Chapter Eighteen

After a long, exhausting night of searching, I’m no closer to figuring out who is after us. Friday, Eve and I text back and forth between classes about the video. She’s still holding back on her suspicions but promises to let me know the second she has anything resembling solid proof.

The Tornadoes have a game in Athens that afternoon, so I’m not expecting to hear from her until tomorrow, but five minutes after their usual postgame curfew, my phone lights up with a call.

“Hey.” Her voice is low and rushed. “I figured it out. Can you meet me tomorrow morning? Around nine?”

“Sure. In front of the dorm?”

“At the Waffle House,” she corrects. “See you then.”

She ends the call before I can respond. I have a million and one questions, but I’ll just have to wait until morning to get all the answers.

I spend that night tossing and turning, my brain too full to turn off and let me get any real rest. Keeping my eyes closed and hoping for sleep doesn’t work, and I can’t close them again after six. So I’m up, showered, and dressed before eight—on Saturday, ugh—and I make myself work on a phone repair for half an hour before I head off campus.

I get to the Waffle House at 8:50, only to find Eve already there, seated in a back booth, a large class of soda—Coke, probably—on the table in front of her. Her hair is spiked up and looks freshly dyed, and her eyes are heavily lined, not in the usual black, but in neon blue that makes her eyes pop. My heart stutters at seeing her again like this.

She gives me a lopsided smile as I slide in across from her, and she raises a hand toward the counter. Seconds later, a waitress is there with a mug that she fills with coffee, leaving behind a small bowl full of creamer cups.

“Okay,” I say as I reach for a couple of packets of sugar. “What did you figure out?”

Eve pushes her glass aside and leans forward. “Remember I lost my keycard after our second date? It mysteriously appeared inside the locker room. And then we got called in about being on the field. Meaning someone had to have been at the field or in the facilities that late at night to report us.”

“Are you saying one of your teammates is behind this?”

Eve clenches her hands and frowns. “I suspected it then, yeah. But nothing else happened, so I kind of forgot about it. Until we got those emails. So I did a little snooping. And eavesdropping. And last night on the way back from Athens, I got what I was looking for.”

I wave my hand when she pauses. “And?”

She slumps back in her seat. “It’s Naomi.”

Despite the way she’s acted toward me, I’m still surprised. “Seriously? But what—”

“Apparently,” Eve interrupts, “she got jealous.”

Now I’m really confused. “Over us dating?”

Eve shakes her head. “Maybe? She’s never said anything that made me think she was anything but straight, but she sure didn’t like me dating you. I don’t know if it was just that I wasn’t spending as much time with her as I had before or if she freaked out because we were getting more serious. Either way, instead of being an adult and talking to me about it, she decided to try to get us in trouble and break us up.”

“She stole the key so you’d break curfew on our date, and then she followed you to the field that other night.”

“And recorded us on her phone, yeah.” Eve wipes condensation off the side of her glass. “And then the whole video speech thing. That was her idea, too. I should’ve known better, but I just wasn’t thinking.”

I shake my head, trying to process how Naomi could think that doing those things would get Eve back—in whatever way she wanted her. “How did you find out?”

Eve laughs at that. “Well, Naomi is also good friends with Wendy, of course. When Naomi sent that email the other night, she’d been drinking. And she gets a little chatty when she’s more than a little tipsy, so she told Wendy what she’d done.”

She snorts. “Unfortunately, she was drunk enough that Wendy couldn’t understand who or what Naomi was talking about. But the moment I dropped a few hints after the Athens game, Wendy figured it out. She found me on the bus back and showed me screencaps of Naomi’s phone showing the videos.”

“Wow.” I pause. “What will you do now? Confront her? Report her?”

Eve shrugs one shoulder and picks up her drink. “This involves you, too. What do you want to do about it?”

That’s an excellent question. I didn’t get into any real trouble, not like Eve’s suspension, but if the video gets out, it won’t only be embarrassing to have what amounts to a sex tape making the rounds on campus—especially if she has any more detailed clips—but the university might step in again and punish us both.

I flinch just imagining how that would go down.

“Maybe you could just…talk to her?” My voice reflects my uncertainty. “I mean, not go in with guns blazing, but tell her you know what she did and you’re hurt that she’d do something like that to you. At least try to get her to delete the videos.”

Eve is nodding along to the plan.

“And not just from her phone,” I add quickly. “Remember that they’re probably backed up in the cloud or somewhere.”

Eve grins. “Always the computer geek,” she teases. “But you’re right. I mean, about deleting, but about how to approach her, too. If I piss her off, she might blast the video all over.” She runs a finger around the rim of her glass. “She has a temper. It’s been one of the things we’ve had trouble with as roommates. She gets upset or angry about something, and I have to leave the room because she won’t stop ranting about it. Even when it has nothing to do with me.”

Yikes. Once again, I’m glad I was able to get a single room, even though rooming with Mo hadn’t been a problem the year before.

“I don’t know.” Eve takes a sip of Coke. “Let me take the day to think on how to approach her.” She smiles. “But I won’t wait too long. Especially since I’d like to keep being friends with you, and that probably wouldn’t make her too happy.”

Before I can say anything else, my stomach makes a noise loud enough to make me jump. It’s inevitably followed by my cheeks burning like twin suns.

Eve giggles. “I guess we should order breakfast while we’re here? Before that thing comes out and eats us both.”

I cover my face with one hand. “Ugh. That’s what I get for not even grabbing a granola bar this morning,” I mutter.

Eve’s still laughing even as she looks for the waitress to get me—us—some food.

Once I’ve appeased the beast that is my stomach, Eve and I say goodbye with the promise to text later tonight.

“I have to get some studying done,” she tells me as we walk back toward campus. “I’m taking over a corner of the library for the rest of the day.”

Thankfully, I’m in good shape on classwork, but I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open, so when I get back to my room, I give myself an hour to nap before I tackle the repair jobs I have pending. I take a break late in the afternoon to grab a sandwich from the cafeteria. I’ve just gotten back to my room when Eve calls.

Her voice is hurried when I answer. “Can you come over? Naomi isn’t here, and it looks like she might not be coming back.”

Crap. I grab my backpack and head back out. “I’ll be right there.”

It occurs to me as I hurry toward the stairs that I have never been inside Eve’s room. Even after our breakthrough, I’ve been in her dorm and by her room once for her to drop off her duffel bag, but since I don’t have a roommate to worry about, we’ve been spending most of our time alone in my room.

Maybe none of this would be happening if I’d made some kind of effort to get to know Naomi. For all I know, some of her attitude toward me could have been that I didn’t reach out to her because she and Eve were friends.

On the other hand, Eve and I only dated for a few weeks before she ghosted. Making friends with her friends hadn’t exactly been on my priorities list. Besides, this is on Naomi for blowing things out of proportion instead of talking to Eve about missing their friendship.

It only takes me a few minutes until I’m knocking on Eve’s door. She opens it immediately and waves me in.

“See what I mean?” she says, pointing toward one side of the room.

Sure enough, the bed is stripped to the mattress, and the table next to it is empty. The closet door stands open, showing a few empty hangers inside. The desk is similarly empty, except for a box of cereal and a few scattered pens.

“It was like this when I got in from the library,” Eve says as I turn back to face her. “The dresser’s empty, too, and her laundry bag is gone.”

I drop into the chair in front of the empty desk. “Did you talk to her? Is that why—”

“No. I was going to do it tomorrow morning.”

Okay, so it’s not a blow-up reaction from being found out. “Do you know anywhere she might go?”

Eve starts pacing. “Maybe to Wendy’s? But Wendy has a roommate, so it’s not like she has an extra bed.” She picks up her phone from the corner of her desk. “I don’t have Wendy’s new number, but I think Catrina does. I’ll text her. She might know something.”

I’m at a loss about what to do while Eve checks in with people I don’t really know, so I look around the area. I’m not comfortable opening the desk drawers, but when I glance down at the floor, I see a piece of bright yellow paper sticking out from under the edge of the desk. I lean over and fish it out.

It’s a sticky note with a phone number on it. It has an Atlanta area code.

“Eve, check this out.” I straighten up and hold out the crumpled slip of paper. “Do you recognize this number?”

She takes the paper and studies it. “Nope,” she says, lifting her phone. “But I’ll find out whose it is.”

Tension crackles in the air as she punches in the numbers. She pauses and then hits another button, apparently putting it on speaker, because the sound of the phone ringing fills the room.

Then it cuts off.

“Hello?”

Eve jerks in surprise. “Coach Barrett?”

There’s a pause, then, “Who’s this?”

“It’s Eve Frederick,” Eve replies. “Sorry, I didn’t realize this was your number. Um.” She cuts her eyes toward me. “You haven’t seen Naomi, have you?”

A long sigh comes through the phone. “Look. I don’t know what’s going on with you two. Naomi told me not to tell you anything, but I didn’t promise her anything like that.”

Eve narrows her eyes. “Why would she call you?”

“To tell me she moved out of the dorm and she’s taking a leave of absence from the team.”

Eve’s eyes go wide at that revelation. “Did she say why?”

“Just that it was a personal matter. Can I assume it involves you?”

Eve shakes her head. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, yeah, there’s a thing going on with us, but…”

Coach Barrett sighs again. “I’ve already called Naomi’s parents,” she discloses. “I didn’t get them, but a staff member who answered the house phone said she hadn’t seen her. We’re responsible for her because she lives on campus, so we need to track her down one way or another.”

“Okay.” Eve blows out a breath. “You’ll let me know if you hear from her?”

“If I can. And assuming you’ll do the same.”

Eve nods. “Sure. Of course.”

She ends the call with a sigh and slumps onto the edge of her bed. “Well. That’s something.”

“That’s one way to put it.” I lean forward. “Any idea what to do about all this?”

Eve grimaces. “Well, my first thought was fight fire with fire: make our own video to send back. Let her learn how it feels. But I’m thinking things might have gotten too serious for that if she’s disappeared completely.”

I have to agree with that. “Yeah, it sounds like she has some bigger issues to deal with. Not the time to pile on.”

Eve taps her fingers rhythmically against the side of her leg. “So if she didn’t go home, where did she go?”

The answer hits me between the eyes—but would she be so obvious? I guess it depends on whether she planned all this or she’s running on instinct.

“It’s got to be the lake house, right?”

Eve’s gaze snaps to mine. “Oh, hell. You’re probably right.”

“And if we call up there…”

“She’ll just disappear again.”

We stare at each other as the solution hangs between us.

“Well.” Eve plants her hands on her thighs. “I guess we’re going on a road trip.”

…

Just over an hour later, I’m turning up the long driveway to the lake house. The mansion’s dark hulk looms over us, adding a thick layer of gothic horror to the scene, but it’s also kind of silly. Like we’re acting out a low-budget horror flick.

And then lightning flickers through the sky behind the house. Great. A thunderstorm would be just perfect right now.

I shove down my nerves and try to focus.

“What if she isn’t here?”

It’s the main concern I have. If we don’t find her here, then what next? How can we be sure she won’t spread that video—or worse—all over campus?

“I’m pretty sure she is.” Eve glances my way as I pull the car to a stop at the side of the house. “She won’t be inside, but I’d bet money she’s out back.”

An engine revs off in the distance, and Eve’s eyes widen. “Or out on the water. At night. By herself!”

She scrambles out of the car, and I follow as closely as I can as she takes the path around the side of the house. But then she slams to a stop and I nearly run into her back.

Looks like Naomi’s not here alone after all.

There’s a fire burning in the firepit, the flickering glow lighting not just Naomi’s face but a handful of other familiar ones. I recognize Wendy immediately, but I can’t remember the names of the others. I’m pretty sure all of them were here the day we went boating, though.

Eve starts walking toward the group again, and Naomi jumps to her feet when she sees her. Her expression is bright and happy for about half a second—until her gaze shifts to me.

“What the fuck is she doing here?”

Eve stops again, a few feet away from the firepit, and reaches out to find my hand with hers. “Because this is about her as much as it is about me,” she says.

Naomi’s eyes flick over to me, then back to Eve. “Why should I talk to either of you?”

Eve lets out an exasperated sigh. “I just want to know why, Naomi. Why did you follow me down to the field to get that video? Because you didn’t like that I was dating Annie? You couldn’t just talk to me about it?”

The look Naomi tosses my way is pure contempt. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about your little fuckbunny.”

The gasps from the group around the fire are nearly drowned out by the clap of thunder overhead. I jump, the sound reverberating through me like a gunshot, but I force myself to ignore the storm. Even as I fight with myself, though, I don’t miss Naomi’s flinch when Eve takes one step toward her.

“Sure you don’t.” Eve plants her free hand on her hip. “That’s why you sent those emails. That’s why you cleared out of our room and came all the way up here. You just couldn’t handle that I was spending time with someone who wasn’t you, could you?”

The rain starts then, but even as the others scramble to gather their things and dash toward the cabana, Naomi doesn’t seem to notice.

“I’m supposed to be your best friend!” she yells. “I wanted to help you! I even offered to go back home with you to deal with whatever crap your grandmother left behind!” She waves a hand toward me. “But you just kept ignoring me to chase your latest piece of ass.”

“Wow.” Eve lets her arm drop to her side. “No, Naomi, I don’t think you were ever my best friend. Best friends are supposed to be supportive. They don’t try to stab you in the back just because you go on a few dates.”

Wendy appears at Naomi’s side, laying a hand on her arm. “Naomi,” she says, voice raised over the noise of the rain. “You need to stop.”

Naomi shakes her off, and her face screws up into something mulish. “Why her, anyway? What’s so special about this one?”

Eve turns toward me, and the expression on her face brings back those butterflies I’ve been missing. They crowd out the thunderstorm, the worry about Naomi, until all I care about is the woman who’s holding my hand.

“She gets me,” Eve says, her voice soft. “Like no one else has before. Including me.”

Naomi flings her arms up. “So now what? You going to tell everyone I tried to blackmail you? Make me into the villain in all this?”

Eve faces Naomi again, standing tall, her expression calm. “You are the villain, Naomi. But no. I’m not going to do anything. Assuming, of course, you delete all the copies you have of the original.”

“Naomi.” Wendy cuts in again, her voice harder now. “You know you went way too far with that video. I knew you didn’t like Annie, but I didn’t realize you’d go after her and Eve like that.”

Eve squeezes my hand. “She also convinced me to make that video to try to get her back. Never mind that Annie doesn’t like to be the center of attention. And never mind that I’d be outing her to everyone. I’m incredibly lucky that she’s willing to forgive me.” She tilts her head. “I’m not so sure that either of us should be willing to forgive you.”

Wendy shakes her head. “I’m sorry. To both of you. I didn’t put together the pieces until Eve talked to me about it. If I’d known what was going on, I would’ve stepped up sooner.” She turns to face Naomi. “Naomi, whatever ‘deal’ they’re offering you, I suggest you take it.”

Naomi tucks her head down and talks to her chest rather than us. “Why should I trust them not to spread this all over campus?”

Eve shrugs. “Because you don’t have much choice. And because I’m trusting you to delete the video. If any of that shows up anywhere, all bets are off. Otherwise, it doesn’t go past this. I’ll swear on it if you want.”

Naomi slowly lifts her head, and her gaze flicks back and forth between us several times before her shoulders slump. “Okay,” she grumbles. “I’ll delete it. Dumb idea to start with.” She stands up straighter. “But I’m done with you,” she tells Eve. “Find yourself a new roommate because I’m outta there.”

Eve nods. “I can do that.” She tilts her head. “I assume you’re going to behave on the team, too, of course. I can always bring in Coach Young if needed.”

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” Wendy puts in. She nods toward the cabana where the rest of the group has taken shelter from the rain, which has eased up to little more than sprinkles. “Naomi’s going to have enough to deal with anyway. Right, Naomi?”

Naomi jerks her head up and down in a semblance of agreement. “Is that all?”

“I guess so.” Eve sighs. “Sorry things turned out this way.”

For a second, Naomi’s face crumples and I see behind her mask. I don’t know the details of their friendship, but when Naomi says, “Me too,” I believes she means it.

Eve glances at Wendy. “You’ll stay with her?”

Wendy nods. “I’m really sorry about all this. I had no idea it was so bad.”

Eve shakes her head. “Not your fault. But thanks.”

She turns then and gives me a small smile. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

The storm has moved on, thunder and lightning fading off into the distance, but I hardly even notice with Eve’s hand securely in mine. We’re silent on the walk back to the car, but once we’re inside, Eve leans back against the seat. “Well,” she says. “That sucked.”

I glance over at her as I start the car. “But you survived it.”

She turns her head and gives me a slow smile. “We sure did.”