جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 40

The hallway after class was a total zoo, but Britney somehow managed to cut right through the noise like a ghost. She glided over to where Allie and I were standing by the lockers, holding her hand out with this creepy, beauty-pageant composure. “I am Britney, the new girl,” she said, her voice dripping with fake sugar. Allie didn't even take her hand. She just crossed her arms and let out a dry, ruthless laugh. “I know who you are. Literally everyone knows.” Britney didn't lose her cool, though. She just tilted her head, her eyes sweeping over Allie’s outfit like she was inspecting merchandise. “I love your style, by the way. You can be my friend.” Allie blinked, looking at her like she’d just spoken in alien. “I can be your friend? How pathetic of you to think I want to be your friend.” Britney’s sweet smile flickered for a fraction of a second, her eyes cutting sideways toward me. “So you’d rather be friends with someone as lame as her?” She literally pointed a manicured fing

The silence in the room was so thick you could hear the ice melting in Britney’s glass.Justin turned his head slowly, looking at me with this cautious, ready-to-move look, clearly waiting for me to stand up and bolt for the elevator. Carter looked like he was about to faint right onto his high-end hardwood floor. His skin was gray, his mouth hanging open like he’d just been hit by a freight train.And Britney? She just sat there, leaning over the glass table, her glossy lips pulled into this toxic little victory smirk. She really thought she’d just landed the killing blow. She thought I was going to burst into tears, drop my notebook, and run down the hall so she could have Carter all to herself again.Honestly? For about two seconds, my heart did this sick, violent drop into my stomach. The image of Carter texting her, of those videos sitting on some cloud server, made me want to jump out the window.But then I looked at her. Really looked at her. Sitting there in

Justin didn’t say a word. He just hit the master lock switch on his door panel, leaned across the console, and slammed his thumb onto the window control. The glass didn’t just roll up—it zipped. Carter’s bloody fingers got caught in the two-inch gap for half a second, the rubber seals pinching his knuckles before he yanked his hand back with a choked curse. Justin threw the shifter straight into reverse. The tires shrieked against the slick, sealed concrete, making my teeth ache as we shot backward out of the space. Carter was left standing under the buzzing yellow fluorescent light, completely soaked in sweat, his chest heaving like he’d just run five miles uphill. He reached for us one last time, but Justin cut the wheel, slammed the stick into drive, and stomped on the gas. The SUV lurched forward, roaring up the spiral ramp and bursting out into the freezing city rain. The second the tires hit the wet pavement, the noise of the street slammed into us, but inside the cab... dea

My phone vibrated so hard against my chest it almost fell right off my hand. Carter’s texts didn’t come through as one long, groveling apology. They popped onto the dark screen in fast bursts, throwing up one notification after another before I could even read the first line properly. WTF is Justin doing there? Are you at his place rn?? Britney is a dead woman. I swear to God I’m going to ruin her. Clara answer me. Are we done or not? The midterm paper for Vance is due Thursday. Not even a fake "sorry I humiliated you on that tape." Just straight panic about his grades. I actually laughed out loud in the dark room. It was a dry, ugly noise that bounced off Justin’s plain walls. I typed back, my thumbs flying across the screen. I’m at Justin’s because he grabbed me out of the mess you made at Britney’s house during study group. But I still need my tuition paid. So here are the new rules. I watched those three little gray dots bounce at the bottom of the screen. He was stuck. He kn

The noise inside the humanities building cafeteria was completely out of control around noon. Squeaking sneakers, plastic trays slamming onto tables, and three hundred people all talking over each other made it almost impossible to hear anything unless you were leaning right across the table. I sat across from Allie at our usual corner table in the cafeteria, pushing a piece of soggy broccoli around my plate. “He sent it,” I said, keeping my voice down so the group of freshmen at the next table couldn't hear. “All four hundred dollars. Right into my account before Vance even finished taking attendance.” Allie took a bite of her sandwich and looked at me, chewing slowly. “No way. Seriously? He actually didn't try to haggle with you or anything?” “Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “Not even a single word. He just tapped his app and paid the full amount. I literally watched the notification pop up on my lock screen while Vance was still blabbering on about syllabus policies.” “Damn,”