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Felix approaches us and focuses on Lana. “You okay?”
She nods. “Better now that I’m here.”
Caleb comes in too, clearing his throat. “I see you all made it out alive.”
Nathan tries to sit up, but it’s tough. “Thank you for helping.”
“Sure. So we’re done here?” Caleb asks.
Nathan nods. “Sorry I blamed you.”
“Yeah.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “It’s all good. Keep this on the rain check for when I need y’all, okay?” he says, winking. “See ya.”
And he walks off again, closing the door behind him.
“Thanks, I guess?” Lana mutters.
“I thought he was the one who shared your picture,” Nathan says, reaching for her.
“Yeah, about that …” She grabs his hand. “Crystal did it.”
Nathan’s eyes widen. “Crystal? No, she wouldn’t—”
“It was an accident. She didn’t mean to do it.” She interjects, swallowing back the tears. “I wanted to forgive her, but I never had the chance to tell her. And now she’s gone.”
I swallow back the anger and take her into my embrace, hugging her tight.
“Crystal …” Nathan grinds his teeth together as he looks at me. “We have to go look for her. She’s my friend too.”
I nod, still hugging Lana tight. “We’ll do our best.”
“Hey …” Felix growls.
When he sees how Lana leans into me, he backs off again.
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs at all three of us. “For yelling and not believing you.”
“We understand why you had to,” I answer, tilting her chin up. “You don’t have to apologize. You did nothing wrong.”
She swallows. “But I hurt you guys.”
“True,” Nathan says.
“And got yourself into some nasty trouble,” Milo says, snorting.
“But we saved you,” Penelope says, winking.
“I’d get hit by ten more bullets if it meant I could keep you safe,” Nathan brags, groaning when he moves too much. “Okay, maybe nine.”
“Thank you, everyone,” Lana says, smiling at us. “I can’t believe you all worked together.”
“You think I’d just abandon my sister?” Felix scoffs, making a tsk sound.
I grab her shoulder and whisper into her ear, “I’ll stay here. Go talk with him.”
“He knows everything now, doesn’t he?” she whispers back.
I nod. “Everyone saw the picture. We can spin a story for the rest of the students, but it’ll take a bigger lie to convince him …”
