Chris straightens in his seat, clearing his throat as an awkward laugh spills from his lips. “Oh, hey babe. What a nice surprise!”
She arches a brow, her lips pinched.
“We were just chilling. You know, getting some fresh air and, uh . . . snacks,” he says, raising the bag of Skittles as evidence.
Behind Charlotte, Brynn’s brows rise. “Outside our dorm. In the dark. Huddled down inside your car?”
“Yep.” Chris nods, and I bang my forehead against the leather headrest.
“You morons!” Charlotte cries out as she bops him on the head with the palm of her hand. “I knew you were going to do this.”
“Do what?” Chris asks, his face a mask of feigned innocence.
“Don’t play dumb.” She leans into the car, her gaze darting between us. “I know you planned on following us tonight. I’ve known the whole time because you’re that obvious.”
Chris gasps like he’s auditioning for a soap opera. “You seriously think we’d follow you? That is . . . that’s just . . . I would never!”
Charlotte crosses her arms over her chest. “Uh-huh.”
“We just needed to get out of the apartment because Brandon’s depressed.” He hooks a thumb toward me, and I wave. “So we went for a drive, then ended up here. Now we’re just talking and hanging out. You know, having a little guy time.”
“In the parking lot of our dorm?” Brynn asks, eyeing Jace, who’s shrinking lower and lower into his seat.
“Oh. Is that where we ended up?” Chris asks, squinting out the windshield. “Crazy.”
Charlotte rolls her eyes. “Listen, we’re about to go pick Tatum up, and shecannotsee you guys following us.”
Chris drums his fingers over the steering wheel. “You’re picking up Tatum? Interesting.”
“Cut the crap, Collins!” Charlotte snaps.
Chris opens his mouth to say something else, but there’s no point in pretending, so I lean forward and ask, “Has she . . . has she said anything about me?”
Charlotte’s expression shifts with a flicker of uncertainty. She glances back at the girls, who all give subtle shrugs.
“Look,” she finally says as she turns back around with a sigh, “if you want the truth, I’m Team Brandon. But she’s committed to Ethan, and we basically have to support her, even if we don’t all agree with her choices.”
I wonder if they know about the bruises . . .?
Their show of support for Ethan makes me think otherwise.
Regardless, I swallow, taking solace in the fact she claims to be Team Brandon. “What if we happened to show up at the same place you girls are going tonight? Will you be pissed?”
Charlotte pauses, seeming to think about this before she says, “No, but Tatum might. And just so you know, we’re not taking the fall for it. You wanna follow us there, fine. But we never saw you here and had nothing to do with it.”
“Perfect. It’ll just be a coincidence,” Damon chimes in beside me.
“Yeah.” Jace nods, jumping onboard. “We’ll be super casual about it.”
Liz snorts. “Nice try, but it’ll be obvious you planned this.”
“How?” Chris asks with a frown as Charlotte checks the time on her phone.
“Shoot.” She turns toward the others, motioning for them to follow as she takes a step back. “We need to get going or we’ll be late.”
I watch as they head toward her car before I lean out the window and cup my hands around my mouth. “Wait. How will she know we planned it?” I call out, but no one answers me.
A few minutes later, we watch as Liz’s SUV pulls up in front of Oakridge Hall. The engine idles, headlights cutting throughthe darkness like twin spotlights on an empty stage. As if on cue, a figure emerges from the dormitory’s double doors, and my breath catches.
