Oh great. “Now you tell me.”

He tipped his head back and cackled with laughter. Then he bounded from the car and hurried inside. Adam shook his head as he got out beside me. The air was crisp and he shivered when he threw his bag over his shoulder. “He gets like this after we’d been drinking all night too. I always thought it was the booze before.”

“Yeah.” I watched when my father nodded farewell to us. He turned and was swallowed by the crowd of students within moments.

“You okay?”

I nodded.

“Look.” Adam stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

I couldn’t look away from where David had gone.

He placed both hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him. “Everything will be fine. I’m sure Mason will be okay. They got their asses beat. I mean, how could it come out that they’re at fault? They aren’t, right? I mean, they didn’t start anything?”

I shook my head. My throat still couldn’t work.

“You okay?” he asked again.

I nodded and looked away. There was a buzzing and whispering sound around us, and I knew without looking that we were gathering a crowd. My stomach dropped further. This was all I needed, more rumors to start flying.

“We should go inside.” I cringed at my voice. It came out as a raw whisper.

“Yeah.” His hands dropped and he moved back a step. “We should. You’re right.”

Becky bounced to us then. She was red in the face and her hair had unraveled from her ponytail. The ends flew around her in a frizzy fray and she bent over, panting. “Hey, guys. I heard you were out here.” Gasp. “I’m—” Another gasp, followed with a knee slap. “You okay, Sam? How’s Mason? The clip went viral. My cousin in Fort Mayville saw it. Can you believe that?”

I stepped back. A wall came over me.

“Uh.” Adam watched me and pulled his sweatshirt away from his neck. He moved forward and blocked me from her. Then he took her elbow. “Let’s get to class, huh? You can tell me all about your cousin in class.”

“Yeah!” She skipped next to him. “I told you about Sabrina, right? Awesome name. I always wish I had gotten it, but my mom wanted a normal name for me…”

Their conversation faded the further they moved away. I stayed behind and took another breath. I was aware of all the eyes on me and knew it was because of the clip on YouTube. A sick feeling spread over me, but I marched past them and went to my locker.

I paused once I got near. Miranda waited for me. She lifted an eyebrow as she saw me and crossed her arms.

“What do you want?” I was ready for her. She could say whatever; it wasn’t going to hurt me.

She snorted. “Are you kidding me? I’m not here to attack you.” Her voice lowered. “How’s Logan doing?”

I shrugged and opened my locker. “He’s fine.”

“I saw the clip, Sam. I saw what they were doing to him.”

I didn’t meet her gaze. My chin hardened and I grabbed my books. “They’re fine.”

“I heard they’re at the police station. Is that true?”

I whirled to her now. “Did Adam tell you that?”

She reared back with narrowed eyes. “No. My cousin’s a cop. He told me. He knew I had dated Logan for a while.”

“Oh.”

Her arms dropped to her side, and she leaned closer. “He didn’t know we had broken up.”

I swallowed. Logan had been so mean to her. I closed my eyes as I knew he’d done it for me. All her pain was because of me. Then I wrung out, “Why are you being nice to me?”

She shrugged. “Why not? You’re in the Elite. We fight with each other, but we’re a united front against everyone else.” She scanned me up and down and the corner of her mouth curved up. “Although, I gotta say that Cass and Amelia are not going to be happy with your clothes. We have an image to uphold as a member of the Elite.”

I slammed my locker shut. “Screw the Elite.”

I turned for my class and she fell in step with me. “I know. I say the same thing, but I’m just warning you. They won’t be happy.” She gave me a bright smile before she veered off for her class and when I got to the class I shared with Peter and Emily. Both waved me over and I took the seat between them. I put my books down slowly and sat with caution.

Emily chuckled and scooted a coffee to me. “Mark filled me in, sorta. I won’t bite you about your clothes. Hell, if you keep doing that then I can wear lounge clothes too. That’d be awesome.” She gave me a wolfish grin before she turned towards the front.

The teacher started.

Peter didn’t look at me during class, but at the end, he frowned a bit. It flashed over him, but was replaced for his normal deadened look just as quick. He spoke from the corner of his mouth. “I am sorry to hear about Mason.”

Then he was gone.

I sat there, stupefied, and Emily laughed. “You should see yourself.”

My mouth had dropped open. “They kicked you out of my house. Why is everyone being so nice?”

She shrugged and pulled me to my feet. “Come on, stud muffin. You’ve got class. Don’t take everything so personal. You’re Elite. This is one of the benefits of it. You have to do a lot of bad shit before you get disowned.”

“You guys own me?”

She tipped her head back and laughed. It sounded similar to Logan’s. “Not really. I mean, the Kades own you, right? You own them too?” She flashed me a bright smile as we stepped into the hallway. “And don’t let it go to your head either. That clip of Mason kicking the crap out of those guys shot him to legendary status. He was already there, but man, he’s really there now. We’re connected by association through you.”

“So the Elite is benefiting from my pain?”

“Yep!” She winked before she went down a different hallway. “Chin up, Sam!”

I groaned. Chin up, my rear. But as I headed to my third class, there was a lighter feel in my walk. Maybe things were going to be okay. I heard the sounds of the clip from the hallway, and I stopped abruptly. I turned, with my stomach churning, and saw Jessica with her phone in front of her. Her eyes were on me, and a sick smile covered her face. Two other girls were around her. I didn’t know their names, but they looked at me with haughty expressions.