13. When I grow up, I want to be a tsunami #2
“I didn’t know how you felt about him until I saw you last night.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was hovering around you. I think he wanted to vouch for you.”
I gag. “I’m sorry you were stuck with him.”
“Me too. I may have kneed him in the balls after the banquet.”
“Wynter!” I cackle gleefully. “No way! When?”
“I blame the adrenaline.”
“Don’t. Embrace it. That guy’s a rapist— Wait. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No. He tried to get into my apartment. I stopped it before things could escalate.”
“He knows where you live?” I exclaim.
“One of his exes is a neighbor. We’ve seen each other around the building.” Wynter’s fingers smooth over Athena’s face, but there’s no comfort to be found in pottery. “You knew… about Dyers?”
“He’s part of the reason I wanted to join the Veronians.”
“You think he got away with sexual assault because of them?”
“Absolutely.”
“But the other one didn’t. What was his name? Ben Sanders?”
“He got shuffled along to another chapter.”
“Why do we want to be a part of a secret society that has the power to do that again?”
“Because I want to unravel it from the inside out and make it my bitch.”
While using it to get my BFF into the White House.
“Sounds good to me. Think it’s possible?”
I take a sip of coffee as I contemplate the best answer I can give her. “I think it’s possible to make waves. Given time.”
“Is that enough?”
“No. Tegan Fowler, do you know her?”
“Yeah. She’s part of the reason I came to Oakwood. She’s a chess grandmaster. We played in competitions sometimes.”
“Huh. I only know her obliquely. We had business negotiations together. Until she moved.”
We share a look.
“The way it was all hushed up, I knew something was going on. I was there the night it happened. One second, there were whispers and then dead silence.” I study the ladybug that flutters onto the kitchen counter and smile as it ambles over to my hand.
“I’d already heard about the Veronians, but I knew then and there I’d pledge just to make sure that kind of shit wouldn’t happen again. Not on my watch.”
“That’s a lot to put on yourself.”
“You have to do something with your life.” When she snorts, I ask, “You’re in the Pies, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I regret it now. The Oakwood chapter is brutal. I transferred from Columbia and they were nice and kind there. It was so wholesome.” She pulls a face. “It’s a bitchfest in Poughkeepsie.”
“Why are you sticking with them?”
“Because Tegan wouldn’t tell me what happened to her and I keep asking around.”
“Found anything out?”
“From what I can tell, it was just another random event. The same old bullshit sororities host to make themselves feel better about believing they’re superior to the rest of the student body. But afterward, everything shut down. It was systematic. They had protocols in place.”
“That cover-up was professional. When Tegan left the campus after the police could find no evidence to pin on them?” I hiss between my teeth. “It riled me up something fierce. I spent all summer figuring out ways to help her, but this was the only thing I could think of.”
I can’t bring up Shay and his ambitions, but my intentions with the secret society have always been multifaceted.
She clears her throat. “I should maybe introduce myself.”
“Huh? I know who you are.”
“Well, I’m Wynter Kinnock, sure. But… have you heard of the Satan’s Sinners’ MC?” There’s awareness in her expression. It says “don’t try to lie.”
“Yes. They’re allied with people I know in the city.”
“Your family. The Five Points? I’m the daughter of the Prez.”
“No offense but… you?”
That earns me a snort. “I know. Not an ad for biker spawn, am I?”
“Mostly, you look like a bookworm.”
“Probably because I didn’t know my birth parents until I was pretty much fully grown.”
“That makes sense. So, um, yeah. If you’re the Prez’s daughter…”
“Rex,” she offers, as if she thinks I’m testing her.
“Your mom’s Rachel Laker?”
“She’s why I’m here.”
“She’s an alumnus?”
“No. Before… I attended Juilliard and Columbia in a combined liberal arts major.”
“Wait, aren’t you studying to be an attorney?”
Her grin’s sheepish. “Yeah. Oakwood’s law program leads the country so I transferred. Guess I wanted to follow in her footsteps.”
“You’re a junior, right?”
She nods. “I hated majoring in English. God, I felt like crap for constantly changing my mind. First schools, then majors…”
“That’s why you wanted to become a Veronian?”
Sheepishly, she mutters, “Wanted to prove I could stick to something while maybe helping my family in the future."
I whistle. “The dumb shit we do.”
“At least you meant well. I wanted to prove that I’m not a stupid kid by being a stupid kid.”
“Parents are duty bound to always see us as their stupid kids. It’s in the job description.”
“Last night, I felt as if I were writing their job description. ‘Must corral wayward nerd daughter who thinks a secret society is a way to impress her cool parents.’” When my nose wrinkles, she chortles. “You can think it. Thank you for not saying it.”
“What?!”
“The only thing cool about me is that my hands never get warm.” At my chuckle, she sneaks me a smile. “You doing okay?”
She deserves my candor: “No. But I will be.” And not only because Maxim is heading over here later.
“How do you know that?”
“Because we have to get on with it. Or we freeze.” I run my finger around the rim of Shay’s coffee cup. “I truly believe he’d have killed me last night.”
“That’s what scares me. More than… well, it rammed home what they are. I’m frightened of losing myself to this numbskull idea of mine, Victoria. My parents would think I was cool if I suddenly started appreciating Metallica. Here I am, upping the stakes to Shonda Rimes’ level suspense.”
I stick out my pinkie finger. “Let’s make ourselves a deal. If we think we’re going too far, then we yank each other back and make the other see sense.”
Relief colors her cheeks. “That sounds like a good deal to me. What if… we don’t, though.”
“Then we stick together.”
“Agreed.”
As we curl our pinkies together, I ask, “Do you think I’m a monster?”
“I think we’re about to get into bed with a whole bunch of monsters and they’re not called Mike and Sulley.”
“It’s bigger than us.”
“So are countries. They still get decimated by tsunamis.”
“You want to be a tsunami?”
Her gaze drops to the cup then climbs back up to me. “Yeah. I do.”
“For Tegan?” I whisper.
“And for those like her who never stood a chance.”
“So Dyers and the douches he’s buddies with finally feel the retribution they deserve.”
We both swallow, hearing the vow and knowing that we’ll abide by it.
Even though until yesterday, neither of us had said hello to one another in the street…