‘Can I come down there?’ I asked. I really hated doing these things over the phone.
‘Umm …’ She paused and I imagined her looking at her trendy watch. ‘I’m afraid I have a meeting that’s going to take most of this afternoon.’
‘Tomorrow?’ I asked.
‘You’ll have to respond formally.’
Damn. You’d think Amanda would cut her little sister a break. ‘Can you at least tell me what this is all about?’
‘The first complaint is from Ainsley St. John.’
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. ‘Amanda! Really? You and I both know that girl has let the peroxide go to her head.’
‘I know, I know,’ Amanda said in a soothing tone. ‘But that’s why you should respond formally. Put everything in writing, saying all that. How crazy she is, all the insane things she’s done.’
I wasn’t sure Ainsley had really committed so many wrong acts, she just seemed really intense and scary. But Amanda’s advice was sound. ‘What about the other one? Who filed that?’
She paused and I could hear her flipping through the papers. ‘The Eta Eps,’ she finally informed me. ‘They said you threatened their pledges.’
I started laughing. I couldn’t help it. ‘You can’t be serious,’ I said. ‘The Eta Eps? Like anyone believes a word out of their mouths.’
But Amanda wasn’t laughing. ‘Margot, you have to take this seriously. They’re one of the best fraternities on campus.’
‘Since when?’
‘Since they pledged a bunch of nerdy guys with trust funds. Trust me. You don’t want to alienate the chapter from them. They’re rich and socially awkward.’
‘But they dumped gelatin on our chapter!’ I half yelled into the phone. ‘Maybe they should not want to alienate us!’
Amanda’s silence was chiding. Then so were her words. ‘This is the way things are, Margot. Successful Sutton College sororities know how to play the game. And they don’t threaten fraternities.’
I told Amanda I’d come by her office tomorrow without defending myself further. All of a sudden, I wasn’t sure of a lot things, like whether I was really the best woman to advise this chapter.
*
Casey and I met for lunch at Cool Joe’s, a burger dive on the south side of campus. Not coincidentally, it was next door to Sunset Station, the tanning salon that all the sorority girls at Sutton frequented. I complimented Casey on his new, unnatural orange glow, received at the very same tanning salon.
‘It’s a spray, of course. The latest in micro-bead delivery. I’m really impressed they have it here in Sutton since it hasn’t been approved by the FDA yet.’
‘It looks fabulous,’ I said. I was always a firm believer in an almost-sincere compliment.
Casey ducked his head, his eyes scanning the restaurant on alert for saboteurs and double agents. ‘You will not believe the things I heard,’ he said under his breath. He went on to describe how it was almost certain that an Epsilon Eta Chi worked a pole at the Silk Stocking on Wednesday nights and that the Lambdas were still offering discounted plastic surgery to their less-cosmetically blessed pledges. And, of course, the Beta Gammas were seriously plagiarising every single English exam and there was proof somewhere on the fourth floor of the Samuel L. Jackson Library. (No relation to the Hollywood Samuel L. Jackson. The Sutton College forefather wasn’t an actor. And he wasn’t black. And he was dead.)
I leaned over, eagerly awaiting the coup de grâce, the final nail in the coffin, the fat lady singing her precious little heart out. ‘And what about the Moos?’
The sparkle left Casey’s beautiful blue eyes. ‘I got nothing.’
‘NOTHING?’ I repeated, incredulously. How could that be? Every sorority had gossip. And no one was better at ferreting it out than a gay man in a spray tan booth.
Casey clearly took the failure personally. ‘I tried, I did. I even straight up asked, “What about those Moos?” But no one had heard anything.’
We both sat and stared at our remaining lunches, too depressed to eat. Tri Mu HQ had information that would majorly damage Delta Beta’s reputation and what did we have? Big fat zero. If we couldn’t fight back with some dirty gossip, what kind of sorority women were we?
*
I had barely taken two steps inside the chapter house when I was accosted by no less than five sisters, trying to talk at once.
‘Wait, wait … what are you saying? Slow down!’
The girls slowed down enough for me to understand. ‘It’s Aubrey–’
‘–Ainsley–’
‘–St. John–’
‘–accident in front of the house–’
‘–hit and run–’
‘–hospital–’
‘–coma–’
I snatched my keys out of my purse, turned on my heel and headed straight back to my car. It didn’t matter if it was Aubrey or Ainsley in a hospital bed. My sister would need me there, either way.
As it turned out, it was Ainsley in a coma.
Aubrey was inconsolable in the waiting room with Asha’s arm around her shoulders.
‘I had to drive her,’ Asha told me. ‘There was no way she could drive herself, not like this.’ My heart went out to Aubrey. I couldn’t imagine the pain if my flesh-and-blood sister, let alone my twin, was hurt badly. I could only compare it to my devotion to my sorority sisters. If that went deep, I couldn’t imagine how intertwined Aubrey and Ainsley’s hearts were.
I knelt on the floor in front of Aubrey and patted her knees. ‘It’ll be okay,’ I said, repeating the words like a mantra over and over. It didn’t do any good. Aubrey didn’t stop crying for a good long while.
Tears do dry up and when Aubrey’s did, we got her tea and a blanket from the nurse’s station. All we knew was that Ainsley was in surgery from a hit and run. And then the police came in.
I never thought I’d say this, but I was really tired of dealing with law enforcement.
It was Officer Malouf, who I’d met before. I wanted to ask if Lieutenant Hatfield was coming, but I wasn’t sure if that was rude. Like if you went on a group date and one of the cute guys asked if your friend was coming. Officer Malouf asked a few basic questions of Aubrey, like their parents’ names and phone numbers and if Aubrey was a witness to the accident.
She shook her head quickly, as if she needed to shake that thought out. ‘Her roommate called me on the way to the hospital. I wasn’t even there in the ambulance,’ Aubrey started to cry again and Asha gave her a squeeze.
‘Where is her roommate, now?’ Officer Malouf asked as he looked at Asha questioningly.
‘Oh no, that’s not me. I’m her sister. I drove her here.’
Officer Malouf looked between Asha’s South Asian complexion and Aubrey’s fair skin.
‘Sorority sister,’ I clarified. Not that there was much difference, I added internally.
‘Her roommate had to go,’ Aubrey said. ‘She had class.’
Asha, Officer Malouf and myself shared our judgmental expressions. What kind of person would leave to go to class when their roommate is in the hospital after a hit and run? Oh yeah. Right. The Moo kind.
Aubrey gave him the roommate’s name and number. ‘I’ll talk to her, of course, but did she say anything to you about the accident?’
‘She said she was coming out of the Tri Mu house to walk to campus with Ainsley. Ainsley had already left and was crossing the street when the car came and hit her …’ Aubrey’s voice trembled but she didn’t dissolve into tears again. I was proud of her for being so strong.
Officer Malouf nodded. ‘Okay, I’ll get the rest from her. Have the doctors given you an update?’
‘I only know that she’s in surgery.’
He left shortly after, but not before leaving his contact information with Aubrey and letting her know that she could call if she needed anything. He was a true class act.
The minutes stretched into hours. Styrofoam teacups were stacked around us and Asha went to buy sand
wiches for dinner while I stayed with Aubrey. The twins’ parents called every fifteen to twenty minutes, frantic for updates on their drive from Texas. After another hour or so, Aubrey handed the phone over to me when she saw their number appear on her phone. It was a strange honour to handle that for her and I think it made her parents feel better, knowing there was a grown-up looking after their daughters.
Because that’s how the hospital was treating me. Like the grown-up. While I wasn’t Ainsley’s sister, of any kind, nor any kin, the nurses and doctors spoke to me in that way that adults speak to each other when there’s a child in the room.
I had spent so many years thinking of myself as a college student, real or honorary, that the shock that I had somehow reached adulthood without knowing was a little disconcerting.
Finally, a Dr Donaldson told us that Ainsley was out of surgery and that she’d be alright after her fractures healed and her lung reinflated. We were allowed to sit with her while she was sleeping. Aubrey was out of that room so fast, you’d think someone had announced a Vera Bradley sample sale in the OR.
I called Aubrey and Ainsley’s parents, texted Asha and Casey, and resolved to remember to call Officer Malouf with the news.
Ainsley wasn’t in a private room yet. She only had a curtain around her, partially open so that nurses could keep an eye on her in the recovery centre. I could see Aubrey from far off, clutching her twin’s hand, emotion hanging heavy on her slim body.
For the past few hours, all I could think of was helping Aubrey get through this, focusing on positive, healing vibes or prayer or whatever. But now I could see Ainsley’s face. Bruised and bandaged, it reminded me of the conversations we’d had and darned if that unconscious, battered face didn’t look as determined as she had the day before, when she’d threatened to go to Tri Mu with the facts about the phone sex ring.
What was I doing here, supporting someone who had threatened everything I held dear? Then my gaze settled on Aubrey. I was here for her, if nothing else. That had to mean something.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
I finally convinced Aubrey to go back to the chapter house. She was exhausted and didn’t put up much of a fight. Ainsley had fluttered her eyelashes and mumbled. The doctors said that was a good sign, so we had to trust them that it was.
Nearly half the chapter had waited up for Aubrey. Everyone wanted to hug her and hear the news. When they rejoiced at the news of Ainsley’s recovery, I was reminded again how powerful sisterhood was. Everyone wanted the best for Ainsley just because she was Aubrey’s family, despite the set of Greek letters she wore on her chest.
We walked Aubrey upstairs and tucked her in. I had given my phone number to the nurses at the hospital for emergency contact purposes until Aubrey and Ainsley’s parents arrived, and Aubrey made me promise to wake her if there was any news from the hospital.
I shut the door behind me and made my way to the third floor storage closet. After hours of being strong and steadfast at the hospital, letting Aubrey’s stress and grief rest on my shoulders, I was exhausted as well and needed some alone time.
The closet was as dark as ever and I tentatively shuffled until I saw the light from the window. This was my spot. This was where I could finally relax.
I pulled a cardboard box over to the window and sank down, noticing how tired my feet were, which was strange since most of the time in the hospital had been spent with my butt in a chair. The moon was clear and bright. Whether it was waxing or waning, it was nearly three-quarters full and I watched the view that I loved. From this vantage point on the third floor of the sorority house on the bluff above Sutton, nothing had changed in the past ten years. The hallowed red brick buildings of the college stood as they always did. The trees cast the same cool shadows. The streets wove the same basket weave pattern.
It was almost Zen-like, contemplating the town like this. Not that I knew much about Zen. I actually was a yoga school dropout. There was too much silence and ‘stay on your own mat’ for my liking. Whatever happened to socialising and cooperation?
I felt my eyes grow heavy. I had already dozed twice, my head falling, my neck catching my head before my nose bounced off the windowsill, when something caught my eye as it reopened. I had to blink a few times before my zoned out mind made sense of it.
Then I made a very poor choice. I decided to go check out what looked like a dead body.
I let myself out of the Chapter Advisor door, fully intending to be back in two minutes and fall straight into bed after I’d satisfied my curiosity. What I’d seen was a play of shadows and moonlight. Or a leftover rush prop. Or, this week, it was most likely a fraternity prank.
If it was, heads were going to roll. Our chapter had dealt with too much drama in the past week to become the butt of some awful joke. If I’d been thinking straight, maybe I would have thought that through again.
I followed the sidewalk to the back of the sorority house, where the yard dipped down a bit and fell into a creek. On the other side of the creek was a greenbelt with a jogging path that led to the college golf course and the dormitories. It was a convenient yet picturesque location.
She was lying in the grass, flat on her back, arms spread, still as a stone. I took a few steps back, automatically, pulled my phone out of my pocket and called 911. Yes, this was an emergency. No, there were no goats. Yes, it was another dead body. The operator took my address and told me to stay where I was.
And so I did. Because the one thing I do well is rules. I follow them. I enforce them. Somewhere deep inside, I remembered that one of my rules was to help people. And even though I knew she was dead, I went back to help. I knelt beside her, put my hands on her mostly cold throat and brushed away a piece of dark, curly hair from her face. I sat back on my heels, sticking my hands into the grass behind me, feeling the need to wipe them off on the cool, damp lawn. Then I felt something small and hard and closed my hand around it. Because that’s what I do when I’m tired and stunned and completely overcome that I was sitting next to a dead body in the grass at the Delta Beta house.
Oh they were going to have a field day with this on sororitygossip.com.
The police came, the ambulance came and then the coroner came. It was like a re-run of a really bad 80’s sitcom that was painfully unfunny and stupidly predictable.
Someone led me away from the body, put a blanket around my shoulders, asked if they could look into my eyes and shine something bright there. Someone gave me a cup of water. Someone asked me my name.
Then Ty Hatfield was sitting with me. ‘How did you find her?’ he asked, his voice gentle.
‘Dead,’ I said bluntly.
‘I meant, how did you come to see her?’
‘I looked out a window and saw a weird shadow. I had to come check it out before I went to bed.’
‘It’s Stefanie Grossman,’ he said, like he wished it wasn’t true.
I nodded like I wished the same.
He took my hand and for a millisecond it felt nice. His skin was rough yet warm and my hand was still so cold. Then he took the glass vial out of my hand.
‘I found that next to her,’ I said, amazed that my explanation was so calm and so simple.
Ty held it up to the light to examine it, using only the very tips of his finger and thumb. He called out to someone who hurried over with an open plastic bag. When Ty dropped the vial into the baggie, the whoosh of adrenaline finally wore off. I was snapped out of my fugue state and back into Margot Blythe land, where things had to be done and quickly, even if I had hands that were shuddering like a Harley Davidson transmission. Even if a policeman looked like he had a million and a half questions for me.
A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed my suspicions that the entire chapter was up, watching me, the police and the coroner loading their friend into a bag. This would not do.
I stood up and Ty stood with me. His hand went to my forearm where it suggested that I not leave.
‘The girls need me,’ I said to him under
my breath.
That didn’t convince Ty Hatfield. The needs of the sorority never came first for him. ‘You need to give a statement.’
‘I told you everything,’ I insisted. My mind already had moved on, to the young women who needed explanations, too.
‘Where were you tonight?’
I froze. On the TV show, even though the voice over guy on Law & Order says it’s the story of the victims and criminals, it’s really not. It’s the story of the detectives and lawyers. Those are the characters we identify with, week after week. I had always seen myself in those roles but here I was, where I least expected it. On the flip side.
And even on the flip side of the law, I knew my rights. ‘Are we really doing this right now?’
‘Why are you avoiding my question?’
I tossed my bangs away from my face, a defiant gesture so I could look at him straight in the eye. ‘Do you think I’m going to stand here and be interrogated while my chapter – the people I’m responsible for – look on?’
Ty’s expression held something I couldn’t put a name to. ‘Do you think I’m going to let you walk away?’
‘Am I a suspect?’ I knew that question was asked a thousand times on Law & Order. It worked just as well in real life as it did on TV.
When he didn’t answer immediately, I took the opportunity to turn and walk as quickly as possible up to the house. I hustled as many people inside as I could. Those who wanted to watch the not-quite-grisly scene could stand outside and do so. I couldn’t make their choices for them.
I was glad Aubrey was out for the night and didn’t have to deal with the second trauma of the evening. But me? I had to answer questions, calm nerves and assure people that we were all safe. Of course we were safe, we had nearly the whole Sutton police department on our front steps.
No murderer would dare show up. We could only hope the fraternity pledges showed as much sense.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Just as I shut my eyes, I heard banging. Loud, fist on wood banging. I checked my watch. Somehow, I’d stepped into a time warp and it was almost eight in the morning. I hoped to God whoever it was had a venti four-shot, four sweetener coffee for me.
Mean Sisters Page 16
