“Uh...” He tugged at his collar. “Yeah.”

I smacked Zeke on the shoulder. “Move. The guy needs to get into his locker.”

Zeke’s eyebrows rose, but he moved to my other side. He leaned around me as the guy cautiously came forward to open his locker.

“Sorry. I didn’t know.”

The guy stared a moment before stammering, “Yeah. Cool. Yeah.” Then he ducked inside his locker. He grabbed two things and dropped one of them. He scooped to grab it, stuffing it into his pocket before I could see what it was, and slammed his locker shut.

He started off, but stepped back. “Hey. Nice knowing you. You’re going to Cain next year?”

I frowned. “What? No. I’m going to Columbia.”

He seemed confused by that. “Really?”

“Uh. Yeah?”

He shrugged. “Okay. Well, have a good one then.”

Zeke and I watched him go. He glanced back over his shoulder a time or two, his eyes getting big until he put on a burst of speed and turned the corner.

“That’s the first time you’ve seen him all semester, isn’t it?” Zeke said.

“Yep.”

He barked out a laugh. “Classic.” He punched me in the arm. “Columbia? For real? Fucking come to Cain. Everyone’s going to be there.”

“Everyone? If you’re hoping to entice me, you’re falling short.”

“Oh.” He fell silent. “Well, I’ll be there. Why Columbia, though? Who’s there?”

Well, shit. I hadn’t thought about it until now, but that could be the reason Griffith was in town. “Non-bio dad has roots there. I was accepted last year. I’m a legacy for his fraternity too.”

Columbia was one of the best schools in the nation, but Cain wasn’t bad either. It was a D1 school like Georgetown.

“I thought you were going to Grant West.”

“Nah. Cain all the way.” Zeke ducked his head a little, glancing away.

If my best friend had ever been self-conscious, I was thinking this was it. He looked five.

He shrugged, shifting on his feet. “You know my mancrush on Mason Kade. Gotta follow in his footsteps.” His head jerked up and he yelled, “Strandling! What the fuck, man?”

Brian passed our hall, talking to a girl. He looked up and gave us a nod. Saying something to the girl, he motioned toward us, and they both raised a hand, separating.

“Who was that?” Zeke asked as Brian approached. “You going to bring her to the party tonight?” He turned to me. “Party tonight. That’s why I came over. It’s not at my house. We’re trying out a new place. You going to bring your woman?”

I ignored his question, eyeing Brian. “Hey, man.”

Brian had steered clear of me since our throw-down, but he nodded back. “Hey. Uh, about the—”

Zeke was all smiles, grabbing Brian’s shoulder and squeezing it. He started to do the same to me, got a look, and lowered his hand. “It’s all good. Water under the bridge.”

Brian looked at him. “What I was going to say, is yeah. It’s all good. Sorry I was a dick. Sorry I’ve been a dick, like, all year.”

Zeke’s head inched back. “Whoa. What’s got into you? That’s a different tune than you were singing last week.”

Brian looked down before rolling his shoulders up and back. “What do you want me to say? I was pissed, but it’s the last day. Things are different.”

He was out of Zeke’s shadow.

“You and Branston are heading to Seattle, right?” I asked.

“Yeah. Our grandfather donates heavily, so we got two spots easy. There’s an Alpha Mu chapter up there. We had a call from them. They dropped your name, said you were joining their chapter in New York?”

I felt a strangled laugh come up my throat.

“Why’d they bring my name up?”

He seemed nervous, grabbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know. He knows one of the guys in your house. They were having a conversation and got to talking about legacies.”

“But why’d my name come up?”

Brian avoided my gaze.

“Dude, just say it.”

Zeke pointed at me with his thumb. “He really is all about the honesty. Be as blunt as you can, and he’ll probably want to hump you.”

I laughed. “Just say it.”

He exhaled. “Okay. There’s talk about your dad—”

Zeke coughed. “Non-bio dad. Or Daddy Dickhead. Either term works.”

“—your non-bio dad and how he’s got some controversy heading his way. Rumor is that twelve women are coming forward in a lawsuit against him.”

“You serious?” I wasn’t surprised. Note that.

“Yeah. I’m sorry, man.”

Zeke frowned at him. “Lawsuit about what?”

“Sexual shit.” Brian’s eyes darted to me. “I guess it’s bad, and they’re considering dropping you.”

I could follow the bouncing ball. “Shit.” I shook my head. “They’re trying to push me off on another house, aren’t they?”

Brian shrugged again. “I don’t know. They asked me about you. I told them you’re not like that. I vouched for you, if you wanted—”

No. I knew. I so knew.

I turned to Zeke. “Start looking for a house.”

He stared at me. One blink. Then he smiled. “Are you serious?”

I nodded. “No fucking way am I dealing with that asshole’s problems.”

“I was going to pledge. You?”

I saw all the plans Zeke was making. We’d be fraternity brothers, roommates, the whole nine yards. “No.”

“What?” His smile fell.

“That was my plan last year, but not now. I’m not going the fraternity way.”

“But…” Zeke swallowed. “We can’t be roommates then.”

“Dude.”

He looked like he was about to cry.

I patted him on the shoulder, holding it there a second. “It’ll be fine. I can get my own place.”

“Yeah, but…”

“You gotta make sure you can get in the school,” Brian said.

I gave him a cocky smirk. I wasn’t valedictorian or salutatorian, but I was in the top seven. Plus, Cain had already reached out, offering a soccer scholarship. I’d just said no because of my non-bio dad’s history with Columbia. Those plans had all been made before the divorce, before everything, and I hadn’t thought to change any of it.

I hadn’t thought much about next year.

I liked Cain. I felt good about the decision.

“Wait. Where’s your girl going next year?” Zeke asked.

Oh.

Maybe not?

I was driving to Aspen’s after school when my phone rang.

The ring came through my sound system, and I glanced down.

Marie calling.

I hadn’t been looking forward to this call, but I’d assumed it was coming. I’d been dodging the house all week while non-bio was there, and graduation was in three days.

I hit accept. “Hey, Mom.”

“I want your ass home now. Enough of this. I’m done, Blaise. Do you hear me? Done!”

“Did he tell you about the lawsuit coming against him?”

She was silent.

A full five seconds, and then a sniffle. “What are you talking about?”

I gritted my teeth. “Is he there right now?”

She was silent again.

“Am I on speaker?” I turned the wheel, heading north.

“No,” she said tightly.

“Then walk away from him. Pretend to hang up and go to the bathroom.”

It sucked that we had to lie like this. He’d helped raise me all my life. She said he’d always known about me, that I wasn’t his son, but he’d chosen to marry her anyway. He chose to adopt me. Then he used her money, invested it well, and hit it big with a product. He moved east, taking us with him, and after that, our lives blurred.

I grew up.

Sports. Parties. Privilege. Everything that life entailed.

Until he derailed it. Until he got caught. It wasn’t even that he cheated, because I knew he’d cheated long before she caught him. She knew too. I was the one who told her, but she hadn’t believed me. She hadn’t wanted to believe me, and I knew she felt guilty about that. It was the reason I got away with so much shit, but my mom wasn’t a bad mom. She was just caught up in her own guilt, her own shame, an ex that had crushed her spirit, and the potential for a new family, because Stephen was a good guy.

He was also a fucking patient guy, but then again, I’d not been around. I didn’t know how he’d been handling having Griffith at the house all week.

I heard her saying, “Okay. See you soon. Love you, honey.” A shuffling sound.

Static.

Her voice from a distance. “I have to pee.”

He said something.

I gripped the steering wheel, hearing his tone. I couldn’t make out the words, but he was griping about something.

“I know. I will,” my mom said. “Hold on.”

More static.

More shuffling sounds.

The sound of a door squeaking. A click, then a buzzing.

Her voice came back, hushed, but clearer. “What lawsuit?”