I roll my eyes. “He’s acting like all his years of immature bullshit got wiped clean. Like suddenly he’s a good guy.”

“What about your dad?”

“He’s disappointed in me.”

Dan grimaces. “That’s the worst. I’d rather my old man yell at me than say he’s disappointed.”

“This will all blow over eventually.” Smith pats me on the back. “You can’t dwell on it forever. If the ring is gone, it’s gone. Nothing you can do.”

Shaun leans in. “What if you’ve been going about this all wrong? What if you pull the ultimate prank?”

I lift an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“You’re assuming that torturing her will make her confess. What if you flip the script entirely? Be nice to her instead.”

“How is that going to make her want to give back his ring?” Smith asks.

“She was attracted to you the night you met. She wanted you. You can use that to your advantage.”

Dan shakes his head. “With the way things are between them now, I doubt she feels anything for him other than wanting to chop his dick off.”

I scratch the scruff on my chin, attempting to see things from Shaun’s point of view. “What are you suggesting I do?”

“Treat her like you’re trying to get in her pants. Send her flowers. Apologize. Tell her you’ve taken things too far and you’d like to start fresh. Charm the pants off of her. Literally or figuratively.”

“Again I ask: How is this going to make her confess to stealing the ring?” Smith asks.

“Once a girl lets you in, once she trusts you, her conscience will eat away at her. Eventually, she’ll feel so guilty that she’ll have to confess. Think about it. Is someone going to open up to a jerk who’s bullying her every day, or will she open up to someone she has feelings for?”

I cross my arms over my chest. “So you’re saying you want me to fake woo her.”

“And who knows?” Shaun grins. “Maybe you’ll even get laid because of it.”

“Or maybe he’ll have a sexual harassment case against him,” Smith says. “You work with her, Jax. This is risky.”

“The man wants his deceased grandmother’s ring back,” Shaun says. “I say it’s worth the risk.”

Is it?

Days Left Until Summer Break: 152

Raegan

“Who’s it from?” Sammi whispers.

“I don’t know,” I whisper back.

“Go check.”

“You go check.”

“You should see what the card says,” Mary whispers.

“What are you crazy bitches doing on the floor?” Kerry’s booming voice jolts me and the girls to an upright position.

I clutch my chest. “Jesus. You scared the crap out of us.”

“You almost just had more shit on your floor,” Mary says.

Kerry looks around my classroom until her eyes land on the object in question. “Who sent you flowers, Rae?”