“Of course I didn’t sell that video,” Edmund says on the other side of the phone. “I would never do that to you.”

I mean, I kind of figured it seemed out of character. But right now it feels like almost anyone could be against me, so I’d figured it was worth calling him to ask. Just so I can know. Maybe having someone to blame would make this feel better, I don’t know.

“Do you have any idea who might have?” I ask.

“I’m sorry, I don’t.” He sighs. “Gilbert sent it to the group chat that night. He thought it was funny, because he had this theory that you weren’t into guys when you didn’t … like me … because girls usually do, and…” He clears his throat. “It’s not funny, obviously. It’s just, he was saying I told you so.”

“Guess he won,” I say in a deadened tone. “And I do like you. I just don’t—”

“Yeah, no, I get it, I get it. You don’t like guys.”

“Um, I do, actually. But I’ve got feelings for someone else, and they’re not going away anytime soon.”

“Oh.”

I chew on a hangnail. “So, how many people are in that group chat?”

“There’s twelve of us.”

Great. That narrows it down.

“It might have been Laurence Bell,” he says. “He doesn’t need an excuse to be a shit person at the best of times, let alone if he could sell that video for money.”

Maybe. But if I can’t know for sure, I’m not interested in speculating. I guess it doesn’t matter anyway, at the end of the day. It’s not like having a name will change what happens to me tomorrow.

“Are you okay?” Edmund asks. I haven’t told him about the online speculation, or the expulsion. I’m so fucking tired, right down to my marrow, of thinking about it.

“Yeah,” I say. “I’ll be fine.”

“You know,” he says, “I did like hanging out with you. Maybe we could do it again sometime, as friends?”

The last thing I expected right now was for someone to drag a smile out of me. But with this, Edmund manages it. “Sure, okay,” I say. “That’d be fun.”

“I’ll message you sometime, then. Good luck with everything.”

When I hang up the phone there’s a bunch of texts from Rose.

William’s agreed to help.

He has set up a meeting with the headmaster tomorrow.

Sit tight. This should be sorted by lunchtime.

I’m not ready to feel relieved yet. Not until I know for sure. And the best way I can know for sure is to organize my own backup plan.