Alternative Facts

"Great to see ya! So what if it's cold outside? It's better than in prison, am I right?" The merry man faked a hurt look at the response. "Hey, I'm just passing along what others think. Me? I thought you'd be on the lam."

Howling at his own joke, the jovial fella slapped his target on the back before moving on to the next charity ball guests: a husband and wife. Swooping down into a bow, the man reached to grasp the wife's hand, giving it a loud, exaggerated kiss.

"If only I didn't fear Chuck's gun collection, my dear. Not for my sake, but for his own, after I have stolen you away."

"Oh, I'd come after you first, Singer," Chuck chuckled.

Neither Fredrick Singer nor his minder, Lawrence Lufflutz, noticed the pair of eyes peering through the crowd as Freddie arrived at the hotel. Behind those glass lenses, Daisy watched and noted the show that Finn's father put on for his friends and acquaintances. None of them knew that Fred had attempted to sacrifice his life in an odd tribute to the icy waters of Wasp Lake only a few nights before. The exchange of his life for Whitney's had stood out among the many crazy bits of information that Ramsey had recounted earlier.

"Hey, let's hit the lounge. I see Dickie and Greggy in there," Fred suggested, over his shoulder towards Larry.

"Why don't we save the lounge and drinks for later?"

"Save the drinks for later? I swear, folks, the absentminded professor shtick of his is turning true. When have I ever saved a drink for later?" Fred questioned the crowd of well-wishers, earning many chuckles but also a few frowns. "And this from one of my oldest buds."

Daisy owned one of those upside-down smiles. After the crap he put Finn through...ugh!

"My room? I can see that later. Why would I want to leave all these gracious people?" Fred responded to Larry's order they head upstairs.

"Because that's where Harvey is meeting us," the kindly, blond-haired man informed.

The flash of anger that crossed Fred's face went unnoticed by nearly everyone. Not Daisy, as she'd been studying the mask that Mr. Singer had put up. She watched as the two men, one reluctantly, walked over to the bank of elevators. Once there, the teenage reporter noticed several heated words from Finn's father toward the college professor.

Newt Denton risked his life to save that man? Well, I get it was more for Finn, but he's such an unlikely hero in that moment. A hero? Yes, that's what Newt should be called, and others should know it. There were two heroes out on frozen Wasp Lake this last week. Hmm, I wonder if I can write up his rescue of Finn's dad in a way that gets past the school censors. They might frown on the drunk-out-of-his-mind aspect of Mr. Singer. Ms. Resto seems a bit gunshy in her first year as an advisor. Perhaps Nosy Nectar deserves the honor of reporting the ****-defying night. Oh, well, it can wait a few days, at least. Finn doesn't need any embarrassments tonight of all nights.

Daisy would weigh revealing Newt's bravery against Finn's potential humiliation over the next few days. Not wanting to hurt Finn was a critical point for Daisy. When she'd been a reporter on the Harborside Beacon, The Buzzy Bee editor-in-chief had contacted all the junior high journalists to give advice and prepare them for what they could expect if they continued on in high school. Finn had also reached out to provide support when Daisy got kicked off the Beacon. His support and reassurances to Mrs. Brass had meant the world to the teen when she feared her past would prevent her from joining The Buzzy Bee staff. Even as he went off to college, Finn had wanted Daisy on the paper.

As for the tale of Newt's bravery? A quick message to Finn would brighten Daisy's day as he agreed that the geeky teen's courage deserved to be known.

But that's in the near future; in the present, Daisy observed her classmates and the adults at the charity event as she moved toward the ballroom.

The first small gathering she noticed had around eight adults trading tales of games past with Jesse Yegge. The ever-polite star pitcher for Honey Hollow High appeared bored as the washed-up ballplayers spoke of their glory days--real or imagined--on the diamond. Jesse locked eyes with Daisy, giving her a smile and the tiniest shrug. As one of her favorite and easiest interviews for the sports beat, Daisy appreciated Jesse's patient attitude. With thankfulness that her dad wasn't here to be part of that group badgering the youngest Yegge, Daisy continued her trek.

The next huddle of men dampened the young reporter's mood slightly. I guess Geoff hasn't arrived yet, or he'd be in the thick of that self-important bunch. With a slight grimace, Daisy picked up her pace as she passed Congressman Morgan Barrow, his eldest son, Jed, and his nephew, Dillon, who glad-handed several upper-middle-class men. No doubt, they likely wanted to feel important by giving their money away to the politician. Either that or they're preparing the seven-year plan for Jed to succeed his father once he turns twenty-five. Gawd, Senator, or Governor Morgan Barrow sounds terrifying.

"Happy New Year, Daisy."

"Happy New Year's to you, Abby," the junior journalist responded to Abby Pharr. "Where's your admirer?"

"Off somewhere with Howie," the blonde-haired soccer player replied. Everyone around school knew that Chet Ragg had eyes only for Abby, a waitress at Grubby's, his family's diner. Some classmates felt sorry for Abby as the year-younger wide receiver poured out his affections daily, but not Daisy. She knew that Abby loved the attention, even if she continued to play hard to get.

"The poor guy is going to be heartbroken when you leave for college next year," Daisy stated.

"I know! He's going to blow my phone up with messages and probably calls," Abby responded, sounding annoyed but unable to hold back a grin. "His mom is already pleading with me to come back on breaks to work at Grubby's."

"Next up, she'll start planning the wedding," Daisy joked, waving goodbye.

The dirty blonde's mood brightened further as she entered the final stretch of the lobby. Percy Essex would be one sports star at Honey Hollow High that she found insufferable. Calling him a star should be taken lightly, as he wasn't more than an above-average player. Yet, with his good looks and charisma, Percy could pull off calling himself a star, with nobody questioning the status. That is no one but Daisy. The brown-haired soccer captain frequently complained about Daisy's disdainful attitude and how she wrote the match recaps to portray his unheroic play honestly. Last year, Percy didn't bother to complain to Mrs. Brass, but with Ms. Resto as the new advisor, he'd made several attempts to portray Daisy as holding a grudge against him. Fortunately, Ramsey had her back, and Mrs. Brass still worked as a teacher and coach at the school.

That constant effort to undermine her reputation is what caused Daisy's grin right now. While Percy didn't play baseball, he was striking out brutally with a leggy, Hispanic girl from out of town. Daisy searched her memory of faces before estimating that it was about ninety percent likely that the coed was the stepdaughter of a former cheerleader. What was it? Rosanna? Johanna? No, it's Ariana. Damn, she's dripping with contempt for him! It's awesome!

Just behind the karma-induced scene, Daisy sighed at the teenager peering inside the double doors to the ballroom. When he backed away, she added a slight shake of her head. Briskly walking up behind him, she asked a question to which she knew the answer.

"Have you interviewed Zoey yet?"

"Wha the hell?!"

Daisy gave no comfort in scaring her younger brother. Dex needed to be aware of his surroundings at all times. He'd never turn into a competent journalist if he couldn't do that.

"Well?"

"I almost, you see...I was about to, but then, well, um, her sister showed up, and uh, now she's with the cheer squad," Dex hemmed and hawed his answer. "Look, Seth said he'd help me. I just need to, uh, I'm not sure where he went."

The heavy sigh from his sister made Dexter shrink even more in failure. He hated disappointing Daisy as she always believed he had hidden greatness waiting to show itself.

"Dex, you need to perform your duties on your own. You can't wait for Norah to get impatient and do it for you. Nor can you expect me to bail you out. I won't be around next year. And you certainly can't expect people like Seth or Odette to interview a witness or source for you. It's fine to ask for help if a person has expertise in a subject, but pretty girls are not one of those areas. Got it?" Daisy finished this round of advice with a question.

"I know, but this is Zoey Gibble. Gawd, she's like the hottest girl in school!"

"Block that out," Daisy ordered, hiding a grin. The hottest girl in school? Don't seniors exist in his world? "In order to be an objective journalist, you need to compartmentalize your feelings. Stop thinking of her as Zoey, the crush, and view her as Zoey, the source."

"Easy for you to say," Dex whined.

"Seriously? Don't you think I've interviewed guys I had a crush on? Or anyone that I despised? It comes with the territory."

"Who did you have a crush on? Does Evan know? How come I never heard about these people?"

"I've only been dating Evan since prom. The universe existed before then. Now go and get closer to Zoey, at least. Go!" Daisy ordered, mimicking their mother's voice.

Daisy waited until her brother scurried into the ballroom before entering herself. Of course, how these things work out, she didn't see the person who had eavesdropped on the sibling conversation on the other side of the doorway.

"Excellent pep talk, Miss Kirby. You'll make a fine reporter out of your brother yet someday. Although it's funny, I never knew that Dexter had a crush on Zoey."

"Ms. Resto! I, um, didn't know...wow! That's quite a dress you're wearing," Daisy complimented, changing the subject.

Marissa Resto, English literature teacher and this year's new advisor to The Buzzy Bee, wore a tight-fitting, off-the-shoulder white dress. It flaunted her curves in ways that she never did around school. Despite liking the teacher who arrived two years ago, Daisy preferred Topaz Brass, the English composition teacher. The former longtime advisor knew all the ins and outs of getting borderline articles published with minimal flak from the school administration, or even worse, the school district administration. As a newcomer, Ms. Resto fell on the side of caution, making the paper more bland and boring in Daisy's eyes.

"You like? I thought it looked gorgeous at the store. Although it's a tad tighter than I remembered from trying it on," Marissa said, slightly blushing. "It is New Year's Eve. A night when one should be more daring. Now, why does Dexter need to interview the younger Miss Gibble so badly?"

"Oh...oh! I'm sorry, ma'am. Ramsey planned to give you the details once she returned from her vacation," Daisy apologized, but didn't mean it. In her mind, what their newspaper advisor didn't know, she couldn't stop. "We're planning widespread coverage of Whitney's falling through the ice on Wasp Lake."

"Oh, my. That sounded frightening. I haven't seen Whitney yet, nor been able to get close to Sean. He also seems to be surrounded by well-wishers," Marissa revealed, paling at the thought of her two students nearly dying.

"Yes, we figure there will be intense interest in hearing the events that happened. We've split our classmates' reactions by grade, with Geoff handling the medical side. My brother is supposed to prepare a biographical report on Sean. Everyone already knows about Whitney and her life, so that we can reuse some previously reported details from the files," Daisy relayed.

"One shouldn't assume that your readers will always know those details. So don't give short shrift to Whitney. And I see, Sean is close friends with JoJo, Zoey's older sister," Ms. Resto understood, nodding.

"They also live next door to each other."

"That sounds like a fine plan. Although in the future, I would like to be kept abreast of these planned articles. I could give directions or assign the correct reporters to subject areas. But I guess Ramsey does know what she's doing," Ms. Resto said, feeling a little left out.

Daisy **** herself to stop from rolling her eyes. The teacher advisor doesn't do those things at The Buzzy Bee. Past editors fought for that limited independence. Besides, I'm the one who assigned the roles with Rammy at the incident scene.

"So, who has the honor of being your date tonight?" Daisy inquired, changing the subject again.

"Oh, no date for me tonight. I haven't really adjusted to the dating scene in Honey Hollow yet," Ms. Resto replied. Then, she immediately frowned with a slight blush for revealing that personal detail to a student.

"Keeping your options open, I see. Nice idea," Daisy added with a wink. She'd noticed Marissa regretted dishing out that bit of information. "If you don't want to ask a student about a potential guy, I'd recommend checking with Miss Zee or Miss Graff. They'll know if he's got baggage."

"Yes, they would, wouldn't they?" Ms. Resto chuckled. She'd had the guys to avoid around the school district talk last year from Wanda and Fawn. And she'd witnessed Glory receiving it several months ago when she moved to town.

"Well, have a Happy New Year, Ms. Resto. I'm off to check on a few things," Daisy announced as a way of ending their conversation.

"Of course, go find your friends and enjoy yourself. The newspaper article can wait a few days. Oh, and Happy New Year too," Ms. Resto returned, spotting a new acquaintance nearby.

Walking away, Daisy wished again that Mrs. Brass hadn't retired as their advisor or that Fawn hadn't turned down the position. Ms. Resto performed her role too much by the book and doesn't understand the staff that well. Enjoy myself by taking a few days off from the paper? Investigating, interviewing, and reporting the news is what I enjoy!

Moving along the slightly upper level of the ballroom, Daisy couldn't help but overhear Whitney arguing with a gorgeous ginger. Not sure who the older woman was, the young reporter could tell that she held some power over a girl that few others did. Looks too young to be a doctor. Maybe she's an employee at Diamond Corp. Oh, does her father have a new girlfriend? No, obviously, that development would be out there tonight already.

The dirty blonde did spot a known Diamond Corp employee dragging Lacey toward the stairs. Chastity Kupp, the ditzy receptionist, appeared to be saying something about rescuing Whitney from an emergency. That slowed down Daisy before she could descend the stairs to the lower level. The redhead could be of importance to The Buzzy Bee's planned articles. That meant that Daisy should keep an eye on the situation. Turning around, she dropped that idea, noticing Norah hovering off within ear distance.

That girl is a jewel. She's already outstanding at sniffing out a potential story. If only we had more like--crap, that's what I need to do! This ice incident almost caused it to slip my mind. That can't happen.

Daisy scolded herself for nearly forgetting that she planned to visit the three junior high schools once classes started back up next week. Daisy and Ramsey both credited Finn Singer's first visit to their junior highs for inspiring them to up their reporting as eighth-graders. Despite always wanting to work at her family's paper, Ramsey had wondered if she should work at the high school paper or at her family's office as she grew older. The independence and self-confidence she'd gained at The Buzzy Bee had validated her decision.

The visits by The Buzzy Bee staff were a relatively new tradition started by Cleopatra Monroe roughly six years ago. With the graduation ten years ago of a stellar Buzzy Bee crop of Sebastian Ferrin, Webster Whelan, and Erin Chantry, the newspaper suffered through three lean years when it came to competent staff. Essentially running the paper by herself as a junior, Cleo realized that she couldn't do the same for her senior year. So she'd unknowingly started a new tradition by visiting Fairwater, Harborside, and Meadowmilk schools. In the process, she'd recruited two new staff members early. Finn Singer and Barney Barrie began helping part-time at The Buzzy Bee halfway through ninth grade while continuing to work at their smaller junior high paper.

The second two-year editor-in-chief in back-to-back tenures, Finn would expand on Cleo's goal of a reporter pipeline. That would result in the largest Buzzy Bee staff in years under his successor, Madeline Stringham. It would be Maddy who noticed the eighth-grade Norah Almond, alerting Daisy to keep an eye on her next year. Fortunately, Maddy's request to Daisy proved astute, as the following year's editor-in-chief, April Lemke, didn't care much about recruiting reporters when she graduated at the end of the year. To April, running the newspaper and generating high-quality articles didn't leave time for such distractions. And with Ramsey seemingly inheriting April's methods, it fell to Daisy to keep up the pipeline vision for Cleo and Finn.

Surveying and double-checking on the potential journalists seemed more critical than ever, as Norah and Dexter would be the only official staff members returning next year. However, Odette, their tech support, would be around to offer highly erratic or potentially illegal advice.

"I'll start at Harborside first," Daisy muttered to herself. It always felt gratifying to return to her old paper and the advisor who kicked her off it when that same teacher wanted to show off her prized pupils.

However, that could wait with Chastity pulling Lacey away from likely Austin, which allowed Daisy to tackle Rammy's gutsiest decision ever: investigating the star quarterback.

Scanning the crowd, it didn't take Daisy long to discover the whereabouts of the few football players in attendance. As expected, they hovered approximately fifteen feet away from the main bar. That gave them deniability while also allowing them to score drinks from sympathetic adults.

Daisy did feel surprised that Marcus Withrow, Max Moxey, and Oscar Vargas weren't at the charity ball. If they had been here, Oscar would almost certainly be at Austin's side. Marcus would be hard to miss as his boisterous personality made him the life of the party, while Max would be watching Whitney with worry. Daisy also noted that only one of The Brawny Boys, Weston Parker, appeared in attendance. That seemed odd, as the trio of offensive linemen had a reputation for making their lives revolve around their quarterback. I guess Milner's party tonight is chock-full of football players.

The aforementioned Chet Ragg was nearby with his best buddy, Howie Cline. Burton Dempsey lingered behind the pair of juniors, nursing/hiding his mixed drink. The brunette also registered the presence of Dawson Fox, the sophomore quarterback who many viewed as a future star. Considering that Dawson already had the arrogant prick aspect down, Daisy shuddered at how much the kid would make life miserable for her brother and Norah over the next two years.

And, of course, any party filled with hot girls could expect Kessler to be in attendance. Although Daisy wondered why Winkie wasn't with him. Hopefully, he's just in the bathroom or lost in the hotel. Yeah, that's probably the likeliest explanation. Kessler would never let his pet project miss a chance to finally land his crush, Yumi. At midnight, the ball drop is the perfect, magical moment for their first kiss.

Strangely, Daisy didn't give much thought to kissing her own boyfriend at that time. She had too many subjects to monitor for her big series of articles. One of those subjects suddenly found himself the envy of his classmates even more.

"Whoa! Check out Iona," Linus Digby alerted, slapping the guy standing next to him.

"Damn, Tarver is already earning rewards," Mason Angle, the soccer team's goalie, speculated.

"Naw, Iona's always teasing Sean, " Linus, or Digg as the catcher's baseball teammates called him, remarked. "I had gym class with them last year, and Iona loved to shake her ass at him. They even ended up as partners for those dumb folk dances we had to learn."

"Really? I got stuck with Prudence Goodley until she claimed a religious exemption, as dancing is the devil's tool," Mason recounted, shaking his head.

"Shit, that's right! Didn't you end up with Ms. McGurk as your partner?"

"Yep, and it was wonderful," Mason laughed before pointing out that Iona had escalated to sitting directly on Sean's lap.

"Fuck, she's giving Tarver a lap dance," Weston rumbled in his dumb-sounding voice.

"Motherfucker," Austin grumbled, staring **** rays at Sean.

"That's not a lap dance," Kessler corrected. "She's barely rubbing on him."

"Yeah, like you'd know," Austin replied with contempt.

"Oh, Kessler knows," Burton Dempsey confirmed, recalling the time they went to The Beehive, the strip club located just outside of town.

"Wait, Iona isn't even friends with Whitney," Howie realized.

"Imagine what Whitney's already done to thank Tarver," Chet commented, his eyes shooting open at the possibilities.

"Or Whitney's friends," Dempsey chimed in as he downed the last of his drink.

"Hey, Rusk, what's Whitney or her friends done to reward Tarver?" Kessler questioned, emphasizing the word 'friends' to imply someone in particular.

"Fuck off, Abner. Tarver hasn't gotten anything from anyone," Austin said, calling his teammate by the first name that he hated. Or I don't think he has. Aargh! That lucky fucker is gonna get lucky with Whitney, isn't he?

"He's going to. The guy's a hero!" Mason declared.

"Tarver is gonna rack up more notches on his bedposts than Jayden, Percy, Jesse, and Austin combined. Sports stars won't matter to girls for the next few months," Digg speculated.

After seeing some of the comments floating out there, Daisy nodded in agreement while checking her messages.

"Yeah, well...Tarver isn't the only hero. Austin saved Whitney, too!" Weston bellowed before slapping his quarterback's shoulder. "She and Tarver would be dead if Austin hadn't kept his head."

"What?!"

"Yeah, right."

"For real?"

Daisy dropped her phone to the floor in shock. Then, picking it up, she noticed Kessler laughing at the claim.

What the fuck, Parker?! Austin screamed in his head.

"So, did you save them, Rusk?" Mason questioned Kessler, who was too busy getting a bottle of beer from a waitress.

"Well, I..."

"Auss did save them," Weston interrupted, proudly revealing what he knew. "His cousin told me."

"Kaia?" Austin queried. He realized that he'd stepped into a shit storm with the story that he told his family upstairs.

"Yep, Austin's hot cousin told me. She said he wanted to keep it quiet, but people should know," Weston proclaimed.

"I bet I know why he wanted it kept quiet," Kessler said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I'd like to hear Rusk's side of the story," Digg pushed, agreeing with Kessler that it sounded like bullshit.

"Well, I, uh..."

"C'mon, Auss, don't be shy," the lineman pressed.

Daisy realized that taking notes wouldn't cut it. So she wiped out her other phone and started recording The Unlikely Story of How Austin Rusk Saved Whitney Diamond and Sean Tarver.

Austin wasn't the most creative liar. That's what led him to repeat almost verbatim the alternate account that his mother, uncle, and youngest cousin all found doubtful. Only his older cousin, Kaia, with a soft spot for her handsome cousin, had bought the shaky story.

"We were heading back from the pond and ice skating. Suddenly, we heard these shouts for help. So we ran over to the ridge overlooking Wasp Lake to see Whitney go under the ice. Tarver stood there looking around for help with these pitiful cries. I knew that Whitney wouldn't last long. So I screamed at him to get in the water and help her. It took several shouts for him to get his ass into action. I could tell he was scared shitless, so I knew we needed to get down there as fast as possible. I sent Ramsey to find the parents while Lacey and I raced down the path."

"He took charge just like during our games," Weston crowed, impressed at his quarterback's leadership.

"I had to. When we got down to the cove, we saw Whitney and Tarver lying on the ice. Owen Nevin, her ex-boyfriend, stood over them. It turns out he punched Tarver, so I knocked a little sense into him."

"Why did he punch Sean?" Chet questioned, feeling that his teammate's story was off somehow. He knew the Nevin family from all the years at Grubby's, and Owen never seemed like a hothead.

"You punched Nevin? Yeah, right," Dempsey hiccupped, taking a sip from a new drink.

"Where are you getting those from?" Mason asked, looking at Dempsey and Kessler in envy. Nobody answered.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that I gave my jacket to Lacey and ordered Owen to do the same. We had to warm their body temperatures up. Then, knowing that we needed medical help fast, I took off in a full sprint down the path. Luckily, I found a ranger who could radio for help. Sounds like it was a close call, too."

"Nosy Nectar tells a totally different story," Annika Bergstrom argued, coming over to join Mason. She had her phone in hand, likely recording Austin's account.

"Who are you going to believe? A gossip site or a guy that was right there," Austin boasted confidently.

Daisy stared with unblinking eyes. In all her years, she'd never heard such obvious bullshit. The junior journalist couldn't fathom how Austin could believe that he'd get away with this story. Not only did it have numerous holes, but eyewitnesses could refute his claims.

"I call bullshit," Kessler challenged, turning all eyes on him. "First off, you're not smart enough to figure out what to do. Second, if you had done all that, why is Tarver getting all the credit?"

"That's because Auss doesn't like to brag!" Weston defended.

"Are you for real?" Kessler questioned as several chuckles rang out.

"I am! Austin is a great leader and quarterback. He doesn't need to brag about what he accomplishes. You're just jealous."

"Boy, what in thee hell is wrong with you? Did you suffer brain damage besides being dumb as a rock?" Kessler asked.

"Um, what?"

"Rusk doesn't like to brag? He's the guy who posts videos of every touchdown she throws or scores right after a game ends. Don't you think college coaches notice his attitude problem? That's one reason he's not getting the offers he wants."

"Hey...fuck off, Abner!" Austin snapped.

Oh, wow! This investigation of Austin just fell into a goldmine. Daisy glanced around, hoping that people were paying attention. But, unfortunately, not many were as of now. Well, that's going to change soon.

"You disrespected Auss!" Weston bellowed, marching forward.

"Don't even think about it, Parker," Kessler warned. Although Kessler was built like a solid linebacker, the beefy lineman still had the size advantage. "You come at me, and you'll end up like your pops."

"Huh?" Weston sounded, slowing down.

"Your dad tried that shit with my uncle once. And Uncle Barnabas knocked his ass out. So just a reminder, I take after my uncle more than my dad," Kessler warned, moving into a stance better suited for a counterpunch.

"You talking shit about my dad?!" Weston roared.

"Get him, West, get him!" Austin ordered, happy for this distraction from his fake account.

"Stop that, right now, boys!" a new voice roared.

"But Coach Hager, Kessler is talking badly about my--"

"Yes, I heard it, and shut up, all of you," Duke Hager revealed. The assistant coach/defensive coordinator shook his head at several of his players. "What in the hell do you think you're doing? This is an event honoring a wonderful woman who passed away far too young. How dare you disrespect Cassie's memory?"

"B-But he said my dad got--"

"Yes, Barnabas knocked out Wayne cold with one punch. I was there and saw it, so it happened," Duke recounted. The incident had happened during their senior year, long after football had ended. "And Abner, what were you thinking?"

"Hey, I just called Austin out for his bullshit claim that he saved Whitney and Tarver from the ice. We all know he wouldn't risk his life for them."

"Boy, what kinda tall tales are you telling?" Coach Hager asked, turning to face Austin.

"There you go, taking the defense's side as always," Austin complained. "I did rescue them."

"Diamond and Tarver might have been ****, but I wonder what Swift and Nevin remember," Kessler suggested.

Daisy nearly spoke up to reveal what Ramsey had told her. However, she held back. Her job wasn't to insert herself into the story at this moment.

"And I wonder what Lacey saw," Kessler added.

"Lacey will back me up," Austin argued weakly with a paling face.

Lacey might not kill Ramsey for investigating her boyfriend after this twist. On the other hand, I wonder if it would be overkill to grill Austin about this grade school fight with--uh-oh. Things just got way more Nosy Nectar-ish.

A new posse of girls had entered the ballroom via the back entrance. And it was only a matter of time before they headed toward Daisy's position.