Vicious Boys by Nora Cobb
Chapter Eighteen
Chase
There are some classes I can’t attend by remote, but I refuse to return to Redwood. I also refuse to move back in with my parents, and so I crash at my brother’s town house. I sleep until twelve, and when I do come downstairs to eat lunch, Jagan is sitting at the kitchen island with Adrian. I jump when I see him and rub my eyes to clear away the junk in the corners.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask Jagan meanly. I turn my back on him and walk over to the fridge to grab a juice.
I flinch when Adrian scowls in my direction. Adrian has Mom’s looks, including her stink eye. He’s dressed for work in a plain white T-shirt and khakis. Jagan looks me up and down. He has on an expensive suit that looks like the designer slept in it before selling the wrinkled crap to a clueless client. I didn’t bother to dress. I came straight downstairs in the sweatpants I’ve been wearing since the weekend.
“Chase, be polite,” says Adrian, “Jagan just stopped by to see how you’re doing.”
I sit down at the island with them. “It’s nice to see that you’re still checking up on me.”
Jagan smiles. “You don’t stop by the office. When you were a freshman, I saw you all the time. We’ve lost that connection we used to have, and I want you to know that it’s still there.”
I can’t help but roll my eyes. Jagan has shown an interest in me since the day he learned my last name was Evans. It was to be expected—it happens all the time with industry people. I liked Jagan in the beginning; an eccentric man spouting new age bullshit was amusing. Certain students knew it was a ploy to keep the other less-promising students from asking for impossible favors. But when my parents’ business declined, my visits to his office became fewer and far between.
I drink half the green juice from the bottle before I spoke. “Sorry, but I just wasn’t expecting to see you, not after Marcy shamed me in front of the senior class.”
Adrian glances over at me, but I avoid his gaze. I told my older brother a little bit about what happened but not everything. If he knew everything my parents had done, he would move out of the country and never speak to them again. I don’t want that to happen, at least not until I can go with him.
“Marcy has been placed on leave,” replies Jagan. “I doubt she’ll be coming back. You don’t have to worry because she’s the one that’s finished. The school doesn’t hold you responsible for a predator’s actions.”
I finish off the rest of my juice and get up to leave. “It takes at least two to fuck. I’m not exactly a kid, Jagan.”
“No. You’re not.” He nods. “So let’s talk. As adults. I wouldn’t have bothered to show up here if it was a waste of time. You should consider returning to school.”
I gawk like I’ve been sucker-punched. “Are you crazy, old man? You were there. You saw part of what happened to me. Marcy told me shit about my parents that I’d pay to forget.”
“Be realistic, Chase.” Jagan shakes his head. “Being ostracized by a bunch of teenagers is no reason to quit in your last term. Out of a hundred that walk across the stage, maybe one will become a household name if he isn’t already. The others might work in their chosen fields in a lesser capacity. Still others will find a day job and stay there while they wait for a break that will never come. That’s not your story, and both of us know it.”
Adrian interrupts Jagan’s blunt pep talk, “We have something serious to worry about, Chase.” He pushes a copy of Variety toward me, folded open to an article that jumps out at me instantly. “Someone has accused Mom and Dad of running a front with Mel Vaughn’s help. They claim that the talent agency is a cover for sex workers and porn.”
I sit down again slowly as I process this. “Is it true?” Jagan looks away while Adrian looks troubled. “What’s going to happen?” I ask.
“If they’re charged, Mom and Dad will be questioned,” replied Adrian, “and we’ll probably end up broke while they’re dragged through the courts.”
I stare hard at Jagan. “And you still want me to return to school?”
He nods. “Redwood will be nothing compared to the scrutiny you’ll be under later. Chase, you and your brother can ride out the scandal, but you’ll have to start doing the groundwork now. Finish your degree and go to college out in the middle of nowhere while it blows over.”
I look at the paper again, but my mind cannot focus on the print as it morphs into gibberish. “Was it Marcy? Did Marcy tell this crap to the press?”
Jagan scowls. “It could have been. But I think someone else at Redwood might be the source.”
Silas. Silas had those fucking binders. One day, I looked through a couple of binders, finding the names of people I couldn’t stand, including a rock star who slept with his elderly nanny, and an actor who gambled away his home to keep his soon-to-be ex-wife from owning it.
All sorts of dirt was listed on those pages in Silas’ anal handwriting. When I reached for the E binder, Silas took it out of my hands and said no.
“Who?” I ask, bracing myself for the reply. “Who is talking shit about my family?”
“It could be anyone.” Jagan sighs. “Silas Vinson. Talia Long.” He pauses for a moment before he finally says, “Vicki Saunders.”
