Page 32 of Princess of Hawthorne Prep

“Duke’s bed?” Everly’s gaze sharpens. “You slept with him?”

“Of course not.”

Summer snorts.

“Then how did you end up spending the night with Duke?” the auburn-haired girl asks.

I drag a hand over my face. “I don’t know. He found me passed out in Kingsley’s game room and took me back to his house to sleep it off.”

“But you just said that you can’t remember what happened. So, for all you know, you were with both of them.” Disgust flashes across Summer’s expression.

My mouth turns cottony. “Duke and I are friends. That’s it.”

“Sure.” Her tone is riddled with disbelief as she draws out the word. “From what I hear, you’re,” she lifts her hands and makes air quotes with her fingers, “friendswith a lot of guys around here.”

“That’s not true.”

Ironically, all I’ve done the entire time I’ve been at HP is keep to myself. Instead of opening her eyes and considering for a moment that Jasper has been pulling strings like a puppet master, everyone wants to believe the worst in me. My shoulders slump under the heavy weight of the realization that arguing with Summer, or anyone else, is futile.

“Sure seems like it.” Dismissing me with a cold look, Summer swivels toward her friend. “I know we came here so you could talk with Mrs. Chambers, but I can’t be in the same room with this girl or I’m going to lose it.”

Barely do the words escape from her mouth before she spins on her heel and storms from the art studio.

With a sigh, Everly watches her friend disappear before turning her attention to me. After a handful of silent seconds, her expression softens. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply anything about you and Duke. I know you’re friends.”

“That’s all we are,” I reiterate before popping a brow. “Although, why would it matter if I slept with him? I was under the impression that you didn’t like the guy.”

“I don’t,” she shoots back quickly.

Too quickly.

“But you care if I spent the night in his bed?”

A splash of color hits her cheeks as she averts her eyes. Ignoring the question, she mutters, “Like Summer, I don’t want to see Austin get hurt. He’s my friend too.”

Instead of pursuing the topic, I release a steady breath. “I know.”

Her gaze flickers to the last place we saw Summer. “After everything that happened at the fundraiser and then those pics…you can understand why she’s pissed, right?”

Of course I do.

It looks bad.

Really bad.

“I promise I’m not with Jasper. I broke off our relationship before the charity event. He pretended to accept it and said we could still be friends and then he…” My voice trails off. “Humiliated Austin in front of everyone.” I shake my head and force myself to continue. “He refuses to let me go. Everything he’s done…it’s to make my life miserable so I crawl back to him. And Friday night was just another twist in the game he’s playing. Whatever happened to me, there’s no doubt in my mind that Jasper is somehow behind it.”

Shock fills her eyes. “What a douchebag. I never understood why the two of you were together in the first place.”

“I don’t know,” I mutter. It feels as if that decision will haunt me for the rest of my life.

He’s never going to stop.

Not while we’re attending Hawthorne Prep.

After a few silent moments, Everly clears her throat. “You really don’t remember those pictures being taken?”

As much as I hate the doubt that flickers across her expression, I can’t blame her for being skeptical. If this were happening to someone else, I’m not sure I would believe them either. It all seems farfetched.

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