And not only was she pregnant, she’d been drinking and possibly taking drugs while doing so. Just great. Just freaking fantastic.
As if on cue, Savannah came into the room. Kenzie threw the things back in the trash can, but saw no point in hiding what had been left in plain sight.
Kenzie spun around to stare at Savannah accusingly. “You’re pregnant?”
“What the hell?” Savannah barked in reply. Her condition obviously explained her crankiness as well, and why she’d been so sick lately.
“Don’t bullshit me,” Kenzie growled, angry. “I saw the test, and the results, that you left in the trash can. Very easy to find, I might add.”
“So what? I’m pregnant. Is that a crime?”
“No, but...how?” Kenzie asked stupidly.
Savannah shot her a “duh” glare. “Uh...did you not get ‘the talk’ from your parents or your school?”
“I know that part...I mean, who? Who’s the father?”
“Considering I’ve only been with one guy, I think I know.”
The realization hit Kenzie like a bullet. “The guy you gave your virginity to, and you don’t even know his name?”
“It was an accident. It wasn’t my fault. Don’t judge me!”
Kenzie straddled the dresser. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Savannah wasn’t her sister, but she always felt like all of Jillian’s siblings were half hers too considering they were both inseparable since they were eight years old, and Kenzie herself was an only child. She felt helpless regarding Savannah now.
“Savannah,” she said carefully, “you shouldn’t be drinking while you’re pregnant.”
“No shit! I know that! I didn’t know I was pregnant! I missed my damn period two days ago, so I finally sucked it up and bought a pregnancy test, and when it came out positive, I took it to the doctor to confirm it. And you can see how it turned out! What am I going to do? I’m not ready to be a mom!”
Kenzie held up her hands to stop Savannah’s tirade of words, but the younger woman just covered her face with her hand as though she were ashamed of herself.
And then she mumbled something else that Kenzie hadn’t expected.
“The asshole swore he was using protection, too...”
“Uh... you remember that?”
“Yes, okay? So I wasn’t that drunk. Everyone on this campus has slept with someone except me. Have you ever heard of an eighteen-year-old virgin? No! I was tired of being a freak! I thought I fit in with the girls in the sorority, but I guess they’re just too good for anybody but their little clique! Like Warner said, they have this ‘image’ to uphold, and if I was getting fat by getting pregnant, not to mention not knowing the guy’s name, that would ‘tarnish’ their picture perfect image. Plus, they were too good for Renata and Warner, and when I became friends with them, they started treating me like shit, saying I had to choose between them. When I said I didn’t want to have to choose, and then they threw that party and that other shit happened, they kicked me out. I can’t believe they did that, after all the shit I went through for them.”
“Wait, what? What shit are you talking about?”
“Why does that matter? It doesn’t even have anything to do with this! And why are you so fascinated with me? It’s like you’re a spy or something.”
“Close,” Kenzie said without thinking. And then she realized what she’d said.
Savannah surveyed her with incredulous eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
It was time to stop beating around the bush. Savannah wouldn’t accept the help of someone who was trying to be her friend. Someone she only met two days ago whom she didn’t trust. And now that Kenzie had some more leads on this case, Savannah may be able to help her.
“Remember when we first met, when you said I reminded you of someone but you couldn’t think of who?” Kenzie said at last.
Savannah frowned but nodded.
“Well, the truth is, you do know me. I’m not Mindy Chandler.”
“Then who are you? And what do you want with me?”
Kenzie turned around and withdrew her glasses from the dresser. She cleaned them off and put them on after taking out the bothersome contact lenses. Then, she removed the wig on her head, revealing her natural hair in a tousled mess of a bun, but still discernible.
When she turned around, Savannah knew right away.
“Holy shit,” she gasped. “You’re...”
“Yeah,” Kenzie interjected. “You know me. I’m your oldest sister’s best friend.”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’m undercover on a case. Which is why I need you to keep this just between us. But now you know why I want to help you so bad. I’ve known you practically your whole life. Jillian even said to keep an eye on you. And that’s what I’m doing. But now, I need your help.”
Savannah held her hands up in stark protest. “You need my help? How the hell am I supposed to help you? I just found out I’m two months pregnant! Two months! Why am I just now showing signs?!”
“Sometimes symptoms show up later. It’s different for everyone.”
Kenzie couldn’t believe she was having to explain this to an eighteen-year-old. She also couldn’t believe that Savannah had apparently not only been drunk, but sober enough to give her virginity to someone who was willing to take it just because she felt like the odd one out for never having slept with anyone.
What frightened her most was that this could be the future of the world. It seemed that younger generations weren’t taught nearly as much as she had been in school (and even that was questionable). Savannah’s lack of knowledge further attributed to her disgust at the current state of the public education system.
But rather than saying that, Kenzie changed the subject.
“Anyway,” she said, “I’m here on a case, and from the sounds of it, I got here just in time, before someone else gets hurt.”
Savannah sat down on her bed and Kenzie sat on the floor in front of her as she explained everything from when the dean called her, all the way up to the present.
“So,” she said in conclusion, “I’m going to take that pill to a lab and prove that it’s what’s causing all these students to get sick.”
“But if you do that, you’ll expose Warner! He didn’t do anything wrong!”
“He’s supplying it, and that’s a crime in and of itself. But I need to know who’s making it. Do you know?”
“Of course not.”
“I bet Warner would know.”
“He won’t tell anyone even if he does.”
“Savannah, this is serious,” Kenzie quipped as she sat down on her own bed. “If you know he’s distributing this stuff, and it does turn out to be what’s making these students sick and die, that makes you responsible too. That makes you an accessory after the fact.”
“All the more reason not to tell anyone. He’d rat me out, and Renata too.”
“Not if you struck a deal. Did you ever actually give this pill to anyone?”
“No, I just took it a few times. Not a lot, and only one at a time, like you’re supposed to.”
“Okay, so since you only knew he was doing it and weren’t doing it yourself, you’ll probably be okay. Savannah, do you really want the deaths of a bunch of students on your shoulders because you wouldn’t come forward with what you knew?”
Savannah seemed to ponder this. “But how would we get him to tell us?” she inquired.
“Easy. We confirm this pill is what people are taking that makes them sick, then we haul him in. He gave it to me himself, and you saw him do so. You’re a witness to the fact. I need your help, Savannah.”
Savannah bit her lip. She clenched her hands into fists and Kenzie could tell that she was getting angry. But not at her, thankfully. It turned out that her hostility was directed at the sorority girls.
“I told you they made pledges do stupid shit. I want them to go down too then, not just for what they did to me, but for what they’re doing to all the pledges.”
“We need more than just your word against theirs for that.”
“I’ve got evidence, and so will every other pledge.”
“What evidence would that be?”
“The scar.”
“Scar?”
“All pledges have to be whipped bare-assed with a paddle with the sorority’s logo on it, kind of like a branding technique. And that’s only part of the shit they make pledges do. I saw one tonight – the girl streaking naked? She wasn’t doing that for fun. It’s part of the initiation. Oh, and they make pledges try those pills, too.”
Kenzie had no idea that she’d be pulled into a hazing scandal while on campus too. Still, hazing was also illegal, and once Savannah showed Kenzie the scar on her behind, she knew she had to put a stop to that as well. So she gave Savannah her word that she’d do her best to expose the sorority girls on top of working the case she’d been called to do.
Once she did, Savannah finally looked at her with newfound determination and declared, “Okay. Let’s do this.”
This is getting intense! WOW!
ReplyDeleteGah, darn comments aren't letting me push reply without zapping me back to the top. Anyway, yes, things are getting serious in here! :D Thanks for reading, mama! The next chapter will be up tomorrow!
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