Page 441 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

Harper

My phone rings, and there’s already a knot of dread in my stomach before I pick it up to see who’s calling.

Alex.

Again.

I groan silently and turn off my phone with a grimace. He’s been calling non-stop since last night. I should just answer, but I don’t want to speak to him. I don’t want to speak to anyone.

I fall on my bed and scream into my pillow. This is all wrong! I’m supposed to be on cloud nine. I fuckingwon!Jude is fucked, and I made it happen.

But I’m not happy. I’m pissed off.

I’ve nuked my entire world, left standing in the shambles of my own destruction as the radiation slowly seeps deeper into my bones.

Mom and Wayne fought on the way home from school this morning. They fought so much that Rosie started sobbing again. Fuck,Inearly started crying. Wayne is convinced Jude is being set up, but my mom didn’t want to hear a word of it. She’d been edgy since last night when I got in the car to go home, asking mewhy Jude had grabbed me like that. Why he’d looked so angry. I told her he was just amped up for the game—but she didn’t believe me. I forgot I was dealing with a seasoned pro when it came to drugs. She might not have said anything, but it was clear she thought he was on something.

Last night she didn’t dare accuse Wayne’s golden boy of doping, but this morning? Oh my God, did she let him have it. I didn’t call her out on her hypocrisy. It wouldn’t have helped my case. I thought this out as carefully as I could, but I know I’m not perfect. There’s still a chance I could get dragged under, caught up in Jude’s fall from grace. Collateral damage.

There’s one loose thread...and it’s Alex. I told him I was going to the bathroom when in actual fact, I snuck into the locker room and planted the rest of the meth inside Jude’s locker. If anyone asks Alex, he’ll probably tell them I wasn’t with him the entire time. That it’splausiblethat I could have slipped away long enough to plant the drugs.

But in a few days, none of that will matter. Whether Jude put the drugs in his locker or not isn’t going to matter when that test comes back positive for meth.

I only hope I can stay sane long enough to see this all play out.

Chapter 49

Jude

There’s a knock on my bedroom door. I quickly save and close the program I was working on, plucking out the single earbud from my ear as I call out, “Yeah?”

“Open the door,” Dad says.

I hurry over to unlock it, looking down when I see my dad’s frown.

“What were you doing?”

“Homework.”

Dad holds out his hand. I don’t need to ask what he wants—I take the key out of my lock and hand it over without a word.

“We’re going out for pizza.”

“See you later?—”

“You’re coming with.” Dad’s eyes are slits when I look up.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t trust you anymore, Jude.” He cocks his head a little, as if daring me to question his logic. But how the fuck can I?

“Do I get to change, or do you want me walking in there with my dick on display?” I’m only wearing sweats, not even boxers,and I probably don’t need to wave a hand toward my groin to illustrate my point, but I do it anyway.

Dad’s interfering in my plans in a big way. There’s a clock on my fuckinglifeand he expects me to sit in a diner and make nice?

“Watch yourself,” Dad growls. “Or I’m cutting off your internetandtaking away your phone.”

Christ. I give him a grim nod. “Sorry, Dad. I’ll be right down.”

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