Checkmate

38| Snitches get stitches

My head starts spinning as Liv delves into everything she knows. From what she could gather,  Blake cornered Chase last night and beat him to a bloody pulp before heading into school this morning to turn himself into the principal. Not just turn himself in, but Chase, Adam, and even Zack, who Chase and Adam supposedly paid to have the meeting with Blake on video in the hopes of absolving himself of any responsibility. 

"It's insane," Liv says as Freddie and Kenny join us. "Not the beating Chase up part, that sounds like Blake, but him going to the principal. That is the most un-Blake thing I've ever heard of."

"Yeah," Freddie says, turning to me. He's got one hand on Liv's shoulder as he leans forward toward me, eyes wide like he's still trying to process everything; I am too. "You'd think he was part of the Mafia the way he vehemently opposes snitching. One time, Kenny called this kid a bitch when he cut Kenny off on his bicycle, but the kid thought it was Blake who said it, so he came back later with his friends and beat the shit out of Blake. Not once did he tell them it wasn't him. No offense," he says, turning to Kenny, "but if it meant preventing my ass from getting beat, I'd have turned you in."

"Thanks," Kenny says. "No, really."

"Do you remember when that girl accused him of stealing her pencil case?" Liv asks. "He'd even seen the kid who did it and still never snitched on him. Got detention and everything to protect someone he wasn't even friends with."

For some reason, hearing stories about Blake makes my heart jump. I've only ever known one side of him – the side he is with me – but there are sides to Blake I haven't yet seen, and the worst part is that if whatever this is ends for good, I never will. "What I'm hearing right now," I say, looking between the three of them, "is that Blake is an idiot."

"True," Liv says, "but clearly, he is an idiot in l–"

My glare renders her silent. The last thing I need is for Liv to throw around the L word during a time I'm trying to maintain my composure. "Is Chase suspended too?"

"All four of them were suspended for attempting to rig the election. Not sure what's happening with Blake beating up Chase since it was outside of school."

"Sounds a lot like a real election," Kenny says.

Liv must see the heartbreak on my face because she shoots a glare at Kenny before turning to face me. "No one really knows anything for sure," Liv says. "I think there's an ongoing investigation."

I pinch the bridge of my nose and try not to have a mini meltdown. It's not the impact of the campaign I'm concerned about –most of those willing to vote will have voted by now – but Blake. What if this suspension jeapordizes his future? What if he gets expelled? What if his brother finds out what happened and something goes wrong? He'd told Blake he needed to lay low, and getting suspended is the opposite of laying low. What if Blake gets taken into care?

"Rose," Liv says as she grabs my shoulders, "breathe."

But I can't breathe. This entire campaign has been one bad situation after another, and the person I'd usually go to about this kind of situation is the one person I should really stay away from. Where does that leave me?

"Do you think he's okay?" I ask. All I can think about is how he'll be sitting in that basement in the dark, no electricity, no heating, and no one to check on him or make sure he's okay. "Are you guys going to go round to his house tonight?"

Liv is about to speak when Freddie gives her a look that renders her silent. Turning to me, he says, "Blake doesn't usually like to talk to us after things like this, but maybe you should go and check on him."