Page 132 of The Friend Zone

We watch as Kylie walks out of the frame and Bianca leans over the bathroom counter to unplug the curling iron, but changes her mind. A devious smile appears on her face.

She walks away, leaving the iron plugged in, but turns on her heels a few seconds later and takes something out of her mouth.

It looks like a piece of bubblegum. Bianca giggles, winking at her audience as she sticks the bubblegum on the “on/off” button of the curling iron.

The video cuts off when she walks out of the frame.

No one speaks for a long moment.

“Did she just—” I finally say, still trying to come to terms with what we just watched.

“Bianca Williams burned down the Zeta house.” Cole finishes the sentence for me.

“On fucking purpose.” Jagger adds.

“Wait a second. Did she post that video anywhere?” Ryker asks.

Jagger shakes his head. “No. She saved it as a draft on a popular video app. But by the looks of it, it was never posted.”

“What I don’t understand,” Cole muses. “Is why keep the video if she never intended to post it. I mean, I get why she didn’t show it to anyone. But why the fuck keep it?”

“Because she’s a psycho-bitch?” Ryker shrugs. “I think it’s like the same thing serial killers do when they take a memento from their victims.”

I agree with him. “Or when they leave something behind as a calling card. Bianca wants a reminder of what she did. And now I’m pretty sure she used that curling iron because she was hoping that I would be blamed. Without counting the financial damage I suffered when I lost the contract with the company that made those hair styling tools. Thank goodness it was just one of my endorsements.”

Ryker looks disgusted. “I disliked Bianca from the second I met her.”

Something in his tone gives me pause. “She tried to get in your pants, am I right?”

He nods. “Yup. Several times. She had no chance, Cinnamon. I came here determined to stay away from women and drama. There was only one woman who could make me go back on my resolution.”

The smile on his face does unspeakable things to my heart. I broke my own resolution to stay away from hockey players, but I’m happy I did.

“Are we going to call the cops then?” Ryker asks. “We have proof that Bianca was behind that blog and the fire is a felony.”

“Yes,” I agree. “But first, let’s make sure we have copies of everything. I bet the Dean will try everything to shift the blame on anyone but his own daughter.”

Jagger begins tapping on the screen of Bianca’s phone. “Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll have everything backed up to your laptop and my own cloud.”

We all wait, discussing if we should call the cops or drive to Star Cove’s police station and report both incidents in person.

“Whatever we do,” Cole says. “We should keep it quiet with everyone else on campus. It’s better not to alert the Dean?—”

“Holy fucking shit.” Jagger gasps.

I walk to my desk, stopping by his side. “What happened? Did the backup fail?”

“Nope,” Jagger reassures me. “That’s all done. But while it was saving, a couple of DMs came through. Bianca must be awake and using a tablet or a laptop. She’s looking for her phone.”

Candace immediately worries. “She didn’t think I took it, right? She left it in the living room when she went to her room with Topher.”

Jagger grins, showing us the phone. “No, but you might want to see these.”

Topher: Hey B., any news on the questions of that Russian Lit midterm? Can you ask your dad? I would have asked him myself last night, but he was too busy brown nosing all the rich alumni.

Bianca: Not now, Toph. I have the hangover from hell and I don’t know where the fuck I left my phone. You know I don’t keep that stuff in my computer, just in case. My daddy was clear to use just one device. He’s paranoid about anyone finding out. He said it’s better to use my phone, since I always have it with me.

Topher: Well obviously not always, if you can’t find it. But did your dad get it, or it hasn’t been uploaded by the professor yet? We’re cutting it really close this time, the midterm is in three days.

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