going, or worse—try to go with me. I couldn’t put them in that kind of danger.
“There had to be a damn good reason he came to our house,” Harlow argued. “This is more than just your usual mutual disdain for each other.”
“Just admit you hooked up with him. We won’t judge you,” Amaya said matter-of-factly.
I sat up. “What makes you think we hooked up?” Was it that obvious? Did other people know? God, I was completely losing my grip on reality.
They both looked at me as if I were an idiot.
“He came to your house.” Amaya started listing things off while Harlow helpfully ticked them off on her fingers. “He braved meeting your parents. You were spotted talking in the kitchen at Mena’s birthday.” I knew that moment of weakness would come back to bite me. “You were spotted talking at the Halloween party. You thought he was hot that day we saw him at the gym. He riles you up like literally no other person on the planet. Your sexual chemistry is ridiculous, like some fanfic level of heat.”
“Are you guys running an investigation or something? I feel attacked.”
“Why won’t you tell us?” For the first time, Harlow actually sounded a little hurt.
I had to tell them something, and it could definitely not be about Davey’s or how spectacularly I was failing at everything lately—not until I fixed it. And we had hooked up; it wouldn’t even be a lie.
“OK, fine, yes, Hendrix and I—” I didn’t even get to finish the sentence; their excited squeals and proclamations of “I knew it” cut me off as they completely lost their shit, started bouncing on the bed, then pounced on me.
We ended up in a tangle, our heads at the foot of the bed.
“When?” Harlow demanded.
“Where?” Amaya added.
In the back of a dirty alleyway at a seedy bar just after I nearly fucked some guy whose name I don’t even remember. “Um, a couple times. Once at school.”
“At school?” they both yelled in unison.
“Yeah. I gave him a blow job in Mr. Kirke’s office while everyone was in a staff meeting.” I covered my face with my hands and laughed.
“Respect.” Amaya nodded.
Harlow remained silent, a look of slight disgust on her face. “I don’t need all the gory details.”
“Well, I do. Is he hung? I bet it’s huge. I can tell by how he walks.”
“Oh my god, you’re ridiculous.” I laughed.
“Eew!” Harlow reached over me to smack Amaya. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I don’t know.” I sighed. “It’s not like it’s going anywhere. It’s not serious. It can’t be. And I have Will to consider.”
“Fuck Will.” Amaya frowned. “Actually, don’t. He’s never been able to even make you come. I don’t know why you keep stringing that wet blanket along.”
“I’m just trying to think about my future.”
“Is that why Hendrix was here?” Harlow asked. “He wants more—in the future?”
“Yeah. Kind of.” At the end, I was still a little confused about it all. Did he have feelings for me? Or was he just on some weird crusade to stop teenagers from doing reckless shit? Thinking about it was making me exhausted.
“Can we please stop talking about it?” I pleaded. “I’m not really sure where we stand, and I don’t want to deal with it right now. I have a headache, and I just wanna take a nap.”
“OK, fine.” Amaya sighed and got off the bed. “Movie tonight.”
“That sounds great.” I meant it.
“I’ll text Mena.” Harlow was already bent over her phone as she headed for the door.
I breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn’t pushed for more info. I had to be careful, and I had to make sure Hendrix didn’t pull a stunt like that ever again.
Chapter Nineteen
Donna
I forced myself to take the stairs one at a time instead of bounding up them in twos. The auditorium was bursting, almost every Fulton student and staff member packed into the state-of-the-art facility for an assembly.
Ms. Perry, the headmistress, stood on the stage in a pale blue pantsuit, talking about Fulton Academy’s charitable endeavors over the Christmas break. Half the students had already tuned out or were surreptitiously playing on their phones.
I was looking for one particular student.
I’d seen him file in with the others just moments before my phone had vibrated in my pocket, and I’d waved the girls in ahead of me as I checked the notification. It was an email from Stanford.
I’d read it, and immediately the walls started closing in.
I had this inexplicable urge to just