“You gonna tell me now it’s not one of them?” I asked, my voice wavering.

His eyes flicked up, and I took a step back. “We need to tell my father.”

“No.” I snatched the car back.

“He’s not going to send you anywhere, Ember.” Hayden’s voice was barely a whisper. “He needs to know about this.”

“No.” I spun around and stalked over to the trashcan. Ignoring the curious stares from the kids lingering after class, I threw the model car into the bin. “Forget this.”

Hayden had already shut my locker door. Rage pulled his face into tight, hard lines. Without warning, the garbage can turned over. I jerked back as the sides of the plastic can groaned, then split. Trash went everywhere.

The kids left in the hallway shrieked. Someone yelled for a teacher. A few hooted. Spinning around, I grabbed Hayden’s arm and pulled him down the hallway.

“Whoops,” he murmured.

I shot him a wide-eyed look. “Whoops? Wow. I wouldn’t call ripping apart a garbage can in the school a ‘whoops’ moment.”

He pulled away, shrugging. “It happens.”

I didn’t say another word until we sat in the car. “I want to go to the house.”

The keys were clenched in his hands. I stole a quick glance at his face. He still hadn’t finished reining in his ability.

“Why won’t you let me tell my father, Ember?” he asked finally.

“I don’t trust him.”

His eyes widened. “You can’t honestly believe he had anything to do with this!”

I flipped around in the seat and faced him. “It’s not that. I don’t trust that he won’t send me away! I know he doesn’t want me here, Hayden. No one but you wants me here! All he needs is a reason to send me away.”

“Ember”

“And yeah, I don’t trust him. No one else would know, Hayden.” I leaned away from him. “That car looked just like the real one. The damage done to it was like a perfect copy. So don’t tell me it can’t be one of them. Because, really, who else could it be?”

Hayden turned away, lips drawn.

“And who else would put a message like that on there?”

He shoved the keys into the ignition. “Even though I think it’s stupidand it’s really stupid, EmberI won’t tell anyone. But if it happens again, that’s it.”

I flopped back in my seat, fuming. The tension and anger in his car were palpable. We drove for a while in utter silence.