I can’t get in the videos, but I have to do something to break this up before Annalisa says something that makes Ryan really snap.

Thinking quickly, I run up to some random kids, trying to look frantic and confident. “The cops are here! They’re arresting anyone who’s underage drinking! We’ve gotta get out of here!”

Racing through the party, I do the same thing to everyone I see, and soon enough other kids are doing it, too, until people are running around yelling “Cops,” and everyone’s scattering, tripping over each other trying to get out of the house as fast as they can. As the crowd disperses, I’m satisfied that all the cameras are off, so I run up to Annalisa and pull her back, allowing Aiden and Julian to step between her and Ryan.

As Ryan’s friends take notice of everyone frantically trying to get out of the house before the cops come, they pull him back. All the while he’s shouting at Anna, promising that he’s not done with her.

“Bring it!” Annalisa screams back.

Finally, Ryan and his friends leave Noah’s house, along with the rest of the crowd. Soon enough, it’s just Noah, Charlotte, Aiden, Anna, Julian, and me left in the house, plus Mason sleeping upstairs. Who knows where Chase is.

“Shit, we gotta get rid of the keg.” Noah starts toward the kitchen before I stop him.

“Relax, there’s no cops. I made it up because that situation was escalating to a place we wouldn’t be able to come back from,” I say.

Annalisa huffs and crosses her arms. “Should’ve let him stab me. That way everyone would’ve had it on video that I killed him in self-defense.”

“No one’s stabbing anyone,” Aiden declares.

Annalisa storms from the room and this time I follow her, leaving the guys and Charlotte to go through the house to make sure all the partygoers have left. I find her in the kitchen, angrily dumping out half-full Solo cups.

“He had a knife pointed at you, and you were still purposely aggravating him,” I comment, helping her with the cleanup.

“I told you. I wanted him to stab me,” she deadpans, and I can’t decide if she means it or not.

I stop picking up cups and study her. “Do you really think Luke’s innocent?”

Annalisa stops as well, resting her hands on the counter. “I don’t know. I just feel it in my gut, you know. Luke’s done some pretty bad things, but I know he wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t even remember that night! How do you kill a guy then not remember?”

I don’t point out that not long ago, Annalisa was telling everyone that Luke killed her mother. She’s come a long way from hating his guts to being his biggest defender.

“We have to do something. I can’t just let him rot in jail.” She looks down, blinking back tears.

As long as Ryan’s convinced Luke killed his father, he’s never going to leave us alone. He’s going to threaten me and my friends, and make sure he makes our life as hard as possible. I can’t have him ruining my chances of staying here with my friends and living out a normal senior year for as long as I can. I can’t have him devoting all his time to hating us; devoting so much time that he might stumble upon my secret.