17. River
RIVER
“It’s still cafeteria food,” I point out. “But the pasta’s better.”
I’ve barely touched it, though.
I haven’t had much of an appetite lately, not with wondering if my mom’s even still alive—and what the fallout from the incident with the dean is going to be.
I don’t think Dean Stringer is going to risk pissing off the Bouchards and the Pavones, but I also don’t know if he’s going to let the entire thing go without so much as a word.
The cafeteria is crowded with the lunch rush. It’s too cold to sit outside, never mind the light layer of snow that’s been accumulating all day.
I’ve been avoiding the tunnels connecting all the university buildings, but I see their appeal now. Nobody wants to go out there in this weather.
“Fuck, I’ve got class in half an hour, but with my luck, I’ll get lost on my way there,” Bobbi complains. “I swear, this campus was designed to be confusing.”
“I can walk you there,” I offer.
“Thanks.” She smiles at me. “Transferring has been such a pain. Dyschord is giving me hell about counting all my previous credits, too. Look, I know it was a shittier school, but I did learn about microbiology!”
“Lucky you,” I tell her. I give up on the food and get up. “Let’s get out of here. I’m pretty familiar with the layout, but the tunnels can still be tricky.” I place the plate into the washing tray with a sigh. “What building are you headed to? Bio?”
“Yep.” Bobbi picks up her rather large bag. It looks like it’s holding textbooks, the old school kind that were common before everybody switched to ebooks. When she notices me staring, she laughs. “I overpack. And I’ve got some of my kit in here, in case I want to hit the gym afterward.”
It looks like a lot to carry around, but I’m not the one who has to do it.
“You know that most of the books are electronic, right?” I ask her, leading her out of the cafeteria and toward the closest entrance to the tunnels beneath the school. “You don’t have to carry around those books.”
“Honestly? I’ve got a hard time reading the screens. Paper works better for me.” She grunts as she adjusts her backpack. “Even if they cost $200 each and weigh a ton. I tell myself it’s extra weight training.”
We head downstairs, and the tunnels are packed with other students. Just a few weeks ago, they’d been practically empty.
We’ve made it to the first intersection when my phone buzzes.
Bobbi’s phone rings, too, as does everybody else’s in the tunnel.
We exchange a glance, then each go for our phone.
Dyschord Updates—All Students, Read Now!
It’s probably some weather alert or something equally mundane, but I open the message anyway.
It’s not a weather alert.
There are several pictures in the message, and I scroll through them as I try to make sense of what I’m seeing.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I groan, flipping back to the first image.
There are five pictures and a video attached to the message.
Keegan, naked and crying. The images I’d originally seen on Pandora’s phone have been edited to fix the lighting. The tears on Keegan’s face are more pronounced than before.
Around me, students gasp. Some of them start laughing.
Several of them hit play on the video, where Keegan’s begging has been remixed into a catchy song.
“Wow,” Bobbi whispers. “That’s. Um.”
“Holy fuck,” some guy yells. “Isn’t this that Chaos douchebag?”
“Yeah. He beat up Collin last year,” somebody responds.
Somehow that information doesn’t surprise me.
I’d wonder what the hell Pandora was thinking to release these, but then, I don’t really have to think too hard. She’s hell-bent on getting revenge any way she can on everyone who touched her, and now that the storm has passed for me, Blaze, and Asch, she’s turned to the frat at large.
This is going to cause problems.
Pandora’s box has been opened, that’s for sure, but there’s no hope hanging around for the people who had targeted her.
“He’s one of my frat brothers,” I tell Bobbi.
In other words: I should really care about this, but I don’t. Or rather, I do care because now he might try to get back at Pandora for utterly humiliating him in front of everyone on campus.
He shouldn’t have shared those videos of Pandora with Stringer.
“Shit. This is…” Bobbi bites her lip. “It’s not funny. I know it’s not. But I’m kind of impressed. Who could hack the entire student body mailing list to send this out?”
I can think of one person off the top of my head.
Anastasia Voronkov.
I wonder what she knows, or if she’s helping Pandora because she wants to. The Pavones and Voronkovs have been friends for a long time, and Anastasia is only a little younger than Pandora.
“No idea,” I say. “But whoever did this to Keegan has balls of steel, never mind sending it out to everyone on campus. He must’ve really pissed someone off.”
Somebody in the tunnel approaches me, and I immediately tense. Bobbi subtly gets into a fighting stance, too.
It’s a student I know from my engineering classes. He waves his phone in front of my face. “This is Keegan, right? Your frat brother? Is this for real?”
“It looks pretty real to me,” I tell him. “Poor guy.”
“Poor guy?” another student asks, smirking. “Keegan had it coming. Just wish I could’ve seen all of it.”
I wonder how many people Keegan has pissed off.
It seems like the Kappa Alpha fraternity is pretty good at making enemies.
“As interesting as this is,” Bobbi says, “I probably can’t use it as an excuse for being late. Although good luck keeping this next class focused.”
“Yeah,” I say, glancing back down at my phone before shoving it in my pocket. “Let’s go.” I lead us to the next turn through the tunnels, where foot traffic has slowed to a crawl as everyone checks their phones.
The song keeps blaring, over and over in a strange choir as everyone plays it. Some people start humming it too, laughing as they do.
We’re near the biology building when I hear somebody running behind me.
“Oh! River! River!” Pandora calls out. That’s all the warning I get before she half-tackles me from behind and wraps her arms around me.
I grunt, nearly losing my balance. “Pandora,” I say. “Did you see the pics of Keegan?”
“Hmm?” Pandora shakes her head. “What pics? Did something happen?”
Bobbi lets out a small, disbelieving laugh. “Did you forget your phone? They got sent out to the entire student body.”
Pandora steps away from me and pats her hoodie pocket. “Huh. Shoot, I think I did. River, call Samantha and ask her if my phone is there.”
I roll my eyes and don’t even pretend to follow orders.
“Somebody must have really hated him,” Bobbi says. She shows her phone screen to Pandora. “This is nasty.”
Pandora wrinkles her nose. “Oof. Yeah, sending out naked pics of people is just not cool.” She grabs my hand, her pinky directly over the stump of where mine would have been.
I try not to grimace at the stark reminder. It’s not like I need to be warned about what happens to people who piss off Pandora Pavone. She’s been going full throttle since the night at the gym, and it doesn’t seem like she’s going to back down any time soon.
Maybe after we deal with Ezio, some of the need to lash out at the world will abate, but until then… I pity the people who get in her way.
“Never mind the rats,” I say. “He really did piss off the wrong person.”
All of us did.
“I didn’t realize you were a student here,” Pandora says to Bobbi, her hand tightening on mine. “And now you and River are… friends?”
The possessiveness of the gesture takes me off guard, and I wonder if I’ve done something to make Pandora think I’m interested in Bobbi.
Never mind that Pandora would cut my balls off if I strayed.
“Yeah, we are,” I confirm. “I was just walking her to class so she didn’t get lost in the tunnels. It’s too damn cold out there.”
“I would have been miserable out there. But, sorry, who are you?” Bobbi asks, giving Pandora a once-over.
Pandora digs her nails into my skin, and this time I do wince. “I don’t know. Who am I, River?”
“My girlfriend, Pandora,” I say, glancing sidelong at Pandora.
My girlfriend, who’s feeling threatened by another woman, apparently. I’ll have to reassure her later, or I’ll be the one with rats climbing all over my balls.
“Ah.” Bobbi scratches her chin. She’s a few inches taller than Pandora, and although she’s wearing a sweater, I remember how well-muscled she is. Pandora keeps fit, but I don’t think she’d have a chance against Bobbi in a fair fight.
When does Pandora ever fight fair, though?
“Nice to meet you, Pandora,” Bobbi says. “You’re lucky to have River. He’s got one hell of a right hook.”
“Yes, I also look for the ability to punch my lights out when picking a partner,” Pandora answers breezily.
“She’s not looking for a partner,” I say, squeezing Pandora’s hand.
I’ll definitely have to reassure her, and sooner rather than later before she can think up something to remind me that I’m hers.
“See you later, Bobbi,” I add. I tug at Pandora’s hand and drag her down one of the side tunnels. “Where are you heading, Pandora?”
“I was going to go to class,” Pandora says, glancing back over her shoulder. “It’s kind of rude of you to ditch your friend like that, River.”
I’ll need to apologize to Bobbi for the abrupt departure later. But I’m more worried about Pandora than I am about someone I barely know, and with how everything has been…
It’s not even that I’m worried that she’ll lash out at me.
I’m more worried about what any potential instability might do to her.
I continue to pull Pandora along the tunnel until we reach a remote spot without other students.
Pandora glances around, her eyes landing on a storage locker. “Huh, I think this is where—”
I don’t give her the chance to finish the sentence.
I shove her against the wall, my lips colliding with hers in a harsh, demanding kiss. “There is nothing to be worried about,” I say against her mouth. “Not a single thing. I’m not interested in anyone but you. Understand?”
Pandora groans and grips my shirt. “I don’t. You were getting awfully close with Bobbi, who didn’t even know who I was.”