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Although I guessed at the reason, I still shudder at the stark claim. I wish Conner was here beside me, holding my hand.
“Whose body?” Harrison scoffs. “You’re talking crap.”
“I saw an ambulance pulling into the driveway,” a boy from the junior years says, turning pale when everyone looks his way. “When I was waiting in the cafeteria line. It was pulling around back when the shutters came down.”
“I wish they’d raise the stupid things.” Brooke casts a worried glance at the thick steel. “This gives me the willies.”
Marnie walks into the room with a group of a dozen other students from her end of the housing block, led by a security guard. She glances all around, takes a step towards me, spots Floss, then freezes in place.
“I think that’s your cue to leave,” Brooke says in a voice that crackles with ice.
“Stuff that.” I clamp my elbow tight on Floss’s arm so she can’t pull away and stride towards the new arrivals. “Let’s go say hi.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” Marnie seethes the moment I get in earshot. “I thought—”
“Your boyfriend’s been playing games with you,” I say, the word completely inadequate to that scale of what he’s done but I don’t want any eavesdroppers getting too much of a clue. “Floss didn’t do a damn thing wrong and if you stopped to think about it for five minutes, you’d know that’s true.”
“She said—”
“She lied because he threatened her.” Floss tries to back away and I hold her steady. “And I know that’s the truth because he threatened me, too.”
Brooke drags Harrison over to join us. “Guys. I don’t mean to tell you how to sort out your love lives but think about quitting it until whatever storm this is has passed.”
Everyone ignores her.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marnie spits back at me. “I’ve seen the evidence. I know—”
“I bought you a new dress because he said he’d rape me to collect payment if I didn’t. Then he gave me a graphic demonstration of exactly what he meant.”
Marnie’s face freezes at the stark words. Brooke looks utterly gobsmacked.
Floss tenses beside me, her hand suddenly gripping mine a lot harder than mine grips hers. She straightens, lifting her chin and pulling her shoulders back.
And Brooke’s right. This isn’t the time nor the place, but if I wait for that, I’ll never get the things I need to say, said.
“What I know is that if you showed the same loyalty to us as you show to your gaslighting boyfriend, then we’d all still be friends. I haven’t been the best. I’ve made mistakes and I didn’t give you the right support at the right time, but I’m really trying. That’s all I’m asking from you here. I want you totryto believe Floss. I want you to trust me.”
She holds a hand over her eyes, and guilt runs through me.
No, I haven’t been the person she needed me to be. I didn’t have the right instincts or experience to get her away from the boy who tormented us all.
“Please, Marnie.” My voice softens as I reach to take her arm. “Don’t you remember what it was like back before James, back when we were all friends and we had so much fun? Can’t you try being loyal to us again?”
Her hand drops from her face and she’s shaking, the tremors easily visible. Not from sobs, her eyes are dry. From anger.
Her face flushes bright red. Her voice is startlingly loud. “That’s some high moral ground for someone who’s fucking her teacher.”
The room goes quiet. The students were already subdued. Now they’re silent, eyes glued to the unexpected fight.
I open my mouth to respond, but the words catch in my throat. The pain is unbearable. The betrayal shakes me to my bones.
Then I see her face, a face I love, twisted in absolute misery. Like she’s a bystander, as horrified by what she’s saying as I am. Her shakes grow worse, settle deeper, like muscle spasms.
And I let go of Floss to throw my arms around Marnie, holding on tight. All I want is my friend back. The beautiful girl with the beautiful soul who always listened without judging.
The first person who felt like family in a way my relatives never had.
“I know you’re scared and upset,” I say, whispering into her ear, trying to reach her. “I know he’s been feeding you lies for so long, you’ve started to believe them, but I love you, Marnie. Please, just let us be your friends again.”
