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?"

"Your funeral." Kate was cold as she raised an eyebrow, but then she stepped back. She commented under her breath as her friends circled around us, "Duly noted, Jax." Her eyes snapped to mine. "And thanks for the exile, bitch. You just made it worse."

Heather sucked in her breath as the four filed in a single line and went up the stairs. Once they were out of earshot, she whirled to me. "They were exiled?"

I nodded. That couldn't be good, I knew that much.

"Do you know what that means?"

I shook my head.

"They're out, Sam." Her hands gripped both of my arms and squeezed tight. "They're fully on the outs with the guys."

"What does that mean?"

"That means that they're not included with anything anymore. The guys are closing ranks and those girls," she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, "were the only girls they included in their group, but now they're on the outs. That means no talking to them, no sleeping with them, not even hanging out. The guys won't acknowledge them in the hallways or anywhere. Being exiled means that they're strangers to the guys. Oh. My. God. Mason did that?"

I gulped. That seemed harsh, excessively harsh. But that's who Mason is…

Heather started to jump up and down.

I'd never seen her so excited.

"You have no idea what this means, do you?"

I shook my head. "This was my life about five months ago."

"Yeah, but not for those four. This is awesome, Sam. Get excited. Your boy delivered a huge blow to them, and it's going to sting for a long time." A smile stretched from ear to ear over her face. "And you have no idea how many other girls hate those four in school. Those four just got a lot of enemies that can finally push back. You have no idea!"

"You said that you have friends at school?"

Heather stopped bouncing. Her smile fell flat. "Yeah, I lied about that. I've got a few, but most of my friends go to Roussou."

"What's wrong?"

She glanced over her shoulder and bit her lip. "I'm still getting comfortable with this crowd. I'm used to being considered the enemy."

"You came here for me?"

She gave me a fleeting smile. "Yep, so you're stuck with me now. Let's go."

I gestured to the bathroom. "I really do need to go."

"Okay." But she kept looking around.

"What are you doing, Heather?"

"Looking for new friends." Her eyes snapped with a warning. "We're going to need them if we're going against the Tommy P's."

"I thought you said there were a lot of girls who could push back now?"

"Doesn't mean they're going to help us." She gestured towards the pool table. "I'm going to be over there. I know a few of those girls from the short time I was on the tennis team. Kate hates tennis, if I'm remembering right, and I know a few of those girls hated her back." She shooed me away. "Hurry up with the bathroom. There are a lot of people you need to meet."

She sauntered towards a group that looked perfect with smooth golden hair, tanned bodies, and faces that could've been in magazines. Each of them seemed cautious as Heather approached them, but it wasn't long until the group had circled her; listening intently.