11. Pandora
PANDORA
I go back for my charm a few hours later, and thankfully it’s exactly where I’d tossed it.
I don’t know what I would have done if it was gone entirely. Probably stabbed Blaze properly, revenge and mission be damned.
My charm is irreplaceable. One of a kind.
I stroke the grooves of my charm. Three pieces, held together with wire, warm and smooth after so many months of me clutching it.
My phone buzzes, and I put the charm away so I can check the text I received.
Cry Me A
Asch says they’ll be accepting my bid. Pledging starts on Saturday.
I grin.
Pandora
Told you! You fit right in with those frat douches.
It takes a few seconds for River to respond.
Cry Me A
So I’m a frat douche now?
I smile at the phone. I’m ready to type up a witty response, or if not witty, at least something that will annoy River, when I spot a familiar face sitting on the bench outside the greenhouse.
It’s Carly, wearing jeans and a loose sweater that looks way too warm for the weather. Her thick dark hair is pulled into a messy ponytail, and she’s staring at something in her lap, her cheeks blotchy.
She’s definitely crying.
I tuck the phone away and look around. The other students are going about their own business, not a single one of them stopping to look at Carly.
I approach her and sit down next to her. She startles and pulls her paper closer to herself.
“Sorry,” Carly mumbles. She tries to scoot away, but I reach out for her hand. She immediately freezes, then looks up at me. “You!”
I smile. “Yeah. Me. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It’s nothing,” she says, which is so obviously a lie I roll my eyes.
“Okay, try again. You’re crying out here instead of in the privacy of your dorm room. Last time I checked, public crying is usually the opposite of fine.”
Carly scoffs and shakes her head. “Fine. I’m not fine. Can you go away now?”
At least she sassed back at me.
“Nope! Because maybe I’m overstepping?—”
“You are,” she mumbles. I ignore her and continue.
“But the first time we met, you were also not fine, in a really bad way. And I know I’m a bitch, but I’m not the kind of bitch who sees somebody crying, especially when I probably know what the reason is, and does nothing.”
“I could be crying for entirely different reasons,” Carly mutters. Then she sighs. “You really want to know? Fine. ”
She passes the paper to me. It’s an official looking printout, with the school’s logo printed at the top.
Dear Ms. Calhoun,
After thorough investigation into the incident you described, we have found no evidence of misconduct. We have, however, learned of attempts to slander the ΚΑΩΣ fraternity and demand that you cease and desist all such speech.
This is your first and only warning that filing false reports will result in expulsion from this institution. If you are incapable of adhering to the high standards required of students at Dyschord University, you may wish to seek education elsewhere.
Regards,
Percival Stringer
Dean of Dyschord University
I stare at the letter, my jaw dropping.
What the fuck is this.
“Are they saying you should drop out because you were roofied ?” I ask. I can feel my blood boiling.
“Well, they’re saying I should shut up, and maybe also drop out,” Carly says. “No proof that there was any misconduct at the party filled with underage drinking!”
“No, fuck that,” I say fiercely. “The school won’t do anything? Well, I will.”
Carly gives me a strange expression. “What? What would you even do?”
Is she pretending she didn’t see me cut Asch on our walk back to the dorms? Or was she so out of it that she’s already forgotten?
I pull my phone out, where I’ve left River on read. I swipe away and go to the contacts. “Give me your contact info, Carly. If nobody else believes you, well, I believe you. I’ll find out which of those fuckers drugged you, and I’ll make him eat his own balls.”
Not literally. …I think .
Literally would be better, actually. How hard is it to make a guy do that? He’d be in pain after the whole castration bit, but maybe he’d be so out of it that he’d swallow his balls while I stuffed them down his throat.
I should ask my aunt about it. I think she’s ripped a few balls off.
“No, um.” Carly shakes her head. “Don’t do that for me. You’ll get kicked out too.” She wipes the tears from her face. “It’s nice that you believe me. A bunch of the other women don’t even do that.”
I wrap an arm around her shoulder. “Yeah, well. I know that guys are all dicks and assholes. But I’ve got your back, Carly.”
She hesitates, but she rattles off her phone number. I text her so she has mine. “I’m Pandora, like from Greek myth, but don’t worry about unleashing a box of evils or whatever. I only terrorize assholes.”
Carly laughs, and it’s nice to see she can still do that despite the tear tracks. “Seriously? How often do you make that joke?”
“All the time!” I say cheerfully. “It’s better if I make the joke first, so others don’t. And you’re Carly Calhoun. I promise I will help you get revenge, okay?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t want revenge, Pandora. I just want… justice? I want this not to happen to anyone else.”
I tilt my head, trying to wrap my mind around not wanting vengeance. If somebody hurts me, the only appropriate response is to hurt them back, tenfold.
That’s how River had lost his finger, after all.
“Okay,” I say. “I can definitely make sure the person who hurt you won’t hurt anyone again.”
Carly wipes the remaining tears from her eyes. “Sure. Seriously though, I haven’t decided what I’m doing. Maybe if I at least knew who....”
I can find out that much, if nothing else.
And then also cut off his balls and feed them to him.
“You’re in the same building as me,” I say to Carly. She probably doesn’t want to hear about my actual plans for whoever roofied her. “We can hang out. Do things girls do.”
“Things girls do?” Carly asks, but she’s smiling a bit. “What do girls do?”
I laugh and shrug. “I have no clue. Watch movies? Do each other’s hair and make-up? Take martial arts classes together and learn how to seriously kick ass?”
“I mostly watch indie movies,” Carly says. “I review them on my socials.”
I smile brightly at her. “That sounds fun! I have never watched an indie movie in my life, but I’m down to learning.”
That’s not actually true.
Rachel and I had gone to see a few indies, because we were bored and the tickets were cheap. She’d liked them a lot more than I did, but she must have realized it wasn’t my favorite thing to do because she stopped suggesting it as an activity.
I was such a terrible friend.
I’m going to do better this time, though. I’m going to help Carly, and I’m going to watch out for her, and nobody is going to dump her in the trash.
After a few more minutes of chatting and getting Carly to share her social media account names with me, she gets up.
“Hey, thanks for… everything.” She clutches the administration’s letter tighter. “I’m gonna go back to my dorm. I desperately need a shower, and I think I have some homework to start on. But it was nice just… talking.”
I nod. “Yeah! I’m always around! Well, not always-always, but you know where I live, so if I don’t respond you can pound at my door until my prissy roommate opens and lets you know she doesn’t know or care where I currently am.”
Carly laughs again, then waves and heads off. I’d go with her, but I have something else to take care of first.
I pull out my phone and find Blaze’s Bitch.
Pandora
You around? I’m DTF and your cock is as good as any.
It takes a moment before he replies.
Blaze’s Bitch
Not in the mood to be stabbed.
Pandora
I solemnly swear not to stab you or cut off your balls or force feed you your own genitals.
Blaze’s Bitch
Somehow, I don’t believe you.
I really left an impression with the knife, apparently. If River can get over a whole finger getting cut off, Asch needs to pull up his big boy pants and let go of the tiny cut I gave him.
Pandora
k. omw. I’ll blow and/or stab the first frat douche I see.
I put my phone away and head toward the Kafka Alpha Omega Loser frat house. It’s already late afternoon by now, and if I’m lucky, Blaze will be at the house too.
I wonder if he told Asch about our fuck by the greenhouse.
My phone dings with another text, but I don’t bother to check it.
When I get to the house, I try the door. It’s locked, so I knock on it, and eventually, one of the frat douches answers it after taking his sweet time getting there.
“Hi!” I say brightly. “This is a booty call for Asch. Can you point me to his room?”
The guy—he’s tall, a bit skinny but with decent muscles—gives me a once over. “You want me to believe Asch called anyone for a booty call?”
“Uh, why wouldn’t he?” I try to get past him, but he stands in front of me.
I sigh and take a closer look. He must be at least a sophomore, if he’s staying here, and I think I might have seen him at the party that first night.
I can’t be positive though, especially since most of my attention got stolen by Asch and Blaze and Carly.
“Asch doesn’t invite people over,” the guy says. “I mean, I wouldn’t either, if I lived like he does.” He extends his arm out and smiles at me. “But if you want to fuck, my room is available, and in livable condition.”
I have no idea what that means, and I’m itching to do some violence. Because of Rachel, because of Carly, and even because of Asch.
Does Asch need me defending his honor? He’s already got Blaze doing that.
“Okay, you’re saying that your cock is at least as good as Asch’s?” I ask. “You know how to use your mouth, your fingers, and you’ve got experience bringing women to orgasm? If you can’t do that, I’ll have to treat you like the last guy who left me hanging after he came within two seconds.”
“Did it involve a knife?” a familiar voice asks.
I glance behind the guy at the door to see Asch, whose expression is stormy.