Page 35 of Tag

I shoved the rising fury down and leaned in, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand. I had to remind myself she didn’t need my judgment.

Her voice came quietly, hesitant. “Sanj. You’re the only one I’ve told. That’s why I wanted to talk here. I know the other girls are my friends too, but you’ve all grown up together and…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” I cut in gently, and I meant it. I understood that she didn’t trust them the way she trusted me, and I couldn’t fault her for it. Our friendships had been built on different foundations.

Her shoulders curled inward. “I haven’t taken a test yet.”

I sat back a bit. “Okay. How late are we talking?”

“A little over two weeks.” Her fingers fidgeted in her lap. “I’ve never been late before.”

That clenched something in my chest. “Alright. The first thing we do is stop panicking. You don’t know anything for sure yet. We’re going to take this one step at a time.”

There was a pause. Then, in the softest voice I’d ever heard from her: “Will you…can you buy it for me?”

Of course, she didn’t want to be the one to walk into a pharmacy and pick up a pregnancy test, not in this town. Hemlock Heights had eyes everywhere and mouths that never stayed shut.Ididn’t even want to be seen buying one, but I’d rather people think it was for me than risk Layla catching firefrom the rumor mill. I knew my ass wasn’t pregnant. The few and fleeting times I’d had sex, I made sure Ashton wrapped it up, and I was on the shot to help with my periods.

“I’ll get it. I can go after this.”

Her bottom lip quivered slightly, her fingers tightening around each other. “Are you sure?” she asked, looking at me like she wasn’t fully convinced.

“I am. We can head to my place, and you can wait there while I run and grab them. You drove today, right?”

She shook her head. “No. I walked.”

“You-you walked?”

“Yeah. I did ride back to your place with Cloe and Arianna last night, but then I ended up going home after he called.” She tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear and added, “We had a good morning.”

I wasn’t sure why that last part was relevant for me to know. I didn’t want to think about what constituted a ‘good’ anything for them.

I was still stuck on the fact she’d walked to campus. She may have lived on this side of town, too, but my house was much closer. That had to take at least thirty minutes, and it would’ve been cold.

“But why did you walk?”

She gave a small, almost embarrassed shrug. “My battery was dead, I think. Alex had already left for work, so no jumper cables.”

I bit my tongue before saying anything aboutthatman. “You should’ve called or texted me then, Lay.”

“You were with Ashton.”

“And?” I would have made him go and help her, or I would’ve gotten him to take me to my car so that I could. “If that happens again, call me. Okay? Doesn’t matter what I’m doing.”

She nodded, her eyes glimmering again with that fragile edge of overwhelmed emotion. Both of our phones buzzed on the table at the same time, breaking up the moment. We exchanged a look, and I picked mine up while she checked hers.

“They just announced The Hunt,” she said quietly.

My thumb hovered over the message before clicking the link that took me straight to the official Crowsfell University page broadcasting the news. Right at the top was the university’s mantra:

Tradition in Darkness. Knowledge in Blood.

Est. 1889.

Beneath it, a new banner had been added:

We’re thrilled to bring back our beloved Hunt!

Prepare for tradition.

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