‘Nothing much,’ I say, sitting beside him. ‘I’m so sorry about Tiffany.’

‘I should never have changed those results,’ he says. ‘I don’t know what I was thinking. I should have just left her alone. Let her have her victory lap.’

‘That’s my fault. I encouraged you. If I’d known this was gonna happen …’

‘How could you have, Zach? It’s not your fault.’

‘Yeah,’ Bec says. ‘The only person we should be blaming right now is whoever leaked those pictures … That’s what started this.’

‘It could have been anyone,’ I say.

‘We need to find out who,’ Bec says. ‘Tiffany said it herself: somebody’s bound to have left a paper trail …’

‘I know who it was,’ a voice says from behind us.

We all spin round to see the last person I’d have expected.

‘Ethan?’ Bec says, standing up defensively. ‘Don’t you fucking start …’

‘I wasn’t going to.’ He holds his hands up defensively. ‘I come in peace.’

Bec narrows her eyes, chewing her lip. I don’t trust him either.

‘Let him speak,’ Chase says, getting up now too.

‘I know who leaked the pictures,’ he repeats. ‘I know it wasn’t you, Chase. If you come with me, I’ll show you.’

‘Show us right here,’ Bec retorts.

‘I can’t,’ he says. ‘And I can only show this to Chase. It’s kinda … personal.’

‘What do you mean by personal?’ Bec snaps. ‘There’s no fucking way.’

‘Fine, suit yourself.’ He goes to walk off.

‘Wait,’ Chase says. ‘Why can’t you just tell us?’

‘Because I can’t,’ he says, annoyed. I don’t understand why he’s getting so defensive about it. ‘I’ll show you,’ he says again. ‘You just have to trust me.’

‘Trust you?’ Bec refuses to stand down. ‘Why the fuck should we trust you?’

‘Bec,’ Chase says. ‘It’s fine …’

‘It’s not fine!’ she snarls.

‘You know what? Fuck this,’ Ethan says, actually walking away now.

‘Ethan, wait,’ Chase says, going after him. ‘It’s chill, Bec. What’s he gonna do? I’m a big boy. I can handle this.’

Bec looks unconvinced.

‘I’ll be right back, OK?’

‘Fine.’ She clearly isn’t happy. ‘I don’t like this, Zach.’

‘Me neither,’ I reply as we watch them walk away. ‘But if Ethan knows who really did this, isn’t that worth pursuing? That’ll clear Chase’s name. Squash the rumours before they get out of hand. You’ve seen what they’re saying online. We need to show he’s innocent.’

‘Yeah, but why can’t Ethan just tell all of us? What could he possibly have that he can only show to Chase? It doesn’t make any sense. And why is he going behind Tiffany’s back?’

‘Maybe he’s been sending pictures to other girls and doesn’t want her to find out?’