“What the fuck, Church?” Ranger asks, his voice hard but not accusatory, like he believes me … but also like he believes Church wouldn’t do something like that unless he had to.

“Mr. Dave was bandaging his wound; I left to find Charlotte,” Church says, throwing his hand out toward me and then running his fingers through his honeyed hair and leaving ruby streaks. He seems to notice too late what he’s doing, and his jaw clenches in disgust. “I don’t know where he is now.”

“And you stabbed him, why?” Ranger repeats as the twins exchange a look, and then turn their attention to me and Spencer, both sopping wet.

“I didn’t stab him. He came into the room to talk to me, and one of those psychos followed him in. They grabbed Charlotte’s hunting knife from the bag, and put it through Mr. Dave before I could stop them.”

“How would a stranger know I had the hunting knife at all?” I ask, panting hard, wanting to believe the guys, wishing with every breath that I could.

“I don’t know,” Church supplies, holding his palms up and out in a placating gesture. He sighs hard, like he’s exhausted already. “I have no fucking clue.”

“Why are you two wet?” the twins ask together, studying me and Spencer in our sopping clothes.

“Yes, do tell,” Church agrees, and then he unties the sash from his yukata and lets it fall to the ground, striding past me, and diving into the water to wash off the blood. Ranger doesn’t hesitate before bending down and bundling up the bloody clothes. My eyes stray from him to Church as the golden boy of Adamson Academy breaks the surface of the water, pushing back his wet hair with both hands and opening amber eyes to stare at me.

My heart flutters in the worst way, and I fist my hand in the wet fabric of my robe.

“I was trying to hide from the headmaster, smoking in the woods.” Spencer ruffles up his hair and closes his turquoise eyes for a moment. “I saw Charlotte run past me, and …” He trails off and then tilts his head back, opening his eyes to look at the bright, sunny sky of early morning. “Someone was chasing her.”

“Two someones,” I correct, “in hoodies.”

The twins and Ranger both turn to look at Spencer, and the latter cocks a brow.

“Seriously?” Spencer asks, redirecting his attention back to me. “You think I’m one of the killers?”

“I don’t know anything,” I whisper as he sighs and then turns back to Ranger.

“We were chased through the woods, and then we stumbled onto some psychos wearing masks. Oh, and by the way, there’s a dead kid in those trees, on some sort of shrine. It’s beyond fucked-up. I’m pretty sure it was Jason Lambert.”

“Who?” I ask.

“You wouldn’t know him,” the twins say together. And then Micah adds, “He’s been running against Church for Student Council President since freshman year.”

“Gee, thanks, that really helps clear my suspicions,” I grumble as Church stands up, the water just barely lapping at his glorious hips, the rest of his muscular body on full display. My cheeks heat, and I turn away.

“Let’s find the headmaster,” Ranger begins, exhaling. “And then maybe call the police.” His blue eyes harden as he holds the bloodied clothes against his chest. “But first, let’s find Mr. Dave and get rid of this.”

“Are you—” I start, and then the heavy wetness of my too-big yukata causes it to slide down my shoulders and just sort of … drop. It splats on the ground, leaving me completely and utterly nude, and staring down four of the five guys in the Student Council. My eyes widen, and I move to step back, forgetting how close I am to the water’s edge.

Instead, I splash right in, my naked body slamming against Church’s and sending us both into the water. He manages to right himself fairly quickly, holding my nude form against his, back to front. I can feel his dick, too, and it’s not as soft as I would’ve liked it to be in that moment.

“Careful, Charlotte Carson,” he whispers near my ear, a muscled arm banded across my midsection.

That, of course, is when my father chooses to step outside. The twins move to block him in like always, but you know, he’s the headmaster and that technique doesn’t work so well.

“Student Council only—” they start, and then balk as Dad pushes his way outside, freezing like a deer in the headlights when he sees me, naked. Church, naked. Our nude bodies pressed together in a very compromising sort of way.

“Mr. Carson,” Spencer blurts, drawing Dad’s attention … to his wet hoodie.

Oh, and did I mention the fact that the twins are shirtless, dressed only in boxers?

“Chuck.”

My dad’s voice comes out in a low, menacing hiss.

And that’s when I know I have more to worry about than just murderers.

I have a pissed-off father, and that’s almost as bad.

“There was a dead body here,” I insist, pointing at the bare surface of the shrine while Dad stands nearby and fumes, his nostrils flared, his face never quite recovering from that purple-red color it got when he saw me and Church together.

As I stand there, next to a shrine with no body, in a forest bereft of creepy people in masks, I wonder to myself: have I done it this time, have I finally made Archie Carson angry enough to explode, to shed that careful calm of his?

“Sir, I saw it, too,” Spencer begins, now dressed in a dry yukata and flip-flips with wooden soles. I think they’re supposed to be reminiscent of these raised-platform shoes from Japan called geta (the twins have been giving me a serious anime/manga education as of late). “There was a boy here, pretty sure it was Jason.”

“Well, there’s nothing here now, and no sign that there ever was.” My dad puts his hand to his forehead as Mr. Murphy hovers nearby, frowning. I haven’t forgotten his involvement, or the note he left. Speaking of, I stuffed it in my yukata pocket as I ran. I haven’t exactly had the opportunity to look at it. Chances are, that purple ink ran when it got wet, and I won’t be able to read a thing.

But I don’t need to.

I know who ‘Adam’ is now.

I focus my glare on Mr. Murphy; he notices right away and swallows hard, a muscle in his jaw ticking.

“It was probably a prank or something,” Dad continues, and I swear, if he isn’t going to turn purple and blow up, then maybe I will.

“A prank? Do you still think I’m making all of this up?” I ask, taking a step toward him and clutching my hands together in front of my chest. “Because I need to hear you say you believe me.”

“I’ll check with the other staff members and make sure all students are accounted for. Mr. Murphy, if you wouldn’t mind escorting Chuck back to my room.”

“Your room?” I ask, blinking stupidly through the dirty lenses of my glasses. They could use a serious cleaning right about now. “Why your room?”

“Chuck Carson, I do not need to run every parenting decision I make past you. Please follow Mr. Murphy back to the lodge, and don’t argue with me. You’re in enough trouble as it is.”

“In trouble for what?” I ask, managing to keep my voice even and low. “In trouble for having sex? Because we both know I’m having it now. I’m seventeen, and in four months, I’ll be eighteen.”