“I’ve got to say, love, this doesn’t exactly seem like you. I always thought you were more … well you, than Katherine. This seems like something she’d be involved in.” Asher motions to the Charter girls sitting just down the bleachers from us.

He and Nora sit with me in the stands, watching as Colton and his other Jade Mountain teammates beat the piss out of their opponent. It’s the second half, and we’re winning by fifteen points, basically we have this one in the bag. And it’s bonkers that I now know how to tell when a basketball game is going in one team’s favor.

“Times change, mate. Who ever thought you’d be shacking up with the princess who threatened to destroy your family? Or so you thought she would.” I pat him on the back and smile at Nora.

“Can we not bring that up ever again?” He rolls his eyes, his dapper demeanor faltering.

Ever since he and Nora got together, he was less of a smarmy asshole. But he still did have it in him … I think it’s what made him so endearing. And what made us such good friends.

“Fine, fine … but you know that all that was just rubbish. My bird Nora here is the sweetest, and you better be treating her like it.”

He kisses her once again, and she smiles sweetly at me. “Of course I am.”

“Except for when it comes to cleaning our cars off. You would think I was asking him to play Russian roulette when I handed him the window scraper the first time. He looked at me as if he might die if he really had to scrape ice off of his own car.”

I look at her puzzled. “Huh?”

Nora rolls her eyes. “God, you too! I should have guessed though, rich kids never have to defrost their own vehicles.”

I laugh, if only she knew about my drive in on that first night in Vermont. “Says the princess.”

“Technically, I’m not a princess since the line of royalty flows through—”

I cut her off, loving her, but not wanting her large brain to elaborate on the centuries of British royalty and how the roles worked. “I think my stomach is still about to burst from those delicious meatballs.”

“One thing I will say for this country is that they got it right when it comes to food.”

“Kill him!” Nora screams down at the court, while Asher and I exchange a look of amused surprise.

She lifts an eyebrow at her boyfriend. “What?”

“I didn’t realize you were such a fan, love.” He smacks a kiss against her cheek.

“Well, it’s not like a crew race … I don’t have to be proper and wear a nice Sunday hat. They’re practically mauling each other out there. As an American, I can get behind some good old-fashioned blood sport. Plus, I’m rooting for Eloise’s man.”

“Righto, darling. Speaking of blood sport, are those really your friends?” Asher points over to where Gretchen, Nina, Ciara and the rest of the Charter girls sit.

Gretchen is laying into one of the girls, a redhead with a curled ponytail, for something or other. She’s practically hissing at her while Nina and Ciara cackle down on the girl, who sits a bleacher below the three. It looks like mean girls at their worst, and my stomach turns thinking about what these girls do to other females to belittle, and even harm, them.

I mentally check myself, deciding whether I should tell my former schemer of a friend just what I’ve fallen into. He doesn’t even go to our college, so technically, I wouldn’t be breaking the social club pledge rules.

Hushing my voice, I motion him to come close. “Okay, I need your expertise on how to backstab and sneak around.”

Asher flexes his hands, cracking his knuckles. “I’m a little out of practice, but it doesn’t mean I don’t miss this life just a little bit. Lay it on me.”

I give him the abridged version. “So at the beginning of the semester, I got an invitation to join a secret club, if you will, with those girls. They wanted me to go through a bunch of initiation tasks, which felt fun at first. But then, well, let’s just say they’re you from senior year on steroids. Catty, mean, and I’m pretty sure they did something illegal last year that led to a girl being hurt, and leaving the school.”

Asher breathes a sigh. “God, I do miss plotting … I bet those girls are good. But, alas, that is how you become a horrible person, just ask my father. So what do you need to do?”

I lean my head more toward him, Nora still focused on the game. While I love my friend, a schemer she is not. “I wasn’t sure, at first I was just going to leave it alone. But … I’ve seen them trod on too many people. I just get this feeling that they’re plotting and manipulating … just everything. And you know me, I don’t stand for that rubbish. Had I known what you were doing to Nora, I would have chopped off your bollocks.”

“Believe me, I’ll keep making up for that for the rest of my life. But this isn’t about me. If your gut tells you to dig deeper to expose these slags, then by all means, you have my blessing.”

I shove my hand through my hair as Colton scores a basket, and the crowd cheers for him. I feel bad not paying attention, but I know that if my boyfriend knew what I was discussing, he’d know it was more important.

“But how do I go about it? I think … I think they had one of their pledges raped and they covered it up.”

He blows a breath out. “Jesus … that’s low. Then bloody hell, you have to expose them. And speaking from experience, there has to be a trail if they covered something up. Pictures, texts, a contract … it’s there, Eloise. You just have to find it.”

His words ring in my ears, and I know he’s right. I shouldn’t concern myself with this … but I’m in. I’m here. And no one else is going to do it.

Glancing back at Gretchen, I smile to myself. I’m about to bring her whole wicked kingdom down.