“What? Why?” I ask.

“They said I beat up Kaitlyn! Me! I didn’t touch that stupid bitch.”

Aiden’s confused. He hasn’t seen Kaitlyn yet, so I quickly tell him how we saw her this morning.

“Why did they say you did that?” he asks, eyeing the officers behind her.

“Kaitlyn sat there crying to her mother about how I ran into her Saturday night and ‘decided to attack her and beat her up for no reason other than being crazy.’ Can you believe that?! As if I wouldn’t have a reason.”

Saturday night we were all at Charlotte’s party. Well, all of us except Annalisa. She said she was checking Luke’s old bars. Did she lie to us?

“Ms. White, you need to be off school property,” one of the guards reminds her.

“I’m going!” she snaps at him, then turns back to look at us. “I’m going to have to go to Commack now. I’m going to be a Silver! This is fucked up on so many levels!”

She hits a locker beside me out of frustration and I automatically flinch. I feel Aiden’s reassuring hand rest on my waist.

“Ms. White,” one of the guards warns, and she focuses her deadly gaze on him. She’s about to unleash her wrath when Principal Anderson appears.

“You are no longer allowed on school property, Annalisa. Collect your things and leave immediately.”

Annalisa’s eye twitches. “I didn’t hit your fucking delusional daughter, and if I did, I’d own up to it because she would’ve deserved it!”

I’ve seen Annalisa mad before, but this is probably the angriest she’s ever been. Now that I know who she’s related to, it’s hard not to get flashbacks and make connections. Will she snap, like he did? Is she really capable of flipping a switch and attacking someone out of nowhere?

I shake my head. Annalisa is nothing like Tony. Just because she shares his DNA, it doesn’t mean she’s like him.

At her outburst, Principal Anderson takes a few steps back from Annalisa, and of course, all the students walking by are paying attention. This isn’t helping the rumors going around about Annalisa at all.

“We’ve been over this. It’s your word against hers. And given the fact that it’s no secret you’re prone to outbursts, especially toward my daughter, as attested to by multiple students, it’s obvious that you’re lying. You’re lucky we’re not pressing charges. Now, please collect your things and remove yourself from school property.”

Attested to by multiple students?

The rumors.

Aliyah was saying how everyone was talking about how Anna snapped at Kaitlyn for no reason the other day. The rumor mill works fast, and in this case, against us.

Annalisa’s nostrils flare, and her eyes are doing nothing to hide her outrage. “I am not lying! You and your daughter are both giant fucking cu—”

“Anna!” I interrupt, stepping forward to grab her arm. “We’ll fix this, don’t make it worse,” I whisper to her.

How? I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure calling the principal and her daughter the C-word isn’t going to make anything better.