Page 114 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
“What was he doing there?”
I drew a slow breath in. “He was getting coffee with Reed.”
“Reed?”
I held Jade’s gaze throughout it all, forcing myself to stop shaking through the lie. “That guy from before was at the coffee shop. Jefferson’s quarterback last year. Noah.”
I watched Jade sort through the information I gave her, and could visibly see the way she tried to get to my point before I did. “Noah,” she echoed. “What does this have?—”
“He brought up the game last year,” I cut heroff. “The rivalry game. He said that Brentwood broke his leg on purpose.”
It was a huge risk to mention it. Admittedlystupid, especially when there were other players involved. Jade could just fact check with Connor, but I hoped that since I left the tutoring and Maisie out of the equation, he’d go along with it. And if he didn’t… I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
Jade put her hand on her hip. “And I’m assuming you’re asking if that’s true?”
“I—I never heard anything about it. It’s probably not true, that they did it on purpose, but?—”
“It’s true.”
Ice water rushed over me. “What?”
“Brentwood needed to win the game last year. So, when Jefferson had the ball, they went after their star player.”
Jade spoke so matter of fact—so calm, uncaring. Like ending the football career of an innocent high schooler meant nothing to her. “Did—did last year’s Top Tier know about it?”
“Who do you think put the boys up to it?” Jade wrinkled her nose. “And, jeez, why do you think Ashton and Kyle are in the Top Tier? Just because they were on the football team? No,” she huffed. “It’s because they did the Top Tier’s dirty work for them.”
“They broke someone’s leg,” I whispered, stomach roiling. “Ended someone’s career.On purpose?”
Jade walked up to me, dipping her head down. “You and I are in the Top Tier because we’re co-captains. Connor’s on it because everyone loves him. Landon, because he’s the quarterback. Reed… well. The last Top Tier girls had a thing for him.” She shook her head, as if she couldn’t fathom it. “And Ashton and Kyle, because they were willing to do what’s best for Brentwood.”
“And Riley?”
“Because I needed alackey.” She echoed the word I’d used with venom. “A backup for when you went rogue.”
“I’mrogue?” I echoed, voice shaking—with anger. “The Top Tier is supposed to be better than this. We don’t hurt people?—”
“I don’t know who ‘we’is.” Jade turned around to head back to the bathroom door, bored of the conversation. “But you’re one of us, aren’t you?”
“I’mnot?—”
Jade left the bathroom before I could finish.
I stood still, frozen, suspended in my horror. So Noah and Logan had been telling the truth. Ashton and Kylehadhurt Noah on purpose last year. To win a stupid game, the Top Tier had conspired to break the quarterback’s bones. No remorse, no compassion. When bribery didn’t work, they’d decided to take the win by force, and to hell with any consequences.
A wave of nausea gripped me, enough that I actually closed myself inside a bathroom stall, sure I was about to throw up. The walls were tighter around me, echoing my racing heartbeat back in my ears.
I hadn’t known any of it. Did Connor know? Did Reed? DidLandon? What else had happened that I didn’t know about? Who else had they hurt while I stood back, oblivious?Complicit.
I drew in a hiccupping breath, the backs of my eyes beginning to sting. A wetness slipped down my cheeks before I even noticed I was crying. I pressed my palm flat against the coolbathroom door, as if I could steady myself through the metal. Beyond that thin barrier was the rest of the school, a hallway full of people who’d look to me as one of the faces of the Top Tier.
The Top Tier who was nothing what it pretended to be.
That night, I lay on my bed, curled up with my Barbie goose squished to my chest. I held my phone propped against one of my pillows, using my thumb to scroll through my message thread with Logan from earlier.
you’re working tonight?
Logan
