Change ☆DC Stargirl • Yolanda Montez (II)

Twenty-Six

Freya's POV:

I adjust my posture in the backseat but the end of the staff smacks my head, causing me to let out a huff. "Stupid thing." I mutter under my breath.

Pat turns the dial on his radio and it crackles to life.

"And in other news today, the Cakes by Aaron bakery issued an apology after it mistakenly delivered a wedding cake...to a funeral!" The spokesperson laughed. "The bakery hoped the funeral party would forgive the error, as well as the bride and groom who, as part of the mix-up--"

Courtney leans forward to the console and clicks a button to change the channel.

"I'm sorry, so sorry..." A feminine voice solemnly sung out. "That I...was such a--"

I groan, leaning forward to the front seat and shut the radio off before I leaned my head against the window.

"Girls, I'm sorry. I--"

"Why did you lie to me?" Courtney interrupted with a glare.

"Thought you were better off not knowing what happened." He softly explained.

"How could you think murder was okay?"

"I didn't, and I don't. There was a vote." He firmly stated.

I scoff. "So they voted to do it?"

"Some of 'em did, yeah. Dr. McNider had lost his daughter. Eclipso had threatened everyone's family." He emphasized. "They were scared and they thought that they were out of options. They thought that people that they loved were gonna die."

"What did you do?"

Pat winces at her question before he shook his head. "It's what I didn't do. I didn't stop 'em."

I shook my head with disbelief. "Do you understand how much damage you've done by keeping the truth from all of us?" I retort. "Yolanda would have known that she wasn't the first member of the JSA to take a life and regret it. She wouldn't have beaten herself over it!"

"She might have quit anyway." He countered. "You all could have."

"You don't know that." I remark. "You should've seen the look on her face. She was practically heartbroken!"

"We were flying blindly, Pat." Courtney added. "We didn't have the full story."

"You're right, and I'm sorry. I just didn't want the way you saw the JSA to change." He emphasized, briefly meeting my eyes through the mirror. "I didn't want the way you saw me to change. How you saw your father, Freya."

"Well, it has." Courtney stated and I look away from the mirror, watching as we passed by other cars on the other side of the road. "When are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"When we get there."

"Typical Dugan. Holding out on information." I scoff. "Don't make things worse than they already are."

Pat lets out a sigh before pulling out a folded newspaper and hands it to Courtney. "Check that out."

I lean forward close to Courtney to get a better view of the paper.