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"How long's this been going on?" Lance sets his breakfast plate down next to me. I know he wasn't here when Ashton and I were looking over her ideas, so he learned about it from ...
"I had to tell him about the room," Brendan defends just as my thoughts point to him. "I need his help to clean it up after class." I glower at him.
"I should know about these things anyway." Lance sounds offended that he's been excluded.
"Me too!" Ashton pipes in as a second thought.
"Why?" I ask.
They look at each other, then at Brendan, who shrugs.
"Why does Brendan get to know?" Lance demands. "I'm the one who's supposed to be protecting you."
"Wow, someone's taking their chaperoning duties a little too seriously," Brendan grumbles, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.
"Because Brendan seems to be around every time it happens. Maybe because he's the one doing it. I haven't decided yet."
Ashton and Lance stare at Brendan. He laughs like I'm joking.
"How many times has this happened?" Lance questions again. "And who has it out for you?"
I roll my eyes and choose my words carefully. "If I knew, my room wouldn't look like someone took an ax to it."
"But how did they gain access without your phone?" Ashton asks. "There aren't many girls in the dorm right now."
"It's not hard," Brendan chimes in, earning him another round of suspicious glares. He holds up his hands in defense. "I'm just trying to help."
"Or throw the suspicion off yourself!" Lance accuses emphatically, his raised voice gaining a few curious glances from surrounding tables. He leans in and asks quieter, "Did you sell access to anyone?"
"What does that mean?" I ask, staring Brendan down too.
"Who do you think I got your phone from?" Lance informs me, nodding toward Brendan.
"No wonder I can't access anything," I complain.
"Except the map app. Didn't want you getting lost." He winks. Then thinks better of it. "But you did anyway."
"What?" Ashton asks, looking between us. "What's been going on between you two?"
"Ew!" I cringe in disgust. "Not anything you should be worried about." I violently shiver.
"No need for the dramatics," Brendan scolds. "I've been trying to help her figure out who's been leaving her messages ... on her wall. That's all."
It's a good thing he doesn't have an issue lying because I'm having a hard time staying close to the truth without revealing too much.
"I have to get to class," I announce, standing up.
Ashton looks at her phone. "Yeah, we all do." No one remarks on the fact that Brendan doesn't have a class right now.
When we split up in the courtyard, Brendan walks with me.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Lance demands when he notices.
"Walking Lana to class," he tells him with a cocky smile. "Someone has to protect her." Lance glares and flips him off. I elbow him in the ribs. "Ow!"
"Knock it off," I sneer. "Antagonizing him is only going to make him more suspicious, or want to punch you in the face. Come to think of it, I want to punch you in the face! You were not helpful in there!"
"I've been thinking that maybe we should let them in on some of it," he offers quietly. "More sets of eyes may be better. Ashton's room is right down the hall from you. If she's paying attention, she may notice someone that doesn't belong, because I'm not convinced it's a student, or at least not one at Blackwood."
