Page 30 of Snitches and Serpents

And the truth is that I have no idea what he would and wouldn’t do.

I thought I knew who Tristan Kane was. The quiet nerd who never went home straight after school and instead spent his afternoons in the library. The guy who rotated between his four faded t-shirts. The guy who never said a mean word to anyone. The guy who no one ever bothered to bully, even though he was obviously poor and a huge geek, because he would just ignore anyone who tried.

But this past week has taught me that I have no idea who Tristan Kane is. Which is why I didn’t dare tell campus police to search his house. Because what if he actually killed me for it?

Shaking my head, I stare up at the sky and try to force down a deep breath. It stops in my throat, but at least it’s something.

Resignation washes over me.

It was a stupid plan anyway. A naïve plan. Even if campus police had found drugs in Tristan’s house, it still wouldn’t have proved that the ones in my room weren’t mine. And even if it had somehow proved that, Brandi would still never allow me to return to their sorority. It wasn’t the drug arrest that made her kick me out. It was my history with Tristan, and the threat he presents.

So I’m screwed either way.

Which means that I do in fact need to call my parents now and tell them that I was arrested by campus police and kicked out of my mother’s precious sorority.

Panic spikes through my spine.

Ignoring it, I slide a hand into the pocket of my shorts and pull out my phone.

My heart slams against my ribs.

I pull up my call history and scroll until I find my father’s name. My finger hovers over the call button.

Blood pounds in my ears.

I hit dial.

My head spins and I have to hold on to the wall for support as the line rings. Then he picks up.

And the conversation plays out exactly as I thought it would. It’s exactly as bad as I thought it would be.

How could you let this happen, Elle?

Haven’t we raised you better?

No daughter of mine would ever be kicked out of her sorority.

Do you have any idea the shame and embarrassment you have brought upon our family?

How am I going to face the public now?

They are going to use this as an opportunity to smear me. To declare me incompetent. If the mayor can’t even raise his own daughter right, how can he lead our city? Do you understand what this foolishness is going to cost me, Elle? What your failures are going to cost me?

When he at last hangs up, I feel as if my soul has been shredded to pieces. My hand shakes violently and it takes three tries to get my phone back into my pocket.

Dread and pain and sheer panic crashes over me.

Oh God, how am I ever going to recover from this? How will I ever be able to prove to my parents that I’m still worthy of their love? That I’m still their perfect daughter?

My entire body shakes.

I try to draw air into my lungs.

It doesn’t work.

It feels as if there is a massive vise squeezing my chest. It’s so intense that I think my ribcage is going to crack from the pressure.

Gripping my shirt right over my heart, I pull it forward. As if that would somehow help decrease the pressure. It doesn’t.

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