AllFreeNovel
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I’m not sorry at all, but I know Anae islegitimatelyinsane—she spent half of the last school year and the whole summer in a mental hospital for trying to kill a girl over a pair of shoes—so I probably shouldn’t have said it.
I can’t bring myself to back down, though. Years of being Hannah’s friend have trained me to hate Anae Richards, not to be afraid of her.
“If Anae wants to apologize to you for her meanness, I’ll be happy to apologize for mine.”
“Are you popular?” Anae asks me.
I almost laugh. “No.”
“But you don’t live under a rock? You know fucking with me is a very bad idea?”
“I’m aware of your reputation,” I confirm. “I’m not trying to fuck with you, I just don’t like seeing people be assholes to my best friend.”
She smirks at me. “You must have loved Dare, then.”
“I am not a member of his fan club, no,” I say, but I’m distracted as Anae leans in and runs the edge of her fingernail along Hannah’s collarbone.
“Where’s my necklace?”
My stomach drops. Hannah’s face is already red, her gaze trained on the table.
“I don’t have it,” Hannah says.
Anae chuckles unpleasantly. “Yes, you do.” She pulls her phone out of her back pocket and taps the screen a few times before holding it in front of Hannah’s face.
Hannah loses several shades of color. “Where did you get that?”
I crane my neck and look over at the screen. It’s a picture of Hannah on prom night junior year.
“Dare sent it to me. A parting gift from my king,” she murmurs, tracing Hannah’s collarbone again. “Cinderella wearing my dress. My necklace.” She turns her face so Hannah can feel her breath on her ear as she speaks. “Where is it?”
Hannah swallows. “I had the dress cleaned. It’s back in your closet.”
“I don’tcareabout the dress, Hannah,” she snaps, grabbing Hannah’s throat.
“Hey,” I say, jumping up from the table.
“I sold it,” Hannah cries. “Your mom halved my allowance while you were away. I had to sell the necklace. I needed the cash for school supplies and clothes. I could barely afford gas to get around town.”
That’s a lie. Her stepmomdidcut back on her already minimal allowance, but before Anae came home, Hannah brought the necklace over to my house along with a taped-together photograph of her with her parents because she knew her valuables weren’t safe in her own home.
“Aubrey gave it to me to sell,” Hannah explains quickly. “I was never meant to keep it.”
“Why did you?” Anae asks, still touching her neck.
I’m deeply uncomfortable with Anae’s intimidation tactics. Sensing that, Hannah shoots me a pleading look to stay out of it.
I know Anae’s bullshit is nothing new and Hannah can handle herself, but I don’twantto stay out of it. The only reason I keep my mouth shut is I’m afraid I’ll only make things worse for her once I’m gone if I intervene.
Anae speaks again. “Did you keep it because Aubrey gave it to you, or because Dare bought it?”
Hannah is too afraid to speak. I understand why. She’s straddling two landmines. There is no right answer—only a wrong one and a more wrong one.
I’ve witnessed the shit Hannah has had to endure over the years, know how scared she was last year when Anae’s boyfriend pulled her into their tangled web and threatened… actually, I’m not sure what he threatened her with because she wouldn’t tell me, but I’ve surmised it was something evil to get Anae to target her.
“She hates Dare,” I state, trying to help without getting between them. “Why would she keep something because it was from him?”
“I’ve hated Dare, too,” Anae answers. “I still want the fucking necklace he bought me.” Just to Hannah, she murmurs, “She doesn’t get it, does she? She never brushed with him, doesn’t know the way he crawls beneath your skin and lingers there even when he’s not around. Butyou’vebrushed up against Dare, haven’t you, Hannah?” she murmurs, causing Hannah to swallow audibly. “Dare told me he paid you a visit in your bedroom one night while I was asleep. Told me he didn’t fuck you, but it turns out he lied to me quite a bit toward the end of our relationship.” Her fingers slide around Hannah’s throat with her long nails poised against her skin—not to hurt, just to threaten. “Did he?”
