Ooh. Noted. Jesse nodded at the bed. “You want your pillow and blanket too?”

“I don’t like this.” I plopped back down. This was all too much. Was this really necessary?

Beth said to him, “Better take it, just in case.”

“Oh my gawd.”

“Okay.” Kara stood, a grocery bag bulging in her arms. “I’m done. Anything else?”

Jesse looked at Beth, who shrugged. “I think I got all her stuff.”

I was moving out. It was final. The revelations were already starting and I knew there was more to come. I couldn’t believe any of this. Then panic started in. I would be living in a house with four guys; one that I would be sleeping with every night. I’d had the house to myself over the last year. My parents moved out after her suicide attempt. Then that summer, there hadn’t even been friends involved. Me and Ethan.

My chest tightened. My vision grew blurry. My head started to pound.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t live with all those people.

“She’s freaking,” Beth spoke over my head. “Shouldn’t you say something to her?”

Jesse replied, “Nah. Let her stay in this state. She’s easier to move around. When she wakes up, she’ll start fighting. I won’t get anything done then.”

Someone patted me on the head.

Kara soothed, “It’ll be okay. Jesse’s like a celebrity here and now everyone knows you’re connected. Once they get over the shock, they’ll start not to care. You can come back then.”

“Why aren’t you mad?”

“Derek told me. He said Ethan was your brother.” She turned to Jesse. “That was your best friend, right?”

“He was my family,” he said softly.

My heart constricted. I was his family too. So was Zala. Wiping a tear away, I stood on trembling knees, but I ignored them and reached for a bag. “I can carry something.”

My purse was slapped into my chest. Beth grinned. “You can carry that. You have to lock the door, don’t forget.”

I flushed. I would’ve.

When we went into the hallway with our army of luggage, some girls squealed. I heard the sounds of cell phones taking pictures and one girl even asked for his autograph. Jesse plowed through them and led the way for Beth. Kara waited until I locked the door and went behind me. Once everything was in his car, Beth patted my shoulder, saying, “This is the best goodbye you’ll get from me. I don’t do personal contact.”

Kara threw her arm around her shoulder. She beamed at me. “I’ll bring her over to visit.”

Beth threw her arm off before darting back inside.

“If you need anything else, let me know. I’m coming over for the night. The RA from fifth floor is covering for me.”

“Because of me?”

“Because I want to be with my boyfriend. So call if you forgot anything. I’ll be here for three more hours.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

Jesse waited until Kara had stepped away before he turned the car out of the parking lot. The same girls who were always outside the door, smoking, watched the entire spectacle, but this time they waved their goodbyes. I wondered if they had known the whole time? They always seemed to be outside.

Derek had the garage door opened and waited until we parked. He came over, nodded to me, and bent to grab the bags from the back of Jesse’s car. Everything, the little I had, was transferred in minutes. It was then that I remembered my car.

Jesse already had my keys in his hand. He dangled them and gestured to Derek. “We’ll go get your car.”

This was so stupid. It was as if some trauma happened and they were treating me with kid gloves, like I was ready to break. Fragile: Handle with Care. Sighing from disgust, I went up the stairs to put my food and soda away. As I stepped into the kitchen, Cord was coming from their garage. He was holding hands with a tall and leggy blonde. She giggled, running her hand up and down his arm. He nodded to me in greeting. “Heard what happened.”

I grunted.

“That bad?”

“What do you care? You don’t have to look out for me now. It’s out in the open. I can handle it from here. Thank you.”

His eyes narrowed, but he shrugged. “Fine, but I wasn’t being nice cause of Jesse. I liked Ethan too. Thought we were friends, but if that’s not what you want, so be it.”

And the Bitch of the Moment Award went to…

I sighed as they started up the stairs. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a great track record with friends.”

“I know. Why do you think I don’t give Marissa the time of day?”

“You did that for me?”

He flashed me a smirk. “Nah. I did that because it showed me what kind of girl she really was, well, that and how she cheated on her guy with me. Once a cheater, always a cheater.”

I snorted and finished putting all my food away. I was still in disbelief at the turn of events. Maybe everyone was overreacting. They could be blowing this entire thing out of proportion. I was turning back down the stairs when the front door opened again.

Keys were tossed on the counter and someone walked into the kitchen. They hadn’t spotted me. It was someone familiar with the house, so, holding my breath, I figured I should get it over with. It must’ve been Jamie. And I didn’t want to imagine his reaction.

“Are you f**king kidding me?”

Nope.

Tiffany Chatsworth stood before me, rigid and furious. Sadly, the look agreed with her. The ice-cold beauty queen seemed even more stunning before me. All her hatred was directed at me. She said it again, “Are you f**king kidding me?” Waving her phone around, I guessed what was on it. “I thought this was a prank. Had to be, because who the hell are you? You’re no one. You may be pretty, but you’ve got to be blackmailing him. He kept his mouth shut, for you?”

A door was opened and footsteps hurried down the stairs. Then Cord was there, standing between us. He held a hand out to Tiffany as if she was going to attack me, but she knocked it down and twisted around him.

The first dose was only her warm-up. Her face scrunched up as she threw out, “You’re a freak. Hannah told me about you. You don’t think she didn’t? She said you’re not normal and something’s off with you. She said things don’t compute right with you. She’s right, but I can’t believe Jesse has anything to do with you. He must be—”