Trouble at Brayshaw High - Meagan Brandy Page 0,40

used to – has me delaying.

My hand is on the handle but unmoving, and Royce is the one that has to open my door.

When he gets a look at my face, he sighs and moves closer. He grips my ankle and wrist and pulls me to the door, wrapping me in a hug.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he tells me. “And knock that shit off. This ain’t your fault.”

My eyes pool with tears despite my best effort.

These boys are turning me into a damn mess.

I don’t cry.

“That’s not true and you know it. You’re both mad at me and we haven’t even talked it out yet.” I pull back to look him in the eye. “Maddoc only went over there to fuck shit up because of what I did.”

Royce moves back a little so Cap can squeeze in beside us.

“No.” Captain shakes his head and reaches for my hand. I let him pull me out and to my feet. He bends down a little to look me in the eye. “Maddoc fucked him up because he did what he did. This week, next week, doesn’t matter. You should already know, if you’d have done what you should have and come straight to us instead of acting brave alone like you’re used to, he would have reacted the same. Maddoc is fucking fierce, Raven. He loves us. Would die for us, but we’re his brothers. He’s never loved before. This? This is what that looks like.”

A breath lodges in my throat and I shake my head.

Cap shakes his right back. “We’re not having this conversation, but I know my brother. Whether you know it, whether he fucking knows it, it’s in there. Maybe not fully grown but Raven you’re inside him in a way nobody ever has been. He will always act in defense first, especially when you’re at the center of the threat.”

I nod, glancing at Royce.

“Fists first, fixes later,” he says.

“Kinda sounds like me,” a laugh bubbles out of me and they grin gravely.

“And we were pissed at you, maybe still are, to be honest, but we understand now. We see what you did and why, and we love you more for it even though you made the wrong move.” Royce’s eyes slide between mine, the honesty of his words hitting me hard and meaning more than I could express if I tried. “Now come on. We still have an hour but let’s get in there, the seats fill up fast.”

Together, three strong, we head inside for our fourth man.

Three fucking days.

They stuck me in a damn cell by myself for three fucking days. Not once did I get let out. No calls. No other inmate interactions, not that I wanted it, but still. Three days of nothing but a fucking guard who would stick a tray through the metal bars. He didn’t even speak.

I have no idea what’s going on at home.

I don’t know if Collins and his lackeys came after my family or if Raven took off again for some stupid fucking reason she cooked up. I don’t know shit.

I have never in my life felt more helpless.

And if I didn’t get a message from our lawyer telling me I’d finally see a fucking judge today for bail, I’d have lost my shit and threw my name around, forced them to feel the weight of it until they told me what I needed to know. But I trusted my dad and waited it out, just fucking barely.

Right now, my patience is being tested again as I’m crammed in a room with seven others waiting to see the damn judge. Shitty part is this isn’t even the only room, so who knows how long this could take.

If I lean forward a little and look to the left, I can see inside the room across from me where more inmates wait just the same.

The officer who led us in here stands in the center of the hall, blocking us from the others. He hits both door frames with his little nightstick to gain attention.

“Listen up!” he shouts, pulling up his belt to cover the potbelly hanging over. “Last names A through H, line up in front of that door. Face forward, no turning or communicating with the inmate in front of or behind you.” He points his toy my way, looking right at me. “You first.”

My pulse kicks higher at being singled out with these people around. My name hasn’t been said out loud in here. They have no