Page 107 of Never Forget

I’m not sure that requires a response, so I just look away. A pretty girl in a white sundress, with bright pink hair is setting up a picnic blanket in the grassy area behind us. She must be a student. NYU is near here, I think. She pulls a laptop out of her bag, and a few books.

“Ridiculous,” Curtis sneers. “Just look at what society has been reduced to. Girls doing anything to get a man’s attention, just so they can turn around and cry assault, assault! All while batting their eyes and dressing like innocent little girls with naughty intentions. It makes me sick.”

“Yeah… That’s gross,” I say, trying really hard not to make eye contact with this putrid excuse of a human being. The frog people can have him back. Ugh.

“I suppose you don’t have to worry about that sort of thing with your predilections. Although there are those types, you know what I mean? Those little girly boys that like to dress up in makeup and shit? Absolute horseshit. You might be gay, but at least you’re a real man,” he says, reaching over to punch my bicep.

I’m saved from having to respond when a few papers fly right past my face.

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry!” The girl who was studying on the blanket behind us is running, flailing her hands wildly to catch a stack of papers that the wind took. Instinctively, I grab stray pieces of paper, standing to pick up a few from the ground. “Oh my gosh, thank you so much. I’ll never get this research paper done without these notes, you’re a lifesaver,” she gushes, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s no problem.” I look down at the papers in my hand, trying to straighten them a bit before handing them back. “You must be studying something pretty hard.”

“Computer science with a concentration in cybersecurity. I really like coding.”

“Wow. Impressive. Good luck with your paper,” I say, reaching to hand her the papers. She takes them from me with a wide, friendly grin, showing off an endearing gap between her two front teeth.

“Oh, you’ve got something just there,” she says, pushing up to her tiptoes to brush something out of my hair behind my ear. “Anyway. Thanks again!”

When I return to my seat next to Curtis, he looks like he chewed glass. “Did you see the way she flirted with you? If I’d been the one to save her papers, she wouldn’t have looked at me twice and probably would have called the cops for smiling at her.” He scoffs. “Doesn’t even know she’s barking up the wrong tree.”

“I think she was just being friendly.”

“You know, Francis told me you were a little wishy-washy. I was expecting more of an Alpha-male type.”

“I just like to give people a chance.”

“How many chances do they get, though?”

I look down at my hands. “I don’t know.”

“We can help you, you know. Francis and me. We can get you the justice you deserve and put those rotten little brats in their place.”

“And where’s that?”

“When I’m done with them, they’ll be back to playing state fairs and shitty bars for pennies.”

Blowing out a breath, I lean back and run my fingers through my hair. I feel something, like a little sticker with a nodule, just behind my ear where the girl touched me. Carefully, I turn my head to look at her. From behind her laptop, she brings a finger to her lips and winks.

Deciding to trust my instincts and just go with it, I turn back to Curtis. “And what is it you need me for?”

“I need dirt. Details. The stuff no one but their inner circle knows. Francis already gave me a lot, and he’s got inside eyes, but we think they’re catching on. They’ve closed ranks. Look how easily they ousted you over mere suspicion.”

“It was a pretty reasonable suspicion,” I point out. Pausing for a beat, I ask carefully, like I’m curious but timid about it, maybe awed by what they’ve pulled off. “How did he do it?”

“How do you think he did it?”

Ugh, no. I want to hear him say it. Admit to it. Out loud.

“I don’t know. I checked that place for bugs. It had to have been something else.”

“Let’s just say, you delivered a little gift for us.”

I stare at him for a minute as if I’m trying to work it out. “You set me up, but you want me to help you?”

“Francis did that to help you. So you’d get your head out of your ass. Now, come on. You can’t tell me you weren’t appalled by the shit they get up to. The drugs, the sex parties. Was there any part of it you weren’t disgusted by? Or did you like it and that’s why you’re upset they tossed you out on your ass?”

“I don’t know what they got up to before I got hired. Cory and Tad are the only ones who were around back then. They’re all pretty chill now.”