no doubt able to smell the grease wafting from my hair despite the bucketloads of shampoo I’ve already scrubbed through it. “It’s going to be okay. Calm down, sweet girl.”
I rub my already sore eyes against her shoulder and despite the pristine way she’s expected to keep her uniform, she doesn’t pull away.
“I thought this week was going to be better,” I cry.
“I know, I thought so too,” she says, moving her hand to the back of my head and then pulling back with furrowed brows. “What is this in your hair?” she questions, horrified by the slimy feel coming off on her hand then gasping when she sees the missing chunks. “Who did this?”
I shake my head as she draws back to see me better. “A group of guys,” I say, dropping the bag with my destroyed uniform to the floor. “They cornered me in the student parking lot and tipped grease over my head. They’d put acid in it and all my hair started snapping off and my skin …” I take a sniffly breath. “It burned, mom. My skin is all red and sore and my hair … it keeps snapping off.”
Fury fires from her eyes. “This school has been nothing but trouble since you first started,” she says, beginning to pace the room, her arms flailing around. “I’m going to have a meeting with that … that … dean first thing in the morning. Those boys are going to see justice. They will not get away with this. Acid? ACID! Who does that to a young woman?” Her head starts shaking as the outrage builds within her. “I should call the police. Their whole futures will be taken away from them in seconds. That’ll teach those privileged little bastards.”
I drop down onto the wide couch and watch as mom continues to pace. ‘“What am I going to do? I’ve already washed my hair a million times and every time I touch it, more hair snaps off. It’s not coming out.”
Mom stops pacing and looks back at me, looking just as lost as I feel. She lets out a heavy, broken sigh. “I don’t know, honey. I wish I had the money to send you to a salon. Maybe after my shift, I could have a look and see what can be salvaged.”
I drop my face into my hands knowing that’s our only option.
My phone burns a hole in my robe pocket. I’d do anything to call Nic and have him come and handle this. He'd drop everything and be here in no time, but his version of helping will result in bloodshed and I’ll still be left looking like this. While it’ll help me feel a little better, it’ll do nothing to fix the devastation left behind.
Mom steps into me and I feel her hands in my hair. “I wish I could do more for you, sweetheart.”
“I know,” I murmur, knowing this is killing her just as much as it is for me. After all, a direct attack on her daughter is a direct attack on her. I stand up and she instantly pulls me back into her arms. “I think I’m just going to go get dressed and then I might just chill out with you while you work. Is that okay or do you think that might cause shit with Harrison?”
“Harrison can go and play with the shark for all I care. If my baby has had a bad day and wants to hang out with her momma, then that’s exactly what my baby is going to get.”
I give mom a tight smile before slipping out of her arms and rushing off to the pool house. I quickly get dressed while avoiding every mirror in this place and before I know it, I'm snuggled up on the couch with a blanket while mom does her thing around me.
She’s just about finished when I see Colton out in the kitchen. He drops his keys on the kitchen counter and starts rifling through the cupboards for something to eat then walks down to the living space that overlooks the ridiculously insane pool.
As I watch him, I can’t help but feel that this is all on him. He could have stopped it. He could have had control over his little followers, and he sure as hell could have at least asked if I was alright.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get and before I even know what I’m doing, I’m out in the living