Runaways by Nicole Dykes
Graduation Day
We should be walking across the stage toward our high school diplomas right now, but instead, we’re working the lunch shift at the resort. Honestly, there’s no love lost there. I spent so long dreaming about this day, seeing it as the end of everything and the beginning of a new life. But who knows what would have happened if I’d stayed until now.
I don’t think Colin would have let me go.
“Guys!” I look over at Hayden as he walks excitedly into the large dining room. “Look.”
He turns on the news, directing our attention there. The first thing I see is Colin’s picture. “Hayden . . .” Law growls, looking over at Tristan, who’s eating lunch here in full uniform. “Turn it off.”
“No, Law. Look.”
Lawson looks like he might kill him, but we all look at the screen, including Tristan, who looked confused as hell when Hayden called Law by his real name.
“Da Silva, who has been the school’s principal for five years was arrested this morning. He’s accused of several counts of sexual assault on minors. All four victims are young women who were students of his.”
I drop the glass that was in my hand. It shatters on the floor, but I can’t move. I stare at the screen as it switches to a video of Colin being escorted by police out of the school he once ruled over.
I can feel Lawson at my side, but I remain frozen. He assaulted three girls. We continue to watch the story. Apparently, he raped a girl around Christmas in his office at the school. She had the courage to tell the police, which resulted in three other girls gaining the confidence to report older attacks.
“Oh my God,” Amanda nearly whispers and then looks at me. “Your stepfather?” She’s quick.
I nod dumbly. “Yes.”
“So does this mean you’re free, Rae?” Her question is so earnest, but I don’t feel free. I feel sick.
“Rae?” Tristan looks at me. “I thought your name was Rose?”
I can’t answer him. “He raped other girls.”
“This is not your fault.” I feel Lawson’s arm wrap around my waist and hold me tighter to him. Of course, he knows where my mind is right now.
“Isn’t it though?” I turn to him. “I ran. I didn’t report it, and there was another victim.”
“There were others before you.”
“And that makes it better?”
“It makes you human,” Amanda says with stunning conviction. “He’s the creep, Rae.”
I smile at her. Sometimes, she kind of reminds me of Tammy. “What the hell is going on?” Tristan’s loud voice booms over to us as he eyes us all suspiciously.
Law squeezes me to him even tighter, whispering in my ear, “We need to tell him.”
I nod before Lawson walks over to where Tristan is sitting and takes a seat next to him, filling him in on our story from the very beginning.
“You have to help them, Tris,” Amanda says to her big brother, and even though I’m numb and angry—both at myself and at Colin—a feeling of calm washes over me. Because he’s going to jail where he belongs, and I have the greatest people around me.
Checkmate, you fucker.
