Gossip

You’d better get the gossip. Searching by yourself isn’t very efficient, and gossip is your weak point because you don’t spend much time mingling with the other girls. You head down the hallway, planning to pay a visit to CCL’s most notorious gossip, stopping to knock on her door.

You hear rustling inside the room. As you wait, you look at a big, framed photo on the wall: it’s four girls, a proper-looking, black-haired beauty, a bookish girl that reminds you of you, a girl-next-door type brunette, and a fabulous blonde with a huge rack. They all have wonderfully eighties hairstyles and clothes, and they have their arms around each other as they pose for the photo on a sunny day outside CCL house. It’s an old photo, but there are lots like it hanging around the house. Someone has written the names on this one: Jenny, Kimmy, Jamie, and Tiffy.

There aren’t as many new photos like this hanging on the walls because you all take pictures with your phone and post them on social media instead of having them printed and hung. The only one who does that is Amy. She makes sure there are plenty of group photos, and spends what you imagine must be a lot of money having them beautifully framed and mounted around the house.

There’s one with you in it downstairs. It’s not a bad picture of you.

The door opens, revealing Duni. She wears tight, white panties and an even tighter undershirt. She must have been sleeping. She yawns.

“Cynthia?”

“Can we talk?”

Duni shrugs and invites you in.

“I’m trying to find the idiots that Amy’s looking for,” you tell her.

“Why? Oh,” Duni says, seeing through you. “Looking for an easy initiation, eh?” She sits on her bed and sighs. “You know they’re all just fighting over Hailee or having a bowl or something.”

“Probably,” you say. “But where? That’s the part that doesn’t fit. What do you know?”

“Easy, detective,” Duni says, looking you up and down. “What do I get?”

“You want sexual favors at this hour? From me, of all people?” You snort. “Let’s skip that.” She’s just asking out of habit. CCL girls default to horny, but Duni’s not even horny. The two of you have no chemistry.

Duni laughs. “At least rub my feet,” she says, scooting back and lifting them for you.

“OK.” You sit on her bed and take her smooth feet in your hands, rubbing the soles with your thumbs.

“That’s good,” she says, lying back.

Even if you aren’t here for sex, you still enjoy the view. You can see everything, and there’s big camel toe action.

“You have to admit it’s strange,” you say to Duni, who sighs. That thing with Amy tonight, where she told everyone to go to their rooms. That’s not normal.

“It is,” Duni admits grudgingly. “I don’t think CGH is here, though.”

“They aren’t. They wouldn’t be out in this weather,” you say.

“Right. And our people wouldn’t go to the treehouse,” Duni goes on. She’s thinking all the same things that you are. Duni’s probably the most intelligent of all the officers, and that’s why she’s good for gossip. She doesn’t gossip, but she’s always around, always listening, and she’s smart enough to read between the lines.

“So where are they?” It’s a genuine mystery.

“Mmm. Right there,” she says, wiggling her feet. You rub harder, watching her incredible muscles flexing under her perfect skin. There’s even a little damp patch between her legs. Her feet must be a weak spot for her.

“Load of pledges. Shelby. A police officer. And what happened to the missionary girl?” Duni frowns, looking distracted. “You’re right. That doesn’t sound like a finger party,” she adds, wiggling her fingers.

“Exactly. And if it was, where?” You feel like you’re repeating yourself.

“I’ve heard a lot of noises from upstairs,” Duni says, glancing up. “And you know where I haven’t heard noises? Next door.”

“What do you mean?” you ask it, but then you understand. Duni’s room is next door to Amy’s. “Why would you?”

“Olivia’s been in there a lot lately, but they aren’t shagging, I can tell you that. Well, they were on Tuesday, but not since then.”

“That’s weird. Olivia’s not much into the leadership stuff. Are they up to something?”

“Could be,” Duni replies.

You are starting to get truly curious. Normally the nonsense of CCL doesn’t interest you very much, but here you have a question that you can’t see to answer. Where could they have gone? There seem to be two paths of investigation: people behaving strangely, and the physical impossibility of the missing people.

What should you investigate?

The possible locations?

Or unusual behaviors?