“Don’t say anything if you don’t have to,” June said. “But if they ask, that’s the story. I do not need any problems with my Penn State acceptance. I’m in the honors program, and there’s no way I’m losing out on that and getting put in with the gen pop.” She looked over at Rosie, who was also attending Penn State, just not in the same program. “No offense.”

Rosie frowned. “I’m the first person in my family to even go to college,” she said defensively. “So yeah, we’ve all got a lot on the line here.”

“You’re right,” June said. “So we all look out for each other.”

“What about Maddie?” Hunter asked. “Has anyone talked to her?”

Will kept quiet, not wanting to say anything about how she’d shown up in his bedroom crying the night before.

“She’s not talking much,” said Rosie. “I think she’s really embarrassed. Who was that kid, anyway?”

They all looked at each other and shook their heads. “I’ve never seen him before,” Will said. “But someone must know him. Hunter, did you get a look at him?”

Hunter shook his head. “I missed the whole thing.”

“I think you’re the only one,” Will said. “Where were you?”

Hunter shrugged. “Who knows? Things got pretty fuzzy there.”

“I can ask around at school and see if anyone knows who he was,” Will said.

“Maybe it’s better not to,” Rosie said quickly. “I think she just wants everyone to forget.”

“He didn’t actually, um, hurt her, did he?” Will asked. He’d wanted to ask Maddie the night before, but he felt like he couldn’t. Even now, he couldn’t bring himself to say the word. Rape.

“I don’t think so,” said June. She looked embarrassed. “He was just feeling her up. But who knows what could have happened. She doesn’t remember much.”

“Let’s hope everyone else was that messed up,” Hunter said. “The less everyone remembers, the better.”

“Hey,” Will said. “That’s not funny.”

“I’m sorry,” Hunter said, holding his hands up. “You’re right. Look, we’re all in this together. As long as we look out for each other, we can get out of this thing okay.”

“That’s what Trip says,” Will replied.

“Well, he knows what he’s talking about.”

“You think so?” Will asked. He’d always looked up to Trip. When Will was a kid, no one seemed cooler, or smarter, than his brother. He’d followed Trip around like a lost puppy. But lately Will was beginning to think that Trip seemed a little lost himself. “I guess we’ll see,” he said. But he couldn’t help thinking that it was easy for Hunter to take this in stride. Whatever happened, Will was pretty sure that Hunter’s dad could buy his way out of it, the way he always had.

15