“We all knew it was bullshit,” Trina said. “She wasn’t even friends with the two witnesses. But the boy’s family was richer than hers, and they had better lawyers.”
“So he got away with it until he was blacklisted,” I said in a hollow voice.
“Yeah. The headmaster couldn’t expel him, because his hands were tied. He had no reason to do it, in the sense that nothing could be proven, and the boy’s family threatened to sue the shit out of RFA if the boy was expelled or even suspended. So the Princes stepped in to make sure the trash took itself out.”
“How long did it take?”
“He was gone in two weeks. Couldn’t take it any longer than that,” Trina said softly. “Last I heard, he transferred to an all-boys boarding school in Connecticut.”
I sighed and rubbed my eyes, wishing this was just a nightmare I’d wake up from any minute. “I don’t understand,” I muttered. “What could I possibly have done to the Princes to make them add me to their list?”
Trina shrugged. “I don’t know.”
I shook my head slowly. “I guess I was kinda rude to Hunter in the cafeteria yesterday. I mean, I was polite at first, but then he was a total dick to me, so I matched his energy. But that’s all.”
“There’s no way he’d blacklist you over something as petty as that,” Adam replied.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” I said, shoulders sagging. “That’s all I can think of.”
Lines appeared on Trina’s forehead as she raised her brows. “Are you absolutely sure you haven’t done anything to any of them?” she asked.
She stared right into my eyes as she waited for my response, her own eyes searching and curious. Heat prickled all over my body, and I found myself wondering if I had done something. Wondering if I had something to hide…
“No,” I finally said. “I honestly can’t think of anything.”
Trina’s eyes darted to Adam. “Call Hunter,” she said. “Ask him what the hell is going on.”
“Right. Sure.” Adam pulled out his cell phone and pressed a couple of buttons.
I heard a faint ringing on the other end, and then a gruff voice. I couldn’t make out any of Hunter’s words, but I could tell by his tone that he wasn’t happy.
“You know exactly why I’m calling,” Adam said to him, eyes narrowing. “I’d like to know why you’ve taken out a social hit on Laney.” He paused. “No, that’s a bullshit answer. Tell me.” Another pause, much longer this time. Trina and I waited with bated breath. “Are you kidding?” he finally went on. He let out a derisive snort. “Grow the fuck up, Hunter. No. I can do whatever I want. Yeah, whatever.”
He hung up and angrily shoved the phone back in his pocket.
“What did he say?” I asked.
“Nothing useful.”
Trina put her hands on her hips. “He said something. There was an awfully long pause in there on your end.”
Adam let out a short sigh of annoyance. “All he said was: ‘She knows what she did’. I said that was a bullshit answer, and then he said: ‘If you want to know, just ask her. All she has to do is come clean to you and everyone else, and then this will be over. Until that happens, I’m not telling you jack-shit’.”
“Then what?”
“He said I need to stay away from you,” he replied, looking right at me. “I said no, I can do whatever I want. Then he said if I know what’s good for me, I’ll stay away from you, and I definitely won’t hang out with you alone.”
“Jesus,” Trina muttered.
“Do you really have no idea what he’s talking about?” Adam asked, still looking at me. “When he says you know what you did?”
Hot tears were clouding my vision now. This was a horrible mistake. It had to be.
“I don’t know anything,” I said, sinking down against the tiled wall. I put my head in my hands. “I don’t know what’s going on. I really, really don’t.”
“I believe you,” Trina said after a long moment. She crouched next to me and rubbed my back.
“Me too,” Adam added. “I can tell when someone is lying. You’re not.”