Before long, they were headed toward town, Jenna peering out of the window at the place that would become her home for the next couple of days. So far, Arlington appeared like most small towns in middle America—neat homes and the occasional park, gradually becoming more built up the closer into the center they got.
“Hey, do you mind if we stop in at the school quickly? It’s on the way, and I really have to check out what Mikey has been up to now.”
She tried to keep her tone light. “Oh, is Mikey your son?”
He turned to her like she was crazy. “Son? Do I really look that old? Jeez, don’t tell me I’m losing my hair.”
She laughed. “No, you have plenty of hair. I just assumed, I guess. I seem to be doing that a lot with you. Sorry.”
“Mikey is my little brother. I kinda take care of him.”
“You do?” She remembered what he’d said about his dad dying. “What about your mom?”
“Dad raised us. It was a household of males. My mom left when my brother was only small. Said she’d had enough of giving to everyone else all the time. Wanted her life back.”
“That’s horrible. I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged. “We managed okay with just my dad. But then he died and no one knew where to find my mom, so it was just me. I’d turned eighteen at the time, and my dad had left me the business, so I had a way to support us. It was pretty unusual, but with no other family, the courts decided we were better off staying at home, with regular checks, of course.”
Jenna appraised him with new eyes. He was surprising her every minute she spoke to him. “Wow, that must have been so hard on you. So much responsibility from such a young age.”
“I did all right. My brother was only seven at the time, though. It hit him hard and he’s still struggling now, even though he’s almost fifteen. He acts out, you know, but who can blame him after everything he’s been through.”
They pulled up outside the school—a red brick building with a playing field out front—to see a boy with spiked hair, a leather jacket, and ripped jeans running down the path. A woman in a suit stood outside the school building, shouting and gesticulating at the boy. The boy threw up his hands, flipped her the bird, and kept coming.
Ryker glanced over at her. “I think you’re about to meet Mikey.”
Chapter Three
“That woman is a total bitch!”
Mikey climbed into the back of Ryker’s truck and sat with his arms folded, a scowl plastered on his face.
“Jesus, Mikey. What the hell have you been doing now?”
The scowl deepened. “Ugh. Nothing. All the teachers have a stick up their asses, that’s all.”
“And let me guess, you told them so much.”
“Yeah, well. Mr. Norton wouldn’t let me play a YouTube clip in class, even though we were discussing the exploitation of youth culture. Apparently, someone face planting on a skateboard for people’s entertainment doesn’t count.”
Ryker sighed. “I need to go and talk to your principal. It looks like she’s waiting for me.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, whatever.” Then the boy leaned forward. “Who’s the broad?”
“This is Jenna. I’m giving her a ride.”
“Like on a bus,” Mikey snorted, his eyes flicking over her body.
“Watch your mouth,” Ryker snapped.
Jenna wanted to vanish into the seat. “It’s okay,” she muttered. “I think the principal is waiting for you.”
“Wait here,” he said, though Jenna wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or his brother. He climbed from the car and she watched his back as he walked up the path to the waiting principal. Jenna noted the way the woman’s eyes flicked to Ryker’s exposed tattoos and piercings, her lips thinning. Though Jenna couldn’t understand what was being said, she could tell from the woman’s body language that she wasn’t happy while Ryker tried to placate her.
She twisted in her seat to where Mikey sat, fiddling with his cell phone. She hesitated, torn between making awkward, uncomfortable conversation with a teenage boy, and sitting in silence.
“So you don’t like school much, huh?”
She’d never been one for uncomfortable silences.
He jerked his head up and regarded her with the sort of disdain only a teenager could manage. “What?”
“I said it doesn’t look like you enjoy school much.”
His lower lip curled. “Only the popular kids like school. The rest of us are only here for their entertainment.”
Jenna knew exactly how that felt. She’d been big since she was a child, and high school had been excruciating for her. Everything she’d done had been fodder for the popular kids to pick on. Gym class had been her idea of hell, being forced to run around until she got hot and sweaty, while everyone else remained immaculate. She’d not wanted to eat at school, knowing every mouthful would be scrutinized. The pretty girls would sit in the dining hall, watching her eat. They’d nudge elbows into each other’s ribs, laughing behind their perfect, slim hands. The guys were almost as bad. One time, they’d all emptied their half eaten food trays onto hers, telling her it was feeding time at the pigsty and that the food was her swill. In the end, she’d stopped eating at school altogether, which meant she’d never been able to concentrate in her classes, and then she’d come home and binge on all the junk food she could find in the house. Eating until she made herself sick. Luckily, she’d been smart enough to pass her exams, but if she’d been eating properly, she probably would have excelled.