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My clothes smelled like Mason, like cedar and a hint of something spicy, but I didn’t even bother to change as I stumbled into my bedroom, exhaustion finally dragging me toward sleep. I crawled under the covers and pulled them up to my ears, letting darkness pull me under.
Money problems
Mom committed suicide
Mason found her body
I stared at the last sentence as I finished writing it under Mason’s name in my little notebook. The final word trailed off until it was almost illegible as the press of my pen lightened.
Those two lines weren’t just dirt on Mason and his family, knowledge that could be used against him. They were the reason for this whole thing, the flash point for the Princes’ attacks on me in the first place.
Not an excuse, not a justification.
But a reason.
At least now I knew.
Tearing my gaze away from the page, I flipped the notebook closed and slid the elastic band into place. I hadn’t slept nearly enough, and I’d been tempted to ditch my morning classes. But as soon as my alarm had gone off at seven, I’d found myself wide awake—and the last thing I wanted to do was lie in bed thinking.
I checked my phone between classes, and after third period, there was a message from the hospital telling me Philip was improving and that he was awake. It was such a relief I felt giddy.
Leah and Maggie both asked me what was wrong at lunch, and Dan seemed to realize after they said something what a bedraggled mess I was, because he added, “Yeah. You okay?”
I told them briefly what had happened, and Maggie’s eyes widened. “Shit. That’s scary.”
“Yeah. It was. Is. Shit’s still messed up with my family, but he’s all I really have left. And he’s been trying.”
“Well, then he’s gotta get better. He knows he has a reason to keep fighting. That makes a huge difference, really.”
I nodded, hoping she was right. “The doctor said—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Maggie and Dan, who were on the opposite side of the table, glanced over my shoulder. But even without that clue, I would’ve known someone was behind me. I could feel it.
I had a sudden awful flashback of the previous year, of my first day in the dining hall, when Mason and the rest of the Princes had refused to let me sit at any table, telling me there was no place in the school for Idaho trash. My nerve endings pricked as I turned around slowly, squeezing my bruised hand into a fist, already preparing my weapons and defenses.
The Princes stood in a line, shoulder to shoulder. Cole’s face was blank, his ice-blue eyes impassive, and Mason looked like he’d slept even less than I had. The bruises on his face were fading, more brown and yellow than purple now. Elijah’s bruises were fading too, although the streak of black below his right eye was still pretty noticeable. Finn stood closest to me, his broad shoulders filling out the blue Oak Park blazer like they might rip the seams at any moment.
“Yeah? What do you want?” Leah’s voice was challenging, and I loved that whatever stage of repair our friendship was at, it’d reached the point where she would sass the Princes.
“Just wanted to make sure Talia was okay.” Finn raised his eyebrows at me, his honey-brown eyes flashing hopefully. “Did you hear from the hospital yet?”
I could practically feel Leah, Maggie, and Dan exchanging glances behind me, and I realized several kids at the surrounding tables were watching our exchange with interest. The Princes had declared war on me and then called it off, but ever since then—publicly, at least—they’d pretty much ignored me. I was sure their sudden renewed interest in me would be the subject of gossip and speculation, and that not everyone would like it. Adena didn’t have the same lunch period as us, but she would definitely hear about this.
“Yeah. I just missed a call from them. Philip’s doing better.”
“Good.” Elijah narrowed his eyes at me slightly. “Are you okay?”
I hadn’t talked to him since the fight, since after the fight, and I could see the concern in his gaze. I felt a little shitty for sneaking out on him in the middle of the night, and I wondered if he was asking about more than the stuff with my grandpa.
“Yeah. I am.”
“What time do you want to head over to the hospital? We can go after lunch if you want,” Finn offered, and this time, I heard Leah’s squeak.
Fuck. She was going to think I’d fallen for their bullshit all over again.
And maybe I had. Maybe everything they’d done this semester was just one huge setup, and I was walking blindly toward a cliff with a thousand-foot drop-off.
But at least this time I wasn’t helpless. I had an arsenal of my own.
