Zac peered at me expectantly as I climbed back in his car. "How did it go? Did my girl get a pat on the head and a gold star?"

I slumped into the leather seat. "Not really."

His eyes grew wide with concern. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Dr. Williams isn't coming back."

His eyes widened. "Oh, shit."

"Yeah, I know."

He bit his lip. "Does that mean I'm in trouble?"

"I dunno," I said quietly, "I'm kinda bummed right now. Too bummed to worry about you."

My sullen response seemed to catch him off guard.

"Oh, good. No, wait. That's bad. Oh, fuck, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry to hear that you're... bummed," he finished lamely.

I closed my eyes. "Let's just head back to campus, Mazur. Do you still wanna work on our project today?"

"Yeah, of course, but, uh... can I have my phone back first?"

My eyes fluttered open. "Oh, sorry. I forgot! Here you go."

I handed his phone back to him and then moved away to rest my head on the passenger car door. I stared out the window in silence. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts for a few minutes, but Zac seemed determined to get my attention.

In teasing tones, he glanced over and asked, "Should I be worried? You look like you're plotting something."

I didn't respond.

"Damn. So deep in thought. Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

I shook my head, but Zac didn't give up. "Be honest. Did you hack my phone?"

Feeling irritated, I took the bait and snapped, "No, asshole, I didn't."

"Did you at least try to guess my passcode?"

"Nope."

"Maybe it's your birthday."

"Whatever, loser," I finally gave in with a reluctant smile, "but, now that you mention it, I totally should've messed with your phone when I had the chance. In the cafe, your lock screen wasn't even activated because this random app kept running for some reason. I closed it for you. Hope you don't mind."

"Oh, that's strange," he glanced down at his phone and tapped in his passcode at a red light, "Everything looks fine right now. Must be a bug. I haven't updated my software in a while."

"Yeah, must be," I agreed absentmindedly.

Ten minutes later, we were back at school. After Zac parked, we got out and headed for the library. I led him to my favorite study room behind the nonfiction section. For the next forty-five minutes, Zac and I worked in companionable silence on our laptops, talking only every so often to cross-check references and make sure our themes would align. I was pleasantly shocked at how well organized he was and, dare I say it, how cohesively our topics seemed to be coming together.

Maybe this partner project wasn't going to end in complete disaster, after all?

A bitch could only hope.

Just when things were going well, Zac muttered under his breath, "What the fuck."

"What's wrong?" I asked.

A grim expression fell across his handsome face. "Get on Sassy right now, Cate. I think that same jackass who exposed Brit just came after me."

"What? No fucking way! You're lying."

I nearly tripped over my chair to get to his laptop screen. He caught me by the waist.

"Thanks," I mumbled in embarrassment as I extracted myself from Zac.

Once I was on my feet again, I leaned over his shoulder to view the latest post on Sassy and, sure enough, the same anonymous user had uploaded about twenty video clips and photos of a much younger looking Zac. There were appalling pics of his face and chest after getting the crap beaten out of him and some shaky handheld footage of him getting kicked on the floor and slammed into walls.

I cringed and looked away. Some of that shit was super graphic. I remembered how Trick used to steal Zac's phone to film these violent encounters, but I'd never seen any of them until now. They made me resent my half-brother even more for being such a monster to Zac.

An unfamiliar wave of compassion rose inside me. "This is so fucking fucked up. I'm really sorry that it's happening to you."

Zac shrugged.

Softly, I asked, "Why did you keep all those photos and videos on your phone? You should've deleted them. They're so awful."

"I dunno. I guess I just didn't want to forget."

I studied him intently. "What do you mean?"

He hesitated. "I... wanted to remember how it felt to be that helpless and angry and hurt."

I was taken aback. "Why?"

"This probably won't make sense to you, but... I like looking back and reminding myself I'm stronger now. That I'm no longer a loser who gets beaten up all the time. Sometimes, when I'm feeling down, I forget that I actually got through that shit."

His admission punched me right in the gut. I always knew that big bad wolves like my brother existed at Ashton Wellesley to torment little lambs like Zac. I just never realized what a lasting impact it could have on a person's psyche. This epiphany made me feel horrible. Yet, it also filled me with admiration for Zac.

"Hey."

"What?"

"Everything you said makes perfect sense to me. In fact, it may be one of the most badass things anyone has ever shared with me."

He turned bright red.

"For the record," I added, "you weren't a loser back then. In fact, I think I might even prefer twelve-year-old Zac to the big tattooed idiot sitting in front of me."

A devilish gleam entered his eyes. Without any warning, his arms snaked around me. I yelped as he pulled me onto his lap. He pressed his forehead to mine and murmured, "I dare you to call me an idiot again."

I pushed away from him. "Nuh-uh, I don't think so! Don't pull your fuckboy shit on me. I just want you to focus on getting a good grade on our project."

He watched me with a hooded gaze. "Don't lie to yourself, Cate. There's something here. We could have fun together. I know you feel it, too."

The intensity of his stare was making me feel flustered. I decided it was time to get back to the heart of the matter. Ignoring his suggestive remarks, I switched to a more serious tone. "So, um... do you have an idea as to how this 'anonymous user' might have gained access to your phone?"

Zac sighed, disappointed, as though he hadn't been ready to move on to this new topic of conversation. "I dunno. Didn't you say there was a weird app running on it or something?"

My brows drew together anxiously. "Oh, God. Was your phone being hacked while it was with me in the cafe?"

"Very possible."

"I swear, I had nothing to do with it!"

Zac looked bored. "I know it wasn't you. Relax."

I shot him a look of disbelief. "How can you be so chill right now? And why do you trust me so much? We're not exactly friends, you know!"

"Because it doesn't matter."

"Dude, there's an asshole out there whose getting away with violating Brit's privacy and your privacy and blasting your guys' personal data all over Sassy! We need to track down this guy, or girl, before they target someone else at Ashton Wellesley. Let's make a spreadsheet of everyone you've come in contact with recently. Dates, times, types of interactions. Try to remember if they were close enough to get to your phone—"

Zac groaned. "Can you please slow your roll? You're giving me a headache."

"You don't want to find this son of a bitch?"

"Not really."

Why did it seem like he had no interest in catching the motherfucker?

Wait a minute.

I frowned.

Why didn't he want to catch the motherfucker?

A giant ringing alarm bell suddenly went off in my head.

Was he playing me right now?

There was no way Zac could be so devious. Yet, he had been so enthusiastic about our project today. Way too enthusiastic. The guy even offered to drive me to meet Dr. Williams when I tried to decline.

Did he do it just to show me that weirdass app running on his phone?

To plant a seed of credibility for this whole set up?

Oh, God.

If he truly was the anonymous user, then targeting himself would actually be the perfect way to throw me off his scent.

My head whipped around like the girl from The Exorcist. I growled, "Hold up, Mazur. You better have a damn good reason for not wanting to skewer this asshole because I'm starting to suspect that you have some explaining to do."