“Yes, Mr. President,” the twins say in unison, glancing down the hall together. I shiver as Church looks back at me, smiles, and takes another sip of his mocha.

I would not want to be on that motherfucker's bad side, that's for sure.

I almost feel sorry for Eugene. Eh, but only almost.

“Get to class, Chuck,” Micah says, reaching out to ruffle my hair, but in a completely different way than Tobias. His green eyes sparkle as he looks me over. “And stop being such an ass pig.”

My mouth drops open, and I smack him in the arm.

I'm going to kill Spencer …

But I slip into class with a smile on my face anyway.

Despite Mark and Eugene being dicks, I feel like I'm actually starting to make friends here.

Even with all the mystery surrounding Jenica's death, it's a good feeling. I won't let Dad send me away.

No freaking way.

“I've already told you I'm finished with this conversation,” Dad says as I stand in the door to his study, ready to fight. But he doesn't even want to talk to me. In fact, he's barely looked up from the paperwork on his desk. There's this huge scandal going on where a bunch of students took an award-winning paper, and rewrote it. Like, it's not word for word, but they're all so similar that it's impossible for the administration to ignore it. “How many times do I need to explain this? I have a job to do here, and scandals like this reflect poorly on me.” He gestures at the stack of papers on his desk, and then sits back, removing his glasses and setting them down carefully.

“I'm telling you: Everly isn't safe. Ranger told me—”

“Ranger Woodruff, Jenica's younger brother?” Dad clarifies, and I nod as he stares at me like I've completely lost the plot.

“He says it's not safe for me at Everly either, that Jenica was bullied there so badly that their mom begged for the Adamson school board to let her in here. You should be able to verify that with records—”

“Charlotte,” Dad says, rising from his feet and coming over to stand beside me. “You know how I feel about conspiracy theories. The issue with Jenica Woodruff was solved and then the records sealed. What happened to that girl ten years ago has nothing to do with what's happening now.”

“It …” I start, feeling frustrated. “Please don't send me to Everly. I already had to start over once this year, and I don't want to do it again.” I try to let my honest feelings bleed into my words as I look up into my father's face.

He sighs and rubs a big hand over his thinning hair.

“I'm worried about you, Charlotte. The accusations you've been bringing to me are staggering.” He drops his hand and looks at me with a much softer expression. “You're all I have, and I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you.”

“I've got friends here now. Thanks to you, I'm practically a part of the stupid Student Council.” I roll my eyes dramatically, but … I'm actually starting to like being a part of the Culinary Club. “I want to stay here.”

Dad looks me over again and shakes his head, turning away and heading back toward his desk.

“I hear what you're saying, Charlotte.” He sits down in his chair again and picks up a tumbler of Scotch. “Maybe it was wrong of me to bring you out here?” He says this more to himself than to me, and I stand there with bated breath. At least we're not having another screaming fight. “Do you want me to call your aunt?” He looks up at me finally. “Or maybe Monica's parents?”

“Monica and Cody were sleeping together,” I blurt, and Dad's bushy brows go up. “I don't want to go back there. Please, let me stay here.”

“If your life is in danger—” he starts, but I'm moving forward and putting my palms flat on the desk.

“Call the police then. Get them out here to start investigating.” Dad meets my eyes, his lips pursing slightly.

“I did, Charlotte. I've reported the incident with the knife, the … noose, and the notes. There's no evidence of any foul play, so there's nothing the police can do. I've even spoken with a detective.”

“They're not going to at least question me and Ranger?” I ask, but Dad shakes his head. There's seriously something fishy about that. I call bullshit.

“No, I'm sorry.” He looks me straight in the face. “I believe you, you know that?” I nod, and he sighs again. “Good. But you can't stay here, you understand that, right?”

“Where am I supposed to go then?” I whisper, leaning forward. My glasses slide down my nose so that Dad's face gets a little blurry. “Please. We only have three and a half months left in the year. I want to stay.”

A knock at the door pauses our conversation, and Dad stands up from his chair, moving out of his office, through the kitchen, and over to the front door to open it.

It's … the entire Student Council, Ross included but Spencer noticeably absent.

“Mr. Carson,” Church says, nodding briefly. My dad steps back to let him in, and the other boys follow after. Dad looks confused as all get out, but he invites them into the kitchen to sit around the massive island.

“Can I get you boys anything to drink?” he asks, looking around the room. I think he means, like, soda or water or juice or something.

“I'll take a cup of coffee, if you don't mind,” Church says, and I roll my eyes as Dad raises his brows. He doesn't believe in teenagers drinking coffee, but he also just lets me do my own thing. Still, whenever he used to see me and Monica waltz in with a pair of Starbucks cups in our hands, we'd get the lecture about caffeine and developing brains and all that shit.

“I don't normally encourage students to bring academy matters back to the house, but … Chuck's been mentioning … his burgeoning friendship with you boys.”

“They already know,” I whisper, giving Dad a look. He purses his lips and glances back up at the five boys, his attention bouncing from Church to Ranger, and then over to Micah and Tobias who I'm nearly positive he's not able to tell apart. He looks mildly relieved at Ross' presence, like maybe all my new friends aren’t just sexy, straight boys.

“We wanted to come here and talk to you about your daughter,” Church continues as Ranger's eyes rove the kitchen, taking in every minute detail. I imagine he's been that way for a while, building skills from his hunt for the truth about his sister. “We'd like to petition you to leave her enrolled here at Adamson.”

“I see,” Archie begins, but it's quite clear he's skeptical as hell right now. “And why's that?”

Church smiles, and it's one of his pretty ones, no sign of the crazy person hiding underneath. Good for him. He knows how to put a mask on like everyone else. It's a useful skill to have, isn't it?

“We think she's an asset to the Culinary Club,” Church lies, his voice as smooth as properly creamed butter (Ranger would be proud of the reference if it weren't all in my head). “We might actually have a chance at beating Everly at next year's baking competition.” Right. Because Ranger could win it with his hands tied behind his back. “Besides, we've grown quite fond of Charlotte in the last few months. We'll be sure to keep an eye on her. We're even petitioning the school board to allow for some extra security on campus.”