The Seventh Family

Chapter Three

(Audrey's POV)

The next day we found out exactly what 'heightened security around the children' meant.

There was always a car parked only a few blocks from the school, but they supposedly moved around to avoid suspicion. How they were supposed to be of immediate help, should we need it, from three blocks away, I have no idea.

Reece drove us to and from school in his sports car with bulletproof glass, a gift from my father that was far more expensive than anything he'd ever given me.

I had to carry my phone with me always, and call or text Reece before my siblings and I exited the building. We had to exit together, and my father also instructed us to stick close to each other whenever possible.

Noelle and her sister, Kamila, who was younger than us by a year, got a huge kick out of seeing Reece and his fancy car all the time. If I had to watch them swoon every day like this until my crazy uncle was subdued, I was going to go insane. At first they questioned why he started bringing us to and from school instead of the bus or my mother. We told them that the school was on the way to his college and he was doing our parents a favor by dropping us off every morning and picking us up every afternoon. The Scott sisters certainly weren't complaining.

Matters only got worse when I was bombarded by an assault of comments about the new kid the moment I walked into the wretched building that was our school. Kamila practically dragged us through the hallways when we first walked in, just so we could get a glimpse of him by his newly assigned locker.

As Kami and Noelle, along with many others, fangirled profusely, I'm pretty sure I rolled my eyes so much I caught a glimpse of my brain. The cute new boy at school was the least of my worries.

"His name is David Ramirez. Him and his family just moved here." Kamila told us as we walked past him and his locker, already surrounded by girls wishing him a very warm welcome. "He's 17 years old, a senior, and there's a rumor he's going to be trying out for the football team. With that kind of build, there's no way he won't get on."

"Kami?" I glanced over at my best friend's sister, who was still watching the new kid out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes, Audrey?"

"The guy's been here for not even an hour. How do you even know all of this?"

Kamila gave me a look, then rolled her eyes. "Oh please, don't you know by now not to ask questions? I have my ways."

I rolled my eyes, sharing a look with Noelle.

"Right."

"I feel like we should go say hello." Noelle piped up from beside me, glancing over at David for what had to be the 52nd time in the last minute and a half.

I rolled my eyes again. "Seriously? You think he needs another group of girls to welcome him to this hellhole of a school?"

Noelle gave me a look, sticking out her lower lip.

"Oh come on, Audrey, don't be so grumpy. Sure, some other people said hello, but that doesn't mean we can't."

"You know what? You're right. Might as well go say hello, even though it makes you look exactly like all the other girls and surely won't catch his attention. It's not like he's going to remember your face from the masses of others he saw this morning."

"Well, we could at least invite him to—"

"How much you want to bet about 20 other girls already invited him to sit with them at lunch?" I cut her off. Mentally, I kicked myself. I was being even more prickly today than usual. My already short temper only cut itself in half after everything my Dad told us the night before.