Hessa

The days and weeks flew by, highlighted by nights with Kai, my days dominated with the Care Dare program and talks of bringing it back. The newspaper article did exactly what Kai hoped it would. Concerned parents petitioned the school board to reinstate it and it looked like they would. We'd find out for sure when they met at the end of the calendar year to discuss the curriculum for next school year.

Seniors were starting their Care Dares and every single one was closely monitored by me and executed safely. I gave the information Bailey had found for me over to Jack, without explaining where I'd found it. He didn't like that much at all, but finally took the info saying he'd have to have his own guys find out who was behind the online dares through legal means if it was going to hold up in court.

Frankly, I was beginning to wonder if they'd ever arrest someone. The online dares seemed to stop and nothing else had happened. I was still planning to go through with my dare of singing in public though. I was determined to raise money for Gabe.

He'd come out of his medically induced coma and was recovering quite well. He was back at school, but seemed much more subdued after the accident. His mother had apologized to me when the newspaper article came out and it became apparent that neither I, nor the Care Dare program, was responsible for her son's hospital visit. She still had a huge bill however, and I was determined to help.

My sister came over quite a bit on the weekends and hung out with me like old times. I was already dropping the gut reaction of waiting for the other shoe to drop. She really did seem a changed woman, and for that, I was extremely grateful.

It was one Sunday afternoon, a week before my performance at Pacific City, when Rainna was lounging on my couch, entertaining Kai and I with stories of the crazy clients in her tattoo chair. I was sitting on Kai's lap in the recliner, savoring the feel of his hard body surrounding me. Our schedules didn't always aline well with his constantly changing shifts, but when we were together, we were seldom outside of touching distance from each other. If I'd been an outsider looking in, I would've been sickened by the sweetness of it all. As it was, I was addicted and falling for him. Hard.

"And then he just dropped trou and asked me to tattoo it on his dick! Can you believe that?" Rainna was gesturing wildly, totally engrossed in her story.

Kai winced, shifting below me, probably to hide his own appendage, frightened of a tattoo needle anywhere near it.

"Ewww...that's so gross!" I grimaced. "You didn't do it, did you?"

Rainna threw back her head and laughed. "No! Turns out, he doesn't like girls. I had to hand him off to Blaze for that one."

My jaw dropped. Blaze? If I remembered quickly, he was like six foot five and almost 300 pounds. "I don't get it."

Rainna started gesturing lewdly with her hands. "Well, to tattoo a dick, it has to be fully erect. I wasn't doing the trick, so Blaze...." She shrugged, trailing off and letting our imaginations complete the story.

I shuddered and Kai suppressed his mirth, his whole body shaking with the effort.

"Anyway, I have an idea for you two." Rainna clapped her hand, changing subjects so fast I was getting whiplash. My mind was still playing out the Blaze scenario like a train wreck you couldn't look away from.

"I'm not getting my dick tattooed. Sorry, Rainna," Kai deadpanned.

"No! Not your dick. That's for my sister's eyes only." Rainna winked at me. "I came across this kickass drawing of a ukulele. The wood grain of the instrument actually spells out Ku'uipo when you look closely at it." She paused for dramatic effect. "I thought you guys could get matching tattoos!"

She sat back, eyes glowing with excitement. She looked like she was going to explode, waiting to see our reaction.

I looked to Kai, who looked back at me. "I never really thought of getting a tattoo, to be perfectly honest."

"That's because you're perfect already, baby." Kai was looking at me with those hazel bedroom eyes. The ones I couldn't resist.

"Ahhh, that's funny coming from a freaking bronzed god." I nuzzled the side of his neck.

"Hello? Tattoo?" Rainna clapped her hands, startling me. "You guys are so gross. Pull it together would ya? I'm right here."

Without lifting my head from Kai's neck, I said, "You're whining dear sister. Weren't you just leaving?"

"Ugh!" She flounced out of the room. I kissed along Kai's neck, feeling his hand slide up my thigh and under my shorts. In the distance I heard Rainna yell, "I'll make appointments for you both next week!" Then my front door slammed, pulling me out of the sexual fog I was happily drowning in.

Kai stood up and carried me to my bedroom. "Don't worry, Ono, you don't need to get a tattoo, but I think I will. I want your name branded on me." He bounced me onto the bed and crawled up my body, pulling me back into the fog.

I was supposed to be putting the finishing touches on the songs I had to sing the following weekend, but in reality, I got very little done that afternoon.

During my last class of the day on Friday, I got a text from Jack asking me to call him as soon as I was able. The pit of my stomach clenched, wondering if another student had gotten targeted by the online daredevil who we thought had gone dormant. I was distracted the whole rest of class, forgetting to assign them homework over the weekend, to their delight. Before the last student cleared the doorway after the final bell rang, I had my phone out and was dialing Jack's office line.

"Jack Ramirez," he answered with a growl.

"Jack? It's Hessa Woodland." I tried to keep the warble out of my voice, but it snuck out, giving away my nervousness.

"Hessa. Thanks for calling me back." Jack's tone turned super friendly and I was able to take a deep breath. "We caught the guy!"

"Oh, thank God." I ran a hand through my hair, completely destroying my ponytail. "Did he say why?" I didn't care who it was, I just wanted to know why he'd endangered people's lives and targeted me in particular.

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. We've got him in an interrogation room right now and he says he'll only talk to you."

The sound of hundreds of high school students leaving school right outside my door faded away as his words echoed in my mind. Talk to me? What? Why?

"Hessa?" Jack's voice broke into my thoughts. "Listen, I know this probably sounds terrifying, but I'd be right there next to you in the room. A confession means this case would be a slam dunk. It would really help if you'd do this."

And that was exactly how I found myself sitting in a sterile interrogation room at the HB police station with Jack beside me and a disheveled young man sitting across the table, hands cuffed behind him. He was mid-twenties with dark hair that fell into his eyes every time he fidgeted. For the life of me, I couldn't place him. Couldn't figure out what any of this had to do with me.

Jack took the lead, just like he promised, pointing right in the guy's face. "So, I've got Ms. Woodland here. How about you quit wasting our time and tell us what happened?"

I'd never seen Jack with a criminal before and I never wanted to again. He was scary. Still hot, but totally scary.

The boy looked right at me and I could have sworn I saw sad, little boy eyes behind his obvious anger. "This is your fault!" he spat at me.

I jumped back, visibly shaken by his animosity toward me. "Wh-what do you mean?"

When he rolled his eyes, I knew I'd have to do better to get him to talk to me. I was the adult here. "Listen, I can see that you're very angry with me, but I don't even know who you are. I want to understand, so please explain it to me." I leaned forward, hoping he'd sense my sincerity.

He scoffed at me then leaned forward too. "You don't know who I am? That's hilarious. You ruined my life and you don't even know who I am?" He laughed, but the sound was dripping with rage.

Tears filled my eyes. I was no longer shaken by his behavior, just profoundly sad that he'd allowed his fury to rule his life. The kid clearly needed help.

His eyes widened when he saw tears welling up. "No. You do not get to cry. I'm the one who should be sad. You wanna know who I am? I was your student four years ago when you were learning the ropes of the Care Dare program. You let some sick fuck dare me to try out for the basketball team. He taunted me repeatedly, knowing I was too scared to actually go through with it. The whole team picked on me until I couldn't walk the halls at school without someone saying what a pussy I was for not even trying out!" He was out of control, spit flying out of his mouth as he shouted at me. "Your stupid little Care Dare program changed my life, and not for the better like you all tried to make it seem. I went to the school board and they said I had no case and they wouldn't shut the program down. I couldn't let you keep running it and hurting other kids."

He sat back, quite pleased with himself. He'd finally been able to release all the anger and shame he'd felt for four long years. And he'd done what he'd set out to do. The program was shut down and he'd shaken me to my core.

The tears spilled over and raced down my cheeks. I didn't bother to wipe them away. I figured I deserved them since I'd let this student down. If he was in my class four years ago, he must have been in my first class as the assistant to the prior English teacher that handled the program. That wasn't an excuse in any way, but it did open my eyes to the danger Kai had tried to warn me of. I wasn't sure how to make this right, but I knew he deserved an apology.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry the dare backfired. I'm sorry you were bullied and I never saw it. I'm sorry for every part I played." I wiped the tears away and became the teacher he should have had four years ago. "But here's the truth. Being mistreated doesn't give you an excuse to hurt other people. You hurt innocent people and mistreated them, just like you were mistreated. Do you see the irony there? You're going to go to jail for it."

He grunted in disgust, looking away from me.

I slapped my hand on the table. His head whipped back. "You have an opportunity to do things right this time. Do your time and then do better. As long as I see you trying to be a better person, I will be around to help you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

He paused, sizing me up.

"I'd take that generous offer, if I were you," Jack put his two cents in. "You won't get a better one."

The young man considered, then gave me a slight nod, accepting my offer. I nodded back, meaning every word I'd said. I'd visit while he served his time and I'd mentor him, help him get the skills he needed to cope with life in a more constructive way when he was out. I could only help as much as he'd let me, but help I would.

Jack and I left the room and went back to Jack's office. I slumped in the chair and Jack patted me on the shoulder. I guess that was the extent of consoling you could expect from a tough-guy cop.

"Go home to Kai, talk it out, and then let it go, Hessa. This was not your fault."

I sighed, feeling a weird mix of relief that the investigation was finally over, but also acutely sad that I'd played a part in this guy's twisted reality.

"Maybe it's a good thing the program's shut down after all." I hefted myself out of the chair, grabbed my bag and headed home to do just what Jack suggested.

Kai

I'd been working hard to keep Hessa from a full scale freak out over her fundraiser or the conclusion of her former student going to jail. We'd talked it through incessantly Friday night, along with all of the Beach Squad that I'd called in for reinforcements, and we'd finally gotten it through her head that it was unfortunate, but she bore no responsibility for his criminal actions. She could help him now if it made her feel better about 'failing' him as a teacher, but he had to shoulder the responsibility for everything else.

With that squared away in her mind, she turned her attention to the fundraiser for Gabe. The event had gotten a lot of press and we were expecting quite a turnout tonight at Pacific City. We'd gone through her playlist, making sure she had a few covers in there that everyone knew and could sing along with. She also planned to debut three songs that she'd written and composed herself. She was most nervous about those, but I'd heard her practice them and they were incredibly beautiful.

Her songs were very slow and sensual, which fit her voice perfectly. She had the kind of voice you could listen to over a glass of wine and candlelight. So pure and velvety.

I told her I'd meet her at the venue so she could get ready in peace and I could make sure all the equipment was set up how she wanted. When I got to the courtyard, I saw over a hundred white chairs set up facing a small curved stage. White twinkle lights were strung overhead which I thought would set the mood perfectly for her songs.

Fiona, the newspaper reporter, was supposed to be there as well to cover the fundraiser. I talked to my lifeguard buddy Dean the other day and he said Brinley had approached the professional DJ that worked the IVP volleyball circuit. She told him all about the fundraiser and Hessa's music. He said he'd stop by with some friends of his that were in the music business.

I didn't tell any of that to Hessa though. Her nerves were strung high enough without knowing reporters and music industry peeps would be there watching her. I'd been having to force-feed her all week. My girl loved food as much as I did, so I knew she was nervous when she turned down the dinner I made her the other night. I even tried to bribe her with ice cream. She only got down a bite for two before turning me down flat.

The thing is, I knew she'd shine. Hessa had this energy about her that everyone could feel. She was intelligent, funny, and so damn kind. She would bend over backwards to help someone in need. And on top of all that, she was an amazing artist. Her lyrics made you sit up and listen, connecting to the emotion that she poured into each verse.

There was no way she could fail tonight. She was that good.

Unless of course, she choked because of nerves.

Whatever it took, I would not allow that to happen. I'd stand up on the stage and make her look in my eyes the whole time she was singing. I'd pep talk her the whole time. I'd have her Squad form a protective circle around while she sang so she couldn't see the audience. Whatever. It. Took.