“You don’t think the guy from the hotel is calling the cops, do you?” Evan whispered anxiously to Brinley, with a glance toward Shane, who was talking to the receptionist at the check-in desk down the hallway. “Why else would he still be here?”
“He’s just being nice,” Brinley hissed back at her. “That’s what people do in a small town. God, you’re so judgmental, Evan.”
Ellie tuned out of their conversation when she spotted a doctor walking by. Her body tensed as she braced herself for an update on the guys, but he rushed past without stopping. She sighed, ready to collapse from physical exhaustion. Although, her emotional fatigue was even more intense. She had spent the ride over wavering between anger, gratitude, attraction and annoyance that Gabe had punched Weston in the face on her behalf.
“What do you think is taking so long?” Evan asked tentatively.
“These small town, low-rent doctors are probably frantically flipping through their med schools books so they can figure out how to apply a Band-Aid,” Brinley answered exasperated. As snobby as the comment was, it was hard to deny the fact that this place shouldn’t technically be called a hospital. The nurse’s office at G.A. was bigger.
The three of them slumped back in their seats.
“I’m so sorry,” Ellie finally whispered, unable to hold in her feelings for one more second.
Brinley and Evan shot up their eyes from the floor and looked at her with zero judgment.
“This isn’t your fault,” Evan responded immediately.
“You reacted the same way I would have, Elle,” Brinley added. “I don’t blame you for being angry when we told you.”
“I’m not angry anymore. You guys were right.”
As soon as she overcame her defensiveness (and realized the too coincidental timing of when Weston handed her the drink), the stories of Sarah Corliss and whomever Evan had spoken to, no longer seemed at all far-fetched. She had been so intent on drinking and partying away her feelings for Gabe that she hadn’t been able to see through Weston. Now she was going to have to deal with the ripple effect of consequences that came from it. The more she thought about it, the more she realized they reached a lot further than the handful of students who were directly involved.
“The prep school gossip train must be going full speed ahead about this fight by now,” Ellie said to them, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice. “It’s only a matter of time before someone tells their parents and the press finds out the Attorney General’s son and Senator Mills’s son punched the Supreme Court nominee’s son in the face.”
“Except no one knows why the guys got into the fight besides the six of us,” Brinley replied, which was exactly what Ellie had been thinking. She had been wavering for the past few minutes about how exactly to handle this situation, but now she knew what they had to do.
“And we need to keep it that way,” Ellie said decisively.
Evan furrowed her brow, perplexed. “What are you talking about? Don’t you want Weston exposed?”
“Of course. But there’s no guarantee anything will even happen to him if we tell anyone. We’ve got no proof. It’s his word against mine.” Ellie wasn’t exactly ready to throw herself back into an even bigger national scandal if no one was going to believe her story anyway.
Brinley sighed. “She’s right. She was traipsing through the lobby holding hands with Weston in front of everyone. She would look crazy for all of a sudden claiming he tried to drug her last night.”
“But—” Evan tried to interject.
“I’m not the only one this affects,” Ellie interrupted. “If I bring this to the press, Gail Morris will have no shot at clinching the nomination.” The media would rip apart Gail the same way they ripped apart her mother when the photo of her and Gabe surfaced, questioning Gail’s parenting skills and pretending that had everything to do with her ability to judge a case fairly. All her hard work, all her professional accolades, none of it would matter if the other side skewered her on this front.
“She’d get borked for sure if this leaks out,” Brinley agreed, as Evan shut her mouth, clearly contemplating this added wrinkle for the first time.
“Just because Weston’s a scumbag doesn’t mean his mother should have to pay for it,” Ellie said as another wave of guilt rushed through her. This affected her mom, too. She had been publicly backing Gail through this entire process. The last thing Marilyn needed was to be brought into the center of another media firestorm even if Ellie was the victim this time. It would be like Christmas for the newscasters while they reported the juicy drama of Marilyn Walker unknowingly supporting a woman whose son allegedly tried to drug her daughter.
Evan wasn’t convinced, though. “But what about Sarah Corliss? Won’t she want the truth to come out?”
Brinley shook her head. “POTUS is like an uncle to her. If Gail Morris gets pummeled for this by the media, he feels the fall-out more than anyone.”
In any other city, none of these outside factors would matter. It wasn’t fair, but it was their reality.
“So Weston is going to get away with this,” Evan said in a resigned whisper.
Ellie nodded, then put her head in her hands. As sick as it made her not to go public with what Weston did, a lot of innocent people would get hurt in the process and Weston probably wouldn’t get in trouble anyway. It was a no-win situation.
“He got the crap kicked out of him,” Brinley said gruffly. “That’ll have to do for now.” She turned to Ellie, all business. “I’ll come up with a story that won’t have any blowback on you, Gail or your mom. I’ll figure out a way to blame the fight on something else. Obviously Weston isn’t going to tell anyone the truth. We need to make sure Gabe and Hunter understand the situation, too.”
Evan gave a curt nod, acquiescing, though Ellie didn’t feel even a hint of victory about it.
“This might be the worst ski retreat in history,” Ellie muttered.
A strange look flashed through Brinley before she abruptly stood up. “And on that note, I’m going to find us something to eat in this godforsaken pothole passing itself off as a hospital. I’m starving.”
She looked quickly between Ellie and Evan then walked away. The hotel bellhop, still chatting with the receptionist at the end of the hallway, took off, too, probably having endured enough high school drama for one night.
It’s already been a crazy night, who do you want to follow for the rest of it?
Ellie
Evan
Brinley
Taryn
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Saturday, 8:41 p.m.
As soon as Brinley walked away, she and Evan silently stared at the light green peeling wall in front of them. She had resented her so much for the past two weeks, but right now, it was difficult to muster up that same anger after Evan had gone above and beyond tonight to be such a good friend.
“Thank you for being understanding about all this,” Ellie said quietly. “I just don’t know what else to do.”
Evan nodded then forced her eyes away from the wall and on to Ellie. “I’m so sorry about everything.” Ellie wasn’t sure what she was referring to. So many bad things had happened in three weeks. “I mean with Hunter. Not that I’m not sorry about this Weston thing, too, but...”
She was actually relieved Evan had brought it up first. It was time they finally figured this out and there was one thing Ellie still didn’t understand. “Why did you do it? Why did you kiss Hunter that night?”
Evan shifted her body weight nervously in the chair. “I’ve been into him as long as you were. It just happened and I didn’t have the strength to stop it, I guess.�
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A guilty sensation slowly scraped itself through Ellie’s body. She had completely blocked out how much Evan liked Hunter, too. Or at least she assumed the crush had dissipated after junior high when they had stopped being friends. It never occurred to her she still felt the same way about him.
“I didn’t even think about it…” Ellie shook her head. “And there I was begging you to help me get back together with him.”
“I’m the one who agreed to do it. I should have been honest with you in the first place.”
“So you’re saying you still…?”
Evan bobbed her head and Ellie slowly processed the news. It wasn’t that she didn’t think Evan was a great catch, she had just never considered a relationship developing between her and Hunter. But the more she thought about it, the more she began to realize how much they probably had in common. They had the same passion for politics and their fair-minded personalities were what she liked about both of them.
She suddenly thought back to the moment in the hallway when Hunter was so concentrated on Evan with Luke that he looked like he might punch through the wall. “Have you told him?” she asked Evan. “Because I think he might feel the same way.”
Evan seemed surprised she had picked up on this. “Yeah. I mean, I thought he did. But…I’m not sure what’s going to happen now. Maybe nothing.”
“Well, if you want to talk to him about it, this is probably your last chance before the chaperones get here.”
“Are you sure? You’re fine with all this?”
“Yes.” And she was. She would never begrudge Evan of starting something with the guy she had been infatuated with since they were thirteen. Especially when Ellie didn’t feel that way about Hunter anymore.
Evan exhaled. “And you’re okay by yourself for a second?”
She nodded with a smile and Evan bolted from her seat so fast it was like a cartoon character zooming away and leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
As soon as she left, Gabe walked out of one of the tiny rooms, a few stitches under his bruised right eye. Ellie leapt up, suddenly realizing how worried she’d been about him. They met up halfway in the hallway, his dark eyes searching hers and she forgot for a moment they were standing in the middle of a hospital. It was the shrill buzzing from a broken light in the ceiling above them that finally snapped her back to reality.
“Are you alright?” she asked, studying the stitches and trying not to reach out and touch his face.
He smirked. “You should see the other guy.” She raised an eyebrow. “They’re still sewing up Weston’s nose and I think I heard something about a cracked rib.”
She recoiled at the image, but couldn’t help be kind of pleased with the outcome considering what he had tried to do to her.
Gabe reached out and touched the patch of blood on the bottom of her sweater. “Are you—?”
“I’m fine,” she hastily answered, getting the chills from his hand that close to her skin. “I think this might have been courtesy of Weston’s nose.”
They watched each other in silence and she forcibly had to stop her feet from wandering closer to his. It didn’t take a psych major to figure out why she had attached herself to Weston and it was pointless to keep pretending her feelings for Gabe were going away anytime soon. Unfortunately, rehashing this conversation all over again wasn’t going to get them anywhere. Their path to a relationship was filled with more roadblocks than a presidential motorcade weaving down M Street during rush hour. She felt as hopeless as she did before she left for the ski trip, proof that no matter how hard she tried, it was impossible to escape her feelings for Gabe. Or her past with him.
“Ellie—” he started, but was suddenly interrupted when the hospital sliding doors flew open.
They both gaped when they saw Taryn in a wheelchair, one of her feet bandaged and elevated, being pushed through the door by Brooks of all people. The four of them shared a mutual look of shock at colliding into each other at the Stowe Mountain Hospital. Brooks mumbled something under his breath, but she couldn’t make it out.
“What happened?” Taryn immediately asked when she saw Gabe’s bandaged face. She seemed a little woozy.
“Nothing. It’s not a big deal. What happened to you?”
Brooks eyeballed him with a loaded stare more furious than the usual mild expressions of indignation he shot toward people who annoyed him. “I’m sure you’re tremendously distressed about Taryn’s well-being, but I need to make sure a doctor tends to her ankle before it gets any worse.”
Gabe glanced at Ellie, which seemed to propel Brooks into another orbit of irritation as he pushed Taryn past them.
“You should go,” Ellie faintly said to him.
“Yeah.”
He turned away from her and followed Brooks and Taryn back to the hospital room at the end of the hallway.
Ellie stood alone in the empty waiting area, the distant beeping of someone’s heart monitor the only sound pulsating through the room. She instantly thought of Weston’s tattoo and her gag reflexes rose to the challenge once again. She slumped back into her chair, wondering if she’d ever get a handle on the downward spiral her life had taken in three short weeks.
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Saturday, 8:41 p.m.
Brinley walked away, leaving her and Ellie alone in silence. Evan stared at the wall in front of her, digesting the plan they had just concocted. As much as it disgusted her that Weston would get away with this, she knew they had a point. There was no proof. If she brought a story this scant on evidence to Today in Politics, Paul Nelson would never run it. Especially since Sarah Corliss was unwilling to come forward and Brinley had never heard back from Ashley Blair. The deck was stacked against them and the last thing she wanted was for Ellie to be thrust back into the center of a media circus.
“Thank you for being understanding about all this,” Ellie said, breaking the silence. “I just don’t know what else to do.”
Evan nodded, the nervous pit in her stomach ballooning. It seemed really inappropriate to bring up their past fight about Hunter right now, but after this whole ordeal tonight, all she wanted to do was move on from it once and for all. She finally turned her attention away from the wall and looked at Ellie.
“I’m so sorry about everything,” she said delicately, then suddenly realized it might sound like she meant she was only sorry about the Weston situation. “I mean with Hunter. Not that I’m not sorry about this Weston thing, too, but...”
Ellie was silent for a second and Evan feared she was angry she’d brought the Hunter situation up. Finally she met her gaze uncertainly and asked, “Why did you do it? Why did you kiss Hunter that night?”
She crossed and uncrossed her legs nervously. Had Ellie really not figured it out by now? “I’ve been into him as long as you were. It just happened and I didn’t have the strength to stop it, I guess.”
A guilty look flashed across Ellie’s face. “I didn’t even think about it…” She shook her head, reddening. “And there I was begging you to help me get back together with him.”
“I’m the one who agreed to do it. I should have been honest with you in the first place.” If she’d had the courage to tell Ellie the truth, they could have avoided this fight entirely.
“So you’re saying you still…?”
Evan nodded awkwardly, still unsure of where she and Hunter actually stood at this point. He hadn’t called her back, which she had made several different excuses for (his phone died and he forgot to pa
ck his charger, he was skiing all day and hadn’t checked his voicemail, the message accidentally deleted itself, he couldn’t remember the code to unlock his phone). By the time she got to that last one, she began to face the fact that he was mad at her and that she might have ruined everything.
“Have you told him? Because I think he might feel the same way.”
She shot her head up in surprise. How on earth had Ellie figured that out? “Yeah. I mean, I thought he did. But…I’m not sure what’s going to happen now. Maybe nothing.”
Last night she had felt so much like Cinderella at the end of the fairy tale that it was hard to believe it was her actual reality. Then Narc came in the room and her luck switched to one of the ugly stepsisters. If one of the stepsisters had a gay fake boyfriend she had lied about.
“Well, if you want to talk to him about it, this is probably your last chance before the chaperones get here,” Ellie said.
Evan had been dying to do just that, but not before she knew things were completely repaired between her and Ellie.
“Are you sure? You’re fine with all this?” she asked, looking Ellie in the eye.
Ellie nodded emphatically. “Yes.”
Evan exhaled with relief. She knew Ellie was telling the truth. “And you’re okay by yourself for a second?”
Ellie straightened up in her chair, probably trying to hide her exhaustion, then nodded waving her onward. Evan gave her an appreciative smile back, before jumping up from her seat and speed walking around the corner to the room she had seen Hunter enter. Even if he was angry, she was still worried about him and wanted to make sure he was all right. Not to mention he’d be forced to talk to her about the Luke thing if she was standing right in front of him. Maybe all hope wasn’t lost and she could convince him to forgive her.
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