Devil on the Rooftop [Book 1]

Chapter 87 - Loyal -

For lunch, Hino and I decided to take a walk to the neighbourhood pizzeria and grab our meals from there. Since his run-in with Dobberman and the assholes at Pinecrest Grove, I hadn't been keeping him in the loop. It was mostly because I wanted Hino to rest worry-free, and not feel pressured by the disagreement between myself and Khaleel. I would have never met that hot head if it weren't for Hino, and on some level, I knew their friendship to be stronger than ours. This wasn't about choosing sides, and it wasn't about asking Hino to slap some sense into Khaleel. Alright, it was a little about that.

We took our slices and found a spot on the back patio. A lot of other students from surrounding schools were already seated there, but they were of no concern to us. Half of them had no idea who we were, and the other half didn't care to find out.

"So, what's going on?" Hino asked, taking a bite of his meat-lover's pizza. "You sounded so serious when you texted me."

"Well, it is a pretty serious matter," I told him. "Dobberman got a hold of my acceptance letter to Brown."

Hino almost choked. "What?"

It took me a few minutes to fill him in, and by the end of it, Hino was finally on the same page as me. "What the hell are we going to do if Jackheights decides not to accept you?" he asked.

"I guess I haven't really thought about where this would leave you and the boys," I replied. "I've been too busy stressing out about my living situation."

Hino wiped his mouth with one of the napkins that came with his meal. "You don't think your folks would kick you out after the trial do you?"

I shrugged. "Not sure I would want to stay with them after the suit is taken to court. If Jackheights doesn't want me back then fine, I won't go back, but that will change a lot for me."

"Damn right it will," Hino agreed.

I took a bite of my barbecue chicken slice.

"Tommy could be discredited and you might be trapped doing what you've always feared," Hino rationalized. "So, I'm assuming you're going to file for emancipation sooner?"

"A lot earlier," I concurred, after swallowing my bite. "Khaleel doesn't know this yet—or maybe he does, and doesn't care."

Hino raised his brow at me. "Give the guy some credit. You two might be butting heads right now but that doesn't mean he stopped caring about you. And vice versa. I mean, look at you. Your face says it all. You miss having him around."

"I would miss him more if he didn't harass Arisa," I grumbled.

Hino leaned back in his chair. "Let's put a pin on the love triangle. If you need a place to stay after filing the suit, mine will always be available to you. No questions asked. For as long as you need it."

"No questions asked?" I feigned a laugh. "With that brother of yours?"

Hino also feigned a laugh. "Leave Haku to me. I'm serious, Loyal. Whatever you need, I'm here for you, and I'm sure if you told Khaleel what's at risk, he would be there for you too."

"I just feel like we're a little divided at the moment," I admitted. "Zander's on a warpath and Khaleel's pushing everyone's buttons. I'm supposed to keep us together but I'm failing pretty miserably. Maybe I should retire and pass on the baton to someone more capable, someone who can handle the job description."

"How exactly?" Hino asked. "I don't think many people have the patience for your job description. I know I don't."

I shook my head. "Not you. I wouldn't do that to you when you've worked so hard to maintain relationships with the faculty and students."

"How is Ms. Findlay doing by the way?" Hino faked a smile. "Still have a soft spot for our boy?"

"That's the understatement of the year."

"Yikes."

I took another bite of the pizza and chewed it slowly. "Do you think you could help me calm one of our meat-heads down?"

"Dibs on Zander."

"No, you can't call dibs."

"Just did."

"Why?" I complained.

"Because I care about you," Hino winked. "Because I'm the glue to our little group, and as the glue, I have the right to make executive decisions."

"Who said you're the glue?" I scoffed.

"I just did."