Chapter 8: worst case scenario

Word starts spreading over campus the next week over a big party at josh's mansion.

Zach sees Josh walk over to the cheerleaders after practice and walks over to see what's going on.

Ah Zach, I was just telling the girls all about my upcoming party. Are you coming?

That depends on how I feel after practice...

Fair enough, hope to see you all!

Josh starts walking away and Elle's face goes from forcing a smile to disgust in less than a second.

Nasty asshole just wants my girls there to stroke his ego. Zach, you're not going, are you? If you go others would follow.

Hell no, fuck that guy. Lisa won't go either, right?

Definitely not, just looking at him makes me sick.

And I'll talk to the rest of the team to make sure none of them go either.

Elle lets out a sigh in relief.

Thanks, that puts my mind at ease.

Zach says goodbye and heads back to the stadium for his interview with Melanie and Melody.

Hey Zach! We're already set up and ready to go.

Great, anything I should know before we get started?

Not really, the interview is mostly about "adjusting to life at ECU".

Got it, you can start whenever you're ready.

Melody gets behind the camera and counts them in.

3, 2, 1 action!

Hello and welcome a special video, an interview with ECU's new starting quarterback Zachary Gray. How are you doing today?

I'm great, just got done with practice.

Things seem to be going well, you won your practice game after all.

I would say so. Growing pains are normal when you go to a new place with new people.

Speaking of a new place, have you adjusted to living at ECU yet?

I'm getting there. I already made some friends, and that certainly sped up the process of feeling more at home. And the rest of the students have been very welcoming so I definitely can't complain.

What about class? How have things gone there?

The teachers are nice, they're very engaged and helpful.

I definitely agree with that. Overall, would you recommend ECU to students that are going to be going to college next year?

I don't see why not, we have a great community here. And we can always use new players!

As you can see, ECU is on the rise. Thank you for the interview Zach.

Thank you for having me!

Melody turns the camera off.

Good job sis.

Thanks, sorry about that last question Zach.

You mean the "come to ECU" sales pitch that was definitely coming from Frank?

Melanie sighs.

Yes, that would be the one.

Don't worry about it, I knew that wasn't your idea straight away. You said something about wanting a picture of me in my jersey?

Yes, thanks for reminding me. It's for you profile picture on social media.

Zach poses for them with his jersey on and the ECU logo on the field behind him.

And that's it for today, thanks again.

No problem, let me know if you need anything else in the future.

Will do, see you around!

Over the course of the night the music and commotion coming from Josh's mansion grows louder and louder to the point where nobody on campus can get a decent night's sleep.

The next day Zach makes his way to the stadium for a throwing session with Marcus after struggling to stay awake during class all day. Afterwards he decides to go see how Lisa and the cheerleaders are doing.

Hey girls! I heard that you were preparing a big new routine for the opening game.

Elle nods enthusiastically.

We have to make sure that we start the season of with a bang.

Good idea, it sure looks complicated though.

That's because it is, but we still have a bit over a week left to prepare so we should be fine.

Meanwhile the other cheerleaders are in a pyramid like formation with Lisa on top. She jumps down with a flip and poses with her arms raised in a v shape.

Bang, nailed it!

Good job today everybody, next practice is in two days.

Lisa takes a sip of water and catches her breath.

I just improvised with the pose at the end, was my flip clean? It's been years since I did anything like that.

Elle nods.

Absolutely, your background in gymnastics really shows.

Thanks, one more spotter would be nice though.

I agree, Maddy was supposed to be here today...

Elle takes her phone out of her back and calls her.

She's not picking up, and I didn't see her in class today either...

Did she go to the party yesterday?

I told her not to go! Now I'm even more worried...

Zach does his best to calm her down.

Let's go check up on her, just to be safe.

That's probably for the best.

They arrive Maddy's dorm room and Elle turns to Zach.

Lisa and I are going in, I hope you don't mind waiting for a bit?

It's fine, I understand. I'll be right here if you need me.

They knock on the door and go inside. Lisa returns about fifteen minutes later with a troubled look on her face.

I'm assuming she's not feeling well, judging from the look on your face.

She shakes her head.

Worst case scenario.

Was she sexually harassed at the party?

No, much worse...

I'm going to kill Josh!

Lisa quickly grabs Zach arm to stop him.

Wait! As much as I want to kill him myself... Maddy is a wreck right now, her wellbeing comes first.

You're right... I have an idea, hold on.

He takes out his phone and calls Rebecca.

Hey, miss me already?

Of course, but that's not why I'm calling. I have a question.

Fire away.

Are you still at the hospital?

For another half hour or so.

We have a bit of an emergency, is it ok if we come to you?

Sounds serious, what's wrong?

I think its best if we explain in person. You should probably inform your mentor that were on the way, this is not an everyday thing.

Ok, I'll make sure that we're ready.

They get to the hospital and explain the situation to Rebecca and her mentor. The examination takes a significant amount of time, Elle immediately stands up once Rebecca returns.

Was she...?

Rebecca nods and lets out a deep sigh.

Yes, there's no doubt. The physical evidence is plenty, the mental damage I don't even want to think about... poor girl.

Elle balls her fists and does her best to stay calm.

Could I get a copy of the evidence? I'm going to take it to the Dean and get the Jac's shut down.

No problem, I'll go get it for you. Who are the Jac's?

It's the name of the fraternity where it happened.

That's a terrible name.

You can say that again. After I'm done with them jacking off is the only thing they be able to do, no woman will ever go near them again.

Zach shakes his head.

Normally I would laugh at that, but I don't think I'm capable of laughing right now.

Lisa gets up from her seat and breaks her silence.

Is there anything else we can do to help?

Rebecca shakes her head.

No, not right now. We can take care of her physical wellbeing, an appointment with a therapist has been made.

Elle gives her a hug.

Thank you for everything. I'm going to the dean tomorrow, I'll let you all know how it goes. You guys can go home, I'm just going to go say goodbye to Maddy before I leave.

Ok, see you tomorrow.

She wastes no time and goes to Frank's office first thing in the morning.

If it isn't the student council president, what can I do for you miss Andersen?

I've come to talk to you about the Jac's.

If it's another noise complaint, I've already talked to Josh and he promised to keep it down next time.

There shouldn't be a next time, one of my girls was sexually assaulted at their party.

Are you sure? Those are big accusations!

Elle throws the file with all the evidence on Franks desk.

I took her to the hospital yesterday. The doctor confirmed it, all the evidence is in there.

Frank goes through the file, but obviously much to quickly to properly take it all in.

What are you specifically trying to accomplish?

The fact that this happened on campus is reason enough for the Jac's to be shut down.

While you present me with evidence of sexual assault, I don't see any evidence about where it happened and who is responsible for it.

But surely this is enough to investigate the Jac's at the very least!

I can't call for an investigation based on an accusation with no evidence linking the incident to the Jac's fraternity, sorry.

That is unacceptable, a girl was raped while she was unconscious on campus!

And I find that beyond disturbing, but you don't have the evidence necessary to pursue this any further.

Elle angrily takes back the file.

Fine, you want more evidence, then I'll get you more evidence!

Later that day after class Zach, Rebecca and Lisa head to the library to meet with Elle about her meeting with Frank.

Hey everyone, thank you for coming.

Of course, how is Maddy doing?

Difficult to say. She had her first therapy session today, fingers crossed that it'll help.

Rebecca nods halfheartedly.

Sadly, there is not much more that that we can do right now. The therapist should help, it's just going to take time.

They all sit down in a more secluded part towards the back of the library and Zach asks the question they all want the answer to.

How did it go with Frank this morning?

Elle scoffs.

We don't have enough evidence for even an investigation.

What?! You can't be serious!

Lisa quickly nudges Zach with her elbow.

Shh, this is a library.

What are we going to do next?

I don't know. I told Frank that I would get more evidence, but that was in a fit of rage. Truth be told, I have no idea how to get any more.

Suddenly they're approached by a male Asian student.

Sorry to interrupt, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Are you talking about Josh and his group of thugs?

Elle stands up.

Sorry for being loud. This is Stanly Park, he helps me out from time to time with student council things.

Zach shakes his hand.

Nice to meet you Stanly. This is my best friend Lisa and my girlfriend Rebecca.

He joins them at their table and they explain the situation to him.

I didn't have a high opinion of Josh before, but this is a new low...

You can say that again!

Lisa tries her best to calm Elle down.

I know you're angry, we all are. But we don't know if it was Josh himself that did it, that's what we need to figure out.

You're right, but he's done similar things before and where there's smoke there's fire.

Zach shrugs nonchalantly.

I can always go over to his mansion and punch him until he confesses.

Rebecca slaps his arm.

Don't even joke about that, you going to jail for assault is not a win for us.

Lisa slaps him for the other side.

What she said!

Stanly laughs.

You sure are lively. I actually have an idea about how we can get more evidence, I'm going to need your help though.

Go on.

About a month ago Josh asked me to help him with some tech at his new villa. We agreed on payment and I installed his computer, cameras and security system in general. One of those cameras has a view of the hall where the bedrooms are. We can't look inside of the bedrooms, but we can see whichever one of them took your friend inside.

Elle almost jumps out of her chair.

You're a genius Stanly!

Don't celebrate too early, I still need access to his computer to download the footage from his hard drive and I can't do that remotely.

Zach shrugs.

He told me I could come over to one of his parties anytime I wanted, you could just come with me.

I think that would draw too much suspicion to us. First of all, I'm not the party going type so it would be strange for me to be there. Second, us going together would lead to questions about how we met and so on. Besides, I'm no longer welcome there anyway.

Youre probably right, why aren't you welcome there?

After I installed everything he started to "renegotiate" the price. I got angry and his goons threw me out.

Now I get why you're so eager to help us. What do you suggest we do?

I'm pretty sure I can write a program that would allow me to access his computer from my dorm room. I just need somebody to insert a USB drive directly into the PC. The program will install itself and I'll take things from there.

Sounds easy enough, I can do that. Which room do I need to go to?

You're basically a celebrity, there's no way you'll be able to slip away unnoticed. Somebody will have to go to the party with you.

Elle immediately volunteers without hesitation.

I'll do it!

Knowing you I should have anticipated you being eager. But no, you're not suitable either.

Why not?!

Because it's known that you "dislike" Josh, so you going to one of his parties would be strange. On top of that you're the most beautiful woman on campus, and all the guys there would be all over you. Again, making it difficult for you to slip away.

Zach puts his arm around Rebecca.

There's no way I'm putting you at risk... sorry Lisa.

Lisa shrugs nonchalantly.

Whatever, I was born for this anyway. I've always wanted to go undercover and be like a secret agent.

Elle chuckles.

Then why are you studying psychology?

To understand the mind of a criminal. Trust me, I know what I'm doing.

They all share a short laugh until Stanly gets up.

I'll deliver you the USB drive later this week.

Zach nods with determination.

And we'll take care of the rest.

Elle gives Stanly a short hug.

Thank you for your help, I owe you one.

No you don't. You've always been nice to me, and Maddy didn't deserve to be... you know. Josh would never be punished otherwise, it falls to us to deliver justice.