Page 426 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

“You know, actually, I’m with my family?—”

“Okay. Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.” He walks away before I’ve had a chance to tell him that Idon’tknow where to find him, and if he thinks I’m going to ask Jude then he’s sorely mistaken.

I shiver again, and wrap my arms around me. I need to stop lurking. I can’t have Mom wondering where I am.

They’re my alibi.

As I head back toward the bleachers, I put my hand in my pocket to get my Chapstick and happen to touch the small plastic sleeve with the remaining pills inside. I stop walking. People stream past me on their way to food stalls or the public restrooms, or just stretching their legs before the second half of the game.

I didn’t tell Talia how many I wanted, and she gave me four. Two of them went into Jude’s energy drink. Now I have no idea what to do with the leftovers.

Would she take them back and give me a refund? They were really expensive. Honestly, I don’t get why people do drugs. Booze is so much cheaper, isn’t it? And it’s a much nicer buzz than this.

I touch the pills again and glance back at the locker room as gears start turning in my mind. Then I shake my head and hurry back to where my family is sitting.

It would never work anyway. Too many moving parts. I’ll just sit here and hope that I gave Jude a big enough dose to have him freak out in the second half of the game.

I’m not asking for much. I just need Jude to be Jude.

”Still want to grab that hotdog?” I ask.

Alex turns and smiles when he sees me. “You changed your mind, did you?”

I shrug. “Girl’s gotta eat.”

Alex cocks his head toward the food trucks assembled in two rows near the entrance to the field. “After you, ma’am.”

I give him a mock curtsy and come to walk beside him. Luck is on my side tonight. I spotted Alex leaving the locker room a few minutes after the game and followed him here. He looks a lot less intimidating now that he’s out of his football gear. His hair is still wet from the shower he took after the game, deodorant wafting off him. Like all the football players that have earned them, he’s wearing his letterman’s jacket.

Maybe it’s the drugs talking, but he’s kinda good-looking. Not nearly as handsome as Jude, of course, but I still haven’t seen a single guy at Cinderhart that could compete against my stepbrother in that department.

“First time I’ve seen you at a game,” Alex says as we line up for hotdogs.

“Yeah, uh...I’m not really into sports. Just came to support Jude.”

“Good for you.” Alex shifts his weight, leaning in and lowering his voice to say, “I’m glad you’re doing okay, Harper. I...” He glances away, and when he looks back there’s a strange light in his eyes.

My stomach bottoms out. “What is it?”

“That night at Sean’s house...I tried to get them to stop, but they’re a bunch of fucking assholes.”

Stop. Stop talking.

My skin goes ice-cold. I open my mouth to tell him to keep quiet, but I can’t summon up words.

“I’m so glad Jude came when I called. I wasn’t sure he would. Fuck knows what would have happened if—“ Alex lifts a hand. “I’m sorry, you probably don’t want to talk about that shit. But I want you to know that we’re not all like that. There are a ton of fucked up people in Cinderhart, and they get away with murder,but we have some good guys too.”

I definitely don’t want to talk about it. Fuck, I didn’t even know Alex was there that night. Now I have to wrap my head around the fact thathewas the one who called Jude? How much does he know? How much did hesee?But something else he said is itching at my mind.

“What do you mean, you didn’t think Jude would come?” I ask him.

Alex glances away as he rubs the back of his neck. “He doesn’t...it doesn’t seem like he likes you all that much.”

I laugh. Fuck it, I can’t help it. Alex looks back at me confused and then affronted. I lift my hands, trying desperately to curb my giggles. “Sorry. It’s just...yeah, he doesn’t like me. Not one bit, actually.”

Alex frowns but says nothing. Like he’s waiting for me to explain why.We’d be here all fucking night.I wave away his curiosity. “Just your standard sibling rivalry, I guess.”

He eases up a little, gives me a faint smile. “He made a scene about you, though,” he says, and then chuckles softly. “Said he’d kill any of us if we tried to touch you.”

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