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I peeked my head out my door and was greeted with a maelstrom of raised voices and frantic roommates.
“Jesus, Julie, sit down before you pass out. Can you even see out of that thing?”
Nora had Julie’s arm in a firm grip and was leading her over to the couch, where she shoved pillows out of the way to make room.
I left my room to come see what was going on, and when Nora moved out of the way and I finally got a clear view of Julie’s face, I sucked in a breath so fast I nearly choked on it.
The skin around Julie’s eye was a mass of purple bruises, the eye itself swollen nearly shut. A gash across her cheekbone was split and oozing blood. Blood matted her blond hair as well, and dirt stained her expensive clothing. She seemed to be crying, but it was hard to tell, though she was holding a tissue and blew her nose forcefully once she was seated.
“What the hell happened?” Frank demanded, bringing the box of tissues closer.
“I’m fine, it’s okay,” Julie mumbled through the tissue. “I fell on the stairs; it’s not a big deal.”
I was definitely no expert in trauma, but it was clear to anyone with eyes that this was a lie. She’d obviously been punched. I held my breath, waiting to see if my roommates accepted this explanation.
“Bullshit,” Nora bit out, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Who hurt you?”
I’d started heading toward the bathroom to find the first aid kit, but I paused at that. Another question with an obvious answer, but I waited to see what Julie would say. Rather than say anything, she started crying again.
“He didn’t mean to,” she wailed. “It was an accident. We were arguing, and he got carried away!”
“Who?” Frank asked, her eyes wide.
I blinked. Was she serious? Sure, Drew put on a good front with the other students, but surely an ego that size wasn’t so easy to hide.
“Drew, obviously,” Nora said, shooting Frank a look as I returned from the bathroom.
I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one with an inkling as to his true personality. I brought the first aid kit and a wad of damp paper towels over and sat on the edge of the couch.
“May I?” I gestured to her face, and Julie nodded. I started dabbing at the blood on her cheek as Nora crouched to sit by our feet.
“Tell us what happened,” she said.
“It looks worse than it is.” Julie winced as I gingerly cleaned around the cut on her cheekbone. “It really wasn’t that big a deal. We were arguing and I said something I shouldn’t have. He already apologized.”
Oh, well that fixes everything, I thought, though to be honest, I was surprised to hear he’d apologized. It didn’t seem a very Drew thing to do.
“I hope you told him where he could shove his apology,” Frank said, but Julie blanched.
“I can’t do that. He’d break up with me.”
Frank’s eyes narrowed into slits. “That was kind of the point.”
Julie shook her head. “I can’t. I still need him. At least for another few months. I don’t put my applications in until spring.”
What? I furrowed my brow and turned to Nora.
“Drew’s dad is on the admissions panel at Princeton,” she explained.
Oh yeah, I dimly remembered her telling me that before. But still…
“Surely you don’t need him for that,” I said, using a new paper towel to dab at her hairline. “Aren’t your grades good?”
I didn’t bother to comment on the ethical concerns of Drew’s dad granting Julie admission simply because she was dating his son. I hadn’t learned nothing at this school.
“Yeah, I’ve got a 4.0,” she said. “But it won’t matter. I’m not in any advanced classes. They wouldn’t take a second glance at me.”
Frank scowled. “There’s no reason you aren’t taking advanced classes. You’re smart enough.”
