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Don’t lie. You still had some doubts about him, small and quiet as they were. But you believed everything he said and slept with him anyway. You told him about the video, too. You brought all of this uponyourself.
After sobbing for what felt like an eternity, I drew in a long, harsh breath and opened my eyes. All of the Medusa girls were gathered around the table now, whispering amongst themselves. I could hear most of what they were saying. They were discussing what had happened to me and how horrible it was that someone could do something so ruthlessly cruel, especially considering the contents of the video and what it meant about my past. They were also saying that it had to be the work of someone who truly despised me and wanted me gone from RFA as soon aspossible.
When they saw me looking up at them, one of them smiled gently and gestured to a box of tissues that someone had slid in front ofme.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured, wiping my face. “You’re probably going to miss your first classes because ofme.”
Camila shook her head. “Don’t worry. We have an arrangement with Sanders, so we won’t get in trouble for skipping anything. One of the many perks of being a Medusagirl.”
“Oh.”
She leaned over and patted my hand. “Trust me, it’s fine. You can take your time. You can even scream your head off, if you want. No judgmenthere.”
A fat teardrop rolled down my cheek, and I slowly shook my head, shoulders slumping. “I just don’t understand why Hunter would do this to me,” I said in a raggedwhisper.
Kiri snorted as she played with my phone. “I do,” she said, glancing upward. “We all know what he’s like. His friends, too. They think they own the world because they’re hot andrich.”
“But they’re threatened by girls like you,” Camilaadded.
“Threatened?” I gawked at her. “Byme?”
“Think about it,” she said smoothly. “Assholes like them feel entitled to everything. They expect everyone else to bow down to them and stay in the place they’ve deemed fit for them. But you refused to dothat.”
“You refused to quit after Hunter blacklisted you,” Kiri interjected. “Instead you kept your head held high and stayed at RFA, even after all the horrible shit everyone did toyou.”
Camila nodded. “Exactly. You showed him how much strength you have, and he couldn’t stand it because it made him look weak to all of his minions. So he wanted to strip your power. Put you back in your place, so to speak. All so he can feel like a big managain.”
“But it doesn’t make sense,” I said. “We sorted out all of our issues, and he took me off the blacklist yesterday and told the whole school to leave me alone. Why would he do that if he still hatedme?”
Kiri pressed her lips into a thin line. “It actually makes perfectsense.”
“How?”
“He wanted to fuck with you really badly. So he lulled you into a false sense of security. Pretended you were fine and made that big announcement yesterday. Then he struck, knowing it would utterly blindside you,” she said. She cocked her head to one side. “And it did, didn’t it? You never saw itcoming.”
I dabbed at my face with another tissue. “I guess that makes sense,” I muttered. “I just… I can’t believe ithappened.”
“Believe it,” she said grimly. “This is what rich, heartless pricks do, and even when you think they’ve hurt you enough, they keep going. So trust me on this—don’t fall for anything he says to you everagain.”
“She’s right. He’ll try to apologize and worm his way back in,” Camila added, leaning forward. “Just so he can hurt you again, even worse next time. You can’t let him do that. Do youunderstand?”
“Yes,” I said in a small voice, desperately wishing my body could catch up with my mind. I knew Hunter was bad for me, but my core still ached with need every time I thought of him, and my heart still beat faster every time I pictured hisface.
“On that note,” Kiri said, sliding my phone back over to me. “I’m done withthis.”
I picked it up, brows knitting. “What did you do toit?”
Her eyes crinkled around the corners as she flashed me a crafty smile. “I blocked his number from calling or texting. I blocked him from every app and email account, too. Also, in case he tries messaging or calling from a friend’s phone to get around the blocks, I’ve set it up so that any calls or texts from unsaved numbers will be automatically forwarded to your friend Trina. That way, she can just delete it all for you from her phone, and you never have to see any of it. I texted her to let her know,too.”
“Thankyou.”
“I know it seems like overkill, but I honestly think he’ll try to weasel his way out of responsibility for this,” she said. “Guys like him alwaysdo.”
Camila nodded. “Definitely. You saw him back there, Laney. Calling out your name and acting like he was totally innocent in the whole thing. He’s already trying to get back on your good side so he can mess with youagain.”
“That’s how arrogant he is,” Kiri cut in. “He thinks he hasthatmuch power over you. But hedoesn’t.”
“I know.” I swallowed thickly, wishing I believed my ownwords.
