Page 16 of We’re All Going to Die Tonight!

“They won’t,” I say. “They know better.”

Javi opens his mouth to reply but then closes it. I know he doesn’t agree with me. And maybe he’s right. Maybe someone will go there. But if they do, I’ll say what I always say whenever I’m asked about Warren Kane.

He fucking had it coming.

“Are we just about ready to start?” Emerson says, emerging from the kitchen swirling a glass in his hand like some shitty Temu James Bond. Of course he found alcohol and helped himself. I look around to see if Jay is watching, but he must still be upstairs, probably seeking the companionship of his vape and unlikely to actually call our bluff.

“Almost ready,” Caulder says, setting his last piece on top of the tower as Lucas does the same. This earns him a grin from Lucas, and they slap hands like old bros.

“I’ll go first,” Javi says, and something in me jolts. I know, of course, that Javi would never ask me to reveal something I didn’t want to share. He’d never embarrass me. He’s proven that. But still. When you date your ex’s friends—the literal catcher to their pitcher—you always wonder, just a bit, where those loyalties truly lie.

A flash of blood in my mind reminds me, though, that I already know.

Javi pulls the first piece out with ease. He scans the group before landing on Lucas.

“Lucas,” he says. “Truth or dare?”

I let out the tiniest breath, so small that no one would notice.

“Truth, obviously,” Lucas says, grinning. “You all know I’m an open book.”

Javi smirks. “Okay, well, that YouTuber you collabed with—what was his name? Keifer Dawson? Is it true that he’s a raging dick?”

“Ah, man.” Lucas laughs. “Unfortunately, super true. But you didn’t hear it from me.”

It’s a soft question, but it’s fine for an opener. It also sets the tone. Maybe everyone will keep it skimming the surface. But when Lucas pulls his piece successfully and turns to me, I can tell he has something juicier in mind.

“All right, Kaitlyn,” he says. “Truth or dare?”

“Hmm,” I say, leaning back and drumming my fingers on the leather. “Let’s go truth.”

“Let’s clear up some gossip,” he says. “Why’d Delaney really quit the volleyball team?”

I still. Judging by Lucas’s easy grin, he doesn’t realize that what he’s asked me isn’t just some fun rumor. He doesn’t know how deep it goes, and I have to make sure I don’t show it.

The truth is the last time I saw Delaney was mid-game, and her nose was bubbling over with blood as she sobbed, begging me to let her stay in. As if she wasn’t a liability. As if I was going to risk not qualifying for playoffs because I felt sorry for her.

“Please,” Delaney had begged. “C’mon, Kaitlyn. I need this. My dad’s here.”

She was hiccupping and imploring me with those big brown Delaney Reid eyes. Eyes that have been the end of many people at Coastal Canyon. Eyes that she’d tested on me, too, though she knew I don’t fuck with teammates.

“Support your team from the bench,” I’d told her. “Or don’t bother showing up to practice tomorrow.”

It was an easy out, the kind of out she barely deserved but I gave her because I felt sorry for her. And because I’d long ago taken up my mantle as a captain and wasn’t about to let it go then.

No weaknesses. No opportunities for weakness. We play for perfection.

Come Monday, though, Delaney had spun it that I cut her because I was jealous. That I’d had a crush on her and she’d rejected me.

If she’d stopped there, we wouldn’t have had a problem. I probably would’ve even let her back on the team, after the right amount of groveling.

But then I heard exactly what she’d said.

“She’s just like her sister,” I heard Delaney telling a few sophomores in the hall. “You know, Hadley Bendix? A few years ago, Hadley had this huge episode because her boyfriend dumped her. Crying in class, screaming in the halls. They had to hospitalize her. They’re not stable, those girls. The whole family’s extremely fucked in the head.”

Honestly, I could’ve done much, much worse things to Delaney. I could’ve ruined her life the way the entire fucking school had ruined Hadley’s with their lies and their bullshit. Instead, all I did was let it slip that she’d previously cheated on the girlfriend who had just taken her back. But the way I see it, if you’re going to spread rumors about me, don’t be fucking surprised when I hand them back to you.

If you ask me, I was goddamn merciful.