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Tara’s dressed more conservatively than I’ve ever seen her, in a pair of jeans and a black sweater that makes her body look shapeless. She hands the bottle off to one of the guys and starts walking my way.
There's a disinterested look on her face. Almost as if she isn't enjoying the party—or whatever the fuck this should be, because there’s no music. Truthfully, it just looks like an excuse to get high. I’m pretty sure the white powder on one of the tables isn’t candy sugar.
They’ve been here for a few hours now, so I can't be sure why she looks so glum. For all I know she probably looks like this because her plans have been foiled.
She’s the only other person who could have grassed up Alize.
Even though Tara has never struck me as a snake, she doesn’t exactly have a spotless reputation. She’s fucking one of the teachers here, after all. Her self-interest is most important to her.
When I think about it, someone like hercouldstand to gain something from betraying Alize—maybe she wants the money for whatever reason, or it’s some fucked up way of ensuring she stays closer to the top of the Hemlock House totem pole.
I can't be sure. But tonight, I'm going to find out.
She doesn’t know I'm lurking in the shadows encroaching on the pathway. And she's walking towards me without a care in the world. Just as she's close enough and out of the view of her classmates, I grab her and pull her into the forest cover with me.
Before she can scream, I stuff my hand over her mouth, pulling her deeper into the bushes. She falls over her legs, but it doesn’t stop her from thrashing wildly against my grip.
Fuck, this bitch is stronger than I expected.
Tara wrenches her body suddenly, whirling out of my grip and punches me in the nose. I recoil, pain blooming all over my face. She's got a fucking mean right hook,another surprise.
She's about to punch me again, when I hoarsely say, “Stop. It’s Alexander. Don’t fucking punch me again.” I can’t breathe through my nose, so I suck in a shallow breath through my mouth.
Her hand stops just short of my face. In the pale moonlight I realize that she's scowling. Her face twists with confusion and anger.
“Alexander, what the hell are you doing here? As a matter of fact, why the fuck are you touching me?”
My hand moves to my nose. Hot liquid gushes out.
Fuck.
I’m so far out of my element that Tara was able to punch me hard enough to draw blood. There’s a bit of embarrassment in that, but I remind myself that I’m just coming off a bender. Smoking a couple packs a day isn’t helping me either, I guess.
On any other day, she wouldn't have been able to get away with this.
Right now, my injury is unimportant, I just need answers.
“I need to talk to you, Tara,” I say, straightening.
She might be taller than most girls, but I'm still taller than her. Though my nose would beg to differ right now, I'm sure I could overpower her in an actual fight. She just caught me off guard earlier.
In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to act like I was kidnapping her.
“You want to talk? That's why you did this, to talk? What about coming to me like a normal human being?”
I roll my eyes and bite back the vitriol on the tip of my tongue.
Attacking her won’t get me what I want. For some reason, Alize still trusts her.
If I'm going to make her trustmeagain, I can't piss off this girl. At least not until I know for sure that she's the one who did this to Alize. It’s got to be her, because if it isn't her I have no idea who else it could be.
Alize wasn’t walking around telling people her secret.
“Well, what do you want, dick?”
“I know you’re the one who snitched on Alize,” I say to her, narrowing my eyes. “She might not know it. But I know it.”
I watch her reaction. Instead of looking even a little bit surprised. She bursts out in a sarcastic laugh so loud and raucous spittle splatters my face.
