Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
BAILEY
Charles paces back and forth in the living room, hair a mess from the number of times he’s shoved his hands through it. The air is tense, guilt hanging heavy over us all.
“How?” Charles explodes again. “How didn’t anyone think to check the list?”
“Kurt should have.” Jordan shrugs. “In his defense, you didn’t think of it either.”
Our president scowls and swings back around to look out at the yard.
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Lucas says. “It’s not like they couldn’t open the windows. The dumbasses just didn’t think of it.”
The look Charles gives him silences Lucas immediately.
“Great idea, Bailey,” someone says, and I have no idea who it is, but my jaw clenches so hard I swear I crack a molar.
“Great execution, moron,” I throw back. What was that about wanting to make friends? Oops.
But what’s the point? Everyone here is intent on blaming this on me despite having nothing to do with it since that meeting forever ago.
I don’t have the energy to argue. I’d been riding a high after my weekend away, and now I’m crashing hard.
It would almost make sense to tell them about Chad now since it’s not like I could make things any worse for myself.
For Chad though … I get the impression the rest of his house will not be okay with what happened, and spilling about our relationship now isn’t the best move. I hate that the tables have turned, but he was fine with staying a secret for me. Now I need to do the same for him.
Also, despite his message saying he’ll call me, he hasn’t yet.
That doesn’t fill me with reassurance.
I’d like to think our relationship is stronger than some dumb rivalry, but the tension in the house at the moment isn’t helping all the second-guessing.
And I still haven’t heard from him.
Charles’s phone goes off with a text, and we hold our breaths, hoping it’s Zeke with an update. As much as those two claim they don’t like each other, there’s a mutual respect between them that I’m assuming comes from both being president.
He lets out a long exhale. “Brandon is home, and he’s okay.”
Like that, the tension breaks, and relief sweeps through the room.
“Don’t get too excited. He might be okay, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be reporting us to the dean.”
“Reporting us?” Kurt sounds outraged. “They’ve done a hundred times worse. We just got unlucky.”
“We were careless,” Charles argues, and I have to agree with them both. I’ve seen the air freshener prank pulled off a few times, and it’s always gone without a hitch. Of course Brandon would have to be an asthmatic, but we should have covered all bases first.
I feel sick.
“And none of you realized something was going on?” I ask.
Lucas shakes his head. “There was coughing, but we didn’t know it was anything bad until Robbie burst through the door like a damn cyborg. As soon as we saw his face, we took off.”
I don’t blame them. Robbie is enormous and terrifying on a good day.
My phone vibrates against my thigh, and after a quick glance at the screen to confirm it’s Chad, I tell the others I’m heading to bed. It’s not that late yet, but I need to get away. The guilt is stifling, and I don’t want to stick around for people to keep pointing fingers.
I close the door to my room behind me and text him back to confirm I can talk.
He calls right away, and the knot in my chest loosens.
“Hey,” I say, and hearing him breathe on the other end settles my anxiety.
“Hey.” The word is missing his usual warmth.
“You okay?”
“I don’t know. There’s … there’s too much going on I can’t keep my thoughts straight.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He doesn’t immediately say anything, and I hate that I can’t see his face to read what he’s thinking. “Is it true? Was the whole thing your idea?”
Lead sinks into my stomach. “Do you hate me?”
He swears. “Seriously?”
“Look, the guys were throwing out ideas a month or so back, and I suggested a way they could combine them. They started planning it properly a week ago, but because of you, I stayed out of it.”
More silence. Slow breathing. It’s like I can hear him thinking as loudly as if he’d responded. “I don’t know what to do.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone’s pissed. Robbie is furious, and as soon as he gets some of the other brothers on board, they’re targeting you. Someone from your house has sold you out, and I have no idea who, but they’ve basically said you planned the whole thing.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Yeah, sounds like it.”
“You believe me, right?”
“Of course.” His emphatic response at least helps to calm me.
“I don’t know how to make the others believe me though, and some of these guys—mainly ones who don’t live at the house—I don’t trust for a minute.
Some of them want hazing brought back in as the norm. They’re fucked. I’m seriously worried.”
“It’ll be okay. Give everyone a day or two, let things calm down, and then talk to them.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“You and Robbie are close, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, we’re tight. You’re right. I’m sure in a few days he’ll have calmed down.”
“Damn it,” I whisper through a laugh. “I guess we’re staying in the shadows a bit longer.” I can’t keep the ache out of my voice. The last thing I want is to tell people at the moment, but I need to. I need to be able to see him when things like this go down.
“Yeah …”
“I’m sorry,” I say again.
Finally, he thaws. “Stop saying that. It’s not your fault. We’ll work something out.”
“Okay.”
“I miss you, Princess.”
My heart almost explodes with relief. “It’s been one afternoon.”
“Exactly. A whole afternoon. This is torture.”
“Just think, by next weekend, we could be having sleepovers every night. We’re playing the long game.”
“Yeah, we are.” He yawns loudly. “I’m going to go, but I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Can’t wait.”
“Sweet dreams.”
“Good night. And, Chad? I miss you too.”
I keep waiting for the air to clear, but instead of things relaxing, the tension ratchets up to the next level.
A group of Sigmas stole Jordan’s bag and laptop when he was crossing campus the other day, and he had to fish them down from our roof.
Jordan and Lucas retaliated by egging their pledges.
We’ve had tires let out and curse words burned into the grass, and this morning, things have reached a whole new level.
I stand on the back deck and watch as Charles and Lucas attempt to get into our back shed. It’s wrapped in cling film, and the Sigmas have dragged our lawn sprinkler in there, turned it on, then taken the top part off the tap. All the things we store in there for parties will be destroyed.
Things do not look good. I hear Chad’s name passed around as often as Robbie’s, but I know for a fact he has nothing to do with it—for once.
I have no idea how I’m supposed to convince my brothers of that though, because as far as they’re concerned, if something happens, it has Doomsen written all over it.
Charles has been trying to reason with Zeke to call off his boys, but it doesn’t look like either party wants to listen, and no matter how much Charles tries to put a stop to it, things are spiraling out of control.
I jump as there’s a loud thump on the roof directly overhead, then turn and walk back inside. I guess the daily rally of water balloons is starting early. Not the worst thing they could do, but ducking balloons and carrying an umbrella to my car every day is getting old.
Once I’m dressed, there’s a message waiting on my phone from Chad.
I’ve just spent ten minutes yelling at these dumbasses about the shed. I’m sorry. This is so fucked up.
I smile sadly. This week was supposed to be amazing, and instead, it turned to hell.
Chad said Zeke is turning a blind eye to everything that’s happening, so he’s been taking control.
I’d be willing to put money down the only reason for that is if we don’t deescalate things, we’ll have to hide for the rest of the school year, and that’s way too long to go without being able to date him properly.
I have no idea what to do, and neither does Chad. We haven’t risked meeting up again, and I’m getting cranky at the lack of contact.
I shove what I need into my bag and head out.
“Class?” Lucas asks as I pass him in the hall.
“Mhmm.”
“If you give me a minute, I’ll grab my bag and walk with you.”
I shake my head and keep walking. “It’s totally fine. My car is around the block.”
“You shouldn’t be heading out alone, not with the Sigmas looking out for you.”
I whirl on him. “How do you know they’re looking out for me?”
“Whoa.” He throws his hands up. “It’s the gossip in the street.”
I narrow my eyes at him, but he doesn’t seem to be lying. “Grab your bag.”
There’s no point taking my annoyance out on the one guy who’s on my side. We manage to make it to my car without being pelted with water, but once we reach it, we shouldn’t have bothered.
The whole thing is wrapped in cling film so thick I can’t make out the blue color, and the word dickweed is spray-painted all over it.
I’m too tired to deal with it. I can’t be bothered fighting them. Even as Lucas starts to get fired up, I can’t match his anger.
Instead, I turn on my heel and walk home.
I feel so goddamn alone.
And I’m lost on how we’re going to fix this.