SS Undercover Ch 7

The kitchen is large with a lot of cabinets. Astoundingly, they are labeled. Not only that, but the contents match the labels. Cassie wonders if this is the doing of the new president that everyone’s talking about. Locating decaf grounds and a filter is easy. She peers curiously into the cabinet labeled ‘Sweets’, which seals it. She doesn’t remember the details, but the new CCL president is European. An American would have labeled that cabinet ‘Junk Food’. Cassie has not yet moved into CGH house, and she isn’t sure that she’s going to; her roommate in the dorms is a tidy and polite introvert who keeps to herself and seems to have no social life, which is a rare prize. No guys, no messes, and the room always smells good. CGH House will not be significantly better than that, although Meri lives there. At any rate, a cabinet like this in CGH House would always be empty. CCL is not without its temptations.

Cassie returns to the game room to find Elsa and Kylie in a spirited debate about the historical accuracy of eye makeup in the new Game of Thrones show. Apple looks strained, while it seems Colby’s getting a nice buzz on that makes her very patient.

“Sweetie,” Cassie says, touching Kylie’s shoulder and leaning down.

“Oh. Hello. Mm.” Kylie makes a face, her eyes not on Cassie’s face, but also not on her boobs. “What’s this?” She reaches out to finger Cassie’s necklace.

“What? Oh. That’s my owl.”

“I love it.”

“I’ll tell my grandma. Do you want sugar and creamer in your coffee?”

“My…” Kylie’s eyes widen, and she gasps. There are crumbs on her face. “You made me coffee?”

“You said you wanted it.” Any normal person would want milk in this situation, not coffee, but Cassie is not about to mention that.

Kylie stares, and Elsa folds her arms. She exchanges a look with a smiling Colby.

Elsa rolls her eyes. “Oh, snap out of it, dipshit. You got every guy in Gurlberg lined up around the block to eat out your asshole, and this is what does it for you?”

“Nobody ever actually listens to me, though. Thank you. Black,” Kylie says, blushing.

This might have been more impactful if Kylie weren’t so massively wasted. “OK. Don’t, uh, slay the dragon without me.” Cassie fetches the coffee and rejoins the game. Kylie crams a handful of carbs into her mouth and guzzles coffee, making a face as though she’s doing heroin.

“Suck up,” Elsa mutters to Cassie.

“We’re doing name-calling? We do that here?”

“You bet your ass.”

Cassie shrugs and pops the tab on a Coke Zero. “OK, Jelly Belly.”

Elsa bristles. “Excuse me?”

“What? You said name-calling was OK. Jelly Belly. Watch out, everybody. Jelly Belly’s mad,” Cassie says, slurping Coke.

“I hope you step on a Lego and get Long Covid from it.”

“Babe, this is a sorority house. There’s no Legos here. And Covid’s airborne.”

Colby sighs and raises a hand. “There might be Legos in my room.”

“Seriously?” Elsa says. “What are you, five?”

“It’s one little Ravenclaw common room. It’s like this big.” Colby indicates with her hands.

Kylie makes an impolite noise. “Isn’t that lady racist?” She looks to Cassie for confirmation.

“The Harry Potter lady? I thought she was transphobic,” Cassie replies.

“That’s just as bad,” Apple says, indignant.

“She’s probably racist too. I mean, Cho Chang? Come on,” Cassie adds.

“Are you happy now, Colby? You aren’t just dumb, you’re financially supporting a war criminal,” Elsa says, throwing a Dorito across the table. It misses Colby and strikes Apple’s glasses.

Colby hesitates, clearly struggling to think of a comeback. “Well, you’re bad at food fights. And tattoos.”

Elsa’s eyes flash. “Excuse me?”

A cry and a noisy thump from upstairs interrupt before things can deteriorate further. All eyes go to the ceiling.

“The fuck?” Elsa says, pushing to her feet. Frowning, Colby does the same. Elsa hurries out, and Colby goes after them.

“Crikey.” Kylie stumbles off as well, and a troubled Apple is close on her heels. Suddenly alone, Cassie remembers that she’s here to take pictures, but who is she kidding? She pushes her chair back and goes after them, Coke in hand. In the foyer, Apple is just reaching the top of the stairs. Cassie climbs and almost runs into the gaggle. Game Squad stares at two women just down the hall. The pretty Asian girl from earlier has a redhead flat on her face on the floor; she’s being gentler than a cop, but it’s clear that she has subdued this young woman.

“Ying? You good?” Kylie asks.

“Do any of you know this girl’s name? I know I have seen her.” Ying raises the girl’s flushed face.

“That’s…” Elsa begins, but trails off.

“Kayla.” Colby snaps her fingers. “Kayla Jameson. She’s Riley Jameson’s sister.”

That seems to annoy Kayla. Ying pulls her upright and pushes her against the wall with her arm behind her back. The redhead wears leggings and a hoodie, and the front pocket bulges.

“This isn’t what it looks like,” Kayla says with a nervous laugh.

Ying pats her down and reaches into that pocket. Her hand comes out with a wad of what are unmistakably panties. Kayla’s pocket bulges with them, and two pairs float to the floor. Ying looks puzzled.

“What the shit?” Cassie says, but nobody hears or cares.

Kylie looks thoughtful. “Isn’t it usually boys who do this?”

“What are you doing?” Colby asks Kayla, clearly baffled. “How did you get in here?”

There’s sweat on Kayla’s forehead. “I want a lawyer.”

“What do we do?” Ying asks reasonably.

There is silence. Whatever these women expected, this is not it.

“Campus police?” Cassie suggests hesitantly.

Colby shakes her head. “They don’t have jurisdiction up here. It’s the Sheriff’s Department.”

“Um, can we not call the cops please?” Kayla asks.

Kylie abruptly swings a finger up, narrowly missing Elsa. “She must be punished.”

Elsa looks troubled. She raises her hands in a calming gesture. “Um, maybe we can figure this out.”

Colby raises an eyebrow. “Punishment. Like what?”

“We have a dungeon for just this purpose. This is literally what it’s there for,” Kylie declares.

“I don’t know about literally,” Apple says, but they all ignore her.

Colby frowns. “It’s locked.”

“Leni has the key,” Kylie retorts.

“And forbidden.”

“That just makes me want it more.”

“Leni is not here,” Ying reminds her.

“Exactly.” Kylie looks triumphant. “It’s in her room.”

Colby snorts. “You think she’s gonna leave her room unlocked?”

“Just let her go. It’s not a big deal,” Elsa says. Ying gives her a knowing look, and Elsa shuts up, blushing.

Kylie, chocolate from Tim Tams smeared on her face, smiles confidently. “My room is next door to Leni’s. We use the window. Easy.”

“No. No,” Colby says firmly, getting in front of Kylie with a stern look. “Drunk chicks are not climbing out of windows. Incredibly stupid.” She fans her face. “I’m drunk but not that drunk.”

“Easy for a sober person,” Kylie continues serenely, gazing at Ying with an almost predatory look in her eyes.

“No,” Ying replies with a smile. “I like the idea. But I will not be the one to go into Leni’s space without an invitation.”

“Mary Sues. Mary Sues everywhere. Very disappointing,” Kylie says, wobbling slightly as she turns to consider the group. Her eyes land on Apple, who swallows. “You just had the one little drink.”

The color drains from Apple’s face.

Cassie can see the future. They’re going to peer pressure Apple into doing this. On the other hand, nobody is paying attention to Cassie at all. She might as well be invisible. She’s not sure why this Kayla chick is stealing underwear, but it’s a perfect distraction.

Volunteer in Apple’s place?

Or go and take pictures?