The school day that began on a major down note for Lyla didn't improve. At lunchtime, Noah jostled her as she stood in line in the cafeteria. Her drink sloshed over the lip of the drinking glass and formed a sticky puddle on her tray.

"Oh, so sorry about that," he said insincerely.

"I'm so sure you are," she replied.

"Hey, I apologized. That's gotta count for something."

Cheerleaders and members of the school's dance team whispered and giggled.

He leaned in creepily close. "He's not interested in you. How do you not get that?"

"Who?"

"I'm interested."

"That's just not gonna work for me." Lyla hurried away.

And the day dragged on.

Through her English Lit classroom window, Lyla watched Jack on the field during football practice. She checked her phone a bazillion times hoping for a text from Jack about Carissa's outburst at her locker, or about the experiences they shared Saturday night but there were no messages. Either Carissa had Jack on a short leash, or he had made the decision to close the "Lyla chapter" of his life.

After school, she dragged her feet as she followed Darcy through the student parking lot.

"Where are we going?" Lyla asked.

"I got here late," Darcy whined. "The lot was full. I had to park on the street. It's only a ten-mile walk." She rolled her eyes. "Watch my stuff." She dropped her heavy bookbag at Lyla's feet. "Hopefully, I'll be back before dark."

Darcy began her long trek.

Lyla checked her phone.

A car skidding to an abrupt stop drew Lyla's attention. She was shocked at the sight of JoJo behind the steering wheel. His mother, Rose, flung open the car door and burst from the passenger seat.

Keenan's mother was as terrifying as she had remembered, her face lined with bitterness. Gray, deep-set eyes burned with a formidable glare. Rose wasn't a large woman, but her ferocity had intimidated men twice her size. She pointed a bony finger adorned with a stack of metal rings.

"Enough of this bullshit!" she growled. "Where is he? Where's my boy?"

Lyla took a quick glance up and down the street. There was no one nearby who might come to her rescue.

"I'm talking to you, sweetie," Rose snarled, her curled lip revealed a missing tooth. "Where's my Keenan?"

"I broke up with him months ago." Lyla tried to sound brave.

Rose snorted. "Is that so? He wasn't good enough for you?"

She trembled. "He was... he was abusive."

"He had a few drinks and knocked you around a little? Is that it? You look okay to me." She eyed Lyla. "Keenan's dad gave me some pretty nasty beatings. Mind you, some of them, I had it coming."

"No, you didn't." Lyla shook her head. "A man who puts his hands on a woman is..."

Immediately, she regretted her remark.

Rose's temper flared. "Is what? Is what?" She drew closer to Lyla. "You got no appreciation for what a real man is."

Lyla peeked down the street.

Darcy, where are you?

"I got a feeling in my bones, a bad feeling, that I'm never gonna see my boy alive again. A mother knows these things." She gritted her yellowed teeth accepting the inevitable. "That boy needs to be laid to rest on his family's grounds. With his people. And I sure as hell ain't gonna get a moment's sleep until my son is at peace."

Mercifully, Darcy pulled her car up behind JoJo's.

Rose seized Lyla's wrist, her eyes nearly scorching a hole in her face. "If I come to find out you're lying to me, girl, I'll show you what a serious beating is. The Ames family always gets their payback. Always." She released Lyla and darted into the car like a rat disappearing down a hole.

Lyla gulped a mouthful of air as she watched JoJo's car speed away.

"What the actual hell?!" Darcy huffed.