gym,
something happening on campus, growing wilder and wilder as I waited for the
page to load. I wished Georgia would just tell me what was going on.
I got my answer in a few moments, even if it felt like
an absolute eternity before the page loaded. The top results were news articles
and as my eyes trailed over the headlines I groaned. “Hockey Star Implicated in
Notorious Gang Rape Case , ” one said. “Johnny
Steele Under Suspicion in Claire White Case. College
Hockey MVP Under Investigation.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No, no that’s all
wrong.”
“Look, Becky,” Georgia said, opening up one of the
news articles. They were referring to Johnny as an “alleged rapist,” and I
sagged against Georgia as I read the article. It was impossible. It couldn’t be.
I knew the facts of the case, there was no way that Johnny had been lying to
me. I kept reading, as much as it gave me pain; the article said that “new
information has come to light in the investigation of the circumstances surrounding
the suicide of Claire White.”
“Oh God,” I said, bringing my hands to my face.
“What? Did you…did he say something?” Georgia was
staring at me wildly. “Did you know ?”
I shook my head.
“Johnny told me everything about that whole horrible
thing. He wasn’t involved. I swear to God he wasn’t involved. I can’t believe
he has anything to do with it.” I shook my head again. “I promise you
everything I have, Georgia: Johnny did his best to save Claire, not hurt her.
He wasn’t even there when it happened.”
“I believe you, but what about the new evidence?” I
groaned again and slid down along the couch, burying my face in the pillows.
“My parents are fucking idiots,” I said, barely
lifting my head up enough to be heard. “This has to be about that stupid
private investigator they hired. That’s the only thing it can be. Oh God, I
hate them so much.” I buried my face in the pillows once more. I couldn’t
believe it. Johnny was going to be hounded by this again — and it was all my
parents’ fault, which meant that in some way it was partly my fault. If I
hadn’t let them meet him, they wouldn’t have thought it was necessary to drag a
stupid gumshoe into the situation. They wouldn’t have had him investigated and
this “new evidence,” whatever it was, would never have come about.
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe just how
much dating me had brought Johnny so much sorrow; I had failed to trust him. I
had been the reason why he would have to relive the whole horrible act and
everything that he still blamed himself for about it over and over again. It
was bad enough that he’d had to tell me about it the night before, but this
could ruin his prospects. This could get him kicked off of the team for no
reason. My mind was reeling. How could my parents have done something so
stupid? I wanted to call my mom again and yell at her, scream at her that she
was destroying the life of the man I was in love with. I wanted to tell her
that I would never, ever forgive her. I wanted to make her put my dad on the
phone so that I could scream at him, too.
“You’re really, really sure that Johnny had nothing to
do with it?” I took a deep breath and turned onto my side, bringing my head up
to rest on Georgia’s thigh. It would be
all over the place soon enough, I realized. I knew that Georgia had to have
heard about it on campus — everyone would be talking about it, there would be
no way to avoid hearing about it from fifty, a hundred, two hundred people I
didn’t even know. But I could set the record straight for my roommate. She
could correct anyone who had the nerve to bring it to her. I told her about the
situation; I didn’t go into as much detail as Johnny had, but I explained that
he and Claire had dated, that they had broken up and she had started to go a
little nuts, leading to her being at the party, drinking — the perfect set-up
for a bunch of
something happening on campus, growing wilder and wilder as I waited for the
page to load. I wished Georgia would just tell me what was going on.
I got my answer in a few moments, even if it felt like
an absolute eternity before the page loaded. The top results were news articles
and as my eyes trailed over the headlines I groaned. “Hockey Star Implicated in
Notorious Gang Rape Case , ” one said. “Johnny
Steele Under Suspicion in Claire White Case. College
Hockey MVP Under Investigation.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No, no that’s all
wrong.”
“Look, Becky,” Georgia said, opening up one of the
news articles. They were referring to Johnny as an “alleged rapist,” and I
sagged against Georgia as I read the article. It was impossible. It couldn’t be.
I knew the facts of the case, there was no way that Johnny had been lying to
me. I kept reading, as much as it gave me pain; the article said that “new
information has come to light in the investigation of the circumstances surrounding
the suicide of Claire White.”
“Oh God,” I said, bringing my hands to my face.
“What? Did you…did he say something?” Georgia was
staring at me wildly. “Did you know ?”
I shook my head.
“Johnny told me everything about that whole horrible
thing. He wasn’t involved. I swear to God he wasn’t involved. I can’t believe
he has anything to do with it.” I shook my head again. “I promise you
everything I have, Georgia: Johnny did his best to save Claire, not hurt her.
He wasn’t even there when it happened.”
“I believe you, but what about the new evidence?” I
groaned again and slid down along the couch, burying my face in the pillows.
“My parents are fucking idiots,” I said, barely
lifting my head up enough to be heard. “This has to be about that stupid
private investigator they hired. That’s the only thing it can be. Oh God, I
hate them so much.” I buried my face in the pillows once more. I couldn’t
believe it. Johnny was going to be hounded by this again — and it was all my
parents’ fault, which meant that in some way it was partly my fault. If I
hadn’t let them meet him, they wouldn’t have thought it was necessary to drag a
stupid gumshoe into the situation. They wouldn’t have had him investigated and
this “new evidence,” whatever it was, would never have come about.
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe just how
much dating me had brought Johnny so much sorrow; I had failed to trust him. I
had been the reason why he would have to relive the whole horrible act and
everything that he still blamed himself for about it over and over again. It
was bad enough that he’d had to tell me about it the night before, but this
could ruin his prospects. This could get him kicked off of the team for no
reason. My mind was reeling. How could my parents have done something so
stupid? I wanted to call my mom again and yell at her, scream at her that she
was destroying the life of the man I was in love with. I wanted to tell her
that I would never, ever forgive her. I wanted to make her put my dad on the
phone so that I could scream at him, too.
“You’re really, really sure that Johnny had nothing to
do with it?” I took a deep breath and turned onto my side, bringing my head up
to rest on Georgia’s thigh. It would be
all over the place soon enough, I realized. I knew that Georgia had to have
heard about it on campus — everyone would be talking about it, there would be
no way to avoid hearing about it from fifty, a hundred, two hundred people I
didn’t even know. But I could set the record straight for my roommate. She
could correct anyone who had the nerve to bring it to her. I told her about the
situation; I didn’t go into as much detail as Johnny had, but I explained that
he and Claire had dated, that they had broken up and she had started to go a
little nuts, leading to her being at the party, drinking — the perfect set-up
for a bunch of
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