More names were thrown out.
Amelia dropped her plate of cake and then rushed into the foray. An elbow knocked her back, and she fell to the ground. She shrieked too, cradling her face as tears slid down. “You guys! Stop.”
Emily turned for the bar and asked for a refill.
“Girls.” Two older men waded between them and separated them. As Cass strained against who was holding her, she tried to kick at Miranda. “You bitch.”
“You’re the bitch,” Miranda shot back. She flicked her hair out of her face, but it fell back in place. Her dress was ripped and there was blood on her cheek. She had been scratched.
Cass laughed, the sound was hollow and slightly hysterical. A wad of hair was still in her hand. She kicked out again, but the guy holding her grunted and moved further back. Cass cried out, “You might have him back and you might have the group, but this isn’t over. It’s not over Miranda.” Her holder carried her out of the room. Cass kept yelling the entire time. “It’s not over! You whore.”
Miranda was placed back on her feet and Amelia rushed to her side. She threw an arm around Miranda’s back and took her to the bathroom. Once they were gone, the older men left, looking slightly dazed. Then they started laughing and went back to their wives. Mark looked disappointed. He went and stood beside Emily, who continued to nurse her drink.
The only ones who hadn’t moved were Adam and Peter.
Peter blinked, shook his head, and asked, “What just happened here?”
Adam growled at him. “You broke up with Cass and you’re back with Miranda.”
“I am?”
Emily laughed and handed over her drink. “Here. It looks like you need that more than me. Happy birthday, Peter.”
He downed the entire thing.
Then he looked at us. No. They all looked at us.
Shit. It was our turn now.
“You have to pick, Sam.”
Adam led the charge. There was no going back now. His gaze was locked on Mason, but he said to me, “If you’re going to be one of us, you need to be one of us. You can’t have both.”
“You’re making me pick between you guys and Mason?”
“Yeah.”
I glanced around. Emily was quiet now. She looked away. Peter frowned, gazing off. Mark scratched his head. I asked them, “Are you guys all sure about this?”
Adam’s jaw clenched again. “We voted before. You have to choose.”
“How did this come about?”
“Miranda told us. She explained everything, that Logan set her up and he did it because Mason had him do it. Miranda’s one of ours and one of yours came after her. We can’t condone that. You have to pick.”
Well. When it was put like that. I shrugged. “See you later then.”
Emily started laughing. Adam’s glare turned into a scowl. He asked, “That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
“I love it.” She came over and clapped me on the shoulder. “Good for you, Sam.”
“We go to your school, Sam. You need friends there.”
“No,” I spoke to Adam. “I don’t. I didn’t have friends there before. Remember those days? When you pretended to be my friend. When my boyfriend cheated on me and everyone turned against me. Remember that?”
“This was too much.” He pointed at Mason, who had remained silent the entire time. I glanced at him and saw that he was biding his time. I felt his unrest then. He was going to attack soon. The more Adam said, the more Mason was going to hurt him. I held my breath. I hoped it was verbal and not physical.
Adam continued, “They might throw good parties, but they hurt people. They hurt Miranda. I don’t know why he went after her, but he did. This has to stop. If you pick them, Sam, you better know what you’re picking.”
The warning in his tone made me pause. I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s us or them.” There was a hidden meaning in his eyes. I saw it. Then he said, “You’ll have no one from our school. No one.”
He meant Becky. “You would do that?”
He glanced over. Becky and Rex had arrived. When she saw us, her eyes widened. She grabbed Rex’s hand, but they didn’t come over. It was already done. I rounded back to him. “What did you do?”
“I told her the truth. I told her how they hurt us and they’re going to hurt you too.”
I sucked in my breath. “You didn’t.”
Mason shifted behind me. Adam’s gaze transferred to his as he said, “You think the Kades are the only ones who can lie and manipulate? That’s what you did, isn’t it?” He wasn’t talking to me anymore. “You go a step further. You sicced your brother on a friend of mine. You made us all hate her, humiliate her.”