and all.”
My disappointment only grew. Why had I subconsciously assumed he’d be in on this with me? It wasn’t like I was going to blackmail him into it. Besides, I shouldn’t need his help anyway. I could totally do this on my own. “I was just running the idea past you.”
“When are you going to do it?” he asked.
“Tomorrow morning. Early.” I couldn’t wait any longer, not if Jack knew, only increasing the probability that I’d be caught. “If things go to plan, this will be a piece of cake.”
“Right. And if they don’t?”
“Then I go to plan B,” I said, grimacing. “And it’s going to involve finding a whole lot of blackmail material on him, something big enough to get him to help no matter what the girls have on him, whether that be cash or secrets.”
“That does make breaking in sound easier,” he said dryly. But then he dropped the sarcasm. “You know it’s not too late, Chlo.”
“For what?”
“You can stop this. Stop the whole revenge thing. Let Monica go. She made her decision. I’d like to see them suffer for what they did just as much as you, but this is crazy. Can’t you see what it’s doing to you?”
Maybe he meant the fact I was falling behind in my classes, or maybe it was stealing Stephanie’s phone. Of course I was making sacrifices. That’s what best friends did for each other. I was doing this to make things right.
“And, Chloe, I know you don’t want to hear it, but . . . can’t you see? Can’t you see what happened since that night? We haven’t gone unchanged. Monica changed us. We’ve been paying too even if you can’t see it. Did you know—”
“It’s because they’re your friends, isn’t it?” I asked, cutting him off. “You’re on their side now. You want them to get away with it.”
“No,” William said. Though he wasn’t physically here, his voice still managed to sting. “I’m on your side, which is why I’m telling you this. This isn’t just a one-stop revenge job. They’ll come for you after. They won’t let you get away with it.”
Of course I knew that. And I didn’t care. “If you’re on my side, then help me.”
“I am trying to help you. Not Monica, but you.”
William’s words made my heart skip a beat. Not Monica, but you.
But a distant memory hit me, from one of the last times Monica and I spoke. I didn’t like to remember our arguments. Or the times toward the end. When she’d started hanging at the Level One table, she started to resent me. I was holding her back, I guess. I’d caught her drinking at school, intoxicated with Lola, Maddy, and Sophie by third period, during one of their junior-year math-class drinking-game phases.
“Don’t you get it, Chloe? I’m the only one who really sees you. Probably the only reason you have any friends is because people want to be close to me.”
“She’s my best friend.”
“And what about her?” he asked. “Would Monica have done the same for you?”
I thought about that. Toward the end, maybe not. She’d walk down the halls as if she didn’t see me while heading straight to Lola Davenport’s side. But he didn’t know Monica before she became one of them.
“Yes,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter. You don’t know her like I do.”
“I think you’re delusional,” he said. His tone softened, as if he felt sorry for me. “I don’t think you realize what you’re getting yourself into, and I’m worried.”
“Well, you won’t have to worry much longer,” I said, scowling. I couldn’t even tell if my anger was justified anymore. All I felt was my heart breaking. “This will be over by the end of the week.”
“What time?” he asked. “What time are you doing it?”
“I’m leaving here at three thirty.”
“And if you get caught? What’s your backup plan?”
There wasn’t one. “I won’t.”
“Chlo?” I closed my eyes, trying to imprint his tone into my brain, to make sure I remembered how warm his soft use of my nickname made me feel. I might not hear it again, after all. “Be safe, okay?”
I squeezed my eyes shut just for a second longer, as if clinging to his words. I almost hated that he cared, even if it felt like a tether holding me together. “I’ll do my best.”
Neither of us knew what to say. After a few long moments, the line went dead.
I wanted to cry once my cheek hit my pillow, but nothing came