LOGINLENA’S POV "Didn't I tell you not to come in?" A tense, agitated male voice came through the video. "You're a student, for crying out loud. You're going to get me fired. Do you have any idea what could happen if—"Nicole slapped a hand over my mouth before I could react, loudly whispering, "Shut up! The video's started!"I nodded frantically against her palm, my eyes glued to the laptop screen.The footage was shaky and disorienting at first. It looked like whoever was recording had the phone or camera hidden in a bag or pocket, because the screen kept flashing with different colored lights and distorted images I couldn't make out. Weird colours blurred together, while shapes moved in and out of focus. And then everything went pitch black.But the voices were still coming through crystal clear."I'm not just some ditzy high school girl, you know. I’m Allison, queen of Westbrook High." Allison's voice cut through the darkness, full of pride and rage.She huffed, tapping one heel impa
Jace's POV"Mom? Mom, where are you?"Why the hell is the house so empty?I knocked on different doors as I walked through the mansion, calling out while clutching a box of chocolates in one hand and a bouquet of white roses in the other. I was talking to myself out loud like a crazy person, rehearsing what I needed to say."You can do this." Deep breath. "You can definitely do this." Deep breath. Pace. Grit teeth."Yeah, she completely fucked you over and picked your psycho cousin over you," I muttered under my breath, "but you can't let any of that shit show up on your face when you talk to her. Why? Well, because Lena needs help. That means you’re going to fucking smile, you’re going to be nice, and ask for the goddamn favor.”Fuck. I really didn’t want to do this. It felt too much like going back to my own vomit, having to beg them for help. And I absolutely never would’ve even considered it if it wasn’t for her sake.Everything I did was always, always for her sake. So she would
Nicole pulled out her laptop—a silver MacBook covered in dark stickers with band names I didn't recognize—and booted it up.The screen cast a blue glow across her pale face as she inserted the SD card into the side slot and waited for it to load.I sat there in tense silence, my hands clasped in my lap, watching the loading icon spin on the screen.My heart was beating faster with each passing second. What if the videos showed something worse than the photos? What if they showed nothing useful at all?"Wait," Nicole said suddenly, her eyes narrowing at the screen. "Is this the number you were talking about? The one in the document?"I scrambled closer, practically climbing over the center console to see the laptop screen better. "Yeah, that's it. Why?"Nicole had apparently already opened all the files and was now staring at the Word document with the phone number.Her expression had shifted from annoyed skepticism to something more serious. More troubled."I know that number," she sa
"I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this," Nicole muttered, her voice dripping with reluctance as she slumped back against the booth."This is insane. You're insane. I'm insane for even entertaining this bullshit."She held out her hand impatiently, palm up. "Pass the thing over. My laptop's in Jake's car."Relief flooded through me so intensely I felt dizzy. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Nicole. I know you don't owe me anything, and I know you're still mad at me, but I promise—""Save it." Nicole cut me off with a sharp gesture. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this because if there's even a tiny chance that Allison framed you, then she needs to be exposed. That's it. Don't read anything else into it."I carefully pulled the SD card from my pocket—the evidence I'd literally cut open a thirty-thousand-dollar bag to obtain—and placed it in Nicole's outstretched hand.She examined it briefly, holding it up to the light like it might reveal its secrets, then closed her f
"Nicole, come on. You know his phone password—and it's your middle name, not some random number. You guys know each other's parents. You finish each other's sentences. You say you hate him and that he's annoying, but you light up every time he walks into a room.""Shut up" Nicole hissed, narrowing her eyes at me."I see how you look at him when he talks about other girls. You two aren't 'just friends.'" I used air quotes to emphasize my point. "And how would you know?" Nicole shot back, her eyes glistening with what might have been tears or might have been pure rage. "What the hell would you know about real friendship, huh? After lying to my face for months? After using us?"She was on a roll now, her voice getting louder, drawing curious looks from the few other customers in the restaurant. "You told me all that stuff about being bullied—about Allison nearly putting you six feet under, about the names they called you, about how isolated and alone you felt—and I believed you. I felt
"Nicole! Oh my God, I'm so glad you came."I tried to run up to her, to pull her into a hug the way we used to do, but Nicole just glared at me with such venom in her eyes that I stopped dead in my tracks."Get the hell away from me, you fucking traitor," she spat.I'd spent the past hour or so at Marco's pizza restaurant, sitting in our usual booth by the window, twiddling my thumbs anxiously and checking my phone every thirty seconds while I waited for Nicole to show up. TThe lunch rush had died down, leaving the place mostly empty except for a few stragglers and the smell of garlic bread hanging heavy in the air.Marco himself wasn't there, but every so often, Marco's new employee, Susan, at least according to her name tag, would swing by with a forced customer-service smile and ask, "Hey, are you sure you don't want to order anything? Maybe some soda? A slice?"And every time, I'd give her the same apologetic answer: "I'm sorry, I'm expecting someone. She'll be here soon." Even
The girls laughed harder, while Alison beamed like she'd just won an award and the guys the whole school cheered for during games, the guys everyone worshipped just watched.Some of them smirked and some pulled out their own phones."Wait," one of them said, I think his name was Marcus. "Isn't that
You know that feeling of staring longingly at something inches away from touching or reaching out to…. but can’t get..?That’s how I felt watching the cheerleading team practice. You might wonder why I couldn’t join them or what was holding me back….well a lot.For starters I obviously didn’t fit i
Jace's POVWe lost the fucking game.Now, Coach was screaming at me, the team captain who’d royally fucked up, and I stood there with my helmet under my arm and took every word with my mouth shut because what the fuck was I going to say.That I couldn’t see the field, because every time I’d lined u
"Miss Hartwell.”Nothing.“Miss Hartwell.”Still nothing.“Lena!”I opened my eyes.Coach Miller was peering down at me curiously.I fell asleep. In the middle of class. Impossible.In my defence, I had been awake until three. Cross-referencing Martin’s therapy notes with books on autism I download







