Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 152045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 760(@200wpm)___ 608(@250wpm)___ 507(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152045 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 760(@200wpm)___ 608(@250wpm)___ 507(@300wpm)
The whole room erupts into cheers and chants as Dylan attacks and the dude grabs her by the collar. I’m there, pushing him away from her as the teachers rush in.
I wrap my arms around my cousin’s thighs, picking her up and feeling the water on her jeans seep through my hoodie. “I got her,” I tell Mr. Green before he has a chance to say anything.
I carry her back to my table.
“Let me go,” she grits through her teeth.
The excitement dies down, and I pull my chair back in, sitting and plopping her down in my lap.
“Let me go!” she shouts this time.
I pull my tray in and secure my arms around her waist. “Eat,” I tell her.
I’m not letting her go to retrieve her own tray.
But she glares. “I’m not hungry.”
“If you don’t eat,” I tease. “I’m not giving you your surprise.”
My table goes quiet, Calvin, Mace, Arlet, Farrow, and Constin all listening. Dylan stares at me but keeps her mouth shut.
I quirk a smile. “We’re going to sneak into the Falls tonight and get your good luck charm.”
Laughter and snorts go off around the table. “Really?” Calvin asks me.
But Dylan frowns a little, looking guilty. “We’ll have to sneak really well,” she warns.
I cock my head.
She grabs my apple and lifts it to her mouth. “I left it at your house.”
The table erupts in squeals, someone pounding on the table in excitement.
Dylan
I think I made a mistake.
I grip both handlebars, revving the engine. “It can just be you and me,” I tell Hunter. “Not everyone has to come.”
He tosses gear into the trunk of his car, Farrow and Constin running down the steps of Hunter’s brownstone, and all of them ready to make a full-blown invasion.
“It’s Rivalry Week,” he says, as if that explains it.
I clench my teeth and pull my helmet off the back of my bike. Or the bike Farrow gave me. Thankfully, he retrieved it from Phelan’s Throat.
When Hunter said ‘we’re going to sneak…’ I thought he meant him and me. Us, together. I thought we’d be alone for a little while.
But he’s determined not to chance running into Kade without backup.
Sure, they’ll fight. And they’ll probably fight a dozen more times about what, I’m not sure, but eventually, the yelling will stop, and they’ll talk. I just know that nothing will change if they don’t see each other.
Mace and Coral climb on bikes, Mace riding her own. Arlet lingers on the other side of Hunter’s car.
“Shouldn’t we wait until like ten or something?” I press. “People will still be out on the streets.”
“It’s Rivalry Week,” he says again.
He doesn’t think Kade will be home. It’s only after seven, and after dinner, Kade often heads back out with friends, or whoever he’s dating.
Hunter will be able to slip into the house with me, grab the necklace, and get out before anyone’s the wiser. But just in case, he’s bringing the whole motley crew and hey, they may snap some pictures or video to post online and brag that they snuck into the Shelburne Falls mayor’s house, with me helping them do it.
Arlet flashes a look to me and then approaches Hunter. “I’ll ride with you,” she tells him.
He slams the trunk shut and nods, not looking at her. She was the one close to him in the lunchroom on Monday. Are they together?
She hops in the car, and he moves toward the driver’s side. He looks over the hood at me, but I speak up before he can tell me what to do. “I’ll meet you there,” I say.
He tips his chin at me, and everyone takes off, Hunter climbing into his car. I see him adjust the rearview mirror as I pull on my helmet.
He shoots off down the street, after his friends, and I grab hold of my handlebars, flipping up the kickstand.
But as soon as he rounds the corner, racing off out of sight, I kill the engine and pull off my helmet. Taking out my phone, I dial Kade.
“You okay?” he asks.
“They’re heading to your house.”
He’s quiet for a moment, and I hear music and a dozen conversations going on in the background. Sounds like he’s at Rivertown.
“They…” he murmurs. “Is Hunter with them?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
He hangs up, and I tuck my phone away again, slipping on my helmet. That probably wasn’t the nicest thing to do, but Hunter’s plan had a predictable outcome. Now it doesn’t.
And the Rebels are forgetting... I’m still a Pirate.
Squeezing the handles, I speed off, my engine reverberating through Knock Hill before descending down into the mill district. I turn onto River Road, speeding past fishermen and crumbling boathouses. When I curve left, onto the same bridge I crossed Sunday night, I hesitate only a moment before I dig in my pocket for a coin and flip it over the side, down to the sunken car. Pay to pass.