At the end of the day as I’m walking out of school with Aiden, I spot Annalisa standing where the boys usually park. Commack Silver High gets out before King does, so she would’ve had plenty of time to get here.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I ask her as we approach. She’s standing with Julian and Mason, near their cars.

“Haven’t you checked the group chat?”

I haven’t checked the group chat. I rarely do since the boys always talk about so many random things. “No, why?”

Annalisa brushes her hair out of her face as the wind picks up. “We’re going to that bar Greg was seen at to ask the manager about Luke. He’s there today and said he’d meet with us.”

Aiden and I glance at each other in a totally inconspicuous way. At least, he was inconspicuous. I’m sure I look like my eyeballs popped out of my head.

“To find out about Luke?” Which we already know because the twins confessed, and we haven’t figured out what to do yet? Aiden subtly elbows me. I clear my throat and try to stop acting so guilty. “Do we have to go, like, right now?” I ask her, looking around for Kaitlyn.

“Yeah. He says he has other meetings and if we want answers, we gotta get them tonight.” There’s a hopeful energy about her, as if she’s sure this is the lead we’ve been waiting for, that this is what she needs to prove Luke’s innocence. Even Mason and Julian seem more excited than usual.

Aiden pulls me closer. “What’s wrong?”

He can read me like a book. I should’ve told him about what I’m doing with Kaitlyn, but then he’d get all protective and try to stop me because he doesn’t want me near Ryan. He hasn’t seen Ryan since he almost broke his face for grabbing my wrist, and I really don’t want a replay of that situation; Aiden has enough going on as it is.

“Nothing.” It takes every muscle in my body to pull away from him. “I just have something else I have to do. I can’t get out of it.”

Annalisa’s face falls, that hopeful energy dissipating. “Oh, okay. I guess it’s important if—”

A car comes speeding through the parking lot and screeches to a stop right beside us. It’s Kaitlyn, in the very same shiny Porsche I glitter bombed all those weeks ago. It’s very easy to picture this car right at home in the house I got a glimpse of last night.

She rolls down the window. “Get in. We have to go.”

Annalisa, Aiden, Mason, and Julian all glance around with perplexed expressions on their faces, as if looking for who Kaitlyn’s talking to.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” I answer.

My friends don’t even try to hide the looks of shock and confusion on their faces.

Aiden tugs my arm and speaks in a hushed tone. “What’s going on? Are you okay? Is she blackmailing you?”