27. River
RIVER
The second round of burgers isn’t burnt, and Franklin hands me mine as he sits down next to me by the firepit. He’s got a big bruise on his jaw, but otherwise it looks like our attackers went easy on him.
Right as I’m about to take a bite, my phone dings with a new text.
I sigh and set the burger down to look at it.
Blaze
Pandora says she wants a dickpic from you.
I’d send her one of mine, but she’d instantly know it was too big to be you
River
Why is she soliciting dick pics of me from you?
This is Pandora we’re talking about, though.
River
Never mind. Don’t answer that.
I push my phone into my pocket, glancing at Franklin. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you earlier,” I tell him. “I was trying to help.”
Not very well, but hopefully everyone is so distracted by the attack that they don’t even remember the awkward conversation we’d been having about Franklin and his girlfriend.
“It’s okay,” Franklin says quietly. “I’m almost glad that… I mean, it’s fine.”
Glad that we were attacked? Everybody’s heated up about who those masked fuckers were, and how we’re going to get revenge. Zayden keeps trying to talk to Blaze about it, but Blaze waves him off each time.
Does Blaze know they are?
I narrow my eyes at him, but I can’t imagine he’d okay an attack on the Kappa Alpha house. Why would he?
Asch comes out of the house, carrying a plate of food. He hands it to Blaze, and Blaze gives him a thumbs up.
“Don’t forget to tip him,” Zayden remarks.
I still don’t get why half the frat members are such dicks to Asch. Then again, for people like this, him being a scholarship student is enough reason to shun him. They should be following Blaze’s example, though, since he’s the real power in this fraternity.
I shake my head. “Zayden’s such a dick,” I say, keeping my voice low.
Blaze takes a bite of his food. It looks like a burger to me, so I don’t know why he didn’t just take it from the grill. Did he have Asch fix him something special instead of eating with the rest of us peons?
After he swallows, Blaze says, completely cheerfully, “Zayden, if you don’t shut the fuck up, I am going to find a real gun and do the job those masked assholes didn’t finish.”
I eye him, unable to tell whether he’s being serious or if he’s fucking around.
From the look on Zayden’s face, I don’t think he’s sure either.
“Regretting your choice of frats?” I ask Franklin.
Franklin shakes his head. “My dad was in Kappa Alpha. And most of the guys are cool. Peyton and I went on a double date with Sandra and Zoey—that’s his girlfriend.
Or the girl he’s interested in. And Tate introduced me to his older brother, who works at Asteroid!
He said I could apply for an internship next summer. ”
“That’s great,” I tell him, and I mean it. I’m glad he’s fitting in. He may not be the typical Kappa Alpha brother, but good for them for having someone decent. My hands clench at my sides. It only pisses me off more that the attack was so indiscriminate.
One thing that bothers me is how familiar one of the guys felt. The laugh, the fighting style… I feel like I know who it is, but I can’t place it.
It wasn’t somebody from the boxing ring, I know that much. I would have recognized anyone I spar with, but none of the attackers had been boxers.
Brock and Tate walk over to us, holding out bottles of beer.
“You kicked ass, man,” Tate says to me. He mimes punching. “Like some fucking Bruce Lee shit.”
I don’t point out that Bruce Lee did karate, not boxing, as I take the beer.
I twist the cap off and take a long swig. I’m already feeling a bit fuzzy around the edges. I think this is the fourth bottle tonight? But we’re all a little drunk, as evidenced by the empty bottles and cans strewn near the cooler.
Brock nods eagerly. “And who knew little Franklin had such huge balls?” He ruffles Franklin’s hair and pushes the beer into his hands. “I thought for sure you’d piss yourself.”
I bristle, but Franklin seems elated to be included if the sight of his wide grin is any indication.
“He did a great job,” I agree. I don’t think he’s going to easily pick up on the boxing techniques I’ve spent years learning, but it’ll give us something to do.
Maybe I’ve made a friend here, one I don’t have to be suspicious of.
“We gotta celebrate!” Tate declares .
Celebrate? Even though we essentially got our asses kicked?
Tate pulls his vape out of his pocket and adds some sort of liquid to it. “You got the booze, but you need the smokes, too, my man!” He hands the vape to Franklin.
Franklin leans in and takes a sniff. “Uh, is there cinnamon in that? I can’t. I’m allergic.”
Brock starts laughing. “It’s not real cinnamon. They use fake flavors and shit.” He takes the mod and inhales from it before passing it back to Tate. “Don’t be a pussy, Franklin.”
Tate inhales from it too, then shoves it at Franklin again. “Come on. It’s safe. Vaping is like, less harmful than weed.”
“He said no,” I say. I reach out to grab it from Tate, but he evades me.
“Who asked you, Rivera?” Tate grumbles. He pulls a chair up to Franklin and shoves the vape close to his mouth. “Taste it, it’s so fucking good. It’ll give you such a nice buzz.”
Franklin’s already buzzed, his pale face red, and he looks from Tate to Brock and back again. “It’s not real cinnamon?”
“Definitely not,” Tate says. “I hate real cinnamon, but I love this stuff.”
I think about stepping in, but my head is spinning. I should’ve eaten more first instead of downing three beers immediately. The bullshit attack left me too unsettled, though.
I sit down as I watch the three of them.
I’ll have to teach Franklin how to fend off unwanted advances. From frat guys, I mean. I think? Maybe they aren’t unwanted. Also, I don’t think Brock or Tate are into guys.
It’s probably fine.
“Come on, do it. Be a man,” Brock says, then he starts laughing. Guess he’s had more than a few beers too.
I glance back toward Asch, Blaze, and Zayden. Blaze is openly scowling while Zayden talks, until Blaze snaps loudly, “I told you to fucking lay off, Zayden.”
I groan and get up, grabbing my plate with the half- eaten burger and moving closer to them. “Are you going to do the attackers’ job for them?” I demand, even though I know it’s none of my business.
Blaze rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t have to, if they hadn’t been pussies with paintballs.”
Zayden sneers openly at him. “You got a problem with me, maybe you should just fucking say it instead of trying to undermine me at every single fucking?—”
“I’ve got a problem with you!” Blaze snaps back. “Is that blunt enough for you?”
Asch sighs, taking a long drink from his bottle of water. He seems about to speak, but he casts a glance around us and closes his mouth, leaving Blaze and Zayden to their bickering.
“It’s because of that bitch, isn’t it?” Zayden gets up and gestures at me. “His slut girlfriend.”
I stiffen and take a threatening step forward. There’s a reason I’m not supposed to attack Zayden, but it’s hard to remember with how fuzzy my head is.
Oh, wait. Rachel.
I can’t get kicked out just for rearranging Zayden’s face, no matter how punchable that face is.
Blaze’s expression turns livid, and he gets up too, stepping into Zayden’s personal space. “You want to be very, very fucking careful what you say.”
Zayden crosses his arms, but he backs away a few steps. “Never thought I’d see the day Blaze Bouchard gets cucked by some no-name loser.”
“Shut up, Zayden,” Asch interrupts. “You’re fucking drunk.” Asch might be the only one in the vicinity who isn’t.
“In vino veritas!” Zayden shouts back. “That slut spreads her legs for all the guys, she fucking stabs Declan, but you defend her? She’s a used-up whore, a?—”
Blaze lunges forward, but Zayden is ready for the attack. He ducks back, running across the field while Blaze tries to steady himself.
“How’s your dad going to feel if he knows that you’re slumming it with her?” Zayden calls out.
Slumming it? With Pandora Pavone? She’s too good for any of these fucking losers.
I itch to join Blaze.
Pandora isn’t a whore, or a slut.
She’s fucking beautiful, and exciting, and she’s fun, and…
I look down at my hand, with the bruised knuckles and the missing finger. I groan and rub my eyes.
I’m not supposed to like her.
I’m not supposed to care.
But I’m fucking furious, and I’m not sure if it’s anger or the alcohol making my head hot.
“My dad would congratulate me,” Blaze snaps back.
Asch meets my gaze, and he shakes his head.
Whatever. He might not want to get involved, but I do. It’s not like Pandora needs me to defend her. She doesn’t, and she’d probably get offended if she knew we were doing just that.
But I’m not going to let Zayden talk shit about her.
I take a step forward, deciding I don’t give a fuck about the consequences. Blaze will overrule anything Zayden tries to do to me.
Before I can take more than a few steps in Zayden’s direction, something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. Even though I know I shouldn’t take my eyes off of Zayden, I look anyway.
“Uh, hey, Franklin?” Tate says to the ground.
No, not the ground. To Franklin, because Franklin is lying on the lawn, the fire highlighting his open, gasping mouth.
“Fuck!” I sprint over to him, almost tripping over my own feet in the process. “I thought you said that shit was fake!”
“It’s synthetic, man. It’s always synthetic,” Brock says, his cheeks flushed. “I didn’t?—”
“Call 911,” I say, then shake my head. “Shit, that’ll take too long. Asch, are you sober enough to drive him?” Fuck knows the rest of us aren’t .
“Help me get him up,” Asch says, and while I recognize the alarm in his voice, he stays calm enough to help me pull Franklin up.
Franklin tries to help, but his wheezing breaths are getting more concerning by the second. His face is red, and I see raised bumps around his mouth.
“Hold on, man,” I tell him. “Just hang on.”