I gape. “Like hell you don’t—”
But he’s already storming off. Frantic footsteps reverberate backstage, then get softer and softer until a door finally slams. And then everything goes silent.
Nora’s entire body is still shaking. “Thank you,” she whispers.
“Hey, it’s no problem.” I tighten my hold on her. She needs it, otherwise I suspect she’ll topple over. “But we need to go to the police now.”
Her head snaps up, the top of it nearly clipping my chin. “What? Why?”
“He would’ve raped you if I hadn’t come along, Nora. You know that, right?”
“Maybe not.” But there’s no conviction at all. She clears her throat, straightens her shoulders, and eases out of my embrace. “He didn’t rape me, though. And I know how this will play out—my mom’s a public defender. It’ll be my word against his. All he did was stick his hand between my legs. There’s no bruises, no evidence of assault.”
“There’s me. I’m the evidence. I saw him groping you. I heard you say no. Loud and clear.”
“Summer, you know there’s no point,” she says bleakly. “The cops will give him a slap on the wrist. They probably wouldn’t even charge him.”
I have a sinking feeling she’s right. I bite my lip as I work over our options in my head. There aren’t many, but one rises to the forefront of my brain. “I think I know who won’t give him a slap on the wrist,” I say slowly.
“Who?”
I take her hand and say, “Come with me.”
“We can’t just show up at the dean’s house,” Nora hisses more than an hour later. She’s in the passenger’s seat of my Audi, and she’s been protesting this course of action since the moment I told her.
“We’re not just showing up,” I remind her as I drive through the wrought-iron gates at the entrance of David Prescott’s property. The dean lives in a gorgeous mansion in Brookline, a wealthy neighborhood outside of Boston. I’m pretty sure Tom Brady and Gisele live around here too. I suddenly have a vision of Gisele jogging past the dean’s house, noticing my fabulous outfit, and inviting me over to her house for a drink. Oh my God. That would blow my frigging mind.
Unfortunately, we’re not here to celebrity sightsee. We’re here to report an attempted sexual assault.
“My father called ahead to tell him we were coming, remember?” Because my dad is awesome. Never mind terrifying when he needs to be.
And I guess Dean Prescott called in reinforcements as well, because he’s not the only one waiting for us on the doorstep. Hal Richmond is with him, and he’s the one who greets us.
“Ms. Ridgeway. Summer.” As usual, his “accent” contains a patronizing note. “What’s all this about?”
I let out a breath. “Something happened tonight, and, well, Nora doesn’t want to go to the police, but I told her I couldn’t in good conscience let it go unreported.”
Prescott’s eyes widen. “The police?” He opens the door wider and gestures for us to come inside.
Nora shoots me a panicky look.
I squeeze her arm. “It’s fine. I promise.”
As we follow the two men into a living room the size of my townhouse in Hastings, I dial my dad’s number on my phone. He answers immediately. He’s been waiting for my call.
“Hey, Dad, we just got here. I’m putting you on speakerphone.” I glance at Prescott. “Dean, you know my father. I hope you don’t mind if he listens in.”
I see Richmond’s lips tighten. I assume the word cloud in his snotty brain is now flashing “Preferential treatment!”
He can eat a dick.
“I know this is weird, but I’m from a family of lawyers,” I explain to the men. “I’m not allowed to have any important conversations without legal counsel.”
A chuckle floats out of my phone. “You got that right, Princess.”
Nora seems to be fighting a smile. I’m surprised when it actually breaks free, and it’s genuine. “Family of lawyers?” she murmurs to me. “Me too.”
“Look at that,” I murmur back. “And you thought we didn’t have anything in common.”
Maybe if she’d given me a chance instead of assuming I was an airhead, we could’ve been friends. But deep down I know that will never be the case. I’m a super-jealous person, and the fact that she went on one date with Fitz means I’ll always want to claw her eyes out.
But I also watched her almost get raped tonight, and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.
With Prescott and Richmond’s rapt attention on me, I repeat the story of what happened tonight. Nora fills in her side of it, explaining how Laurie bought her two drinks and flirted with her all night until finally making his move after everyone had gone home. Both men wear murderous expressions when I mention where Laurie’s hand had been when I opened the bathroom door.
“So I karate chopped him and—”
There’s a choked laugh from my dad.
“Daddy,” I scold.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. It’s just that you took karate for three months before you quit. And you were twelve. I can’t believe you still remember any of the moves.”
“I don’t. Just that one,” I admit.
“Well, it came in handy tonight,” he says, and his pride practically pours out of the phone speaker.
“Anyway.” I finish the story by admitting that this wasn’t the first time Laurie made a move on a student. Nora stares at me in surprise as I reveal, “I had a meeting in his office and he tried to kiss me.”
My father roars. “I’m going to kill—”
“Daddy, hush! You’re a defense lawyer. You can’t threaten to kill people. And he didn’t push the issue when I told him I wasn’t interested. Tonight he’d had a lot to drink, so maybe that contributed to his behavior.” I level Prescott and Richmond with a stern glare. “But he can’t get away with it. We can’t have someone like that teaching at Briar.”
“Absolutely not,” Prescott agrees, while Richmond gives a grim nod. “Don’t worry, ladies. Briar will be taking swift action. And, Nora, please remember you have access to counseling at the student health center. I encourage you to take advantage of that.”
She nods weakly.
My dad speaks up. “As for contacting law enforcement, obviously nobody can force you to press charges, Nora—you need to do whatever you feel is right. However, should you change your mind, I will gladly serve as your counsel. Summer will give you my contact info. You can call me any time, day or night.”
She bites her lip, her gaze slightly awed. “Thank you, sir.”
Our late-night visit to the dean’s house comes to an end. Nora and I thank them for listening, and as the men walk us out, I take my father off speakerphone and murmur, “Love you, Daddy. Thank you.”
“Love you too, Princess. Oh, and by the way, I looked into that matter you’d asked about while I was waiting for your call. I didn’t do it before, because…well, because your mom said it would be enabling your craziness.”