She thinks it over for a second, then reluctantly says, “Fine. If we delete all the pictures, I’ll get Anna to come back to King. But you can’t tell anyone about our plan.”

Get Kaitlyn out of her situation with Ryan and help my friend? It’s an easy decision. “Deal. But given our history, I’m going to need some insurance.”

She scoffs. “I won’t go back on my word.”

I pull out my phone and unlock it. “Perfect. That’s why we’ll call this insurance.”

I point the phone camera at her. “I won’t send this anywhere if you hold up your end of the deal and get Anna back into King. Now state your name and say that Anna’s innocent.”

Her eyes narrow at me. “You realize that people having recordings-slash-pictures of me is how I’m in this mess in the first place, right?”

I put the phone down and give her a “duh” look. “The difference is that I actually keep my word. I’ll delete this as soon as Anna’s back at King.”

“This is ridiculous. Fine. Start rolling.”

I aim the phone at her and press Record.

“Hi. I’m Kaitlyn Anderson and I’m a big fat liar. Wacko Anna White may be wacko, but she didn’t injure me. Ryan Simms did. She should be unexpelled and allowed to come back to King City High.” She looks at me behind the camera. “Happy?”

“Are you saying all this of your own free will?”

“Oh, screw you.” She flips me the bird and walks to the passenger side of the car.

I bite back a grin and end the recording. I guess that’s as good a confession from Kaitlyn as I’ll get, even if she does insult Annalisa in it.

“You know this doesn’t mean we’re friends, right?” she states as she clicks her seat belt into place.

Despite everything, I laugh. “I’m completely fine with the fact that we’ll never be friends.”

I’m not going to post her confession anywhere. I realize that I can just plaster this video all over the place and call it a day. But I’m not going to do that. I genuinely want to help Kaitlyn. Would she do the same thing for me if the roles were reversed? Probably not. She’s been a terrible person to me, sure, but can I just stand around knowing this information and do nothing?

Definitely not.

I follow Kaitlyn’s instructions and soon I’m pulling into a quiet neighborhood with sprawling green lawns and large houses surrounded by even larger trees that must be hundreds of years old. Almost all of the properties are fenced in and have electric gates, and as we drive through the neighborhood, each house looks more impressive than the last, as if the neighbors are trying to outdo each other with their landscaping, with their immaculate lawns, with the grandiosity and importance of the house itself. None are as grand as Andrew’s house, which I visited during his campaign gala, but I’d still classify these as mansions, making me see Kaitlyn in a new light. The wealthy display doesn’t seem to affect her like it does me; she’s not subtlety trying to crane her neck to gawk at the architecture like I am, and either doesn’t notice my wonder or just doesn’t care. She must be desensitized to it from years of this being her normal.