I exhale sharply, realization dawning on me like a bucket of cold water. It all makes sense. Zoe is in love with Damien.

When you have something other people want, they hate you for it. But this can’t have all been over a boy.

“What happened after that?” I ask, trying to keep my breathing steady.

He clamps his mouth shut, and I feel a surge of panic. There’s no way I’m letting him stop now.

“Damien,” I urge, voice cracking.

He holds my gaze for another beat before continuing, sounding sorrowful. “You caught us. She threatened to tell your sister about the Parker thing. I’d never seen you so angry. You said you never wanted to see either of us again, and then you started going off about sending some email. I had no idea what you were talking about, but it seemed to really spook Zoe. It was weird.”

The letter to McGill.

He scoots closer to me, reaching for my hands again. “Allie, I don’t care about any of the bad stuff that happened in the past,” he remarks. “I don’t care that you cheated. None of it matters. All that matters is right now. I just want to be with you.”

My head is spinning, and I shake it vehemently. “Damien, tell me what else happened that night.”

“I—I can’t,” he whispers. “It’s too awful. And Zoe would get mad.”

“Why would she get mad?”

“Just forget about it. That’s what I did.”

Bile rises up in my throat. I can’t play pretend anymore.

Pushing his hands away, I stand up, and he looks at me with a floored expression. “Don’t touch me.”

“Allie?”

I know I should try to coax more information out of him, but I think it would require giving him more of myself than I would like. Besides, I’m too wired to control my reactions. Hauling in a shaky breath, I turn around to head back to the party, ignoring Damien’s calls for me to stay.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I place my hand on a tree trunk, taking a second to calm down. I need to find Mason.

“You know.”

The sudden voice from behind me causes the hair on my neck to rise, and I whirl around.

Zoe is standing a short distance away, looking haunted, so still it’s like she’s made of porcelain. The rest of the trail is empty, and I immediately regret my decision to come out here. The party feels miles away. Panic seizes my bones as I take a trembling step backward.

“Oh hey.” I breathe deeply. “You scared me.”

Her lips curve into a slow, small smile, and it’s as though her soul has been sucked out. “You know what happened.”

“What are you talking about?” I feign ignorance. “Are you feeling okay?”

She tilts her head to the side. “You don’t have to pretend anymore.”