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A FREAK ACCIDENT KEEPS the main star, Victor Overton, out of the most important hockey game of the season.

I stare at the sentence, barely believing my eyes.

A freak accident. That’s all there is about Victor. Then there are photos and videos of Victor, smiling, with a black eye. He’s telling everyone that he slipped in the locker room, fell, and hit himself on a piece of equipment.

And everyone believes him, because who the hell would think a guy as big and strong as him was brought down easily by someone else? Sure, he was under the influence of meds and no one knows that, but still.

I know I didn’t hallucinate or dream last night. It was all real, and if I close my eyes, I can still see Jake punching Victor and kicking him while he was on the floor. The images are so vivid and etched in my brain forever.

I don’t know what happened after I called security, but it took me a while to calm down and get home. After a night of tossing and turning in bed, I woke up and looked for any news. And this is the only thing there is. As if last night didn’t happen or wasn’t real.

I chew on my fingernails—something I haven’t done in, like, forever—because I don’t know what to do. Maybe I should be glad that Victor is fine and that my little stunt didn’t end up in a tragedy. Or that no one is investigating any strange substances in Victor’s bottle.

Then again, if they did that, they’d probably figure out he was using something else, so I get why he doesn’t want anyone to do anything about it.

But what the hell happened with his father? Why was Jake so furious about Victor missing the game? He didn’t even check on Victor to make sure he was okay. He just...

I close my eyes for a moment and take a shuddery breath. As I hug myself, I wonder what to do. Is Jake always like that, or was it just because Victor didn’t have the energy to fight back?

Victor is an adult. If he wants to press charges against his father, he can. Except, I don’t know if that’s true. I could’ve called the cops on Sebastian a billion times, and yet, I didn’t. There was always something that stopped me.

Fear. Shame.

The fact that probably nothing would happen, and Sebastian would be back even angrier, after he convinced everyone that I was crazy and he couldn’t possibly have done something like that.

I need to talk to Victor. Maybe there’s something we can do about his situation. Maybe I can testify against his father as a witness. Or I can just listen to him because I know what it’s like to be around someone so violent.

If he doesn’t want a scandal in the press because it might affect his career, it’s his choice. If it’s the first time Jake attacked him for who knows what reason, then maybe they’ll solve it between them, or Victor will cut Jake out of his life for a while.

I can’t know what’s happening. Jake could be like Sebastian and just snap and then pretend nothing happened or bring a nice gift as an apology the next day. And Jake can afford really nice things. But then again, my situation was completely different from Victor’s, and I could be wrong about everything.

Victor probably thinks that I didn’t see anything and that I ran away immediately. If he knows that there’s someone on his side, maybe it’ll help him. Maybe he and I can bury the hatchet and be friends.

We already fucked, so it’s not like we’re strangers. I’d be willing to forgive him if he apologized for what he did to me and helped me understand why he did it.

We don’t have any classes today, but I get dressed and head out. The library is open, and I doubt Victor is holed up in his room. I need to find him.

***

“V ICTOR!” I CALL AS soon as I see him.

I’ve been waiting in the hallway that leads to the library for a while, and now he’s finally shown up. My plan to catch him here has worked, and in the meantime, I’ve memorized two chapters of the textbook I brought with me.

His gaze lifts to me. His left eye is still swollen and the bruise looks worse than in the photos.

“What the fuck do you want?” he snaps.

“We need to talk. About what happened yesterday.”

“Nothing happened.”

My lips part in surprise. “You know that’s not true. I saw it. I saw everything.”

“Oh, you’re right.” He glares at me with his good eye. “Something did happen. You fucking poisoned me!”

“We can talk about that too.” I don’t know how he’s figured it out, but he could’ve seen me with his real bottle when I gave him some water.

“You should talk to the authorities about that, not me.” He flashes me a cold smile.

Shit. But I get why he’s mad. If I hadn’t messed with his drink, he wouldn’t have missed the game and his father wouldn’t have been furious with him.

So yeah, it’s my fault, but it’s not like he has any proof and he doesn’t want an investigation, or he would’ve reported me already.

“Do you want me to tell them about all the things you did to me too?” I don’t want him to forget it, because it’s not like I went after him for no reason. “Or about what your father did to you?”

He bares his teeth at me. “My father didn’t do anything to me.”

“Do you want me to lend you my mirror?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

“It was an accident.”

I frown. “Do you remember what happened last night in your room?”

Maybe the meds messed him up more than I thought. Maybe he really doesn’t remember all of what happened.

“You should mind your own fucking business,” he says. “Nothing happened last night, and if you’re smart, you’re going to agree with me.”

“Okay.” If he doesn’t want to talk about it with me, it’s fine.

Hopefully, he’ll talk to someone else instead. Someone he trusts.

“But if you change your mind, I’ll—” I say.

“You know what?” He steps close enough to me so that we’re face-to-face. “This isn’t a place for people like you. You’re just too dumb to see it. Get the fuck out of Emberwell. No one wants you here, and I mean it. Everyone hates your guts. You’re just a rat that belongs to the sewers. And you’re lucky I won’t call the cops on you.”

I stare at him, open-mouthed. He turns away from me and strides toward the library. Wow. I don’t know why I even bothered.

Just because I found out his father is a monster doesn’t mean anything has changed about Victor. He’s still the same infuriating, confusing asshole. The only reason he hasn’t reported me is because he has something to hide, and I’ve seen too much. He clearly remembers everything.

Is he going to keep bullying me?

Probably.

I groan. Maybe I should report myself and then have someone investigate the whole thing, including Jake. But that would very likely end with me getting expelled and nothing happening to Jake or Victor.

Fighting the rich when you’re not one of them is like fighting the windmills. Even when you think you’re winning and getting your justice, they find a way to strike you down.

But what will happen to Victor? I shouldn’t be worried about him. He can make his own decisions and choices, but if his father has always been like that and he’s already using something illegal to boost his performance that might be dangerous for his health... I don’t even want to think about what might happen.

It’s his life and his future, though. Not mine.

I should focus on myself and getting through my first year at Emberwell. Now that I know things Victor doesn’t want anyone else to find out and after what I did to him, he might think twice before trying something else against me.

But it’s Victor. I shouldn’t hold my breath. He’s probably going to attempt something much, much worse, and I need to be ready for it.