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“Is it true?” Mateo asked, walking up to my locker between fourth period and lunch.
“Is what true?” I asked, shoving my books in.
Mateo stepped forward and lowered his voice. “You know, about Blaise?”
“No, of course it’s not true,” I said, slamming my locker and following him toward the cafeteria. “You know that he would never do something like that. He has basically been hanging out with us all weekend anyway.”
Mateo frowned and stared at the ground. “I know. It’s just … everyone’s talking about it.”
“Who?” I asked, stepping into the cafeteria. Fury raced through me.
Fuck that. I wasn’t stupid. I had been hearing the rumors all day. Since the moment I’d stepped into school, all I’d heard were the whisperings about Blaise running through every single classroom.
I stopped at the doors and listened toeveryonequietly chatting about Skylar and Blaise—some people thought he had done it and some people thought that there was no fucking way. Some people went as far as to say he had done it but would get out of it because of his money.
Maybe he could.
Rumors flew around Redwood Academy faster than anywhere. And I hated them so much. All I wanted to do was prove that he hadn’t done it, convince everyone that this wasn’t his fault. Blaise couldn’t do something like that. It wasn’t like him.
Once Mateo sat down with his friends, I found my way toward my table with Maddie and Piper, who still looked sick. Her cheeks were pale, and her eyes seemed so tired. I slumped down in the seat across from her.
“You okay?” she asked, trying to smile.
I pressed my lips together and stared down at the table. It was rude not to answer her, but I couldn’t stop listening to the constant rumors rushing through my head. All these people believed one simple lie.
I wondered who the fuck had started the rumor that he had done it anyway.
Probably one of Skylar’s friends.
“Vera?” Piper asked, leaning forward. “Are you—”
“Excuse me!” one of the rich, popular girls shouted, gathering the attention from every student in the cafeteria. She stood up next to some of Skylar’s friends and pursed her lips. “We all know what happened. Skylar has passed on, and she is going to get justice. The police are interrogating Redwood’s own Blaise Harleen.”
I balled my hands into fists and glared harder at the table. The fuck was wrong with these girls? They didn’t even know who had done it.
“He will be—”
“He didn’t do it!” I shouted, slamming my hands onto the table and standing.
I didn’t know what had come over me, but I couldn’t shut myself up.
Everyone stared at me, including a couple of teachers overseeing the lunch period. I swallowed hard and stared at the student body, desperately wanting them to believe me. Blaise was innocent.
“How do you know?” one of Skylar’s friends asked.
My heart pounded against my rib cage, the nerves building up higher inside me. All the curious eyes and prying ears were on me, waiting for me to say something, to admit the truth, to give Redwood more gossip.
To my surprise, Nicole—head cheerleader and police chief’s daughter—placed a hand on Skylar’s friend’s shoulder and gently squeezed it. “We don’t know the full story,” she said quietly, very unlike her.
“Vera,” Maddie whispered, nudging me from behind, “why don’t you sit down?”
“No,” I snapped.
I didn’t want the school to judge me for being with Blaise, but that wasn’t as important to me as making sure Redwood Academy didn’t blame him for something he would never even be capable of doing.
Another of Skylar’s friends stood up and crossed her arms. “How do you know he didn’t do it? He had been pissed off at her for weeks now. He wouldn’t talk to her in public, and he hasn’t been out in Redwood lately.”
“That’s because he’s been with me,” I announced to the entire student body, spilling the one secret I had wanted to keep until at least the end of the school year. “He was at the library with me on Saturday night, and we went out for milkshakes with me on Sunday. Blaise Harleen is innocent.”
