I'm not sure when I fell asleep, or for how long I slept.

When I wake up though, Alex has a donut in his mouth, and he's on the phone.

I'm leaning against the window, my cheek smushed as I sit up. I blearily open my eyes, yawning.

"Oh, Quinn, I have to go. I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Alright. Drive safe, Al."

"Bye, Q." He hangs up and looks over at me. "Good morning sleepyhead. I bought snacks. And drinks. We're almost home." He turns up the radio. "How was your nap?"

I blink repeatedly. "Uh, fine." I tap the window three times. "Where are we?"

He pulls into the parking lot of a large brick building with shiny windows and sleek cars and pristine lawns.

"We're at the academy, Ror." He parks the car and gets out. He comes to my side and opens my door for me, offering me his hand, smiling when I take it. "Come on. I'll go get the twins. You can-"

"Where's Nathan?" I cut him off. I feel my eyes burn right after, bile rising in my throat as I brace myself for the punch that's bound to follow.

I open my eyes after a minute of no reaction, lowering my arms from where they were covering my face protectively.

Alex is watching me, his expression unreadable.

"He's on the run. The police are working on tracking him down. Did he ever hit you, Aurora?"

I flinch at the question. "No."

He doesn't respond. He takes my hand again and leads me into the building.

We head down several hallways and make so many turns I'm beginning to get dizzy by the time we arrive at the office.

"Mr. Rizzo!" The secretary stands. "Should I call for the twins?"

Alex nods briskly. "Yes. And I'll be taking them home, Miss... Garland, was it?"

She gives him a tight-lipped smile, clearly biting back her frustration. "Garcia, Mr. Rizzo. Mrs. Garcia."

"Of course." He gives her a falsely sympathetic look. "My apologies."

She picks up a phone and hits a button, holding it up to her ear. "Emilio and Elias Rizzo are being checked out. Please send them down." She hangs up and sits down.

I'm wandering the office area in awe, staring up at the walls and decorations.

The walls reach way above my head, and railings line the hallways to prevent students from falling.

I carefully remove a photo from the wall, turning it over to read the name on the back.

"Minta Samm Hermanez."

Alex glances over. "Aurora Minta. She insisted on giving you her name somewhere in there."

"Why is it on the wall?"

"Don't touch that," the secretary snaps. "Minta was a very important student to this school, she helped found it."

"Her family did," Alex corrects calmly, but his eyes flash warningly. "My mother did nothing for this school."

The secretary doesn't respond, but it's clear she and Alex have had this conversation before.

I tune them out, focusing on the photo in my hands.

My mom looks young in it, her hair in some elaborate braid that I couldn't do even if I tried. She has a uniform on: a white button-up shirt, a black pleated skirt, and a blue tie. She's smiling in the photo.

I haven't seen her smile since Nathan.

She looks around seventeen in the photo, her eyes shining as she poses for the picture.

A moment in time, immortalized on a wall in some fancy school my family founded that I had no idea about.

A moment in time, long before Nathan walked into our home one day in a repair man uniform, charming my mom with his personality and me with toys.

A moment in time, long before my mom realized it was too late to escape, and the only way to survive was to do as Nathan said.

A boy walks up behind me and grabs the photo from my hands. "She doesn't deserve a place on the wall."

He tosses the frame on the ground and it shatters. I squat down and carefully extract the photo from the broken glass, slipping it into my pocket.

"Emilio!" Mrs. Garcia sounds horrified. "That is destruction of school property!"

"I don't care," he scoffs.

Alex's expression is unreadable. "Let's go."

Another boy walks up, grabbing the frame and handing it to Mrs. Garcia before jogging to catch up with Alex and the first boy.

I trail behind them, staring at the photo of my mom.

Alex stops. "Emilio, Elias, where are your backpacks?"

They exchange looks before running off.

I look up at Alex. "Can I go wait in the car?"

He nods and hands me the keys.

I all but run from the school.