This time when the guy runs into me, he lifts his mask and it’s Harrison. He points his gun at my chest and it goes off. I have this phantom ache right under my ribs, just below my heart, and also a very real, very large lump on the back of my head. What is going on? I feel like I somehow dropped out of regular life and landed in the middle of some alternate universe where I’m surrounded by criminals. It’s Tuesday morning and I get out of bed, shower, and start dressing for battle. Even if Leo, Elena, and Whitney hadn’t been texting me constantly all day yesterday to give me the school gossip blow by blow, I’d be expecting the onslaught of whispering, pointing, and laughing that will rain down on Quinn and me. Scandal like the one our family is involved in doesn’t get ignored, even if up until now we’ve both been pretty popular—maybe especially because of that. I’ve got on my skinniest skinny jeans—the ones that are guaranteed to make guys stare at my legs and forget about what my father’s done—stacked-heel boots, and a shirt that adheres to the dress code and flatters in all the right places.
