None of this has gone unnoticed by Carlton, who claimed he intends to press charges against Zayne for his assault last week! Hear it for yourself, right in the video! If he’s successful with his claims, Zayne can kiss his spotat Underwood Academy goodbye! Best of luck to him. It seems like he’ll need it.
In other news, the matter of Rue Sullivan’s pathetic crush has not been forgotten. It may seem like old news, but just wait until you hear who she’s pining after! It’s none other than Carlton himself! But unlucky for Rue, he’s already found his rebound in Meredith Evans!
My, what a tangled web of deception and betrayal the theater students’ lives have become. And all with Fallbrook’s long awaited, upcoming winter production a mere week away!
Lucky for you, I’m here to tell you all about it.
Yours truly,
Little Birdie
“No!” I drop my sandwich onto my lunch tray.
“What?” Zayne looks around. “What’s the matter?”
“Little Birdie.” I shove my phone in Zayne’s face. “That stupid bird told everyone Rue has a crush on Carlton.” I know I should be upset that my relationship with Zayne is also out on the dreadful site, but it’s not like I’ve been hiding it well. At least I’ve had a week of no gossip about me and Zayne. Rue, however, is probably devastated her secret is out.
“She does?” He frowns. “I guess she can come clean now, right?”
“She wanted to talk to him herself. I should go find her. See if she’s okay.” I stand up and shoulder on my backpack.
“Want me to come?” Zayne starts to push his chair back.
“That’s okay. This is girl talk.” I lean over and kiss his cheek. But when I start to pull away, he takes my face in his hands and brings me back for another kiss, this time on his mouth. His lips are so soft. I hesitate before pulling away because staying here and kissing him until the bell rings sounds great.
But I need to go find Rue.
So, I untangle myself from Zayne. “Bye,” he says. I wave at him, still wearing a hazy half-grin—an after-effect from kissing him.
I walk toward the lockers, hoping to find Rue in one of the corridors along the way. I scour each hall for her, about to text her asking where she is, but I spot Jude from the corner of my eye. My mind flashes to Little Birdie’s latest post, to the video of Zayne and Carlton fighting. Thanks to the video, Carlton has proof that he and Zayne fought. His case to press charges is so much stronger because of it. From what Zayne told me, Underwood has strict rules about their students’ behavior. Carlton may have started the fight, but from the way in looks in the video, Zayne could be the one attacking Carlton because it doesn’t show who started it. If he plans on following through with the threat he made on Halloween, Zayne could lose his dream.
My vision goes red.
I march over to Jude, who is retrieving a textbook from his locker. He doesn’t seem to notice that I’m approaching, and when his textbook is in his hand, I slam his locker shut as hard as I can.
He jumps. “Woah!”
“Why would you send that video from the party to Little Birdie? I thought you were Zayne’s friend!” I briefly wonder how this outburst of mine will look to anyone who’s watching before deciding I don’t care. Zayne is more important.
“Video? I didn’t send a video.” He straightens his glasses and shrugs like he doesn’t know what I’m talking about.
I roll my eyes. “Come on. I know it was you. I was there when you recorded it.”
“It wasn’t me.” He arches his brow and shrugs. It makes my blood boil. “And you can’t prove that it was. I even cut out the part of the video where you said my name.”
“I don’t get it. Why?” I drop my hands down to my sides. “I don’t understand what you’d gain from doing something like that? Does Little Birdie offer some kind of reward for sending in information? There can’t have been a good reason for you to do it, unless…” I squint my eyes at him, recalling how he had been there that day at the pumpkin patch, working the Ferris wheel Zayne and I rode together. He could have easily snapped the pictures that day. He was probably the one to send it in.Unless…“Unless you are Little Birdie.” My eyes widen. “You’re Little Birdie. Aren’t you?”
Jude scoffs. “Of course not. Now you’re just being ridiculous.”
“Am I?” I ask. “It’s not like you would admit it. Especially since that would make you responsible for a whole lot of trouble. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Jude looks taken aback. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am!” My voice echoes around the wing, bouncing off the lockers and stone walls surrounding us. I don’t care that I’m yelling. I don’t care that people are starting to look, to stare at the spectacle I’m making. All I care about is finding out the truth. And I can’t help but believe that Jude being Little Birdie happens to make perfect sense.
“Dottie!” A voice exclaims. I glance over my shoulder to find Lenny sauntering over, a calm grin on his face.
“Hi, Lenny. I’m kind of in the middle of something right now.”
