"Stop her!" Brandon barked behind me.

"Hey, whoa." Adam moved to block him. "Back off, buddy. I mean it."

"Adam?"

I was focused on the side door, but the soft voice made me pause. I turned, everything was in slow motion now, and I couldn't believe what I saw. Becky was there, in person, with frightened eyes. Her red hair was pulled back in some fancy braided hairstyle. She held hands with a scruffy-looking guy beside her. His eyes were glazed over and his hair stuck up in all directions. He wore a ratty tee shirt over baggy and torn jeans. When he noticed my attention, he gave me a blinding smile. It was soft at the corners, and the focus in his eyes dimmed. Then he lifted his free hand. "Heya there."

Becky was dating someone. I remembered Adam telling me that. She was dating someone from Fallen Crest Public. I sucked in my breath. This was him, had to be. A different kind of pain sliced through me. She hadn't stuck up for me when Adam lied to her. She hadn't stuck beside me, and when he told her the truth, she still hadn't come to me to apologize. This was the one friend I thought would've stuck with me through everything. She hadn't. Now she had a boyfriend, and she never told me.

It was trivial to be hurt by that, but it stung.

I didn't notice her pale features until her voice trembled, "Sam?"

I stopped thinking. I forgot about what was going on behind me and what was happening in the diner. Someone that I had considered a friend was in front of me. So I opened my mouth and said the first thing that came to mind, "I have a new friend."

She reared back as if I had slapped her.

I kept going. My voice sounded distant. "She's tough. She's in there right now." I gestured towards the side door. "She's covering my back and you know what else?" I waited. Becky was looking everywhere but me. Then her jaw stopped shaking, and she made eye contact. Finally. "Mason and Logan respect her."

She flinched again.

Adam cursed behind me. "Sam! Seriously." He grabbed my arm and jerked me behind him. "Becky, go back to the car."

Her feet didn't move. Her head went down and her shoulders started to shake as if she were crying. The guy next to her stepped closer. A half frown was on his face, and he lifted a hand to her back.

Then Brandon moved forward. "You guys are friends with her?"

Becky's crying grew louder. She hiccupped now.

Adam grimaced. "Yeah. We are."

"Then get her out of here. Otherwise a massive fight's going to erupt."

I whipped my gaze from Becky as Brandon strode past us and yanked open the door. He went through and it slammed behind him. Then I heard a click and physically cringed from the sound of it. He locked the door. If I wanted in, I'd have to go through the front door, and I already knew Heather would shoo me out immediately.

"What just happened?" Adam frowned at the locked door.

My shoulders lifted in a deep breath. "I got the night off."

CHAPTER TWENTY

I didn't know where else to go, and I needed to find Mason so we went to Nate's house. In Adam's car was Becky with her boyfriend, Adam and me. I found out the boyfriend's name was Raz and he thought Logan was "neat-o."When we drove up to the mansion, Adam frowned and parked around the fountain. "No lights are on. No one's home?"

It didn't matter. I got out and pressed the code to the garage. As we went in, I flipped on the lights.

"Oh, wow." Becky spun in a tight circle as the mansion was flooded with light. "I didn't expect that."

Raz held onto her hand and blasted me a bright smile.

I frowned. The kid seemed off, but she seemed happy with him. He had comforted her in the alley and then made her giggle in the backseat. Everyone knew she'd been tense because of me. I wondered how long they'd been dating or how they got together, but then she glanced at me and I stopped wondering.

Her eyes were full of questions, along with something dark. She couldn't be sorry. She chose her fate. She had nothing to feel sad about.

I felt a swift kick to my gut again. She'd been the friend I thought would stay no matter what and she bailed.

The corner of her lip started to tremble. But I moved away. Becky wasn't my problem anymore. She stopped being my problem the moment she believed Adam's lie.

"Where's Kade?" Adam frowned at me.

I shook my head. "Hold on." I hurried up the stairs and to our bedroom, but no one was in there. No note, nothing. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I hadn't expected the empty house. Reaching for my back pocket, I cursed. I left my purse and phone at the diner.

"Adam," I called out as I went out to the banister.

"Yeah?"

"My stuff's at the diner. I left it all there."

He held a finger up. "Hold on." Then pulled out his phone and pressed a number. It wasn't long before we heard him ask, "Can I speak to Heather Jax? Oh, hey! This is Adam Quinn….Yeah, I'm a friend of Sam's…Yeah, we brought her home, but listen….yeah, her stuff's still there." He nodded a few more times, murmured 'yeah' again, and then said, "That sounds great. Thanks."

He looked up. "She's going to bring it over after closing, but she said there was a text from Mason. She read one and it said something about a family meeting with his mom?" He frowned. "You know what that meant?"

Relief rushed through me. They were in L.A. They were not headed to the diner. I nodded. "Yeah, I know. They won't be home till tomorrow."

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