Page 54 of River of Deceit

I smile. “Yeah. Me. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. It’s nothing,” she says, which is so obviously a lie I roll my eyes.

“Okay, try again. You’re crying out here instead of in the privacy of your dorm room. Last time I checked, public crying is usually the opposite of fine.”

Carly scoffs and shakes her head. “Fine. I’m not fine. Can you go away now?”

At least she sassed back at me.

“Nope! Because maybe I’m overstepping?—”

“You are,” she mumbles. I ignore her and continue.

“But the first time we met, you were also not fine, in a really bad way. And I know I’m a bitch, but I’m not the kind of bitch who sees somebody crying, especially when I probably know what the reason is, and does nothing.”

“I could be crying for entirely different reasons,” Carly mutters. Then she sighs. “You really want to know? Fine.”

She passes the paper to me. It’s an official looking printout, with the school’s logo printed at the top.

Dear Ms. Calhoun,

After thorough investigation into the incident you described, we have found no evidence of misconduct. We have, however, learned of attempts to slander the ΚΑΩΣ fraternity and demand that you cease and desist all such speech.

This is your first and only warning that filing false reports will result in expulsion from this institution. If you are incapable of adhering to the high standards required of students at Dyschord University, you may wish to seek education elsewhere.

Regards,

Percival Stringer

Dean of Dyschord University

I stare at the letter, my jaw dropping.

What the fuck is this.

“Are they saying you should drop out because you wereroofied?” I ask. I can feel my blood boiling.

“Well, they’re saying I should shut up, and maybe also drop out,” Carly says. “No proof that there was any misconduct at the party filled with underage drinking!”

“No, fuck that,” I say fiercely. “The school won’t do anything? Well, I will.”

Carly gives me a strange expression. “What? What would you even do?”

Is she pretending she didn’t see me cut Asch on our walk back to the dorms? Or was she so out of it that she’s already forgotten?

I pull my phone out, where I’ve left River on read. I swipe away and go to the contacts. “Give me your contact info, Carly. If nobody else believes you, well, I believe you. I’ll find out which of those fuckers drugged you, and I’ll make him eat his own balls.”

Not literally. …I think.

Literally would be better, actually. How hard is it to make a guy do that? He’d be in pain after the whole castration bit, but maybe he’d be so out of it that he’d swallow his balls while I stuffed them down his throat.

I should ask my aunt about it. I think she’s ripped a few balls off.

“No, um.” Carly shakes her head. “Don’t do that for me. You’ll get kicked out too.” She wipes the tears from her face. “It’s nice that you believe me. A bunch of the other women don’t even do that.”

I wrap an arm around her shoulder. “Yeah, well. I know that guys are all dicks and assholes. But I’ve got your back, Carly.”

She hesitates, but she rattles off her phone number. I text her so she has mine. “I’m Pandora, like from Greek myth, but don’t worry about unleashing a box of evils or whatever. I only terrorize assholes.”