Chapter 3 - Scandal

WARNING: This chapter contains content that some may find offensive/inappropriate.

Kenzie’s first night in the dorm room with Savannah was restless to say the least. Her head was swimming in everything she’d learned on her first day on campus, which mostly consisted of discovering that her roommate was her best friend’s youngest sister, who’d seemed to have developed a dark side.

Plus, sleeping in a wig was proving to be very bothersome, but she couldn’t remove it in the event Savannah woke up in the middle of the night, or someone came into the room (the locks could fail), and saw her sleeping with a different hair color. The same went for her contacts – these were safe to sleep in, but Kenzie had always had a phobia of the things sliding behind her eyeball during slumber.

She wasn’t even covered up, despite it being winter (though winter in Lucky Palms got to a low of about fifty degrees). It was hot and stuffy in this room, and the aroma of Savannah’s paints was oppressing. At least when she was in a hotel solving a case, she was able to sleep halfway decent.

It seemed like she’d only been asleep for an hour or two before her alarm clock went off, signaling the beginning of the tedious life of a college student. Classes, socializing, classes, lunch, classes, socializing, classes, back to the dorm.

Kenzie didn’t miss that part of college at all. She groaned aloud as she lethargically sat up in bed.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she staggered toward the bathroom across the hall. Being a dorm, the bathrooms were shared (one for men, one for women), and a few people were already coming out of them.

Kenzie sauntered into the women’s bathroom, but halted short in her tracks. She heard a horrible retching sound coming from one of the stalls. Kenzie crinkled her nose up in disgust. What the hell was going on, now?

Ignoring the sounds, Kenzie took care of business in the stall farthest away from the sounds, then washed her hands. Normally she’d ask if the person was all right, but considering no one else seemed to bother, she figured she should stay in character and avoid asking as well. For all she knew, this was a common occurrence.

After getting dressed, Kenzie trudged toward her first class. She tried to pay attention, but really, journalism was something she was more than familiar with. She’d been on the school newspaper in high school, and she’d even been writing for a pastime lately. She was trying to get some stories published, but so far there were no takers.

But still, considering she knew basically every grammatical rule out there, this introductory lesson was beyond mind-numbing. And she was more than accustomed to interviewing people – she did it all the time as a detective.

One of the worst parts of being undercover, Kenzie could tell, was keeping up the appearance of a seriously eager student focused on obtaining her degree (though of course some seemed to not care at all and were only there to get a decent job later in life by having a fancy piece of paper saying they’d earned it). She’d already done that, twice. She decided then and there that tonight, no exceptions, she was going to consult Savannah about what she meant when she described the sorority that she’d apparently been exiled from. It could have a major connection to this case. The sooner she solved the case, the sooner she could get back to her real self.

The day seemed to drag on like an unending, well, school day. Kenzie had thought she’d left those days behind long ago. But alas, here she was again, slugging away with her nose in a textbook, being assigned homework that seemed meaningless (which, in this case, it basically was). Plus, she was so tired after her restless night that she almost nodded off a few times.

When it finally ended, Kenzie was heading back to her dorm when someone traipsed by waving a flier in her face.

“Come to the keg party tonight!” the guy said as he thrust the neon flier into Kenzie’s open hands. “It’ll be rockin’!”

Undoubtedly, the guy was a fraternity brother. And a keg party was not the kind of thing Kenzie wanted to go to.

But that opinion changed once she got back to her room, saw that Savannah hadn’t returned yet, and got on her (school-issued, since she didn’t want to publicly chat in the student union and wasn’t allowed to bring her own) laptop to talk to Jillian about her sister.

LifesABeach: How’s it going?

WolfKen: It would be going better if you’d told me your sister was a student here.

LifesABeach: What?

WolfKen: Your baby sister. Savannah. You know, gorgeous blue eyes and dark hair? Basically a darker version of yourself?

LifesABeach: Very funny. Look, Savannah and I haven’t exactly kept in touch, okay? None of us have.

WolfKen: What do you mean?

LifesABeach: Well, remember at your graduation, when I told you that my parents had enough problems without me finding out about Isaiah?

WolfKen: Yeah...

LifesABeach: Well, I guess it’s time you heard why. Hunter moved to Bridgeport with this dream of being a big rock star. Well, he was doing okay, until he let the fame go to his head. Girls swoon over him and, well, he’s a guy. He’s a walking elongated dick.

WolfKen: Thanks for the visual. Your point?

LifesABeach: Pun intended?

WolfKen: JILL!

LifesABeach: Sorry, but you left yourself wide open for that one. Oh wait...

WolfKen: UGH!!!

LifesABeach: I am literally cracking up over here. Okay, look, my point is, the guy’s turned into quite the ladies’ man in Bridgeport. Some pregnant girl swears up and down that he’s the one that knocked her up, so she’s filing for a paternity test, child support, the works. So that’s Hunter. Then there’s me. I finally told my parents I’m dating a vampire, plus I basically said “screw you” to my architectural designer degree to become a fashion designer. My parents don’t think that’s a “real” career, not like what they have, so they aren’t too happy about it. Add in that I’m dating a vampire, and they’re flipping their lid.

WolfKen: Yeah, Savannah did mention that, and she said your parents felt the same way about her major. She also said Alexis is possibly a lesbian.

LifesABeach: Oh, that’s original. Just because she’s always been a tomboy, she HAS to be a lesbian, right? No, Alex isn’t like that. If anything, she’s the favorite right now. Savannah told you that, but she obviously didn’t tell you about herself.

WolfKen: So why don’t you tell me?

It took Jillian a while to respond, but Kenzie could tell that she was typing. It seemed to be an eternity before her reply flashed across the screen.

LifesABeach: Savannah was a lot like you in high school, only more “sporty.” She was a cheerleader, but she was very serious about her grades. She was kind of a nerd, and she graduated high up in her class. She got accepted into that sorority without hardly trying. But things went downhill fast.

WolfKen: How so?

LifesABeach: Well, sorority girls aren’t always perfect little princesses like most people believe. Remember how you and I refused to join one in college? Well, everything we heard is true, at least with this sisterhood. They have this serious set of rules they enforce, and if you break them, they kick you out of the house.

WolfKen: Hazing?

LifesABeach: No idea. Savannah told me some things, but she didn’t mention anything about hazing. Anyway, things were going fine until these girls threw a party. There were drinks, and Savannah wasn’t much of a drinker. It didn’t take much for her to get tipsy.

WolfKen: Uh oh...

LifesABeach: Yeah. So, long story short, she got drunk and ended up sleeping with some guy she didn’t even know...and it was her first time. She kind of remembers who he is, but not his name. Mostly blurry memories. But I guess one of the biggest rules of being in that sorority is that you have to be a virgin. Savannah, in her drunken state, gave her virginity away to a random guy, and she got caught.

WolfKen: No wonder she’s bitter toward those girls. She called them hypocrites, too.

LifesABeach: Please, you can’t tell me every single girl in that sorority house is a virgin. Half of them have steady boyfriends from, like, two years ago. No way they haven’t done the deed.

This was the last thing that Kenzie had expected to hear. Savannah gave her virginity to a complete stranger, in a drunken stupor? It seemed so unlike her.

All she could think about when she thought of Savannah was the sweet, innocent little girl from her childhood and teen years. She couldn’t believe that she could have fallen so far.

WolfKen: Some guy slapped a flier in my hands earlier, inviting me to a keg party at the fraternity house.

LifesABeach: You should go. But not to drink. To mingle. Keep up your cover. If you get invited to one of those things, it means someone really wants you to be there. Or they could just be handing them out to everyone they see. But whatever. The point is, you should go. And I guarantee Savannah will be there. Do us all a favor and keep an eye on her.

WolfKen: I guess it would look more suspicious if I didn’t go...all right, fine. But I’m not drinking. I’ll keep an eye on Savannah, and maybe I’ll get some answers.

LifesABeach: Good luck!

Good luck. Yes, Kenzie found this parting to be appropriate. Because she knew she was going to need all the luck she could get to solve this case.

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