Page 86 of Lesson Learned

“Stepbrother.” She gives a nonchalant shrug but there’s a different story radiating from her expression. As she talks about him, her eyes soften and her mouth curves into a smile. “And hopefully you’ll meet him soon. It’s been bad enough lately that I asked my mum if he could move down and go to school here. Now we’re just waiting for a spot to open.”

“What year’s he in?”

“Same as me.” She flicks her hair back but the curls spring straight back into shape. “He got into this flash school in Auckland because of his wrestling but he’s out for the season, so he doesn’t mind moving down here.”

“He’s a wrestler?”

“Yeah.” Her eyes glimmer with delight. “I hope James takes him on in a fight. I’d love to see him get beaten to a pulp.”

“It’d make a change from him hurting Marnie.”

Floss studies me carefully for a moment. “He’s beating her?”

“Maybe not beating, but he’s harming her. Even this ridiculous insistence that she keep losing weight when she’s already skinny as a rake—what’s that if not physical abuse?”

She eats the last of my chips, then wipes her hands on a napkin. “If I tell you something, I need you to promise not to tell anyone else.”

I nod and she gestures me closer, bending to speak directly into my ear. “I have a gun for protection. A pistol I stole from my mum’s safe, just until my brother gets down here.”

The revelation surprises me. That’s all kinds of illegal. I grew up around rifles, part of a hunting community, but have never even seen a handgun.

I wish I’d had one stored under the pillow when James came calling. Maybe Floss won’t mind me bunking with her overnight. The idea makes me feel about a hundred percent safer.

“Swear on my life, I won’t breathe a word.”

She sits back, apparently content with the answer. “If he’s hurting her, we need to bring Marnie into this conversation, too. I wanted to try earlier but didn’t think she’d listen to me over him.”

“But you think she will now?”

“For you?” Floss rolls her eyes. “You’ve been her favourite for long before you even came to Kingswood. Of course, she’ll listen to us if we’re telling the same story.” She tilts her head to the side, examining me. “She’d probably listen to just you.”

I wish I had the same confidence in our friendship. Watching Marnie slip away from me over the past few weeks, I have equal doubt as belief.

“I’m in,” I declare, thumping my palms on the table. “What’s the plan?”

“God knows.” Floss’s mask slips for the first time, revealing a face etched deep with misery. “I’ve been thinking of nothing else for weeks and I still don’t have a clue what to do.” She rubs a hand across her stomach. “I can’t let those photos go public. They’re not—”

She breaks off, shaking her head, eyes shimmering, and I reach over, taking her hand.

I don’t need to know the details. It’s sufficient to know that whatever he holds over her head is as bad as what he holds over mine.

For a moment, I wonder if he has something on Marnie, too, then dismiss it. Much as I hate to admit it, I’ve seen close up the expression of adoration on her face as she stares at him. She likes him, loves him even.

My confidence dissipates, but it doesn’t disappear entirely.

“Let’s do this and find out. If it doesn’t work, we can regroup and try again.”

“Careful,” Floss warns. “Much more of that and you’ll sound like an optimist.”

I pull out my phone and text Marnie, leaving it on the table while I wait for the message to change to read. We clear the table, dispose of our trays and reconvene and it still hasn’t changed status.

“Let’s go back and find her,” I say. Leave it long enough and I’ll second guess everything. “She could be at dinner.”

“Gracie says she’s not in the cafeteria,” Floss announces immediately, checking her phone. “Just a sec.” She taps in a message, then bites her lip while she waits. “Not in the library, either.”

We head back towards the school, discussing options during the short walk. “I’ll take the east side of the school and you take the west,” I say as we swipe through the gate. “Text me if you find her and I’ll do the same.”

“Should we meet in the common room?”

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