Angel in the Courtyard [Book 2]

Chapter 25 - Khaleel

Mrs. Hoffman and Arisa drove home around eleven in the evening. It was awesome hanging out with them. I was worried about introducing a criminal lawyer to my uncle, but they seemed to get along swimmingly. And his profession only came up at dinner once. Khaleel talked about my family's training facilities and that seemed to be impressive enough for Mrs Hoffman to not delve. I spent the rest of the night looking over the syllabus for my courses. I had to stay on top of my game this year, one small slip-up and my father would have my head. Next term, my step-sister Maha was going to be attending Jackheights. I knew that brainy girl was going to win over my old man's affections with her grades, so I had to try my best too.

I glanced at my phone. It was sitting on my computer desk next to my open syllabuses, laptop and the leftover snacks from dinner. I picked it up and decided to shoot another message to Loyal. He would probably leave me on read like the last fifteen hundred times, but I couldn't help reach out to my friend. If that's what we still were . Sometimes I questioned it because he had been missing in action for months now. Hino assured me he was fine but it was hard not to take things personally.

'Your clients are a little off the rails right now. They're asking me to become your successor.'

As soon as I pressed send, it read delivered. My eyes widened as I saw the three ellipses, indicating that my friend was typing a reply.

'Sorry. You don't owe them anything. Don't fall for such a ridiculous demand.'

'I won't,' I messaged, sticking to the topic. If I mentioned anything about his family or the trial, I knew I was going to lose him. 'Are you in school right now?'

'No,' Loyal replied. 'I thought about moving to Montreal for McGill but Hino's mom smacked some sense into me. I'm waiting for Jackheights' Board to decide whether or not they will let me finish high school there.'

'Wait—seriously? You might be coming back? When? Is that really what you want?'

'My age is a burden. I can't do anything for a couple more years. I was naive. My lawyer warned me this might happen. Counseling with the folks isn't going well either.'

I couldn't believe what I was reading. Could I keep trying my luck and call him? I didn't want to spook the guy. Maybe texting was fine for the time being. I wanted to keep him talking for as long as I could.

'That sounds rough. Is there anything I can do to help? Which board member is giving you a hard time? I can get my old man to put in a good word."

"Thanks but I don't want to bother him,' Loyal replied. 'I'll let my lawyer take care of it.'

'Keep me posted. It would take one call from my dad.'

The conversation stopped there. I didn't know whether to be happy about my friend's possible return to the academy or worry about the drama it would stir up with Arisa. I knew how much he liked her and even though they only dated for a short period of time, it had left both parties wounded. Fuck. Should I tell her he might be coming back? Yeah. I had to tell her. If she heard from someone else or knew that I knew about it, but didn't say anything then she might get pissed.

My phone beeped.

I picked it off my desk again to see who was messaging me. "An email?" I thought aloud. It was delivered to the school app.

All students at Jackheights were required to sign up for an account during orientation in term one. Some teachers liked electronic copies when they assigned homework while others preferred receiving printed versions. It was also a good way to learn about school events and new policies the board was implementing. There was also a student chat room and a news bulletin the administration organized.

I clicked on the red alert to see what the school was updating the students about.

Former student body president, Tomasia Wilson was caught inappropriately canoodling with Zander Easton yesterday afternoon on school grounds (see image below). Is this the kind of person we want to re-elect this term?

Goosebumps crawled down my back. "What the fuck?" I yelled, scrolling to see a picture of my friend and the Tommy making out in a dimly lit hallway. "Is this fucking real?"

Kumar rushed into my bedroom, wearing his silky avocado patterned pyjamas. His hair was a mess and his face was full of panic. "What happened?" he asked. "What is it? Are you okay?"

"No!" I complained, lifting my phone up to show my uncle the news. "What the fuck is this?"