“We came to ask you that,” I say pointedly. “You’re saying you don’t know?”
“This is the first I’m seeing of this.” She shoves her laptop to the side and stands. “I just got back from graduation rehearsal and was trying to study for finals. How did you find this?”
Rebecca’s lips tighten. “I just got home and found Nancy and Robin watching it in the kitchen.”
“Sigma has seen it, too,” I add. “So you can bet it’s all over campus by now.”
I see the sudden change in Charlotte’s eyes. From small kitchen fire to scorching inferno. She shoves the iPad at Rebecca and storms out of the room, still talking as if she hasn’t left us in her dust.
“Get everyone to the blue room,” she says. Then, shouting, “House meeting, motherfuckers!” Charlotte tears up to the second floor and starts banging on doors. “Everyone downstairs now!” Then back down and through every room. Beth and Olivia are with a group in the TV room, their backs turned, when Charlotte launches a banana at their heads. “Blue room. Get up.”
I have no idea where she picked up the projectile banana.
Rebecca stands somewhat behind me once we’ve all gathered in the blue room. We wait a few minutes, everyone staring at each other, bracing for impact, while the last stragglers haul ass back to the house for the meeting. Abigail then takes the roll to confirm we’re all here before Charlotte begins.
My eyes meet Abigail’s from across the room. I try to read her for any hint or tell, but she’s impassive.
“Alright, it’s come to my attention that there’s a video going around.” Charlotte’s glare lands on Nancy and Robin, who at least have the decency to look contrite. “And apparently none of you thought it appropriate to make your house president aware of this severe breach of trust and privacy.”
Sasha works her way through the room to stand with me and Rebecca. She slips her fingers through mine, and I squeeze her hand, grateful for her presence.
“Robin, what’s the first tenet of the Kappa creed?” Charlotte demands.
Chewing on her thumbnail, a nervous Robin stares at her feet. “I will protect my sister as myself.”
Next Charlotte turns her blazing ire on the sister who’s turning beet red. “Nancy, what’s the second tenet of the Kappa creed?”
Nancy tries to speak but only air comes out. Then, voice shaking, “To act with honor and integrity.”
“Yeah,” Charlotte says, pacing the room like she’s got a loaded pistol, “that’s what I thought. But apparently some of you have forgotten that. So I want to know who the sister fucker is. Who is the selfish little shit who stole a private video from the Kappa archive and uploaded it to a porn site?”
A shocked silence crashes over the room.
It becomes evident then who had still been in the dark. Questioning eyes begin scanning the room, factions trading accusatory glances. I spot more confused faces than I expected. I guess I figured every girl in the house had already seen the video and was laughing about it behind our backs. But other than Nancy and Robin, I pick out only a few other girls who I suspect might’ve known.
Naturally, my examination of Abigail lasts the longest. A deep groove has cut into her forehead, but I’m not sure what it means. Is she stunned? Baffled?
Her green eyes keep sliding around to study the faces of our sisters. Searching for the culprit…or looking for allies?
“Nope, uh-uh,” Charlotte says, wagging her finger. “Don’t go quiet on me now. Your big-girl ass thought this was a good idea—you can’t walk that shit back now. Someone’s going to confess, or we will sit here all night. All day. Until the end of fucking time until one of you little brats tells the truth.”
Abigail just stands there, arms crossed. Not saying a word.
I can’t stand it any longer.
“Abigail,” I call out, and the oxygen is sucked out of the room. “Have anything to say?”
She flinches. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, I’m just checking my watch and, oh, look, it’s spiteful-bitch-thirty, so maybe you have something to add to this conversation.”
Sasha’s eyes go wide as she turns to me in slow motion, staring at me as if I’ve grown a second head. And maybe I have. This one’s fed the fuck up.
“You’re accusing me?” Abigail’s voice jumps two octaves as her face crinkles in denial. “I didn’t have anything to do with it!”
“Really? Because you’re the only person in this room who’s made it her unending mission to ruin my life, so…”
“Only two people have the password to the server where the archive is stored,” Charlotte says, her attention now trained on Abigail. “You’re the other one.”
“I didn’t do it.” She tosses her hands up, pleading. “I swear. Okay, I admit, there’s a beef there, but I would never upload revenge porn of another woman.”
“Even a woman you hate?” I snap back.
Abigail drops her hands. For the first time in years, she looks at me with sincerity. “Not even my worst enemy. That’s not who I am.”
Silence falls over the room. My gaze remains locked with the platinum blonde who’s made my life miserable for so long.
Fuck me, but I believe her.
“Then who is it?” I challenge. “Who wanted to humiliate me?”
Because I know this was about me. Rebecca and I might have remained obscure to one another since freshman year, but I can’t think of anyone who even mildly dislikes her enough to humiliate her like this. The target had to be me.
“I have the password saved on my phone,” Abigail says, growing visibly anxious. “If someone broke into my phone…”
I’m not sure she means to do it, or is even consciously aware, when her gaze slides to Jules, who’s trying to blend into a potted plant at the back of the room.
When Jules realizes she’s been singled out, she reveals a panicked expression that is quickly overcome by betrayal.
“Did you hack my phone?” Abigail asks her best friend, a note of horror in her tone.
At first it appears she might deny it, but then the pretense falls. Jules huffs, rolls her eyes. “It was just a joke, okay? They both had their clothes on. What’s the big deal?”
Abigail’s jaw falls open. “Why?” she demands. “Why would you ever do something like that?”
Jules offers a shrug, her body language trying to downplay it all. “The other night, remember? Kev said something like, I wonder how many views Taylor’s tits would get on PornHub. So later I was over at the Sigma house visiting Duke, and Kevin was there. He and I were talking, and I was like, well, I can totally get a video of her tits. And the next time you left your phone out, I tried a few passwords until I got it unlocked.” Jules shakes her head defiantly. “Like it wasn’t a big thing. Just a dumb prank. Why is everyone getting so bent out of shape?”
“Christ, Jules, would it kill you to grow a mind of your own?”
“Fuck off, Sasha. Taylor started it by kissing Abigail’s ex! She’s the sister fucker. And she would’ve left Kappa by now if she didn’t have you always fighting her battles for her.”