Chapter 128

"You remember what I said last night, right?” Marguerite asked seriously as she got into Theobald's car the next morning.

Theobald kept one hand on the steering wheel. Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a golden sheen on the rosary beads on his wrist.

He shook his head. "I remember."

How could he forget? He'd never forget it. He had actually written a thousand-word apology for her! But on the bright side, she had asked him to write it, not Aaron. He wasn't very good at that sort of thing, so Anna had to help him.

“Good." Marguerite clicked her seatbelt into place. At the end of the day, Theobald was just looking out for her. She couldn't really be mad at him.

The car moved smoothly onto the mountain road.

"Maggie, I believe that you're over Joshua," Theobald said. “But have you considered that he might not be over you?"

Marguerite shook her head. "You're giving me too much credit. I mean, I know I'm charming, but Joshua is a huge star. He's not exactly short on female company. And Hannah is captivating-she had you completely smitten, so I'm sure Joshua is just as taken with her."

Besides, they were the main characters in this story, destined to be together. The return of his old flame might have stirred something in him, but she had seen them yesterday, holding hands so tightly while Joshua was practically showing off.

Theobald's face flushed with embarrassment at the mention of him and Hannah. "I hope you're right," he muttered.

His main goal in sending George over was to make Joshua back off for good. A new boyfriend would surely make him think twice before bothering Marguerite again.

"Are you still into Hannah?" Marguerite asked casually.

Theobald shook his head so vigorously it was almost a blur. “Nope. Definitely not." Marguerite patted his shoulder, pleased. "That's the spirit. Instead of wasting that perfect memory of yours on her, you could use it to learn a few new words."

An hour later, they arrived at Westside High.

The decision to transfer Aaron from Westside to Pinecrest High was one Marguerite had carefully considered. First, the academic environment at Westside was terrible. A good school environment was everything. Second, the man who had bought Aaron and Jenny might still be in the area. Westside and Pinecrest were in different districts of Northpine, a massive city. The chances of him finding Aaron at Pinecrest were much slimmer.

Besides, Pinecrest was her turf. If that man dared to show his face anywhere near there, Marguerite would make sure he never left.

The second period was already in session at Westside. When they arrived at the principal's office, it was empty. Theobald decided to wait inside.

Marguerite, however, was feeling peckish and went off in search of the school store. Having never attended this school, she had no idea where to find it. But, by sheer coincidence, she spotted the same student, Hans, whom she'd met on her last visit.

"Hans!" she called out.

The boy turned, his eyes lighting up. "Hey! What are you doing back at our school?" “Just taking care of some things. Do you know where the school store is?"

He pointed in a direction. "Over there. I can take you. Buy me a bag of spicy chips?" Marguerite looked at him. "Sure. But aren't you supposed to be in class right now?" Hans scratched his head. "I was late for first period, and the teacher told me I might as well have waited until the afternoon to show up. So, I went home and I'm just coming back now for the afternoon classes."

At the store, she bought a few bags of spicy gummy snacks and a bottle of vitamin water for herself. For Hans, she got two bags of beef jerky and a Coke.

As they left, Hans said, “You were asking about our boss last time, right? Want me to take you to his classroom so you can see him?"

Marguerite had time to kill, so she figured she might as well check in on Aaron.

Then she remembered something. "Isn't there a kid named Jordon in his class who doesn't get along with your boss?"

Hans nodded. "You know about him too? Yeah, that's Jordon Red. He's the principal's nephew, and none of us like him. He uses that connection to run an extortion racket in the school, demanding everyone give

him their lunch money."

"The kids who are too scared to say no just pay up. The rest of us joined up with our boss to stand against him."

Marguerite frowned. Could the reason Aaron knocked out the principal's teeth be because the man was protecting his nephew?

They soon arrived outside Aaron's classroom. Peeking through the window in the door, Marguerite once again couldn't spot him. That was strange; he should have been in class.

"Where is he? I don't see him," she mumbled.

Hans chuckled. "You won't see him from here. The boss sits in the last row against the wall, right by the back door. The teachers made him the official doorman since he's always late or leaving early."

Marguerite walked to the back of the

classroom, where the door was propped open She poked her head inside and saw Aaron Slumped over his desk, fast asleep. His deskmate, Yellow, was sleeping right beside him, their heads nearly touching.

At the front of the room, the teacher lectured passionately, completely oblivious to

the two students meeting the sandman.

No wonder Aaron only scored sixty out of a possible seven hundred and fifty. It wasn't entirely the school's fault.

Marguerite started to step inside, but Hans grabbed her arm. "Hey, what are you doing?" he whispered urgently. "Don't tell me you're going to wake him up. The boss hates being disturbed when he's sleeping. Even his closest guy, Yellow, wouldn't dare. The principal saw him sleeping once and just pretended he didn't see anything!"

Marguerite shook her head. "I'm not going to wake him up."

Hans let her go.

The next second, he watched in horror as Marguerite tiptoed inside and, with swift

and ruthless precision, pinched Aaron's ear.

...