One of Us Is Next

After texting Jules, Phoebe looks around the small room she shares with Emma and thinks about how the workers comp settlement her mom received after her dad died wasn’t enough. Jules responds and Phoebe reflects on their friendship, thinking that things have been weird since the Derek gossip was revealed. Jules asks if people are going to Café Contigo, specifically Nate. When Phoebe says yes, Jules FaceTimes her to pick out an outfit.

Phoebe stands to leave her bedroom and finds Owen leaning on her door, spying on her. Phoebe knows that Owen has been eavesdropping since he realized his sisters were fighting. Phoebe accuses him of listening, when someone knocks on the door and Owen quickly says he was going let her that someone was outside. Phoebe looks through the apartment’s peephole to see Brandon waiting. Phoebe thinks, “Of course. That’s how the world works when you’re Brandon Weber; doors just open up whenever you want them to” (77). Brandon asks Phoebe why she stopped answering his texts. Phoebe says she didn’t appreciate him joining in with Sean’s bullying her about Derek. Brandon asks why she can’t take a joke and moves her hand to his crotch, saying that he missed her. Phoebe backs away, and Brandon tells her “Don’t be a tease” (77). Phoebe continues to block Brandon’s advances, and he assaults her. Phoebe fights back, afraid of Brandon’s size and of scaring Owen. She thinks, “I’ve never felt so small, in every possible way” (78). Phoebe frees one arm and slaps Brandon as hard as she can. She screams at him to leave, and Owen hears the commotion and emerges from his room. Owen asks what happened, to which Phoebe says nothing and Brandon insults her. Brandon storms out and Phoebe lets herself cry after ordering Owen back to his room. She thinks that if her dad was alive, she would be a better person.

Phoebe finds relief in working at Café Contigo the night of Ashton’s bachelorette party. Phoebe notices the chemistry between Nate and Bronwyn and thinks that Jules has no chance with Nate. Just as the two are flirting, Evan Neiman enters. He sits near Bronwyn and Bronwyn freezes. Nate lets go of her hand and Evan says that he had to see her again before he left to which Nate exclaims “Again?” (82). Evan, who Phoebe thinks is either clueless or evil, says that Bronwyn left her sunglasses in his car. As Phoebe and Maeve are about to retreat to the kitchen, in the attempt to avoid this awkward moment, Jules enters. She straddles Nate and confidently kisses him. Phoebe notices another girl, Monica, take a picture of Jules and Nate’s kiss. Jules looks at Phoebe before she leaves and mouths, “always take the dare” (83).

The narrative jumps to Friday, March 6, where Principal Sona Gupta is being interviewed by Liz Rosen with Channel Seven News concerning another death at Bayview High. Principle Gupta says that this tragedy did not happen at Bayview High, but off of school grounds. She directs the interview away from gossip, saying that Bayview High is a different school now than it was the year before. She adds that there is a zero-tolerance policy in place for gossip and bullying.

While at work, Knox shares a desk with Sandeep Ghai, a Harvard Law student and Eli’s right hand man. Eli approaches them and asks for a specific file. Knox takes this as an opportunity to shine and shows Eli a Google document he created with case information. At first, Knox is nervous that he has overstepped, but Eli says the spreadsheet is great and to email it to him. Knox goes to the mail room and finds an odd letter with Eli’s name on it. On the inside, the letter states that Eli messed with the wrong people and that they will enjoy watching him die. He instantly shows Sandeep, scared that Eli’s life is in jeopardy. Sandeep is not as shocked, and puts it in the “death threats file” (88). He assures Knox that there are procedures in place to take care of letters like this one. After work, Knox joins Maeve at Café Contigo. The two discuss Ashton’s bachelorette party the night before and Jules’s dare. Maeve shows Knox the forum she found, Vengeance Is Mine. She says that the posts disappear after a few hours, and that she thinks user Darkestmind could be in on the Truth or Dare game. Maeve sets up a PingMe so she is alerted every time someone posts in the forum.

Owen enters the café to pick up dinner for his family. Knox witnesses an interaction between Mr. Santos and Owen where Mr. Santos tells him that the food is on the house, and Owen seems relieved. Knox’s mom was an insurance adjuster on Mr. Lawton’s worker’s comp settlement, and Knox had heard her say it wasn’t nearly enough. Knox understands “what it’s like to grow up surrounded by older sisters who might be great but can’t tell you how you’re supposed to function as a guy in the twenty-first century” (93). When Owen walks by, Knox asks him if he likes Bounty Wars. Owen is excited and says he should come over sometime soon.

After Owen leaves, an intense dark-haired man enters the café looking for Phoebe. Luis and Manny Santos emerge from the kitchen when they hear the man demand to know where Phoebe is, scaring him off. Maeve’s phone rings, revealing a text from Unknown telling her that she’s the next selected player.

Maeve sits at Café Contigo with three hours left to choose Truth or Dare, where she decides not to play. She refuses to take part in anything that makes light of what happened with Simon: “It was a tragedy, not a joke, and its sick that someone is trying to spin it into a fun game. I won’t be Unknown’s pawn, and they can do whatever they want in return because I don’t have anything to hide” (96). Maeve looks at a bruise on her arm and thinks of Dr. Gutierrez telling her that early treatment is why she’s still alive. She instinctively calls her doctor’s office and asks if she can get tests run without her parent’s consent. As soon as she hears that parental consent is required, Maeve hangs up. Maeve has found more bruises since and she feels full of dread. Suddenly, Luis stands over her, proclaiming that he is staging an intervention. Luis tells Maeve that he is going to show her the wonders of the great outdoors. They ride Luis’s bike to the Bayview Arboretum.

While walking through the Arboretum, Luis tells Maeve that he comes here to think about his work, practicum, coaching his brother’s baseball league, and his own baseball hobby. When Maeve replies that she had no idea just how much Luis did, Luis calls her out for thinking he is a dumb jock. Maeve apologizes, to which Luis jokingly asks if she ever thinks about him. Maeve’s nerves continue to intensify when Luis reveals that he almost asked Maeve out last year. But Cooper didn’t think he was ready to settle down, and told him that Maeve wasn’t the girl for him. Maeve is too nervous to acknowledge what Luis is telling her, and thanks him for the intervention and leaves.

After dinner, Maeve sits in her room talking on the phone with Knox. She receives an alert that the forum has been updated. She finds posts by Darkestmind, who wrote that they’ve been very busy with Bayview2020 recently. Maeve notices that Darkestmind uses the same language as the Unknown texter, typing “tick-tock” in his last message.

Phoebe waits for Emma at her locker so they can attend Owen’s spelling bee together. While she waits, Monica bumps into Phoebe, who is Jules’s new best friend ever since kissed Nate. Monica tells Phoebe that its nice she’s going into business with her sister. She shows Phoebe one of Emma’s tutoring posters that has “Threesomes (special offer with Phoebe Lawton)” (107) scribbled in Sharpie on it. Emma appears and throws the flyer in the trash, telling Phoebe, “some people take things too far. There are limits. There have to be limits” (107). In the auditorium, Phoebe checks her Instagram to see if any new and insulting comments have been added to her recent selfie. While scrolling, she spots a message from Derek. Her curiosity gets the better of her and she clicks the message, which asks Phoebe is she’d like to talk soon. Phoebe thinks that both she and her sister have no desire to ever speak to Derek again.

Back at home, after Owen’s spelling bee win, Phoebe is in bed with a textbook and Emma sits at her desk wearing headphones. Owen enters and tells Phoebe she needs to invite Knox over soon. Phoebe assumes that Owen has misread social cues from Knox, who was probably just being nice. She thinks that Knox is probably a favorite for parents because he’s so well-behaved. Phoebe tells Owen that she and Knox aren’t really the kind of friends who go over to each other houses. Owen doesn’t understand and complains that she let Brandon come over. Emma asks why Phoebe let him in their apartment, and calls Phoebe an idiot and says that Brandon doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Emma is insulted when Phoebe asks, in horror, if Emma’s anger is because she was also involved with Brandon. Emma angrily gathers her books and storms out to study at the library. Owen asks when they will stop fighting and if their family is ruined, and Phoebe comforts him. Once Owen leaves, Phoebe receives a text from Unknown, spilling Maeve’s gossip.