shut him up and change the subject. “Well as much fun as this is, there’s something I wanted to tell you—about the drugged booze.”
The grin on his face fades and tension spiders through his body until his fingers ball up. He takes a deep breath, trying to hide his reaction. His fingers go limp again as he rubs his palms on the tops of his thighs. “What about it?” He glances down the courtyard, avoiding my gaze.
“That wasn’t the only incident.” My face pinches as I say it. I felt like we should have told someone when it happened last time, but Emily wanted to pretend it never happened. Telling Josh is a betrayal, and I know she’ll be pissed if she finds out. The thing is, this isn’t funny. Someone isn’t doing this to make girls act silly. It’s not all in good fun, and there’s a nefariousness quality about it that pisses me off.
“What are you talking about?” He turns toward me.
“I was at a party a while back, and the same thing happened to a friend. It was like she was schnockered after smelling her drink. I noticed, and we got her out of there.”
“We? Who helped you?”
“It doesn’t matter. The point is that this has now happened to three women that I know of.”
Josh is quiet for a moment. His eyes cut to the side, and he tents his fingers together, tapping the tips and leaning forward onto his elbows. “So you were with Carter. I’m assuming he helped you get her home?”
I nod. “Yeah, and I know what you’re thinking. It wasn’t him. Carter wouldn’t do something like that.”
“You’ve known him for five minutes. You have no idea what Carter would or wouldn’t do. Although we all know how much I love the guy,” his voice drips with sarcasm, “that pussy wasn’t at my house the other night. So we’ve either got a repeat offender or someone selling GHB, Special K, or some similar shit.” He stops talking and looks up at me. “You were there both times.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Ever wonder if someone was aiming for you?”
“I don’t know many people here, and I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of pissing anyone off so royally that first night that they’d come after me like that. Now, maybe. Most of the girls in the dorm hate my ride.” I can’t help it, I grin.
Before he can respond the doors open and Beth is there. She tips her head to the side and stops when she sees Josh. She holds up a finger as she passes him and says, “No.” At the same time, she takes me by the wrist.
I stumble along behind her, barely getting my bag onto my shoulder. “Beth, slow down.” She doesn’t let go or slow her pace.
Josh is suddenly next to her. “Sis, you can’t be serious.”
“NO,” she snaps. “This is girl time. You guys haven’t given me a second alone, and God knows I need to talk to my bestie without you.”
“I’m great at girl time.”
“We’re going to talk about our cycles and which pads work best for those heavy flow days.”
“Stayfree. Next question.” Josh is grinning. He’s not going to leave. We’re nearly to the parking lot.
“We’re going to talk about vaginas, Josh!” She stops suddenly, drops my wrist, and whirls around to yell at her brother. “You can’t come!”
“Of course, I can. I love VJs. I’m all over that conversation.”
Beth slaps her face with both palms, drags her fingers down slowly, and groans. Her eyes cut to me, and she mouths, "HELP."
I hook my arm in hers and turn back toward the building. Josh is bouncing behind us like a Pomeranian on steroids. I shove through the doors, head down the hallway, and go into the only room I know he can’t follow.
“That’s cheating!” He stops abruptly as we walk into the ladies' room. “You can’t stay in there forever!”
Beth yells back, “Yes, I can!”
Chapter 13
“So how long are we going to sit in here?” Beth looks around. There are some hugeass windows along the wall, but climbing out of them with her broomstick skirt is going to be a problem.
I shrug. “We can grab lunch later. I need to talk to you—I have a problem.”
She grins and pops up to sit on a sink. “Is it a hot problem?”