“That’s the real reason you didn’t want me seeing Dr. Shelby,” I say.

Ben hesitates, then nods. He hauls himself up from the pillows, mirrors my posture so we’re sitting across from each other like in a campfire circle. “I saw her years ago, before my mom died, and when Natalie had specific ammunition…I knew when I needed to see someone again, after my mom, that there was no way in hell it would be Dr. Shelby. Natalie had this way of always having people under her thumb. Now we know why. I didn’t want her to have anything on you.”

His outburst makes sense now. And to think I’d gotten so annoyed at him, when all he was trying to do was protect me!

“Well, she had plenty to hold over others. Almost everyone at school had files. There were notes in some of them about the favors she could get out of people. Free shit.”

“Blackmail,” Ben supplies.

“Low-level, but yeah. I didn’t have time to go through everything, but I’d bet she was asking for real money from some people. I only looked at files for the people I know, but imagine if she had ammunition on any of the adults in Seaview. People with real money and clout.”

“What else do you remember? Anything specific?”

“I took some pictures.” I show him the master list on my phone, three photos’ worth of names. Ben bites his lip adorably as he scans. I scoot so we’re side by side and I can watch the screen. Landing on his own name, he frowns.

“She must have started doing this freshman year. That’s when I saw Dr. Shelby. You didn’t, um, read the file, did you?”

“No!” I lie, to spare him the embarrassment, though now it’s a priority to wrest my phone back ASAP. If he swipes forward too many photos, he’ll see a blurry rendering of his adolescent secrets.

Suddenly, Ben gasps, and my heart leaps into my esophagus.

“That’s the mayor’s assistant.” He points to D. Martinez. “And she’s got at least two deputies, plus Principal Morris and the city comptroller here. Plus all her friends. Wow.”

I hold out my hand for the phone before Ben can swipe further. I look over the list again myself, for good measure.

“There’s no Luke,” I say, realizing it now for the first time.

Ben laughs to himself. “Luke thinks therapy is stupid. Or maybe it’s only Dr. Shelby. He says she has a ‘Stepford wife’ energy.”

“Or maybe he knew what Natalie was doing and wasn’t willing to risk it?” I propose. “But Natalie found out his secrets anyway.”

“She had her ways,” Ben intones somberly.