The feeling of déjà vu is strong as I trek down to the boathouse. Granted, it’s a lot warmer than it was in January, with a mild May breeze floating through the layers of my tulle skirt. My heels clack on the pavement of campus, the dark illuminated by the old gas lamps that Jade Mountain insists on keeping. I have to say, they do have a nostalgic romance about them.

However, that romance isn’t seeping into my veins. I don’t want to be walking down to the boathouse, I don’t want to hear what Gretchen and her cronies have to say. I don’t even want to be inducted, if that’s what this is, which I strongly suspect it is.

But I care about some of these girls now, and I won’t let what happened to Julia Henley happen to anyone else. At least not under my watch.

Following the winding walk down to the glittering boathouse, I take a minute to admire the lake as it gleams under the moonlight. Even if my veins are cold, I can’t deny the absolute beauty this place holds.

I’ll miss Thistle when it’s time to go, and I realize that’s not something I was expecting. This town, this school, brought me much more than I ever bargained for. In all my years of growing up, in all the many exotic places I’d ever been or far reaches of the world I’d explored, I never anticipated that a small town in rural America would be the place to change me. To make me see a different side of myself, to expose that gooey, emotional center of myself … and show it to someone else.

I still hadn’t told Colton I love him, and I thread my fingers through the snowflake necklace that hangs from my neck. Not that I didn’t feel it … bloody hell, I’d never felt this in my life for anyone else. But, I’d always thought of myself as an independent woman. I never thought I’d have that typical relationship you’d always read about, even though Colton and I had had our struggles. It felt like saying those words was the last line of defense falling, like when I said them, I’d be tied to him. It might be stupid, but I had been alone and loved it for a long time. I had to seriously consider and be okay with ending that streak.

When I walk inside, I veer to the stairs, following the same path I’d taken months ago. The inner-sanctum of Charter House looks the same when my summer heels, probably too warm for the chilly May night but still very cute, clack on the concrete floor.

I see three hooded figures standing in the middle of the room, Abby and Amelia in front of them. I join the pledges, unease filling my gut already.

“Welcome to the induction ceremony, pledges. Over the last four and a half months, you have stayed the course, completed your tasks, and shown your ability to become true Charter sisters. We’re happy to accept you into the fold, and officially make you members of this elite society.”

The rest of the sisters form a circle around us, the entire thing feeling cheesy and self-absorbed rather than the holy, exclusive vibe they’re going for. I don’t want to be here, don’t want to be included in this band of abusers and manipulators.

“However, there is one matter left to hash out, because there is a pledge who has been keeping secrets of her own.” Gretchen’s eyes cut straight to me.

Sweat slicks my hands, and sickening goose bumps light up my skin. They know what I’ve been up to, they have to. I thought I’d have more time, to maybe contact Julia Henley, see if she even wanted what happened to her brought to light. But now they know, and I have to use the ammo in my arsenal.

Nina cuts her off, producing a cell phone from under her cloak. My cell phone. “Thanks to Abby, we now know what kind of person you are, Eloise. Helping to cover up stealing, bribery and betting for your boyfriend? A boyfriend who is in a social club himself, and cheating his friends out of both their merchandise and basketball victories? You should be ashamed.”

My jaw almost hits the floor. Memories of the night that Colton chose not to throw the game, even after Mac’s demands, come flooding back. Me and Abby in the bar, her trying to force drinks on me, leaving my cell phone on the table when my boyfriend and I made a quick exit.

“You stole my phone? How … why?” I look incredulously at the wolf in sheep’s clothing standing next to me.

Abby shrugs, a smug smirk marking her lips. “It was eat or get eaten, Eloise. I want this more than you, I want all of the power and status that comes with being a Charter girl. Admit it, you never really cared about being in. I did what they asked me to do, and I’d do it again.”

I’d come from a dog-eat-dog world in Europe, a place where politicians and princes cut each other off at the knees, where husbands cheated and wives plotted, where children disobeyed. But I guess I hadn’t seen it coming, even with my knowledge of the world. Thievery from someone I’d considered an ally, a friend as far as they went in Vermont … this was cold-blooded. Abby had completely duped me.

“I see how it is.” I nod at her, seeing her for the first time as she really is. There is no more to say to her, I essentially cut her out of my life in that moment.

Because I have a bigger problem. “You’re not going to show those texts to anyone.”

Nina laughs, and Gretchen gives me a look as if to say, oh, you poor fool. “Of course we aren’t … if you break up with Colton, we won’t have to do anything. We won’t have to tell his coach, his teammates, or the damn college basketball association that their star player has been betting against himself and then throwing games.”

Shock slams me. Have I gotten so soft since coming to the States that everyone has a leg up on me now? “How did you even … you broke into my phone?”

“It’s not so hard, duh. Plus, offer for one of your pledges to blow a tech nerd, and we jailbroke it pretty easily.” Ciara giggles, like that isn’t another abusive situation she’s put one of her sisters in.

I square my shoulders, ready to unleash my dirty little secret. “You won’t tell anyone about Colton, and I’m not going anywhere. Because you may have been digging dirt up on me, but I have some on you. Your little non-disclosure that was hidden in the library … yeah, I have it now.”

You could hear a pin drop in the room, Gretchen and her cronies are so surprised. I watch her dark eyes narrow, her mouth draw into an angry slit. She looks at Ciara, tilting an eyebrow, and I wonder if I just revealed that her second in command made a huge fuck up.

“That’s right, I found out how you had one of your pledges raped and then covered it up.” Spreading my arms wide, I talk to the entire room. “Is this what you all want to be a part of? Last time I checked, family doesn’t let family get sexually abused and then shamed for it.”

“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.” Gretchen’s voice is pure cover-up.

I laugh, a sarcastic huff. “Oh, come off it, love. You know full well what you did, and I have it in writing. Julia Henley, remember her? Or do you just block what you did to her from your brain, going on with your pathetic little power trip? If you so much as whisper a word of what you saw on my phone, I’ll expose you. I’ll bring your entire house burning down.”

Gretchen turns her nose up at me. “That NDA is legally binding, the girl in question will never come forward. Therefore, you have no case, this is a moot point. Plus, if you hadn’t realized, we’re pretty powerful, and so are our connections. What we bring to the school in terms of notoriety and funding … they’ll never turn their back on the social clubs, no matter what we do.”

“The same can’t be said for your little boyfriend. If the NBA knew what kind of back alley deals he was dabbling in, I’m sure they would drop him from the draft altogether.” Ciara smiles like a lion about to chow down on my carcass. “So break it off, or we’ll ruin him.”

Some of the other girls smile at each other, and I know now that this was all part of the process for me.

“Oh, and by the way, you’re officially eliminated from pledging to be a Charter House member.” Nina gleefully informs me.

Yeah, no shit. I almost roll my eyes, but I feel too foolish. These girls used me as their play toy for an entire semester, a stupid mouse chasing a wheel that they were lazily spinning themselves, waiting for me to fall.

And now that I had, I was about to bring my whole life down with me.

Everything in my body screamed not to stoop to their level, but hatred bubbled up in my throat. I turned around on a heeled foot right before I reached the exit of their inner sanctum.

“Speaking of relationships and ending them … Gretchen, you should probably know that Ciara has been shagging Daniel for the entire semester. I caught them shagging in his room on Valentine’s Day. I’m not sure if that’s some initiation activity, but it doesn’t seem like you lot share well, so I don’t believe your boyfriend dipping his wick in your number two was something you knew about.”

I toss my verbal grenade and slip quietly out, letting the door close behind me. I swear I hear it go off in the form of Gretchen’s screams as my foot hits the first step leading out of the boathouse.