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VERONICA

WHEN I GET BACK FROM class, I throw myself on the bed. Aniyah’s not here, since she still has class, so I have the room to myself for a while. I pull my laptop onto my stomach, and then I just stare at the screen because I don’t feel like starting my homework.

Jayden’s got another game coming up soon. It’s an away one this time, so I can’t go watch him, but I could watch the stream that college always has up for all the games. I bite down on my lip.

Should I even bother, though? But it’s not like watching him play changes anything, and he won’t know if I saw it or not. His last game was actually fascinating. There’s just something about watching him play. It’s hard to explain, but it’s almost magical.

Okay, magical is probably going too far. He’s just running after a ball, but the things he does with it, the way he moves, the way the crowd just goes crazy... I found myself cheering with everyone else, even though I hate Jayden, or I’m pretty sure I do. It’s confusing, since he might or might not be the reason my life is a disaster. And yet, when he’s out on the field, I want him to win.

What the hell is wrong with me? I groan. Maybe it’s just about the way he plays and not him as a person. That’s a normal thing to like, right? It doesn’t have to mean anything. Plenty of people watch sports without wanting to jump the player after, so I can watch a stream of a stupid away game without it being a big deal.

Fine. Maybe I’ll watch it. Or maybe I won’t. I’ll figure it out, because right now I have a reading to get through and I’m already late with everything.

Suddenly, the door bangs open, and I sit up, placing my laptop next to me on the bed.

Aniyah storms in, her lips pressed into a tight line, her eyes flashing with fury. “What the fuck did you do?” she yells.

I blink at her in surprise. “What?”

“What did you do to my assignment?” She throws her bag onto her bed and turns to me, her chest heaving. “Don’t play dumb with me right now!”

“I don’t—” I push myself to my feet. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What assignment?”

“The one I printed out yesterday!” Her voice cracks a little. “I handed it to the professor, and I was so proud of it because I worked on it for two weeks. And then I opened my copy on my way out to double-check something, and I realized it wasn’t even my paper. It’s some history mumbo jumbo I’ve never seen before in my life!”

My mouth falls open. “Wait, what? History? But you’re not even taking a history class.”

“Exactly!” She throws her hands up. “That’s my whole point. My class is about marketing! And now the professor might think I didn’t finish it in time, so I handed in the wrong thing on purpose, especially because it has my name and the correct title on the front!”

I frown at her. A marketing paper somehow got swapped for a history one, but her front page was the same? “Okay, that’s really weird, but I don’t understand why you’re yelling at me about it. Maybe there was a mix-up with the files at the print shop.”

“Because it was you.” She points a finger at me. “It had to be you. Who else could it be?”

“Me?” I press a hand to my chest. “I didn’t touch your assignment. Why would I even do that?”

“I don’t know why! But it was in my bag since last night, and here in our room the whole damn time. When I printed it out, it was fucking fine! I didn’t stop anywhere on my way or leave it anywhere. So the only time someone could’ve gotten to it was while it was in here.”

I open my mouth, but I don’t know what to say to that.

“And guess what?” she says. “The only two people who can get in here are you and me. That’s it! I obviously didn’t do it, so that leaves you.”

“Aniyah, I swear I didn’t do this.” I hold my hands up. “I would never do something like that to you. You know me. Why would I sabotage you? It makes no sense.”

“That’s what I’d like to know too.” A tear slips down her cheek and she wipes it away with the back of her hand. “It makes no sense, but the lock isn’t broken, so no one broke in. Either you let someone in, or you did it, because it wasn’t me.”

My mind is spinning. I didn’t do it, so how did someone get to her paper? Unless... My stomach flips. The society. They can get into places no one else can and they’ve done it before, because the invitation showed up in here too. The lock was never messed with, which means they have a key, but why are they targeting Aniyah? Because of me, or do they want her to become a member too?

“Aniyah, listen to me.” I take a step toward her. “I think someone else got in here. Maybe someone who has a spare or master key. It wasn’t me.”

She crosses her arms, glaring at me. “Are you telling me some mystery person sneaked into our locked room and switched out my paper, and no one saw a thing? Come on!”

I want to tell her that the secret society is real, that they’ve been messing with me, and that they can get into locked rooms, but I can’t. If I say anything to her, she could tell someone else, and then the society could release the fake video.

Hell, she’d probably think I’m lying. Although, I’m not sure why she thinks I’d be so stupid as to make it obvious it was me.

“I know it sounds crazy,” I say. “But I promise you that I didn’t touch your assignment. There has to be an explanation.”

She stares at me for a long moment, her jaw tight. “You know what? I actually thought we were friends. Like, real friends. I looked out for you when everyone else on campus treated you like shit. I stuck up for you. And this is what I get?”