I looked at her, dumbfounded.

Friend of the DeLoughreys. Did she want me to have a laughing fit?

“What makes you think that?”

“You and Adrian seemed very familiar on campus the other day.”

Now, I really had to fight the burst of laughter.

Familiar. If Adrian's menacing appearance on campus and the way he had interacted with me had looked familiar to her, then maybe she should get her eyes lasered next instead of investing in her fake lips.

“I'm sorry, but I have nothing to do with these rich people,” I laughed and tried to pass her, but she pushed in front of me and held out a business card.

I took it with a sigh.

“If you change your mind,” she said. “I'm always available.”

Then she turned away from me and strode back to the diner.

I shook my head and threw the card in the nearest trash can.

The last thing I was going to do was let the reporter Mady had warned me about squeeze anything out of me.

When I entered the diner, the smell of deep-fried golden-brown fries immediately hit my nose. Only now did I realize that I hadn't had a chance to eat anything all day. I was starving.

That's what it was like when you took your studies seriously. School had never been my thing, but I had known that things would be better at university, and indeed they were.

I realized I was being stared at by a group of young men I was all too familiar with. The Copeland gang. Of course, they were here too.

Nash seemed distracted by a conversation with his handsome dark-skinned friend. But the light brunette muscleman in his group seemed to be eyeing me.

I turned to the other side, where I spotted Julie and Bay in a seating area. They seemed to have been waiting for me here for a while.

As I walked over to them, I could feel Nash's friend's gaze clearly on my back, maybe a little further down, but when I glanced at him as I sat down, he had already turned back to Nash and the other five guys.

“You're already here...” I said apologetically, knowing I was the one who was late.

“It's already ten minutes past four,” Bay cleared her throat and leaned back.

Good, at least she didn't seem as dead as she did on Monday.

“Yeah, yeah, grumpy,” I said with a grin and reached into her bag of fries. She even pushed it toward me, and I looked at her in surprise.

That behavior was untypical for my foodie best friend.

“You should eat something yourself,” Julie said with concern and pushed the bag of fries back to Bay, who sank further into the comfortable seat.

Normally, Bay ate like a barn thrasher.

“I don't know. My appetite is gone,” was all she said.

That didn't sound like her at all. Just a few days ago, I thought she had become thinner. Apparently, I wasn't mistaken.

“What's wrong with you?” I asked.

She looked up at me briefly as if she wanted to say something, but didn't.

“Are you still taking your medication?” I tried again and got a shake of her head in response.

I sighed and leaned back with my arms crossed.

“And then I'm still surprised when you just faint like that.”

I brushed one of my long strands of hair behind my ear.

If there was one thing Diana Adams and I agreed on, it was those stupid pills that Bay simply refused to take on principle.

“What medication?” Julie asked.

She looked worried, which was interesting because her expression was often blank.

“Bayla has these strange seizures all the time,” I explained to Julie.

She wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Bayla.

“You don't have to tell everyone about it.”

“Unlike you, my dear, I'm an open book,” I said to Bay with a grin and looked at Julie again, hoping that she didn't feel uncomfortable with us.

I found quiet people always radiated a lot of resilience, even if Julie's shyness made it harder to see how she was feeling. She was very secretive, and until now, I knew little about her.

“Tell me, have you guys come up with a plan for Friday?” I asked, looking at both girls in front of me and grinning mischievously.

I was still wondering how I had managed to persuade them to go to this party.

Julie's cheeks reddened, and it was clear that she hadn't thought about anything else since her Loverboy had suggested the meeting.

“Not really...” she stammered and began to play with her fingers until she made them disappear under the table.

“So, if I've understood correctly, you want to find a way to meet him without him finding out who you are...” I thought aloud.

“Masks...” Bayla whispered playfully.

“Masks?” Julie looked confused.

“You put on a mask, and he won't recognize you.”

“Good idea,” I said, convinced, directed at Bay and looked at Julie, who didn't seem to like it.