CHASE: Fuck. Hang on. Where’s the lighter?

FEMALE 1: Are you seriously stopping right now? What the hell?

CHASE: Chill out, Nikki. Just let me light this.

[background noise]

[coughing]

FEMALE 1: Oh my god. (coughs) That’s strong.

CHASE: I know. My dealer is the shit.

FEMALE 2: Gonna save some for me?

FEMALE 1: The joint or Chase?

FEMALE 2: (laughs) Both.

CHASE: Don’t worry, I can go all night. Can’t say the same for this spliff.

[laughter, background noise]

— RECORDING ENDS —

Ice ran through my veins. Spelled out like that, the encounter looked even worse. The world tilted around me, and I came closer than ever to emptying the meager contents of my stomach onto the floor of the truck. I’d barely eaten all day, so at least there wouldn’t be much.

And it was still only an excerpt from the video. Even with his apparent digging, Luke hadn’t been able to uncover the whole thing, either.

Gripping the paper, I read the transcript twice more. It was like reading a story about someone else. I wasn’t the person in that video anymore, and I barely remembered that night. When I tried to play it back in my head, it was all a blur. My hangover had lasted for two days after.

“Wonder if Callingwood Daily would want to run a story. Front page, maybe.”

I glanced up, keeping my expression neutral. “Where did you get this?”

“Fell into my lap. Kind of like that skank, Nikki, huh?” He snorted. “Or Female One, I should say.”

“What do you want?” I tossed the transcript onto the console between us.

“My private investigator does good work,” he said, ignoring my question. “I have a copy of the video too, but I’m sure you’ve already seen it.”

At this point, I wondered who hadn’t.

“In case you’re curious,” he added, “I only had to pay Kristen three grand to sell you out. I bet you’re willing to cough up a lot more than that to keep it quiet, huh?”

A hundred times over.

“Get to the point.”

Luke tilted his head and stroked his chin with an arrogant look on his face. “Isn’t Bailey up for a big scholarship package right now? I thought I heard something about an important internship too. Sounds like the kind of thing that could really set her up after graduation.”

My stomach did a nosedive. Bailey was one of five finalists who’d been selected to meet with the scholarship adjudication panel. Penalty Box Online had contacted her references and invited her for another interview on Friday, too. She’d been over the moon about both things all week.

If Luke had managed to track down the video, I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised he knew other intimate details about not only my life, but Bailey’s.

“What does that have to do with anything?”