I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Something just seemed a bit off to me. Like it was too good to be true,” I said. “It’s just weird when you come from nothing, get treated horribly by almost everyone, and then suddenly someone offers you a shit-ton of money, free stuff and unconditional support. Do you getme?”
“Yup.”
“I didn’t want to keep secrets from Adam and Trina, either. They were my first friends here, and they were the only ones who supported me while I was blacklisted. It didn’t feel right for me to ditch them for anothergroup.”
Hunter nodded. “Yeah, I get it,” he said. “Anyway, goon.”
“Adam and Trina said that if the bullying got so bad that I couldn’t handle it anymore, I should go and join the Medusas. They said they wouldn’t mind, because they wanted me to behappy.”
He let out a short sigh. “So when that video went up at the assembly, you did what theysaid.”
“Yup. When I ran out crying, Camila Valmont and some of the other Medusa girls came up to me and told me the offer was still open, and if I accepted, the bullying would go away likethat,” I said, snapping myfingers.
“I see where this is going now,” Hunter said, lips twisted into a grimace. “You think it’s them behind all of this bullshit. The assembly video, the abusive texts, the threateningemails.”
“Yes. They probably didn’t expect me to turn them down the first time. But theyreallywanted me to join, so they hatched a plan to essentially force my hand,” I said, eyes narrowing. “Like I said before, they have access to a ton of money and resources because of the Network, so they could’ve gotten their hands on that video from thecourt.”
“And they’re the only people at this school who aren’t afraid of crossing me and my friends, so they wouldn’t give a fuck about me telling everyone to leave you alone,” Hunter added. He exhaled deeply and leaned forward. “Fuck. I can’t believe I didn’t think ofthat.”
“Me neither,” I said. “But it makes sense. They pretended someone else was bullying me so that I’d want to join them, and I fell for it and ran right into their waitingarms.”
Hunter cocked his head to one side. “But why the hell would they be so hell-bent on getting you to jointhem?”
“That’s the second part of the story,” I said. “Tonight was meant to be my initiation. They made it seem like it was a cool, fun ritual based on ancient Greek stuff, and I had to dress up in a costume and drink red wine from a golden chalice to represent the blood of our enemies. But I don’t drink alcohol, so they replaced the wine with red juice instead. That turned out to be a mistake forthem.”
I filled him in on the rest of the story, and by the time I was done, his face had blanched. “Are you fucking serious?” he said, eyes wide. “All of that shit reallyhappened?”
I nodded firmly. “Yes. I was drugged, but I wasn’tthatout of it, because I didn’t have the wine, and I’m pretty sure whatever they gave me becomes a lot stronger when it’s combined with alcohol. So I remember it all pretty well, and by the time Camila chased me and confronted me, I was already sober enough to know exactly what was goingon.”
“Fuck.” Hunter leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. “I can’t believethis.”
“Well, it’s alltrue.”
“Sorry, I’m not saying I don’t believe you. It’s just fuckingcrazy.”
“Yeah, it is. If I hadn’t just gone through it a few hours ago, I probably wouldn’t believe it myself. It’s like a movie orsomething.”
“A really fucked-up movie,” he said, upper lip curlingcontemptuously.
I sighed. “This is going to sound weird, but I actually feel sorry for Camila and the others,” I said. “I mean, I’m fucking mad at them for trying to trick me into joining, but at the same time, they were all tricked too. If they don’t play along and convince other girls that it’s amazing and fun, they risk losing everything and having their tapesleaked.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Hunter straightened up again. “Hold on. You’re saying that the Network guys get the Medusas to recruit more girls for them every year,right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Is it just seniors theyrecruit?”
My stomach flipped. “Oh. Shit. I didn’t even think of that,” I said in a hollow voice. “It’s not just seniors. A bunch of the girls are juniors, and I remember Camila saying at the first meeting that some of them even join the society as freshmen orsophomores.”
“So they’re tricking and blackmailing underagegirls into sleeping with them. Some as young as fourteen orfifteen.”
“Yeah, I thinkso.”
“We need to go to the cops, Laney. Right fucking now,” he said, jumping to his feet. “You have to tell them what you sawtonight.”
I shook my head. “Ican’t.”
“Whynot?”