I swallowed hard. “I don’t know. I hope so.”
“Me too.” Her lips curved in a faint smile.
“Any updates I should know about?” I asked.
She shook her head. “We still haven’t made much progress in identifying the student who posted that video in the assembly, but we’re working on it as hard as we can.”
I took a quick sip of the coffee. “I already told Sanders who did it,” I muttered.
“Hunter Connery,” Ms. Flores said with a knowing nod. “Unfortunately, we’re lacking any solid evidence there. And you know how important that is in dealing with these cases.”
“Yeah.”
She cocked her head slightly to the side. “Is there anything you can tell us that might help? I really should’ve asked you sooner.”
“Not really,” I said. “I already told Sanders everything I know, which is that Hunter was aware of the video. I don’t know how he got his hands on it, or anything like that.”
Ms. Flores sighed. “That’s our main issue. We don’t know either. We contacted the authorities to try and find out how the video got leaked, and they’re just as stumped as us. They said there’s no evidence that any of the sealed court files have been accessed lately,” she said. “Of course, most of it is backed up on their private online servers these days. I bet the right investigator or computer hacker could slither in and out without being seen.”
“Probably, yeah.” My eyes suddenly widened. “Oh! I just remembered something. I should’ve mentioned this to Sanders on Tuesday.”
“What is it?”
“A few weeks ago, when I was trying to figure out why Hunter blacklisted me, I was talking about it to Adam and Trina. Adam told me that he saw some photos in Hunter’s room a while ago. Photos of me. When he asked about them, Hunter said something about meeting me at a party and wanting to know more about me, but I left before he could ask me for my number. So he hired an investigator to find out who I was.”
“I see,” Ms. Flores said with a frown as I paused to take another quick sip of coffee.
“Anyway, my point is, that’s proof that he definitely has access to a private investigator,” I went on. “Also, I’m pretty sure Adam said that he thought the investigator was someone from one of their dad’s companies.”
Ms. Flores nodded slowly. “Okay. That could help. But—”
“But I shouldn’t get my hopes up,” I cut in with a sigh. “Because Hunter gets away with everything.”
“I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say that we’d have to ask Charles Connery for the details of every single investigator that his companies have on their books. So it’ll take some time. It’ll also depend on how cooperative Mr. Connery feels like being. For all we know, he might try to protect his son and refuse to give us any details.”
“That’s true.”
Ms. Flores furrowed her brows. “Are you absolutely sure it’s Hunter?” she asked. Before I could reply, she held up a palm. “I’m only asking because I thought you two had sorted out your issues. I heard a few students gossiping earlier in the week about him pulling you into the cafeteria and announcing that you were off his blacklist. I also heard something about an email that got sent out a few days ago?”
I pressed my lips into a thin line. The email she’d just mentioned went out to every single student at RFA on Tuesday night, including me and my friends. It was from Hunter, and he’d reiterated what he said in the cafeteria on Monday—I was off the blacklist, and anyone caught harassing or bullying me was dead fucking meat.
I knew it was just something he wanted me to see in order to throw me off my game, and he probably sent out a second email to everyone afterwards—everyone except me, Adam, Trina, and my new Medusa friends—to let them know that the first email was part of a ploy and not to be taken seriously.
The truth was, the bullying hadn’t stopped at all.
No one actually said or did anything to my face, because they didn’t have a chance to do so with me holed up in my dorm. Instead it was a silent type of bullying—tons of abusive texts and emails from brand new anonymous accounts, similar to the ones I used to get. These newer ones were more threatening, though, so now I felt unsafe all the time. Even when I was just walking around Blair Hall, I found myself catching my breath constantly, wondering what danger lurked around every corner.
“It has to be him,” I said to Ms. Flores, lifting my chin. “I told him about the video, because I thought we were okay with each other. Then just two days later… well, you know what happened.”
She nodded and pursed her lips. “All right. I’ll make sure our focus stays on him, then,” she said. She reached out to pat me on the shoulder. “I know I’ve probably said this a hundred times, but I’m so sorry this is still happening to you, Laney.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said softly.
“I know, but I’m still sorry for what it’s doing to you,” she said. “Hopefully our investigation turns up something soon. If we get enough evidence, we can get Hunter expelled.”
I let out a short sigh. “I doubt he’ll face any consequences like that,” I said, shoulders slumping. “I think by now I’ve realized that the real RFA motto is this: The more money you have, the more shit you can get away with at our school.”
Ms. Flores let out a soft laugh, eyes crinkling around the edges. “Hey, you’re finally getting the hang of life in Royal Falls!” she said. Her amused expression quickly faded to a more serious one. “In all seriousness, though, he won’t get away with it. I promise.”
“Okay.” I sighed again. “I just want it to be over.”
“It will be one day. And you know what they say—the best revenge is a life lived well. Keep focusing on that.”
I forced a smile. “I’m trying. I’ve joined the Medusa Society, and they’re initiating me soon,” I replied. “They’re going to keep the bullies away from me, and I’ll also get a free ride through college once I graduate from here. One of the perks of membership, apparently.”
Her eyebrows rose. “That’s fantastic news!” she said. “I’ve never actually met any of those Medusa girls, but I’ve heard good things about them.”
“Yeah, they’re really nice.”
“When are you getting initiated into their club?”
“They messaged me last night to say that it’s happening tomorrow,” I said. “I’m not sure exactly when, though.”
“You better get to bed early tonight, then. None of your usual wild Friday night antics,” she joked.
I giggled softly and nodded. “Yup, that’s me. Huge party animal,” I said. I gestured to the messenger bags. “Anyway, I should probably get started on my work for the day.”
“Of course.” Ms. Flores crouched down and removed several files from the bags. “Here’s all of your classwork for the day,” she said, handing three of them to me. “And this one contains your homework,” she added, handing me another blue file.
I groaned. “There’s so much to get through.”