Mason was locked in a stand-off against me. He knew I was right. I knew I was right. His intimidation could only go so far, especially with these girls. These four girls were at the top of their school. They were tough. They weren't afraid of getting dirty, and they were loyal to each other. If I didn't want to go to school with fear every day, I would have to stand on my own against them. Mason would be gone after a semester; then it'd just be me and Logan. I needed to do this now.

He sighed and leaned back. He grumbled, "This is bullshit, Sam."

Relief burst inside of me. It was overwhelming, and I almost slumped against him, but I kept myself sitting up. My thighs tightened around him and I sucked in a ragged breath. I couldn't believe it had been that easy.

But it wasn't.

He lifted his head and met the gazes of his friends, one by one. "But the girls are exiled." He turned to Nate. "Is that going to be a problem with you?"

Logan let loose a whoop, but covered it up with a cough. The wicked grin couldn't be hidden.

Nate groaned, "Fine. That's not a problem."

"You sure?" Mason asked, heated.

"I'm sure. Like I said, Parker's not an exclusive thing. Might be good if she starts to realize that sooner rather than later."

Mason looked across the table. "Is that a problem, Fischer? I know you and Jasmine hook up."

He lifted his hands in surrender. "No problem at all. I knew it'd come to this anyway." He gave him a crooked grin.

The two other guys nodded their agreement, and it was done. Just like that. Whatever Mason meant by exiled, the rest of the guys would follow through.

After another hour on the patio, I grew restless and needed a bathroom break. Mason looked up, silently asking if I needed him with me, but I shook my head. I needed to start handling the girls on my own; besides, I had spotted a few of my friends below us. Adam was there, and I knew Becky and her boyfriend wouldn't be far. I spotted Lily and Anne from the diner as well, so I wanted to say hello.

As I weaved through the crowd, I caught sight of Heather. She looked out of place. Her eyebrows were bunched together in confusion. Two guys stepped into her but she swung to the side and evaded their drunken steps. That was when she saw me and her face cleared of all anxiety.

"There you are."

As she drew close, I frowned. "Hi. What are you doing here?"

She was shoved forward from someone, but she rounded with a growl emanating deep from her throat. They were already gone. Her shoulders dropped and she turned back. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

I continued to frown at her.

"I didn't know if you had told Mason and Logan about the Broudou siblings?"

"Oh yeah." It all flooded back to me, but I shrugged. "A lot happened that night. I haven't even gotten around to telling Mason about those guys."

"You haven't?" Her eyes went wide.

"Yeah." I grinned, ruefully, and led the way for the bathroom. "Like I said, a lot has happened."

"Like what?" Interest sparked in her.

"I'll tell you later, much later. It's a long story." We grew closer to the bathroom. I didn't want to use mine since Mason kept the doors locked during parties so I picked one in the basement. The downstairs was less crowded, and there wasn't a line. But the door opened and Parker led her group out of the room. They were headed upstairs, we were headed behind them.

It was a stale-mate as Parker careened to a halt. The rest of her group stopped with varying stages of hostility.

I gulped.

Parker stood and sneered at me, and her best friend Kate stepped to the side. The other two went to her other side, Jasmine and Natalie…I think?

Heather bristled next to me. "What are you looking at?"

Kate, who had a wiry body and snapping hazel eyes, skimmed her up and down. She had a similar sneer to her thin lips and brushed some of her dark brown hair back. While Parker was dressed in tight blue jeans, ripped at the knees, and a tight white top, her best friend was dressed in black. Her pants were a second skin and the top molded to her body. The other two had similar outfits, all tight, all slutty. Their bra straps were visible, except for Kate. She didn't seem to be wearing a bra. All of them had athletic bodies, with tight muscles, but I knew Heather could hold her own.

Kate advised against it. "Don't get involved, Jax."

She folded her arms. "You think that's ever stopped me before."

Natalie spoke up, flicking her long black hair over her shoulder at the same time, "Tate's back. Did you know that?"

Heather froze, her eyes went wide. Something that looked close to panic started to appear, but then she shook her head. Her own hostility showed now. "You're pissing me off. So what? Tate and I stopped being friends long ago, around the time she got friendly with you, Tommy P's."

"Tommy P's." Kate rolled her eyes. She folded her arms and stepped forward. She was the leader. "You seriously still call us that? We're not princesses anymore." Then her eyes slid to mine and hardened. "We're more like bullies now."

"Oh, jeez." Heather threw her hands up as curses spilled from her lips. "It's going to be like that?"

"Yeah," Kate snapped. Her eyes were heated. "So stay out of it."

Then an elbow was linked with mine, and she tugged me close. "No. I'm sick and tired of watching you guys do the same crap to other girls." Her chin hardened and she raised it a notch. "You've never gone after me so maybe it's my turn. Maybe if you're going after my friend, you're going to have to go after me too. And you might be surprised at how many friends I have at our school, friends that you don't even know about. How's that for fighting words?"