Chapter 31
The Enhanced Interrogation
Harper
“Hey.” Kenz grins as she meets me next to the door of the locker room. “This is becoming a habit.”
The rest of the day passed in a blur. When Luke and I walked back to class, he stopped me and said, “Don’t be afraid to do what you have to with Sidney. She’ll test you. Go small at first, but be ready to send it when she laughs. Don’t escalate too quickly.”
I still don’t know exactly what I’m going to do or say to Sidney. I have the blackmail in my back pocket, but there’s got to be a way to reason with her that won’t make her hate me.
“Do you think there’s any way to not make Sidney an enemy?” I meet Kenz’s eyes. She gives me a pitying look and throws an arm around my shoulder, squeezing me against her.
“Look, H. I know you want to make peace with everyone, but this girl has always been your enemy. The first day Luke tugged on your ponytail, you became enemy number one to her.” Kenz rests her head against mine.
I know this. My chest tightens. I do. I just wish it wasn’t the case.
“What do you have on her?” Kenz pulls me to the side so we can sit down next to the lockers.
I blow out a breath and open the file. Holding my phone so Kenz can see, I scroll through the pics from the site and a few other things the guys have collected.
“Wait. Back up.”
I scroll back a few.
Kenz squints. “What’s this?”
I enlarge it and my mouth goes dry.
“Is that a screenshot?” Kenz scrolls up to read it. “Holy fuck. This is like a bomb.”
I bypassed it earlier because it was a text conversation between Luke and Sidney. Not exactly prime reading for me. I figured it’d have something in it, but was afraid it would be a lover’s quarrel or worse, sexting.
“You should send this to everyone right now.” Kenz pushes the phone at my chest. “If you want people to really know who their queen bee is.”
Curious now, I take a minute to read over it.
Luke:
We have an issue
Sidney:
What?
A girl on the squad is harassing freshmen. Calling them sluts
So what? It’s not like girls don’t bully each other
One of the girls is in the hospital
So?
We need to do something about it
Again who cares?
Who’s the cheerleader?
Rebecca Forester
She’s so fucking high and mighty
The varsity cheerleaders all love her. She needs to remember her place
What do you want to do about it?
Bring her down a peg
She’s a virgin. Did you know that?
She tells everyone how she’s saving herself for marriage
But she went down on Michael Cook
So what? The girl is a hypocrite. That’s nothing new
Take away her power
Make her not a virgin and no one will listen to her
Make her even more of a hypocrite
You could do that
What exactly are you asking me to do?
I don’t know
Claim her or something. Make everyone know that she’s yours
Seduce her into giving it up
Then publicly denounce her as a slut
That way she can’t hurt anyone else
My insides burn and my stomach twists into a knot. Sidney came up with the claiming? All because she was jealous of the attention Rebecca was receiving.
“This is step one.” I stand and help Kenz up.
“What are you going to do?”
Jack gave me an email address that will send whatever I want to the whole school.
I meet Kenz’s eyes. “I’m going to blow up the queen bee.”
Together we walk into the girls’ locker room. A little shiver rolls over me, but Kenz takes my hand to give me support. Fuck, I haven’t been in here since that game. The door is right there and inside is where I trapped myself.
The locker room is busier now. It doesn’t feel as ominous.
We walk down the row of lockers to where Sidney and the Cheermonsters are getting ready. Emma is tying her shoe, but Hannah and Ashley straighten. I don’t let my gaze linger on Ashley. Eli will deal with her and her request.
The request to obviously drive a wedge between us.
Sidney smirks. “Going to offer me coffee again?”
“I’d like to talk to you woman-to-woman.”
Sidney steps forward, but I hold my ground. “Don’t you mean woman to pet? Just because you’re his latest hole doesn’t mean you and I are equals.”
I draw in a breath. I expected her vitriol. “You’re right. We’re not equals. I’m his girlfriend. I’m all of their girlfriend.”
I let my gaze go to each of them. They may have had the horsemen before me, but the guys are mine now.
“Isn’t that cute?” Sidney laughs sharply. “You think you’re special.”
She glances over her shoulder at the others, who laugh with her.
Sidney steps closer again and looks down her nose at me. “You see, pet, we know how this goes. This isn’t our first time dealing with girls who get clingy.”
Shaking my head, I put a plastic smile on my face. “You know how I’m different from you? I don’t have to stoop lower to have them. All I have to do is exist.”
Sidney rolls her eyes. “Why are you here, pet?”
She enunciates the “t.”
“Do you want to do this right here? With your friends?” I glance at them again.
“Why wouldn’t I? I have nothing to hide from them.”
My eyebrow goes up. But okay, this one I’m not afraid to play for her “friends.”
I click play and Sidney’s voice comes out of my phone.
“I don’t know why you don’t just say you’re the leader. Look at my girls. Ashley is the best pitbull anyone could have. But she couldn’t lead anyone. Not really. She’s too damaged.”
I stop the recording. Ashley leans against the locker and glares at Sidney. Emma’s mouth opens and closes. Hannah doesn’t look shocked, but she watches the others with concern.
“Do you want me to play more? Or are there some things you don’t want your girls to know?”
“How did you get that, you little rat?” Sidney steps forward again. Her hands flare and clench like she can’t decide whether she wants to hit me or push me.
I tap my lip like I’m thinking before I glance at my phone. “You’d be surprised what my boyfriends share with me.”
“Leave us,” Sidney orders.
“Fuck you.” Ashley straightens. “I want to hear what else the little pet has to say. After all, I’m just a dog to you.”
“That’s not what I was saying.”
“Just that I’m too damaged.” Ashley comes forward. She nods to me. “Play more.”
I arch an eyebrow, but fuck it. In for a penny...
I press play.
“Don’t—” Sidney steps forward, but Ashley grabs her arm before she can touch me.
“Hannah. She’s a fucking snake in the grass, but she’s my snake in the grass. She doesn’t do anything without me giving her the go-ahead.”
Hannah crosses her arms and glares at Sidney.
“And Emma is a lapdog. Can’t tell her a fucking thing without it getting out, but she’s so cute. She makes all of us look less fierce. Which makes people underestimate us. Even if she’s a huge slut.”
I stop the recording. Emma’s eyes are narrowed on Sidney.
“Why don’t you go ahead and tell all of us what you want?” Ashley pulls Sidney back. “So we can have a team meeting after you leave.”
“Why did you really break into my house Sunday night?”
Sidney laughs. “I told you. I was the distraction.”
“So, someone could get out with Luke’s laptop?” I tip my head as if I can read her. But I’m not like the guys. I can’t read people the way they do.
“Partially.” Jerking her arm out of Ashley’s grip, Sidney sits on the bench. “You really are aiming low, pet.”
“Okay, who are you working for?”
“Ah, see? That’s the one thing I just can’t tell you.” Sidney sneers. “You shot your blackmail too early.”
Now, it’s my turn to laugh. “You think that’s all the guys had on you? All they gave me?”
Sidney presses her lips together. “Go on then. Pull on your big girl panties and let me have it.”
I send the text screenshots to her phone. Her phone pings and she lifts it, reading what I sent.
“Oh, no, some has-been cheerleader that doesn’t even go to our school anymore. What will I do?” Sidney says in a deadpan voice. She sets her phone to the side and gives me a blasé look. “It doesn’t matter. You don’t have the balls to send it.”
“Will you tell me who you’re working for?”
She smirks. “No, princess. That’s what Luke calls you, right? Princess, like you’re too good for the rest of us. The thing about you that will eventually turn him off is that you don’t have the ability to go low. We’re equals him and me.”
Fuck it. I press the button and everyone’s phones ping.
Emma looks at her phone. Her eyes widen in shock. “That went to the whole school.”
Sidney shrugs. “I’m still not going to tell.”
Kenz puts her hand on my back, giving me her strength. I smile.
“That’s okay. I have one more nuke to detonate.” I pull up the info on my phone. “Unless you have something to say to me.”
“Do your worst.”
I send a couple images to her phone. “The first is from a recent picture you sent Luke and the other is from a webcam site. Both show your birthmark and tattoo, but only one shows your face.” I send her the email address.
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg and this folder will go to that email.
If you don’t want to tell me who you were working for and what’s in it for you. ”
She swallows. For the first time, real fear is in her eyes. She stands and clears her throat. “Leave. I’ll talk to you all on the field.”
“I don’t think so—” Hannah starts, but Ashley puts her hand on Hannah’s arm and pulls her away. Emma frowns but follows.
“If you don’t tell me, I have to send this.” I take a breath. “I don’t want to destroy your future. That’s the difference between you and me. We’ll both regret this moment if I have to press send.”
Her eyes narrow on me. “You don’t know what you’re already in the middle of, little girl.”
“I wanted to stay out of it—”
“That was never an option for you.” Her laugh is bitter. “It’s like everyone suddenly lost their fucking minds this year. You don’t even realize how much bigger than any of us this is. You want to know who told me to break into your house?”
“Yes.” I shake a little. Not out of fear, but because I’m worried about what I’m uncovering.
“My mom asked me to go with someone—don’t ask me who, I don’t know.
She said I was to get caught. I was supposed to stay there until an exact time and then leave.
” Sidney leans back with her hands behind her on the bench as belligerent as ever.
“I didn’t ask questions because when you live in this town you learn not to question shit that doesn’t concern you. ”
I chew on that for a moment. “Your mom. Who is on the board at the hospital? With Luke’s dad?”
“Ding, ding, ding. Give this girl a prize.” Sidney stands and brushes off her shorts. “I know what you’re thinking. The horsemen will protect you.”
I press my lips together. They will. I know it in my heart.
She smiles sadly. “They once promised that to me too.”
When she turns to walk away, she stops. She doesn’t turn back.
“Don’t tell anyone besides them what I’ve said. I don’t know what the big picture is, but I know I need out of this town more than ever. I won’t trade my future for their secrets.”