Page 26 of The Hunt

“How do we know you didn’t send that message to yourself so you could have a convenient scapegoat to blame if you got caught doing something?” Tessa asked, narrowing her eyes.

“I didn’t. I would never do something like that.” I slowly shook my head and opened my tote bag to display its contents to her. “And look… I didn’t even take my laptop to any of my classes today. It’s back at the dorms. So how could that person have seen me using it in the lecture hall?”

Bree and Sloane gave each other uncertain looks. Tessa continued to look mad as hell.

“Please,” I went on, voice cracking with hurt. “I thought we were friends. I know we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, but I thought you’d all gotten to know me well enough to know that this stuff can’t be true.At all. I’m not homophobic, or racist, or anything those comments are saying. And I’m not lying about Jake either.”

Sloane’s shoulders slumped, and guilt flashed across her face. “She’s right,” she said, gaze shooting between Bree and Tessa. “I mean… we’re really just believing the first rumor we hear about her? That’s insane.”

“It’s not justanyrumor,” Tessa snapped.

Bree’s lips pressed together in a firm line, and she leaned forward. “Tess, come on. We need to talk about this properly,” she said. She looked back at me and patted the table, indicatingfor me to take a seat. “I’m sorry, Ev; you’re totally right. We should’ve given you the benefit of the doubt and agreed to hear you out first.”

“Thanks,” I murmured.

Tessa snatched her bag off the seat and rose to her feet. “Fine. Whatever. Have fun, guys!” she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. With that, she stomped away and exited the West End.

Bree sighed as she watched her go. “Just give her some time,” she said, looking back at me. “She’s really sensitive about this sort of stuff.”

Sloane nodded in agreement. “I’m not sure if she told you about this yet, but her best friend in high school was bullied really badly after she came out.” She paused and lowered her voice. “Like, so badly she ended up trying to kill herself.”

My stomach lurched. “That’s horrible.”

“Yeah. She’s fine now, but it was really bad back then. That’s why this kind of stuff upsets Tessa so much.”

“She’ll come around and listen to you eventually,” Bree added. “Like I said before, she just needs some time to process it all.”

“But you two…” I trailed off, eyes flickering between the girls. “You believe me?”

Bree was silent for a moment. Then she nodded. “I can tell you’re not lying about the Holler stuff, unless you’re the best fucking actress on the planet,” she said. She hesitated and leaned forward, eyes narrowing slightly. “But youarehiding something, aren’t you?”

I blinked. “What?”

“Something about this Jake guy. I mean, there’s no way he’d go to such crazy lengths to run you off campus just because you caught him cheating,” she said. “There’s something else, isn’t there? Some other reason for him to want you gone so badly.”

I sighed and looked down at the table, fingers anxiously twisting together. “Yeah,” I finally murmured. “You’re right.”

“So what is it? What did he do to you?” she asked. “Or what did you do to him?”

“Did he really cheat?” Sloane quickly added.

“Yes. But I didn’t actually find out about that untilafterI dumped him,” I replied. “He kept cycling between apologizing and flying into rages after the breakup, and that’s when he admitted he’d been sleeping with other girls the entire time.”

Bree leaned even closer, forehead creasing. “So why did you dump him? And why does he hate you so much?”

“I… I don’t even know where to start with this,” I said softly. “It’s such a long story, and honestly, I worry you won’t even believe me, because it’s just so—”

“Girl.” Bree lifted a palm. “Just take a breath and start from the very beginning. One word at a time. You can do it.”

“Okay.” I inhaled deeply and looked her in the eye. “I’ll tell you everything.”

6

Everly

I tookanother deep breath and folded my hands on my lap. “So, you know how Jake and I used to spend every summer together?”

“Yup,” the girls said in unison.

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