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It’s sweet and probably not meant to claim him, but no one would go up against Emma. She may not be queen bee, but she’s definitely ruling class at our school. She takes the lead over to the closed off section of the diner and grabs an empty table.

“What’s up, Eli?” she says as soon as I take the seat across from her.

“What do you know?” I lean back like I don’t have a care in the world, my body not showing the stress that consumes me.

She smirks and shakes her head. Her hair is pulled into two braids. “You need to know what’s going down. I get it.”

“Start with Sidney.”

Emma releases a breath and makes a cat that got the canary face that gives me all the information I need. Whatever happened to Sidney Brown is fucking gold to her ex-friend.

She leans her elbows on the table. “So, she didn’t technically get charged for anything on Friday night, but the video of her outburst went pretty viral in town Sunday morning. And once the news was leaked that they caught the guys who rioted through Homecoming and her boyfriend Zach was among them...” She gives a little shrug and grins. “The DEA showed up at Sidney’s house and talked with her mom and dad.”

Some of this I knew already, but I don’t say anything to stop Emma’s flow.

“Apparently, they wanted to drug test her.” She arches an eyebrow, waiting for my reaction.

“That seems like the logical next step given her performance lately.”

“You’re not wrong. Drugs would explain a lot.” Emma shakes her head and glances back at her table. “It also would let her come back to school. After she goes to rehab. At least two months.”

“Did she play the my boyfriend made me do it card?”

“Of course.” Emma laughs bitterly. “She’ll say everything was his fault to get away with it and not lose her scholarship and spot for college. If it gets her what she wants, she’ll play the victim.”

It’s the smartest move. Sidney isn’t stupid. She knows what she said and that the way she’s been acting was erratic and could be mistaken for drug addiction. Maybe it was all an act, so she’d have an excuse to get off without hurting her reputation. Especially losing control of us.

Not that she ever had control, but everyone knew Luke went to her mostly. In everyone else’s eyes, she had power over Luke. But she only had power over him if he wanted to do what she wanted. As long as the end results matched what Luke hoped to accomplish.

“Hey.” Emma picks at the sleeve of her sweater before looking up at me with worried eyes. “Have you heard from Ashley?”

I shake my head and wait. What does she know? I doubt Ashley let her in on our plan. Ashley doesn’t let anyone in.

“She disappeared after everyone got chased outside. She went to her car to get a sweatshirt, but I figured she just took off instead of sticking around. But she hasn’t returned my texts.” Emma bites her lower lip and leans in close. “What if they took her too and she’s trapped somewhere?”

I lean forward and shake my head. “I know where she is. If I have to, I’ll send someone, but I think she’s okay.”

Emma lets out a breath. “There’s a rumor that Zach had plans to take Olivia Miller after Homecoming. Girls are freaking out not knowing who else might be on his list. Angela Harris hasn’t been helping things. She’s telling anyone who will listen how she was chained up and they drugged everyone.”

Emma glances over my shoulder and I follow her gaze to Angela sitting at one of the tables. Luke is already up and walking toward her. Good. She’s a toucher, and I don’t know how I’d handle that today.

“Are you okay, Eli?”

I turn back to Emma at the soft tone in her voice.

She flinches at whatever look is on my face. “It’s just that you all went through something pretty big, and I know Jack was hurt. We all need some counseling after Saturday night.”

“I’m good.” It’s a lie.

She nods like she doesn’t believe me. “We’re on your side. I’m not just talking about Ashley, Hannah, and me, but all the girls. Whatever’s going down is fucked up. The attack in the locker room and then ruining Homecoming. I hope they got everyone involved last night, but if any of us hear anything, we’ll let you know.”

I take a breath in. Part of what’s made this hard is not knowing who we can trust. Not that I trust all the girls are one hundred percent on board, but having Emma and Hannah backing us up won’t be a bad thing.

“I can’t guarantee there aren’t still girls who may want you guys and make a play, but no one will go after Harper unless they want to go against us. I promise you that.” Emma stretches her hand out to me, but she doesn’t touch me. “You’ve all been through enough.”

I nod but don’t put a lot of stock in it. It will help to have them on our side, but we didn’t take down everyone who was willing to back Zach. Ethan might have been making money helping them, but the things he said to Harper meant he believed in the cause.

He wanted to take us down. Maybe the bravado will die without Zach and Tanner leading the charge. Maybe someone else will rise to take over. But not with the FBI and DEA crawling around.