Page 50 of The Ruthless Note

“Nah.” Sol shakes his head.

I arch an eyebrow in his direction. Before, Sol would have been the first to jump into this pool, not giving a damn about the consequences.

But Zane isn’t deterred. He sends a wave of water over the pool rim and it splashes right in the center of Sol’s chest.

The dull, burdened look in Sol’s eyes putters out, replaced by a familiar twinkle that reminds me of our old days.

“Oh, it’s on!” Sol makes a running leap and cannon balls into the pool.

The wall of water he sends up soaks the ends of Finn’s sneakers. He scowls at us.

“Get over here, Finn!” Zane yells.

“I’m good.”

“Scaredy pants!”

“At least my pants are dry. Good luck with soggy socks and wet boxers.”

“Unlike Dutch, we didn’t have time to change into speedos.” Zane juts a chin at me. “Besides, girls love seeing my abs through a wet shirt.”

I laugh.

Zane winks and does a backstroke.

Sol sends a skitter of water over him.

Zane sputters. “Hey!”

“That’s payback.”

As Sol and Zane start a water fight, Finn returns to his book—albeit this time, he has a small smile tugging on the corners of his lips. It really feels like old times again, with Sol slipping back into his bright self and Zane getting on everyone’s nerves as usual.

With them around, grounding me back to the reality, I feel less untethered and more like myself.

I swim with the guys for a bit until Sol complains that he’s late for class.

Since he’s already talked about wanting to keep his grades up, Zane and I agree to take him to his next class. That way, the teachers won’t dare say anything stupid to him.

I walk into the boys’ locker room alone, glad that I was smart enough to take my clothes off before I jumped into the pool. I open the locker, reach inside and find…

Nothing.

No shoes.

No boxers.

No pants, shirt or Redwood Prep jacket.

Blinking, I open another locker, thinking maybe I got the wrong one.

Still nothing.

I step back and peer around the damp locker room, scanning the benches and looking behind the shelves just in case I misplaced them.

The clothes are gone.

“Zane,” I spit.

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