Alex nods and winks dramatically before pushing into the crowd toward the door. Jen has about ten minutes to get where she needs to get to. By the expression on Brandon’s face, she might not need that long.

Marissa and I bob awkwardly and watch Jen work. She grabs Brandon’s upper arm and pulls him down just enough to whisper in his ear. His eyebrows raise, confusion written on his face. Jen said she had this part under control, but I kind of wish I knew what she was saying. Last thing I want is for her to have to relive her own nightmare. But she was pretty damn adamant about being the one to take him down. I think she deserves the right. Even Marissa was okay with that.

The goal is to keep Marissa clean no matter what, just in case it doesn’t work. I’ll take the fall if I have to.

Jen manages to pull Brandon away from the dance floor and to a dark corner, then gets him talking about something. She’s stalling, I know. We need to give Alex enough time to get to his house.

Marissa and I exchange a look and follow them, just far enough that we won’t be noticed. Except someone notices.

“Hey!”

I spin around and nearly run into Jackson.

“Oh, hi!” I say.

“I just wanted to say…” He shifts on his feet, his eyes cast to the ground. Then he lifts his head and our eyes meet. My stomach flips. “You look really nice.”

My lips twitch, fighting a smile. “Thanks. You, too.”

It takes everything I have not to take his hand and go with him to the dance floor, where he could hold me, make me feel safe, wanted.

I glance over my shoulder to Marissa, who’s watching me with impatience written all over her face. Right. Jen needs my help. I can’t leave her to the wolves.

“I’m sorry. I’d love to talk and stuff but…I’ve got to…” How the hell do I explain this?

He takes a step back. “Yeah, no problem. See you around.”

I take a step past him and then turn back, giving him a shy smile. Damn it.

I watch him walk away, back into the crowd. Once he’s gone, I take in a deep breath and head back to finish what I started.

I check the phone, but no word from Alex yet.

Brandon already seems to be sweating this, running his hands through his hair and looking anywhere but at Jen. I take a step in front of Marissa, because I don’t want him to see her watching. Then again, he’d probably think she’s just jealous.

Jen looks at us over his shoulder and winks. We both stifle a laugh.

The phone in my hand vibrates with a message from Alex.

Talking to his mom now.

All of this is riding on Alex’s ability to convince Brandon’s mom of the sex tape on his computer and letting her in to delete it. We have a plan B, but I’d much rather not get into that one.

I make sure Brandon can’t see me, and then I hold up the phone and wave it at her. She nods and pulls him out of the gym, and they walk down the hall to the nearest door outside. Marissa and I sneak down the hall after them.

“Keep out of sight,” I whisper-yell at her. “Don’t let him see you!”

“Shut up. I know what I’m doing!” she whisper-yells back.

Is this what they mean by frenemies? I ignore her defensiveness. That’s just our dynamic. She knows the risks. She’ll be careful.

We reach the end of the hall and stand next to the cracked door and listen to Jen and Brandon.

“Wow. It’s so cold out here,” she says.

“You kidding? It’s blazing inside, this feels good.”

“Give me your jacket then,” she says playfully. I sneak a peek through the crack and watch him place his jacket over her shoulders.

“So what are you doing after the dance?” he asks her.

She casually reaches into the pockets of the jacket but comes away empty-handed. Strike one.

“Going home,” she says, her voice flat. She’s rocking back on her heels now, and I wonder if she’s getting nervous.

“Can I come?” he asks.

Marissa pretends to stick her finger down her throat. I wonder if this is getting to her. Deep down, does she still care about Brandon? Does it sting every time he cheats on her?

It has to hurt. Maybe she’d still be with him if she had a choice. But there’s no worse feeling in the world than feeling like someone’s taken that choice away from you.

Tonight, we have to make this work and give her choice back to her. Back to Jen. Back to anyone Brandon would ever take that choice away from.

It’s too quiet on the other side of the door. My heart pounds. I want to see what’s going on, but I’m scared. I can’t tell if he’s still looking the other way.

But I have to take the risk, so I step over and peek through the cracked door. Brandon is leaning over her, pushing her toward the wall.

Not good. I know it’s part of the plan, but it’s all I can do not to run over and shove him off her.

“I know you’re lying about the pregnancy thing. You just wanted to get close to me again, didn’t you?” he says into her hair.

Damn. Telling him she’s pregnant? That was pretty genius. But now what?

“No,” she stammers, stumbling back, all confidence gone. “I’m telling the truth… I…you…”

He shrugs and leans into her, and when his back turns to me, I see it. His phone, tucked in the back pocket of his jeans.

Bingo.

I take a step forward. Enough of this. Time for a little improvisation. He won’t make her feel weak again, not while I’m around.

“Hey, Jen, don’t keep him all to yourself,” I say with a light, flirty voice.

He looks up, interested. “The slut wants a piece?” He steps past Jen.

Good boy.

Just a few steps closer, buddy.

Perfect.

He’s just inches from me now, and I stare up at his handsome face and smile. “Want to know what we do with guys like you in New York?” I ask him, still flirtatious. He raises his eyebrows, and I place my hands on his shoulders—

And with one quick motion, I push down as I thrust my knee up to his groin.

He groans and bends over. “You bitch,” he says.

While he’s bent over, struggling to contain the pain, I grab the phone from his pocket. I hold on to the phone for dear life and then grab Marissa by the hand and sprint down the hall and into the gym. We should be able to lose him long enough to delete the video before he finds us here.

Jen barely catches up before we push into the crowd of dancers and wonder what took her so long.

We push our way through the room and circle around the phone.

“Hurry,” I say, then pull out Jen’s phone and type a text message.

We have the phone. How’s it going with you?

“I can’t believe we did it,” Marissa says triumphantly. “How’s it going on their end? Did Alex do it?”

Only a few seconds pass before a reply finally comes from Alex, but it feels like forever.

His mom wants to hear it from Marissa.

I show the message to Marissa, who groans.

“I don’t want anyone to know,” she says.

What do I tell her? I had the same problem, and I chose to say nothing.

“What do you want to do?” I say.

She looks back and forth, then at me. “Let’s do it. I won’t be able to live with myself if he gets away with it. What if he does this to someone else?”

She starts forward, but I stand there, her words a heavy weight over me.

She turns back to me and says, “Come on.”

I walk closer to her. The music is thumping so loud it’s hard to talk to each other, let alone on the phone.

We’ll have to find a way outside without Brandon finding us. That means splitting up, just for a minute. Long enough for him to be too busy with me to notice what they’re doing.

“You and Jen go, I’ll find him and distract him,” I say.

I rush out of the gym, first hoping to catch sight of Brandon. He sees me, fire in his eyes, and I run down the hall, toward the door to the parking lot, hoping he’ll follow me so Jen and Marissa can slip past and reach the lobby to make the call.