“They tried,” Amber said. “They had her cornered.”
Jackson stormed the door. Amber blocked it and I ran after him, catching his arm. “No. Do not go after them. Not now.”
He tugged at his floppy blonde hair. “Why not?”
I swallowed. “I found out some other stuff, okay? They’ve got leverage over me, you, and my family. I can’t risk losing anything else. Not until we have proof.”
Amber’s phone beeped, alerting her to a notification. She checked the screen and sighed. “He posted.”
“Who posted?” Hayden asked, walking over and grabbing the phone out of Amber’s hand. I had no doubt what it depicted. Me in the library with Mark.
“Spencer is taking the photos and running the Fakestagram account.”
“Why?” Anderson asked. “What’s the point.”
I couldn’t tell them the truth and the expression on Amber’s face said she knew it too. These boys would murder them if they found out what they wanted from me. How they planned to take it.
“They’re dicks,” Amber said. “Bullies that like to take advantage of a situation. But there are a few complications, like Heaven said, they’ve got leverage and as stupid as they look, they’re not dumb. We need to be smart about this.”
I raised my eyebrow, feeling brave with the Allendale Four standing behind me. “We?”
“I told you, I’m sick of the sexist bullshit in this community.” I saw the fire in her eye. “You turned this whole school upside down for a few months, Heaven. You fought back and we still have one more round to go.”
“I like this girl,” Oliver whispered. “She’s feisty as hell.”
“What can we do? He has all the leverage,” I said.
Jackson walked around me and leaned against the sink. “I told you guys I was working on a plan. With Amber’s help and knowing exactly who’s stalking Heaven, maybe we can pull it off.”
“I’m in,” Amber said.
I looked at my guys, all of them ready to fight for our relationship. They were waiting for me to make the final decision. I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded. “Let’s do this.”
*
When Amber handed me a T-shirt after school with “Smash the Patriarchy” on the front, I couldn’t help but smile.
“I got two at a rally I went to last month. It’s the perfect size for you. Extra small.”
That made me laugh. It felt really, really good. It’d been too long.
The positive mood lingered through the rest of the day until I got a call from my mom.
“Hey sweetie, I’ve to go into work this afternoon.”
“Night shift?”
“Yeah, Debbie has the flu and I just can’t say no after taking off so much time lately. I hate to do it but do you think you’ll be okay alone?”
Guilt. She took that time off for me because of me being in the hospital and all the drama. I tried to sound confident when I said, “Sure.”
“I know you’re still angry with Justin, but…”
I didn’t know what to do. Justin was out of the question but so was staying home alone. The guys would lose their mind if they found out and then we’d all risk getting in more trouble and the plan. If Spencer got his intel about my whereabouts from his dad and the police station, he would easily know I was home alone. The tickle of fear built in my chest.
“Heaven?”
“Look, Mom, can I go to a friend’s instead? I just…I don’t want to be alone.”