Page 105 of Law Maker
“This is for you.” Asher handed me the package. The weight and faint smell of ink coaxed a smile through my tears. “More books? Thank you.”
“In case you get bored.” He kissed my forehead, his lips lingering. “It’s going to be okay. Please, don’t be sad.”
I sank deeper into his hug, clinging to his warmth like it might carry me through the six-hour drive to a place I knew only from a glossy brochure.
“I’ll try,” I said, fighting the tears threatening to spill. He had a long ride and a race ahead—he couldn’t get on the bike worried about me. I mustered a smile for his sake, but he only tightened his hold, as if he saw straight through the cracks.
Sadness shadowed his eyes, too. I cupped his cheek, brushing my thumb along his jaw. “I love you. Please be careful.”
His exhale trembled against my wrist. “I wish I could take you myself.” He kissed my palm. “At least then I’d know that place was okay. I don’t trust your father.”
“That school costs too much to be shitty.” I tried for humor. “He needs to brag about his generosity. Expect luxury and the best education his money can buy.”
“I fucking hope so, peque.” Asher kissed me, and once again I wished I could stay. The front door opened and closed downstairs. Time was up.
Reluctantly, I stepped back. Asher blinked hard, looking away, and pain pierced my chest.
“I’ll take your stuff downstairs, peque,” he said.
Clutching the books to my chest, I whispered, “Thank you, Ash. For everything.”
***
Green fields blurred past the SUV’s windows. I pressed my nose to the glass, watching the unfamiliar scenery through the mist stinging my eyes. Sharon giggled at something my father said, and nausea churned in my stomach—even though I’d never been prone to motion sickness.
I was just sick of them. Unfortunately, there was no pill for that.
“Did you know they have a swimming pool, Kaia?” Sharon chirped as we passed a stone sign:Oakwood Springs Founded: 1890.“A gym, too.”
My father changed lanes, resting his hand on her knee. “No time for that. She’ll be too busy studying not to embarrass herself once classes start in August.”
“You mean not to embarrassyou,” I muttered, pressing my forehead to the cool glass. My skin burned—whether from rage, sadness, or missing Asher, I couldn’t tell.
My father sighed like I’d already drained his daily allotment of patience. He flicked on the radio, and a pop song burst from the speakers, a flimsy illusion of cheer.
Twenty minutes later, the car slowed before gray wrought-iron gates so tall climbing over them would’ve been impossible. Not that I planned to try.
An iron plaque on the stone pillar readWillowbrook School for Girls.Below it, on the crest, an eagle perched on a bare branch.
How girly for an all-girls school. Not weird at all. At least there weren’t armored sentinels with swords—though with the dense woods pressing in, who knew what lurked there.
I shivered and shoved my hands deeper into the pockets of my black hoodie just as Dad got out and strode to the panel blinking red. He pressed a button, said something, and the light flicked green. The gates crawled open.
“Nervous?” Sharon asked.
I shrugged. “Should I be?”
“It’s for the best, Kaia,” she said, like she meant something other than shipping me off to this place. “You’ll thank your dad later.”
Right. It was always about him—even when I was the one leaving everything behind.
Dad slid back into the driver’s seat. Gravel crunched under the SUV’s tires as we rolled up the wide driveway.
Ahead stood a three-story stone building, gray and ivy-covered, its arched windows staring down at us. Two smaller wings flanked it, nearly identical. One housed the dorms, if I remembered the glossy brochure right.
“It looks amazing!” Sharon gasped.
She could stay here if she wanted. I wasn’t so easily impressed, and her fake enthusiasm wouldn’t convince me otherwise.
