“Why are you being nice to me?” I asked, letting out a sniffle.
“Because we can’t stand Hunter and his bullshit. I’m Talia, by the way. Talia Bartlett. And this is Leticia Giles and Grace McQueen,” she said, gesturing to her friends.
She poured some vinegar onto the soapy wet paper and handed it to Trina, who started scrubbing at the back of my skirt. “It’s working,” she said. “Thanks, Tal.”
“Aren’t you worried he’ll blacklist you?” I asked, still focusing on Talia.
She shrugged. “It’s not like they’re going to walk in here and see us. We locked the door.”
“Oh. So why don’t you like Hunter?” I asked, unsure if I could trust her. I didn’t trust anyone right now, apart from Trina and Adam. For all I knew, Talia was just pretending to be nice before dropping a bomb on me.
“We used to hook up. I did everything for him, and then he tossed me away like an old cum-rag for no reason,” she said with a grimace. “So fuck him and his stupid blacklisting shit. We’re sick of him thinking he can make the whole school do his bidding.”
Leticia spoke up. “Why aren’t you trying to stop him, Adam?” she asked, eyes flashing. “You’re his brother.”
Adam held up his palms. “I’ve tried. He won’t listen.”
“Well, try harder,” she replied. “We’re sick of the Princes expecting us to fall at their feet. The others might worship them, but we don’t.”
“I know. I’ll keep trying,” Adam said with a sigh.
Leticia turned her attention back to me. “You should come to the charity gala on Friday,” she said. “We organized the whole thing.”
Grace cut in. “We always do it on the first Friday of the school year. This year we’ve picked an elephant sanctuary in Africa to receive the donations.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I think I should avoid school events from now on, unless they’re compulsory,” I said.
Talia cocked an eyebrow. “It’s not an RFA event,” she said. “We invite people from school, obviously, but it’s our own thing, and it’s held at an outside venue.”
“Oh. Well… thanks again, but if people from school are invited, I should probably still stay away,” I said, looking down at the floor.
Her face softened. “I get it,” she said. “But just so you know, Hunter and his crew aren’t invited, and they would never show up at a charity event anyway. Also, I’m pretty sure everyone else will leave you alone. They’re only acting like this on his orders, so if he’s not there to threaten them, they’ll be civil.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said reluctantly.
She patted my arm. “Just think about it, okay?” she said. “I totally understand if you can’t come. I just thought it might be fun for you seeing as you’re new in town. And obviously Trina and Adam are invited too.”
I gave her a small smile. “Okay. I’ll think about it.”
“Awesome! You can let me know by the end of the week.” Her gaze flicked over to Trina. “You have my number, right?”
Trina nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“Cool. You can pass it on,” she said. “Anyway, I’ll see you guys later. Hope your day gets better, Laney.”
The three girls exited the bathroom. I blew my nose with a tissue and looked over at Trina and Adam. “What do you think?” I asked. “Is this invitation some sort of trap?”
“I doubt it,” Adam said. “She wasn’t lying about the charity gala. She and her friends host one every year. Also, she really did get dumped by Hunter not that long ago. At one point she was even texting me to find out what was going on because he stopped replying to her.”
“Typical fuckboy,” Trina muttered, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I don’t think this is a set-up. Talia can be pretty ditzy, but she’s always seemed pretty cool to me.”
“So… you think I should go?”
“I think it could be a good way to take your mind off everything that’s happening here,” Adam said, nodding slowly.
“But it’s up to you,” Trina added. “If you don’t want to go, we’ll do something else on Friday instead.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “Do you really think Talia is right about the others leaving me alone off-campus?”