These Deadly Games(57)

“It’s not nothing.” He flipped it back over. “You’ve got our two prime suspects, then Zoey. I mean, I know things have been weird between you two for a while, but … really?” So he had noticed.

My mouth went dry, like I’d been sucking on a sponge or something. I couldn’t tell him about this. I couldn’t. “I … I was just … doodling?”

He gave me a look that said, Bullshit.

I groaned. My head was swimming in pain and exhaustion, and I couldn’t think how to talk my way out of this. I crossed the room and collapsed on my bed. Dylan brought over my mug, and I scooted to give him space, tucking my legs under me.

I took a small sip. Maybe I could tell him at least part of what Zoey did, and see if he thought my theory had merit based on that alone. “Alright, fine. But this stays between us, okay? You can’t tell anyone.”

“Okay.”

“Promise?”

“Scout’s honor.”

I tilted my head. “Were you a Boy Scout?”

“No.” He lifted the corner of his mouth. “But I promise. I won’t say a word.” He held my gaze, looking earnest. Caring. Like he wanted to help. But I had to be careful. If I told him too much, he’d never look at me the same way again.





CHAPTER 24


Being in denial that someone’s betrayed you doesn’t make it any less true. I wanted to believe I was wrong about Zoey, even as I sat at her desk after sneaking in through her window last month, gaping at the aimbot file.

She even tried to deny it. “You’re so fucking paranoid,” she’d hissed, closing her bedroom door behind her.

“I’m not!” I’d motioned to her screen. “I’m literally looking at the aimbot file on your laptop right now. Don’t lie to me!”

“Shhh! I’ll get in trouble, I’m supposed to be studying. Can’t we talk about this tomorrow?”

What, and give her time to weasel her way out of this? As much as I hated confrontation, we needed to hash this out. “No. Now.”

“I…” She slumped her shoulders. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Did you really think none of us would notice? I can’t believe you. Mr. Ferguson will throw you off the team for this. And MortalDusk … they’ll ban you for life—”

“No! Please don’t tell anyone.”

“But you’ve been cheating! You betrayed us.” It sounded so overdramatic. On one hand, MortalDusk was just a video game. On the other, it was a ginormous part of our lives. We’d all trained for months. We all dreamed of winning the tourney. We all deserved a fair shot.

Zoey’s eyes got all misty. “You don’t know what it’s like.”

“What what’s like?”

“Your mom lets you do whatever you want. She’ll let you be whatever you want. I don’t want to be an oral surgeon. I don’t want to stare into people’s gross mouths all day, to cut into their gums, to smell their disgusting breath.”

Wait, what? “Since when?”

“Since always. I know what you all think—I’m a privileged brat, right? Everyone’s worried how they’ll pay for college, and you might lose your freaking house, and then oh, poor Zoey doesn’t want to be a surgeon. Boo fucking hoo. But I need that money, too. I need to get out of this perfectionist-seeking hellhole.”

My heart clenched. I wished she’d confided in me sooner. I knew her parents pressured her to study a ton and get into a college with a great dental school, but I thought she wanted to join their practice. I thought it’d be a relief never to have to worry about interviewing for a job or competing with anyone else. If she’d told me the truth, I wouldn’t have thought, Boo fucking hoo. There was nothing whiny about wanting to choose your own future.

“I’m sorry. I … I didn’t realize.” I raked back my curls, wavering a bit. But I was so mad. “Still, that doesn’t make it okay to cheat. Like you said, we all have reasons to want to win.”

Zoey’s bottom lip quivered. “Please … I can’t be thrown off … I can’t. You can’t tell anyone.” I wiped a hand down my face. Maybe I could convince everyone to keep this from Mr. Ferguson and MortalDusk, and let her stay on the team so long as she didn’t play in the tourney. But she must’ve mistaken my hesitation as a refusal to reason with her, and before I could say anything else, she balled her hands into fists. “If you tell, I’ll tell everyone what really happened to Brady. I’ll post the whole story online. I’ll tell everyone it was your fault. That you’re the one who made us lie.”

Her words chilled me to the core. It was like every fiber of my being froze, and my heart couldn’t pump crystalized blood. “You wouldn’t.”

“Yes, I would. And it’d all be true.” This was just like how she’d threatened Lucia.

Now I was the one getting panicky. “You were the one who wanted to go back—”

“You made us go out there in the first place, and then lied about what happened.”

“To protect you! To protect all of us.”

“It only made things worse.” Her eyes bored into mine like daggers. “I never wanted to go along with it.”