“Before you get comfortable,” Brooke starts. “You should know that I don’t like you. What you did to Tora was disgraceful and you should have been shot. What Jesse did wasn’t nearly enough, but Tora wants to make things right and because she’s my best friend, I stand by her, but if you put even one foot wrong, you’re out. I’ll let the wolves have you.”
Elle’s eyes widen just a fraction, making it clear that the last two months of being a social outcast has really changed her. She’s not the feisty cheerleader anymore. She’s quiet and jumpy, which also has me wondering what she’s been through over the past little while. I mean, she would have made plenty of enemies over the past few years and now without the whole school backing her up, anyone could have come after her.
Elle nods her head and reaches for her sandwich as the girls fall back into their conversation, though, it doesn’t go unnoticed that they’re being a little cagey on supplying details.
After ten minutes, the weight of everyone’s eyes begins to fade and it seems as though Elle finally starts to breathe. After a further ten minutes, she looks up and catches my eyes. “Thank you,” she whispers. “I didn’t deserve that.”
“No,” I tell her. “You didn’t, but like I said. Just because you’re a bitch, doesn’t mean that I need to be one too.”
She nods her head. “No one has ever shown me kindness like that before. I mean, I’ve had people always pining for my attention and doing things for me, but there was always an ulterior motive. Someone was always trying to get ahead, but you were legitimately just being nice.”
I press my lips together. “I mean, it could be a little something to do with clearing my conscious, and besides, karma is a bitch. I don’t want that shit on my doorstep.”
“Yeah, well, I guess I got mine.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” I say with a grin.
Her eyes cast down before she lets out a heavy breath and looks back up at me. “Phoenix was the one who broke into your place.”
“What?” I gasp as my eyes widen in shock. The girls all have the same reaction and look at Elle with their mouths hanging open as I look straight up at the boys, silently begging Nate and Jesse to get their asses over here.
As if sensing my gaze, they look across at me. Jesse narrows his eyes as he studies me while Nate instantly gets up and makes his move across the cafeteria. Jesse scrambles behind him and soon enough, all five of the guys are crammed in on the table.
“Are you sure?” I ask Elle after getting the guys up to speed. “How do you know?”
“Being invisible also has its perks,” she tells me. “Nobody notices you.”
“Elle,” I demand, hurrying her up.
“They were talking about it in the locker room,” she says. “Phoenix was bragging about it and said that she has dirt on you.”
“What dirt?” Nate demands in a no bullshit tone.
Elle jumps a bit and looks across at him. “No. she didn’t say. I got the impression it was more for blackmail purposes. When we were friends, she was always talking about getting dirt on all the popular girls in case we needed to take them down one day.”
“Either way, whatever she uses the information for, she still broke into your home,” Jesse says. “She needs to be dealt with.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I say as Nate and Brooke nod along. “I want to deal with this though,” I tell them. “This is a girl fight and it needs to be handled the right way.”
“You sure?” Nate questions, always wanting to be my knight in shining armor.
“Oh, yeah,” I say, more than ready to get at this bitch. I mean, who does she think she is breaking into my home and violating my space like that. This needs to be handled girl to girl.
I look across at Brooke and see the determination on her face. She’s with me and I know without a doubt, she’ll be coming back to my place after school to start putting together a plan.
“Whatever it is,” Elle says beside me. “I want in.”
Chapter 18
“What do you think she’s got?” Brooke asks as she lays on my bed, flicking through one of my trashy magazines the boys had gotten me when I was stuck in bed after the surgery.
I shrug my shoulders as my mind circles back to what Elle has said today at lunch. I mean, what did I ever do to Phoenix? And why the hell is she trying to dig up dirt on me? It doesn’t make sense. “I don’t know,” I tell her. “She said she already found something on me, but I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon. There is no dirt.”