible for the video, but it’s got to be someone who wants to clear her name.” Shin takes his phone from my hand, slipping it into his pocket.
I stop paying attention to him because my eyes already scanning the parking lot until they land on McKinney’s Ferrari. As the star player of the basketball team, of course, he’s already here.
“Shin.”
He follows my gaze and lets out a deep sigh, realizing what I’m about to do. “How long do you need?”
“Five minutes.”
I open the trunk of my car and pull out the hammer. A few weeks ago, Damian, Shin and I used it to smash the glass house in the Reynolds’ backyard. We were bored and Damian wanted to piss off his dad.
“And get rid of the evidence,” I call after Shin as he heads off to distract the janitor and delete the security footage afterwards.
It’s an advantage that we’re here so early since the parking lot is still empty, with no witnesses around.
With the hammer in my hand, I stroll over to the red Ferrari. The anger boils within me as I reach the driver’s side, gripping the hammer tighter.
As rage consumes my thoughts, I swing the tool with all my strength against the window, shattering it with a satisfying crunch. The sound of the glass breaking sounds like sweet music to my ears.
And this idiot doesn’t even have his alarm on.
With each swing of the hammer, my fury intensifies. Blow after blow, the windows splinter into thousands of pieces, cascading down like a shower of crystals. The hammer lands with a dull thud on the car’s hood.
Satisfaction spreads through me as I take in the damage I’ve inflicted on the Ferrari.
With one final breath, I toss the hammer back into my trunk and wait outside the school building for Shin.
“Done?” I ask him as he approaches me.
He nods. “I’ve deleted the footage from the last ten minutes.”
“Good, then we can teach him a lesson now.”
He won’t get away with a wrecked car. He’ll apologize to her after I break a few of his bones.
Determined, we head to the locker room of the basketball gym.