No one cared enough to interfere. It was entertainment, another opportunity to upload a good fight video and rack up the views. If someone got hurt, even better. An injury could shoot a video to virality faster than anything else.

The bathroom door slammed open, and Nate nearly plunged forward into the crowd as Kyle stumbled out. His eyes were wide, and people hurriedly made way for him as he panted, pointing a finger accusingly back into the bathroom as Alex and Matthew hurried out after him.

“Knife!” he yelled. “Reed has a knife!”

It was instant pandemonium. Suddenly, teachers were present, yelling for people to clear out. Two security guards showed up, flustered and red-faced, as Kyle kept babbling, “He tried to stab me! He tried to fucking stab me!”

I covered my mouth in shock as the rushing crowd pressed me, Vincent, and Ashley against the lockers.

Ashley was breathless with disbelief. “Holy shit.”

“It shouldn’t have come to this,” Vincent said, his face somber and his voice barely discernible in the chaos.

My guilt was like a beast trying to claw its way up my esophagus, thrashing and gnawing. I crushed it under pride and blind self-assurance.

The security guards emerged from the bathroom, with Manson between them. Each of them kept an iron grip on his arms, leading him through the crowd as students tried to get shots of him with their phones. He wasn’t fighting them, and he wasn’t hurt other than a purple bruise on his cheek and a dribble of blood that streaked from his busted lip. They led him toward the principal’s office, directly past me.

Manson nodded to Vincent first, silent words passing between them. Then his eyes fell on me and his lips parted to give me a wide, bloody smile.

It was feral — a beast’s grin. Wild, reckless and, finally, victorious.

2

Jessica

The morning after The Dare…

Everything changes after high school. Everything.

You’re an adult now — or so people say. It’s time to get it all figured out. Life, love, career. You’re supposed to have a plan. The rest of your life is waiting for you.

But instead, you’re flailing in the rising waters of adulthood as time ticks away, overwhelmed and underprepared. How the hell was I supposed to plot out the rest of my life when it had barely even begun? I was doubting the person I’d believed myself to be, doubting every decision, and the dreams I’d once had.

I’d changed. I didn’t know myself like I thought I did.

I stared at my reflection in the diner’s scratched bathroom mirror, using a makeup wipe from my purse to clean away my smudged mascara. But I couldn’t wipe away the deep red hickey on my neck. I couldn’t get the smell of sex out of my hair.

I couldn’t forget last night. Neither did I want to.

Straightening my ponytail, I stepped back to take a better look at myself before I left the restroom. I should have brought a change of clothes or at least some pants to the Halloween party last night, because my angel costume was little more than glorified lingerie. At least the hoodie I wore was long enough to cover my short skirt.