Ronnie eyed her. “Jaz?”
Now it all made sense. The weight of the knowledge crushed her. Her lungs gasped for air.
“Jaz? Are you okay?”
She blinked and looked up at the startled boy's face. It wasn't his fault. She forced a smile. It wasn't very convincing but his face softened a little. “He has it on his ring,” she said, her voice hollow.
It didn't sound like a question but Ronnie bobbed his head in reply anyway. “All the Pack Leaders do,” he added, still watching her with questioning eyes.
She closed hers and opened them again. She didn't need to ask because she knew what the answer would be. Still the words escaped her mouth as if they had a mind of their own. “Nik and Driver are the same person? Driver is...the Pack Leader?”
The look on Ronnie's face was enough. He mumbled, “His last name is Driver.”
She felt like she'd been stabbed in the back.
“Please don't tell anyone I told you.”
She snapped her head up at his words.
“We weren't supposed to tell you.”
“Who? Skye, Edda, you?”
“... Everyone.”
Jaz felt another stab in her back. The knife kept on coming, gouging holes in her flesh, digging in deeper. Just when she had started to allow herself to trust in people again, her confidence was now shattered. “Did he tell you all not to?” Her voice was a ghost of its former self.
Ronnie gazed at her carefully for a moment and then replied, “Yes.”
*
12:34 p.m.
She worked hard for the rest of the day, trying to keep her mind off of anything but the planks of wood, the digging, the carrying, whatever she was asked to do.
She didn't think this day could get any worse.
“Watch it, Weakling!” came a sharp, high voice from behind her.
Jaz had been carrying a heavy plank when she'd nearly walked back into a pretty, dark-haired girl with a cruel face. Fraya, a voice in her head snarled.
Every day that week Jaz had been forced to work alongside her. The only day she hadn't been on the same shift as Fraya was the very first day. After that Fraya had been exactly what Skye had said: 'A nasty piece of work.'
Fraya kept teasing Jaz, mocking her lack of strength, her clumsiness, her slowness, how easily she got tired. 'Weakling' was her favourite nickname for her. Though there were much more unpleasant names she could have chosen, the way she said it was so patronizing and felt like sharp nails down Jaz's spine.
Jaz had endured it. Ignoring her and smiling it off, being polite and at times sarcastic because that was what she was good at. All those techniques were her shield. She had learned from experience that bullies wanted a reaction from you, so her best protection was to do the exact opposite. It would seriously drive them up the wall but eventually they'd get bored and give up.
The worst thing she could do was show how much it got to her.
Ever since her nemesis Bethany from school had caused her so much grief that Jaz had once cried in front of her, the complete humiliation of that day had taught her a valuable lesson: appear like stone and no one could touch you. They could chuck you around but you'd never break, at least not when you were in front of them. Plenty of time to cry it out later when you were alone.
“Sorry, I didn't see you,” Jaz said.
Alf, who was holding the other end of the plank, glanced from one girl to the other, not liking where this was going. He knew how Fraya could be.
“Clearly! What is it with you? Did you forget your brain this morning or don't you even have one!”
Jaz clenched her jaw. Keep calm, ignore it. But instead, she ignored her own brain. She bent her knees and dropped her side of the plank. “Wow, I'm surprised that you were even able to form such a long sentence. Did it hurt your head?” she remarked sardonically.
Fraya glowered at her. Jaz was too angry to feel scared though Fraya was an intimidating woman.
“Keep it up, and it's your head that'll be hurting!” Fraya barked.
Jaz smiled. “So you admit it?”
Fraya frowned, confused.
Jaz helped her out. “Your head hurts, huh?”
Fraya made a face so menacing Jaz's smile dissolved. She watched Fraya with cautious but defiant eyes.
The raven-haired pit bull was several inches taller than her, with the graceful movement and figure of a model. But there was nothing nice and graceful about her personality.
“Watch your mouth, Weakling. I could snap you like a twig.” With that, Fraya turned on her three inch wedge heels and stormed off.
Jaz thought it couldn't possibly get any worse than this, then severely regretted it when in that moment, the heavens opened and the sky pelted down with rain. It penetrated easily through the wider opening of trees, soaking the wooden planks, cement and bricks. Everyone rushed to cover the wood with plastic sheeting.
The main building had a temporary cover for a roof so with Carr ordering them as he helped, everyone heaved the thirty-odd, long planks of wood into the building. The ground became sludgy, causing Jaz to slip often.