“The gossip mill runs on estrogen.”

“Well, I can feel superior for my good deed.” I flashed him a smile. “How’s that for a selfish reason?”

“Well, that narrowed down the list of suspects.To the whole world.”

“A sea of people in red crowded around it. I looked atMallory’s black hoodie and my gray sweater and realized we’d forgotten to wear the school colors. Oh, well. There was always my hair.”

“He was never one to care whether a person was popular or not. Exhibit A … me.”

“Kendra was on Gabriel like a predator on a slab of meat.”

“I leaned forward and slapped her across the face. Probably a bit harder than I needed to, but it worked.”