29 Chapter 29

"What? Why would I want to?" I asked, confused. I mean, maybe it seemed like the group was finally getting the punishment they deserved, but I didn't want to go anywhere near that house. Just the thought of it still made me uncomfortable. I had been doing so well, I'd have hated to be triggered by something at that dumb house.

"Yeah, and I literally can't," Vic joked. Justin let out a tired sigh and shook his head.

"You know what I mean," he said. "But guys, come on, don't you want to find out what they're in for? Is this some fucking karma or what?"

"It seems that way," Vic shrugged, before turning towards me. "Let's go find out, okay? It'll be good closure, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess," I sighed, after pondering the thought for a moment. I finally decided to just get out of bed along with Vic. If Vic was there with me, it probably wasn't going to be too bad.

We followed Justin out of the dorm building and towards the fraternity row. The Alpha Sigma Sigma house was the one all the way at the end, but even from far away I could see the flashing blue and red lights from the police cars. The sheer number of them told me that something was definitely up, and my innate curiosity wanted to know what was going on. What did they end up finally getting in trouble for? I really hoped that there wasn't another rape incident- I wouldn't wish that trauma on anyone.

Once we got to the scene, we found that Mike was already there, and went to catch up with him to see if he had any information. He was standing near the police tape, because the cops had already blocked off the area.

"Hey man, what happened?" Justin asked, looking on with the rest of us as we watched police officers brought some of the guys out in handcuffs. From where I was, I couldn't really make out if any of them were Jack, Alex, or Zack. I hoped all three of them would be arrested though.

"One of the guys posted to the Alpha Sigma Sigma Instagram, and there was like, cocaine in the picture or something, so they're searching the entire house," Mike explained, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Who the fuck was on coke?" Justin wanted to know. Mike just shrugged.

"Who knows, man?" Mike said, shaking his head. "I'm beginning to think we didn't know half of what went on in there."

I moved my attention back to the scene when I heard a bunch of shouting coming from the front doors of the house. A couple of officers were escorting Alex out in handcuffs and he was not going quietly. However, they kept a hold of him, unfazed by the scene he was creating.

"I demand a lawyer! You get your hands off of me, dammit!" he shouted, along with strings of profanities. Next out of the house was an officer carrying a box full of what looked like cameras and DVDs. Something about them sent a chill through my spine.

"Hey! You can't take those!" Alex suddenly shouted, struggling against the officer's' grips towards the one with the box.

"What's in the box?" I asked Justin, nervously.

"No idea," he admitted. "Doesn't look like cocaine, though."

"I'm so fucking lost," Vic finally spoke up. I jumped slightly and turned to him, almost forgetting that he wasn't seeing what we were seeing . . . or at all.

"Oh, sorry, um, basically they've got them in handcuffs and there's this box with stuff in it," I said, trying to figure out the best way to explain it. I was failing, though.

"Wow, thanks babe, that's helpful," he laughed, only slightly sarcastic. He leaned into me and looped an arm around my waist, though, which showed me that he wasn't actually irritated. I just sighed and leaned into him.

"I try," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'm not too sure what's going on either."

I turned back to the scene to see another officer walking over to us and the other small group that had formed to watch what was happening. He looked a little pissed off, to say the least.

"Excuse me, we're conducting an investigation over here, please head back to your dorms," he said, in a rough voice. "I'm not against contacting more campus security if you don't."

"Yes sir," I muttered in a small voice before the group dispersed.

I walked away with Mike and Justin and Vic for a while, just trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. I mean, this was great, right? It was the world's way of showing me that the people who hurt me weren't going to get away with it. Everything was going to be okay.

"Hey guys, I'm going to head back to the apartment . . . Vic, you coming?" Mike announced, once we arrived at the point where we had to go our separate ways. I kind of wanted Vic to spend the night.

"Yeah, sure," he said, stopping so he could say goodnight to me.

I wrapped him in a tight hug and held him for a moment before parting with a quick kiss.

"Good night, boyfriend," I said, quietly. He smiled.

"Night, Kells, I love you," he said, sweetly, before letting me go.

---

"Man, am I glad I left those assholes when I did," Justin said, lying down on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. I nodded as he spoke, agreeing with every part of his statement.

"So am I," I said, still feeling a little off. Why would the cops be taking away a box full of DVDs and cameras? I think part of me already knew what it was, but I just couldn't bring myself to come to that conclusion.

"But seriously, I had no idea there were any drugs involved, I promise," he insisted. "I'm clean."

"I believe you," I told him, softly. "But hey, they're getting what they deserve, right? And it's good that you and Mike got out because even though you were acting different for a while, you're both still good people."

"You really think so?" Justin asked, his voice dropping slightly. I could hear the guilt seeping through his words. "We were pretty shitty to you guys."

"Yeah, but . . . I mean, I know that it's not who you are, so even though I can be mad about it, I'm not going to hold a grudge over it forever," I explained to him.

"Is that what they told you in therapy?" Justin asked, in a joking tone. I gave him a playful smirk and tossed my pillow at him. It mostly missed him, but he humored me and flinched back anyway.

" Maybe ," I laughed.

"Hey, wow, that was uncalled for," he laughed, sitting up and throwing the pillow back at me. I ducked and let the pillow hit the wall as Justin joined in with my laughter. He picked up his own pillow and hurled it over to me, hitting me in the head this time.

"Hey!" I giggled, picking the pillow up and throwing it back.

"Wow, we're acting like middle school girls," Justin asked, surveying the pillows that were suddenly on the floor.

"So? It's fun," I said, picking up my pillow and running over to him. He put his arms up in defense and I was just about to beat him with it when someone knocked at the door.

"That's probably just the RA telling us to shut up," Justin chuckled. I rolled my eyes and set the pillow down before I went to answer the door.

I pulled the door open, ready to just spit out an apology for the noise when I realized that it wasn't the RA standing in the doorway at all. Instead, there were two police officers. My stomach twisted.

"Um, hello?" I said, forcing a smile and wondering what the heck was going on. "Can I help you?"

I heard Justin get up and walk over to the door for backup.

"Yes, no need to be alarmed, we just need some cooperation," one of them said. He didn't sound angry or anything, but I noticed he was directing most of his speech towards me, which freaked me out a bit. "Are you Kellin Quinn?"

"Yes?" I choked, nervously. Oh no. "Did I do something wrong?"

"We're not accusing you of anything, we just need to ask you a few questions," he explained. "Now, if you could please come with us, it shouldn't take too long, okay?"

"Wait, why?" I wanted to know, my body starting to shake with nervousness. Why did I need to go with police officers? What did I ever do wrong?"

"Were you at the Alpha Sigma Sigma house on November 1st of last year?" he asked, and my heart immediately sank. No matter how far I got away from the situation, that date was always going to be etched into my mind.

"Yeah," I choked, trying my best to stay calm.

"Kells," Justin said, a bit protectively, clearly knowing what date that was as well. It had been quite the night for him, too.

"I'm fine," I assured him, giving a small smile. My eyes flickered from Justin and back over to the officers, who did seem kind of intimidating. Justin still looked worried.

"Everything alright?" The same officer asked, looking between the two of us. I nodded quickly.

"Um, can my friend come with me?" I asked, shyly. It would be so much easier with a little bit of moral support if they were going to make me talk about that night.

"I was there that night, too," Justin said, stepping forward.

"Alright, well then, let's go, boys, I promise we'll make this as quick as possible," He said. I nodded and Justin stepped back in for a minute to grab our wallets and the room keys. After that, he locked up and we

followed the two officers down the hallway. The pit in my stomach only kept growing, and I couldn't stop thinking about those boxes.