On Friday morning, Zac stopped by my place to pick me up for school. We arrived on campus primed and ready for battle. Every muscle on Zac's body appeared tense and alert, like a dog with its hackles raised, and I was every bit as on edge. We knew Lily had something dastardly up her sleeve, but the question was—what?

As Zac and I parted ways for class, he gave me a reassuring hug and whispered in my ear, "If she gives you any trouble, I'll destroy her."

I gave him a kiss and murmured back, "If she gives you any trouble, I'll help you bury the body."

Despite my high-and-mighty attitude, I was secretly dreading the arrival of second hour. Yet, oddly enough, my fears never came to fruition. AP History came and went without any incident. The rest of my school day came and went without any incident. The following two weeks were chill as fuck because nothing bad happened to me or to Zac.

Apparently, in order for hellfire to rain, Lily needed to be at school, and the bitch hadn't shown her face at Ashton Wellesley—or anywhere else in person or online, for that matter—since she had fired off that charming text in my direction.

I didn't know what to make of it.

Was she bowing out for good?

Or was this merely the calm before the storm?

Either way, the uncertainty left me with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Still, I was never one to pass over a golden opportunity. I took this time to rebuild the shattered remnants of my reputation at Ashton Wellesley. Without Lily around to instigate our peers, I made surprising headway in quelling the rumors she had spread about me by simply acting unaffected by it all. I went about my daily business, kicking ass in class and taking down names of the teachers and students who dared to look at me funny. They should've known that I wasn't one to take a beating lying down.

When Tilton tried to talk down to me again a few days ago, I chewed him out after class. It was a stupid argument over the essay I just turned in. Now that I relinquished Zac's portion of the points from our research project, I had no choice but to fight tooth and nail for every single point to strive for a mid to high range 'B' in his class.

The man tried to dock me for not citing my sources in the correct format, but he never explicitly specified whether he wanted MLA or APA on his guidelines or rubric. I won the battle in the end, but I could tell from the contentious gleam in his eyes that the war between us was far from over. I just knew he was going to be a knit-picky bitch about everything I turned in from here on out.

By the end of the second week, however, things actually started to look up for me when a whole new slew of rumors about Lily's extended absence began circulating the campus. These outlandish stories did me a huge favor because they decimated all over Lily's good name. The sweet southern belle persona that she had so carefully cultivated for herself at Ashton Wellesley came crumbling down within days. Some of our classmates claimed she checked into rehab for a serious prescription drug addiction. Others suggested that her therapist recommended for her to take time off from school to deal with severe mental health issues.

Normally, ninety percent of the shit that came out of my classmates' mouth was exactly that, pure, unadulterated bullshit, but these particular rumors stuck with me because, honestly, they seemed to describe Lily to a T. I already knew she was batshit crazy. A drug addiction would explain why she was so moody and erratic all the time.

An uncomfortable feeling began to gnaw at me when I wondered if the notes that Zac and I had been sending her actually triggered something damaging in her already damaged psyche. I didn't want to define the emotion as guilt, per se, but, let me be the first to admit, it wasn't a pleasant feeling to carry around at all.

Amari still refused to acknowledge me, but it helped to have Nat back in my corner. She informed me that Amari was indeed planning to attend Bea's charity ball, which was coming up right around the corner. Nat and I figured a party setting might make it easier for me to worm myself back into Amari's good graces.

***

The day Lily finally came back to school, she looked like a shell of her former self. Her once lustrous auburn hair had become a unwashed, uncombed mess. She didn't bother with makeup. Her softly rounded cheeks were now decidedly wane and skeletal. Even her curves had dissipated enough for me to take notice. I sensed that something was very wrong when she didn't even acknowledge me in passing or in second hour. She drifted around Ashton Wellesley like a ghost. Eerily quiet and withdrawn. Zac was convinced that it was all an act, but I wasn't so sure.

The uneasy lump that had been lodged inside my chest seemed to double in size.

Two more weeks passed by in relative peace and harmony. Zac and I busied ourselves during this time to make preparations for the big day. Four 1-TB sized USB flash drives to siphon data from Mr. Sinclair's system. Two of them were for back up. Bea reassured me multiple times that Lily was still on board with hosting the charity ball at her house despite her disturbing change in character as of late.

On the night of the ball, I slipped into the most expensive designer gown I owned. It was a deep wine red Cristallini, full-length and strapless, with draped velvet, a plunging neckline, and a sexy but tasteful slit up the thigh. It was vampy and exquisite and the velvet hugged my curves in all the right places. I felt like a goddess every time I put it on. Amari had helped me pick it out for our winter formal last year, and I wanted her to see me wearing it again tonight, to show her how much I cherished it. I accessorized with simple diamond studs and a pair of strappy black leather Jimmy Choo heels that were embellished with Swarovski crystals.

Trick and Bea left earlier to set up at Lily's house. Zac came to pick me up at a quarter to six. He was dressed in a full-on black and white formal tux, and I had never seen my man look so handsome before. He took my breath away.

Zac's reaction to my dress, however, bordered on the absurd in the best ways possible. It pleased me to no end. He was rendered speechless when I first opened the door. With sky high eyebrows, his eyes raked over every inch of my body, up and down and back up again.

I gave him a spin to show off the goods and arched my eyebrow. "Well? What do you think?"

He swallowed. Hard. "Jesus fucking Christ, Cate. You're perfection. Thank God we don't do this every day. I don't think I'd survive it."

I smiled. Wide. "Thank you, baby. You're so sweet."

"I'm serious," Zac grumbled as he gathered me into his arms for a kiss. His hands clutched my waist possessively. "I'd probably die trying to fight off all the guys who wanna get you out of this fucking dress. Or I'd pass out from sensory overload once I got it off you."

I giggled at his dramatics and pecked him on the lips. "Don't you know, baby? Real women don't need a man to fight for them. They can fend for themselves. And ya girl knows she's caught a good one, so I'm not gonna do anything to fuck it up for us. But, I mean, if the sight of me naked makes you wanna pass out, then I guess we'll just have to do stuff on soft surfaces. Like a rug, a couch, a bed..."

Zac groaned and pulled me in close for a deep kiss. His hands trailed down my hips to my ass. He squeezed appreciatively. He started walking me inside my doorway.

"You know, babygirl, we don't have to be on time for this thing. No one's gonna care if we show up late..."

I nudged him back outside with a stern expression. "Nuh-uh, Little Zac, we're leaving right now. If you behave, then I promise I'll show you a real good time once we get back."

He pouted. "Promise?

I grinned. "Promise."

About an hour later, we pulled into Lily's gated neighborhood and up to her family's property. She lived on five acres of land in a historical four-story Tudor mansion with a steeply pitched gable roof. There were breathtaking views of meticulously manicured gardens and fountains and ponds all around. It felt as though we had stepped into an English country house from the 18th Century. Something like fucking Pemberley from Pride or Prejudice.

Bea and Lily had gone all out with the decor. I didn't know if I was walking into a charity event. Or someone's wedding. Twinkling fairy lights dangled from the birch trees that lined the pathway to the main entrance.

After Zac and I entered the house, we were guided by the wait staff through the foyer to the grand ballroom. Almost two hundred of our classmates, dressed in a sea of Valentino, De La Renta, Versace, and Marchesa, were congregating and clinking glasses of Dom to a live pianist and a string quartet.

Five oversized bronze and crystal chandeliers were anchored from the high arched ceilings. An impressive spread of appetizers like dark chocolate fondue fountains paired with ruby red strawberries and goat cheese crostinis with fig-olive tapenade were on display across the buffet stations like works of edible art. I silently commended Bea for outdoing herself with this one. There was no question about it. My sister had a knack for event planning, and I was proud of her.

My lighthearted mood didn't last long, though.

About twenty feet away, I saw her. Lily. She was standing directly in front of me. Her green eyes were on me as well. The crowd parted like the Red Sea as she headed in my direction. I'd never seen the girl look more radiant or beautiful than this very moment. The heavy gray clouds that had been holding her down for the past few weeks seemed to have disappeared overnight.

Her fiery red hair floated around her body in angelic waves. Her makeup was flawlessly done. She wore a breathtakingly delicate ivory-colored gown. It was suspiciously reminiscent of bridalwear. Her long-sleeved bodice was backless with a deep V neckline, and dainty floral appliques were sewn throughout the gossamer thin fabric. Lily looked like a fairy princess come to life as she came closer to Zac and me.

The beatific smile resting on her lips sent chills down my spine, and, instantly, I knew we were in for one hell of a night.