Her forehead crinkled. “Wait… no. This doesn’t makesense.”
“What doesn’t makesense?”
“If someone was trying to impress you by using that video against me, why the hell would they do it on Tuesday? The dayafteryou told everyone I was off theblacklist.”
I rubbed my jaw. “Maybe they set it up on Monday, before I made the announcement, and they couldn’t sneak back in to stop it from happening the next morning. That would explain why they never took credit forit.”
“Maybe. But that doesn’t explain theemails.”
“Whatemails?”
She went and grabbed her cell phone. “Someone is still acting as if I’m definitely on the blacklist,” she said. “I’ve been getting abusive emails and texts ever since Tuesday. I even got some earlier tonight. So whoever it is, theyknowfor sure that I’m not meant to be on the list, but they’re harassing me anyway. It’s not some sort of accident where they set it up before you made the announcement and couldn’t stop it. They’re going out of their way to send me this shit, day afterday.”
She clicked a few buttons on the phone screen and handed it tome.
“Holy fuck. These are serious threats,” I muttered, pulse speeding up as I scrolled through themessages.
Laney sighed. “Yup.”
“And you’ve been getting these since Tuesday? After the video played at theassembly?”
“Uh-huh.”
I gritted my teeth. “I wish you’d toldme.”
“I thought it was you, or at least someone doing your dirty work. So I couldn’t tell you,” she said. “That’s the main reason I was going to join the Medusa Society. They were going to protect me. Maybe even help me get some sort ofrevenge.”
“Right. Well, it wasn’t me, and it wasn’t anyone I know, either. I’ve made it very fucking clear to everyone at this school that I’m coming for them if they touch a hair on yourhead.”
“That means it’s someone who isn’t afraid of you,” she said. “Someone who honestly doesn’t give a shit if you threatenthem.”
“Everyone on this campus is scared of crossing me,” I said, frowning. “I know that sounds egotistical as fuck, but you know what Imean.”
Laney fell silent for a moment. Her eyes were glazed over, like she was miles away. “Not everyone,” she finallysaid.
“Huh?”
“I think I might’ve been looking at this the wrong way,” she went on, twisting her hands in her lap. “Whoever released that tape and sent all those emails… they weren’t trying to hurt me. Not in the way I initiallythought.”
“What do youmean?”
She looked me right in the eye, jaw set firmly. “I mean I know who itis.”
7
Laney
It was obvious now.So obvious I wanted to slap myself for failing to see itsooner.
I’d wasted so much time and energy focusing my anguish on Hunter that I’d missed the signs right in front ofme.
“Who is it?” Hunter asked, brows knitting as he studied myface.
My head began to spin, and I leaned forward and held it in my hands, blowing out a series of shortbreaths.
“Are you okay?” he asked, moving evencloser.
I raised my chin. “Sorry. Another head spin,” I muttered. “It’s those fuckingdrugs.”