There were a few chuckles. The rest of the Billings Girls, who were dotted throughout the room, started to mobilize. Tiffany, who
until now had been standing aside looking baffled, reached for the microphone, but Ivy dodged her and slid away.
"You know those girls who always seemed to get away with everything that no one else could get away with? The girls who wield-
ed their power and money over the school as if they were running the place?" Ivy continued, pacing. "Well, guess what? This year
they were finally caught. They were finally going to be brought to justice. But shocker of all shockers, they wrangled a deal. If they
make five million dollars tonight, their precious house will not be dissolved, as it should have been long ago. See, they're using people
again to get what they want. More specifically, they're using you and your hard-earned money to save their own skins. Is that what you
want? Haven't the Billings Girls done enough damage already?"
My heart was in my toes. First Josh and now this. I looked wildly around at the esteemed guests and tried to find Josh. Tried to see
his reaction to this, to see if he'd known this was coming, but I was unable to focus on any one face. All I could see was a lot of nod-
ding and pinched expressions. All I could hear were knowing whispers. Her words were hitting home. This was working. Her evil plan
was working. "Reed! Do something!" Vienna said through her teeth. "You have to get up there. Stop her," London added, letting go of
my arm. But I was frozen. My throat was dry. My head a complete fog. "I... I can't. I can't." This was it. This was the beginning of my
nervous breakdown. Ivy had won. She had won Josh. She had destroyed Billings. Destroyed me. And I was so shaken, so broken, so
crushed, that I couldn't think of a single word to stop her. "For years, the women of Billings have been making our lives a living hell,"
Ivy continued, "but we can end this now. Don't give them your money! Don't support the hypocrisy!"
"Omigod, enough. Reed! You have to shut her up," Vienna said Then she shoved me forward so hard I almost tripped into the
stairs that led to the stage. Tiffany couldn't have looked more relieved to see me, but Ivy simply smirked. "Oh, look, it's Reed Bren-
nan, president of Billings," she said as she sneered down her nose at me. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm dying to hear
what she has to say in her defense." Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned to me. I was frozen in terror. "Come on up, Reed! What are you
waiting for?" Ivy descended two steps, grabbed my arm, and dragged me up next to her, practically dislocating my shoulder. She
shoved the microphone into my hand and stepped back. A cold sweat broke out all over my body. I stared out at the crowd, but all I
could see were Josh's lips on Ivy's, Cheyenne's dead body on the floor, her name in my in-box ten thousand times over, the note, the
black marbles, the perfume bottle, the stain on the sleeve of the pink sweater. All of it. All of it reeled through my mind at a sickening
speed. I was so dizzy, so disoriented, so confused, I actually reached for Ivy for support, but she flinched away and I almost went
down. "Oops. I think our hostess might be a little buzzed," Ivy shouted, amused.
Somehow I righted myself, but the laughter her comment elicited stung every inch of my skin. What was I doing here? Why were
all these people looking to me? I didn't belong here. I was nobody. I was just a loser from Pennsylvania who had been dumped and
stalked and nearly driven out of my mind This was it. This was where it all fell apart. "I'm sorry," I blurted out of nowhere. "I'm sorry,
I--" And then a strong hand came down on my shoulder. I sensed it was Noelle before I even saw her. She reached around me, slipped