Dirty Rush (38 page)

“Whatever. He's still a dick,” I announced.

“Who knows if he even remembers. He's hot, girls want to fuck him all the time. The only reason I even know this is because when I pledged and I met Colette, and saw how cold she was, I asked some of the seniors if Colette ever cracked or got emotional about anything. And this one sister Jenny, who was from your sister's pledge class, told me that story and said that was the last time anyone had ever seen her fall apart or show emotion about anything. They said it was like seeing a unicorn.”

We all laughed.

“So, what's the plan? We need to prove Taylor's innocent. Can we get the original video?” Jonah asked.

“Why do we need the original copy?” Jane shot at him, “We've all seen it, everyone's fuckin' seen it. It's on the Internet, helllooo.”

Jonah stood up, “Yeah, no shit, we've all seen it. But there might be more to the video that we haven't seen.”

“Like what?” Jane asked.

I stood up and took off Jonah's old swim team hoodie from high school that I'd thrown on before the girls got there. I'd been cold earlier, but now it was getting warm in his room, or I was getting excited, or nervous. I was having a lot of feelings.

“I think it's possible that there is more to the video. There has to be more to the story.”

“That's what I thought,” Meg said. “It almost seems like the girl was following directions. Ew, it's so creepy.”

“Colette is such a whore, you guys!” Jane shouted.

“She's not a whore, she's just a drug dealer protecting her turf,” I offered, trying to calm the group. “Colette obviously wants me taken down and she's using the people around her as pawns in her game.”

“Like she's done with me for fucking years,” Meg interjected. “I'm always the one that has to clean up her messes with guys and other girls in the fucking house because she says I'm good with confrontation. If she wants to walk around swinging her shiny fucking hair in everyone's face and ‘giving the best hand job on campus,' then that's fine, but I'm done with all of this bullshit. Taylor, she told me after Christmas break
that you were cheating on Jack, and I didn't believe her but I told her I did.”

“What?!” I immediately felt the sting. Colette had been hatching a plan for my demise slowly and meticulously since the day I met all of the BZ girls. Maybe even before I got here.

“I'm sorry, Tay.”

“No, it's fine. It's not your fault, guys. You guys are all here,” I looked at my three friends, rapt with the drama of it all, “because I trust you. I don't trust anyone else right now.”

“Whatever you need us to do, I'm down,” Jonah said, taking a swig of beer.

“Me too,” Jane and Meg said almost in unison.

“Okay, then. Let's head over to the house. I don't think we have much time here. Meg, can we confirm that Colette will not be at the house, but Nancy will?”

I knew Nancy wasn't a threat. She was our house mother, and didn't exactly know or care about the petty house dramas that went down under her “supervision.” Meg took a second to think, then quickly sent a text and got a response.

“Yep. She supposedly just got to Steph and Liv's for a pre-game situation. She should be out for the night. And duh, Ole Nance is always at the house. Twenty bucks she's in the kitchen eating fettuccine alfredo that she made for herself by herself.”

“Poor thing,” Jonah spat out.

“Alright then,” I said as the girls started to get up and make their way toward the door. “Meg, give your keys to J. If you weren't too drunk to drive yourself here before, which I think you probs were, then you definitely are now. So finish your beers and let's go.”

“Go where?” Meg
asked as she fished her car keys out of her green mini Longchamp bag.

“To the BZ house,” I said.

“Oh . . . right. Remind me why?”

“Jesus, come on,” Jane pushed Meg out into the hall and off we went.

“I'm kiddiinngg!!!” laughed Meg as she finished her beer and chucked it into the trash.

“W
ait, why do I have to do the boring-as-fuck job?”

Jonah wasn't happy that his accomplice duties involved waiting in a parked car on the side of the house, but we needed someone to have a clear view of the front and back yards, keeping watch on who came in or out.

“Jonah, boys are not allowed into the house unless they are family, and you know this,” I told him as he swerved left onto Hilldale Ave.

“So while you guys are in Colette's room trying to ‘find Meg's lost necklace' slash search her computer for the video, you want me to just scour the entire basement for the Adderall supply?” Jane sounded apprehensive.

I turned around to face Jane. “There's a bathroom in the far right corner of the basement and the door is painted green. Search every drawer, cupboard, and cranny in that room.”

“Why do you think it's in there?” Jane asked.

“Um, I've seen Kenadie going in and out of there randomly.”

“Got it.”

We slowly crept up to the BZ house and I had Jonah pull
around and park on the corner closer to the side door, in case we needed to rush out of the house.

When we got inside, it felt eerily empty. I was expecting to have to navigate through girls and conversations, but luckily, it seemed like everyone was pre-gaming.

“Hi, Meg. I thought everyone was at the twins' tonight?” I heard Nancy say from behind us.

“Hey, Nancers, we're heading to the twins' place in a sec. Just needed to stop in and grab a necklace Colette borrowed from me. My look won't really come together without it; you understand.”

“Of course, darling,” Nancy said with a smile, pulling her glass of white wine to her mouth and taking a long sip, still holding the smile and looking at us while she sipped. She was so weird.

We all just kind of looked at each other. I could tell Jane was about to start laughing. I knew we had to get going.

“Well,” Nancy finally said, “I don't wanna keep y'all. I'll be in my room if anyone needs a tampon or anything. Just kidding!”

“Ew, Nancy. Please,” said a genuinely disturbed Meg as we made our way toward the stairs.

“We all know what's happening and what we're doing, yeah?” I quietly asked them.

“Si, señorita,” Jane said. Meg nodded.

“Okay then; Meg and I will be as fast as we possibly can and you should too,” I whispered to Jane. “When you find pills, if you find pills, take photos and get the hell out. If anyone sees you down there, say that Meg asked you to find some old party decorations or some shit. I don't know, make something up.”

“Gotcha,” Jane said and we parted ways.

“Good luck, text me if you need to,” I said to her. Meg and I headed upstairs to Colette's
room. She lived in the biggest room in the house, obviously. Supposedly it was even bigger than Nancy's. And it was all the way at the end of the long, dimly lit hall.

Her door was closed and locked.

“Fuck.”

“It's fine, I have a key, duh,” Meg said. “She made me a copy in case of an emergency. When she gave it to me she said that I was her best friend. I believed her but it also made me sad. You know?”

“I don't know, Meg. Just open the door, please.”

“Okay, okay.”

She put the key in, turned it, and we were in.

The room glowed in a warm yellow tone from the streetlights outside her window. Everything in her room was white or beige or gray. Everything.

“Jesus, why is there no color in here?” I asked as I wandered around her room, trying to take it in.

Meg didn't respond. She was already at Colette's desk, opening the laptop. She was the perfect partner for this mission. She was an engineering major, which meant she spent her days dealing with computers. It was like she went on autopilot as soon as we stepped into that room. For her, this was a test.

I locked the door from the inside, then made my way over to Meg. She was scrolling through files with a search tab open. Despite her drunkenness, Meg was doing it all so fast. It was amazing to watch.

“How
do you know what to look for?”

“Oh my God. Okay!” Meg shouted.

“Shhhhhhh. Are you kidding? What?” I whispered.

“Here.”

“What?”

“Found it.”

“Oh my God.”

“Dumb bitch called the file ‘sex tape-full,' and put it in a folder called ‘PRIVATE.' I thought Colette would be a harder nut to crack.”

Suddenly the monitor went black and a play button appeared in the middle of the screen. Meg clicked it. It started the same. There were the guys sitting on the bed, just like I'd seen before, except now their faces weren't blurred out. Oh shit, I knew these guys, they were all Jack's friends and housemates. One of them was Todd Ridgley, who was actually a really nice and funny kid.

“Ooooooh my FUCK!” Meg said in a hissing whisper, “Insaaaaane!! Todd, Teddy, and Nick. Those fucking sluts.”

Then the girl in the mask appeared.

“I know, I'm dying too. We need to see if there's more footage at the end. We need to see if it goes on past when Todd comes. Todd comes last, right?” I couldn't remember.

“Yeah, I think so.”

Meg sped up the footage, past the blow jobs, until the girl stood up, tackily wiped off her face and mouth with her hand, then,
TING TING
. My phone went off.

Jane 8:49PM
Not here. Not anywhere.

“Fuck. Pause this. Pause it!” I said to Meg. The video froze on the girl, her
hands rising toward the mask. Holy shit. I had to deal with Jane and I knew what to do immediately, like I was prepared for this to happen. I went to my text list and tapped on Kelly's name.

Taylor 8:51PM
Did you ever hide the drugs anywhere else besides the basement?

A bubble popped up within seconds. Thank you, Kelly.

“What the fuck are you doing? Who are you texting? I'm gonna start putting this on the thumb drive,” Meg said.

“Shhh, yes, do that! I need to deal with this. Jane can't find anything down there.” Then,

Kelly 8:52PM
One time I hid some shit in the coffin in the attic

Kelly 8:52PM
Look INSIDE the coffin under the cushioning

“Where would there be a coffin in this house?” I asked Meg.

“Duh, you don't remember getting into the coffin at initiation?”

“Oh shit! Wow, of course I do.”

“It's in the attic, I think. Are you still texting Jane?”

“Yeah, one sec,” I said, looking at my phone and switching back to my conversation with Jane.

Taylor 8:55PM
Go into the attic and find the coffin. Look inside the coffin. If you have to break it apart, do it

“Okay, play it,” I said, sliding my phone back into my back pocket.

The girl's hands reached the mask, and she slid it off.

Meg gasped loudly, “What the fuck? Kenadie?!”

My eyes stayed glued on the screen. Kenadie smiled and the guys in the room all gave her high-fives. Kenadie started laughing and cheering along with them.

“Nice job, Ken. Baby Jesus would be proud,” said an off-screen female voice.

The camera spun to reveal Colette in the corner of the room, wearing a hoodie. A BZ hoodie, in fact.

Redemption.

M
eg pulled the drive out of Colette's computer and we got the hell out of her room, locking it behind us. We sped through the hall, past two girls who luckily seemed pretty drunk. Meg offered them an awkward “Hiiiii,” but I just kept on moving.

Jane met us outside on the side of the house about five minutes after we got there.

“I found that shit! I have pictures!” she shouted as she ran up to us.

“Yes! Oh my God, okay. We found the video; it was Kenadie. They covered her tattoo,” I said, brimming with joy.

We were ten steps out the front door when Colette and Kenadie pulled up in Colette's red Jeep Wrangler.

“Holy shit that was close,” I whispered to Meg.

Colette smiled, got out of her car quickly, and beelined for us.

“Oh, hey,” she said in her nice voice.

“Hi.”

“Um . . . do you need something, Taylor?”

“Nope. We're good.”

“But why are you here?”

“Well, Colette, last time I checked, I was still a BZ sister.”

“Technically, yes,” Kenadie chimed in.

“I was just stopping by to see some friends,” I said gesturing to Jane and Meg. “Or is that not allowed anymore?”

“Whatever. It's actually good that you're here,” she said, avoiding my question. “I was going to text you but now I guess I don't have to. You need to be here tomorrow morning at ten thirty.”

“Um, alright. For what?”

“Full chapter meeting. Every sister has to be there. I think it will be a good opportunity for you to do that thing we discussed.”

“Resign . . . from the chapter?”

“. . . right.”

“It's fine, Colette. They all know what's up. You don't have to talk in code.”

“Good. Then I'll be frank. The head of the Panhel will be in attendance, and we expect that you will take full responsibility for your actions, so the rest of us can put this whole mess behind us.”

“Totally get it. I want this to be over just as much as you do.”

“Well, that's real good to hear,” agreed Kenadie in her
sickeningly sweet drawl. She actually did look like me if you took away her stupid face, put a wig on her head, and covered up that tattoo. As I walked past them to get back to Jonah's car, Colette touched my arm.

“Taylor. You'll be missed.”

It took everything I had not to punch her in the boob. I just smiled, nodded, and kept walking. I had what I needed and there was nothing to be gained by getting into it right now. I had twelve hours to figure out the best way to set the record straight and clear my name.