Chapter 3

Three days until the state exams.

The whole school had gone tense, everyone making their last push for GPA and college apps. I lived in the library, working through years of old papers. Without Easton dragging me down, I got through them fast. All those complicated formulas I used to skip on purpose, to keep my scores low, ran clean and sharp in my head now.

That afternoon I came out of the library to grab a coffee.

Delphine was waiting at the end of the hall, blocking the way to the cafeteria. None of that soft, pitiful look she wore around Easton. Her eyes were sharp now, calculating.

"Sloane. We need to talk."

"We've got nothing to talk about." I stepped around her.

"You'll want to hear me out, unless you want your whole life to fall apart." She gave a little laugh.

I stopped and turned to look at her.

She pulled out her phone, opened a video, and held the screen up to my face.

The footage was dark. Some filthy back alley.

A girl was backed into a wall by three guys with dyed hair. They were tearing at her jacket, spitting filth at her. She fought them, face streaked with dirt and tears, a complete mess.

The girl was me.

Two years ago Easton got on the wrong side of a few street guys. They cornered him in an alley after school. I ran over and shoved him out of the way, and they closed in on me instead. If a patrol car hadn't happened to roll past, I don't want to think about how that day would have ended.

And Easton, the boy who kept promising to protect me, didn't even look back. He ran faster than anyone.

I stared at the screen, nails digging into my palms. I never knew anyone had filmed it. And now it was in Delphine's hands.

"Where did you get that?" My voice dropped.

"Doesn't matter." She pocketed the phone, a smug little smile curling up. "What matters is how everyone would look at you if this hit the school forum. Top of the class, untouchable Sloane, tangled up with street thugs in an alley, clothes half off. You think MIT admissions still wants you after they see this?"

She leaned in and dropped her voice. "Easton's a proud person, Sloane. He can't lose. Hand in a blank exam. Let me take first. And this video disappears for good."

I looked at her. At that face, so pleased with itself, so sure it had me cornered.

Last life, it was exactly this kind of demand, this kind of threat, that dragged me down inch by inch.

I started to laugh.

"What's funny?" She frowned, suddenly less sure of herself.

"You. You're an idiot." The smile dropped off my face. My voice went to ice. "You think some two-year-old video is enough to make me bow my head?"

"You don't care about your reputation?"

"Reputation?" I took a step toward her and looked down. "Go ahead. Post it right now. Let's see whether the police arrest me, the victim, or trace it back to the source and lock you up for spreading it."

The color went out of her face. She took a step back.

"And one more thing." I held her eyes, slow and clear. "You really don't know me at all. Post it wherever you want. I'm still not folding."

"So listen carefully. First place on this exam is mine. And the two of you on your knees, that's happening too."

I knocked past her shoulder and walked off down the hall.

Behind me, I heard her stamp her foot

Threaten me?

Then we'll see which one of us hits the bottom first.