Clique Bait - Ann Valett Page 0,36

it was now pitch-black. I probably had seconds before people reached for their phones and turned on their flashlights. Quickly, I headed back into the main room, everyone already in a frenzy. I’d memorized the position of the purse, and I didn’t hesitate to grab it, feeling its crystals beneath my fingers as I opened the flap and slid out Stephanie’s iPhone, diving away before anybody could see.

A sick feeling bubbled in my stomach. As I hid from view again, hearing people announcing they must’ve tripped the power with the size of the stereo system, I unlocked the phone. Relief flooded me when I saw it had a password.

At least Stephanie’s privacy might be safe.

Just as they managed to restart the power, I found my way to William, who was still in the same corner as before.

“You guys are all crazy,” I said when I caught my breath.

“I thought you already knew that,” William said, his tone amused. “Can you believe they tripped the power?”

“Crazy,” I repeated. In my own purse, Stephanie’s phone felt like it weighed a ton. I looked toward the trio of girls, who were currently oblivious as they chatted loudly about the blackout.

“Do you want some air?”

“I’d love some.” I’d spoken too soon. Just as I looked wistfully toward the staircase, I spotted Francis and Lola walking briskly across the room, his hand locked possessively around hers. “Where do you think they’re going?”

“No idea,” William said, taking a drink. “But I’d really rather not know.”

Still high on a dirty adrenaline, I bit my lip, debating whether it’d be a good idea to go after them. “I would.”

“What are you doing?”

Before I could explain, I was already deep into the crowd of partygoers. Channeling all the stealth I could muster, I scanned for Lola and Francis. I spotted them as they rounded a corner and disappeared down the hall.

I didn’t follow immediately. Instead, I paused in the threshold, trying carefully to hear over the music. After a moment, I heard it. The closing of a door.

My gut told me Lola had probably taken Francis back to the study, so I quickly made my way to the room next to it. Thankfully, there was no drunken couple making out in the dark room. It appeared to be a sitting room of some kind, family photographs spanning its walls. I turned to see if the door locked. It did.

I turned to the wall that separated me from Lola and Francis. It probably wasn’t thin, but I could only hope to make out at least something. I pressed my ear to the wallpaper.

“How could you, Lola?” The volume of Francis’s voice surprised me as it carried through the walls.

“You’re pretending you don’t do the same thing all the time,” Lola said coldly. Her voice was quieter, a little less easy to understand.

“What, brag to people that I’m sleeping around?” he asked.

So, he knew. Maddy must have told him about what I said at the mall. He knew that Lola told me. That was what this was about.

“It was a joke, Francis!”

“And you expected Chloe to think it was a joke?”

“Yes! Please, she wasn’t going to believe me anyway. It’s not even true. I’ve told you that. We never actually slept together.”

Lola Davenport was not someone to beg. Maybe Francis Rutherford was enough to make her weak.

“So, word got back to me because she didn’t believe it, huh? I don’t think so.”

There was a pause, and I pressed my ear even harder to the wall.

“Are you trying to humiliate me?” Francis asked. “Trying to make me look like an idiot?”

“No!” Lola almost shrieked. As someone who always seemed in control, I’d never heard so much emotion from her before.

“You swore to me what happened with Bishop wouldn’t get out,” he said. “Yet, you still let it.”

Then there was the sound of shattering glass. Then silence, broken by what sounded like a frantic sob.

A sudden, unfamiliar feeling ripped through my chest, and I pulled away. I was worried for Lola Davenport and what was happening in that room. She was in trouble. I debated whether I should barge in there and break them up. But that would mean I’d be caught spying, and the implications of that would mean an end to my position on Level One. Reluctantly, I resumed my position against the wall.

“How much have you had to drink?” Lola asked, her voice thick with what I assumed to be tears.

“What does that have to do with anything? What matters