Gregory Girls Gone Wild - Chapter 42: Chapter 42

Rainey grabbed Fiona's arm as soon as she caught up to her. They were outside the auditorium, in one of the many hallways of the Theater Building.
Fiona turned around and slapped her. Pain bloomed across Rainey's face.
"I deserved that," Rainey winced. "Listen, Fiona—"
"What? Listen to you kiss another girl?"
The colorful hallways, filled with murals of characters and quirky backdrops, were largely empty except for the two of them.
"We were practicing lines for the play!" Rainey exclaimed. "Believe me, it meant nothing!"
Fiona burst into tears. Alarmed, Rainey tried to touch her shoulders, but Fiona pushed her away.
"I thought you were over her!" Fiona cried. "I thought we were past this!"
"I am over her," Rainey said, aghast. "Danika and I were acting!"
"Acting?" Fiona repeated spitefully. "Do you think I'm an idiot, Rainey?"
Rainey backtracked. "We were reading your lines, Fi—the lines you wrote! Danika's your lead, you made her kiss almost every girl at the audition! She's straight! Or did you forget?"
Fiona's pink hair stood up on its own, electrified. "Are you kidding me? Straight girls do not kiss their friends like that!"
"How can you say that?" Rainey retorted. "Danika's the straightest—" She stopped herself, flushing. The kiss. The stupidly, passionate kiss that had basically rebooted her brain. Who had initiated it? Did it even matter?
Fiona's face was streaked with tears. Guilty, Rainey forced herself to stop thinking about the kiss.
"I knew that girl was lying," Fiona said tearfully. "She was probably pretending to be straight so that you would think she's interesting and, like, a challenge."
"C'mon, Danika's not like that."
"Stop defending her!" Fiona cried. "You always do that!"
"What's your problem?" Rainey demanded. "If you think so badly of Danika, why did you want to work with her? Why did you cast her in your play?"
Fiona wiped her eyes. "I don't know. I guess I was competing with her. In my own stupid way, I thought if we worked together, you'd see that you made the right choice by being with me. I guess I was wrong."
"Fiona, listen—"
"Do you even want to be in this relationship?"
"Of course, I do!" Rainey said indignantly. "How can you even ask that?"
"If Danika wasn't straight, would you still want to be with me?"
"What kind of question are you asking me?" Rainey demanded. "Of course, Danika's straight! She told me herself! Danika would never lie to me...never...not about something like that!"
Fiona stared at her, tears welling in her eyes again. "Wrong answer. You're supposed to say that you want to be with me whether she's straight or not."
Rainey felt like she was fighting an uphill battle.
"Fiona...You're twisting my words."
Fiona looked away. A couple walked past them, a guy and a girl staring curiously. Rainey wanted to punch them for intruding in their intimate conversation.
"What do you want, Rainey?" Fiona's voice was flat. "Because I don't think it's me. Sometimes when we're in the same room, your eyes drift towards Danika. You two talk, and it's like I'm invisible and my words don't matter. I don't want to feel like a third wheel in a relationship."
"There's some stuff only me and Danika know about," Rainey explained hurriedly. "Stuff related to what happened at the Peter Pan play—"
Fiona raised her hand. "Don't talk to me about that play. Every time someone brings it up, your mind jumps to Danika and saving Danika. C'mon, Rainey, that was the night you gave me a rose! You never seem to remember that...it's just me that remembers..."
A bad feeling weighed heavily on Rainey's chest.
"I really fell for you, Rainey," Fiona said, her face dried with tears. "I guess that does make me an idiot."
Something split inside her heart. Fiona began to walk in the opposite direction.
"Wait!"
Fiona put her hand up. "When you figure out what you want, come find me. Otherwise, Rainey, please just leave me alone. I'm at my limit."
Rainey forced herself to stop running. She watched as Fiona disappeared down the hallway, as if she couldn't wait to get away from her.
She touched her face, finding it surprisingly wet. Embarrassed, she wiped her face aggressively with her sleeve. She trudged back to the auditorium, ignoring the whispers and stares from people who had witnessed her run after Fiona and return without her.
The stage was empty. Danika was nowhere to be seen. Numb, Rainey walked towards the front row, where Nakir sat.
He took one look at her face. "Not here," he said quickly. "Let's go somewhere else."
Grateful, Rainey followed him outside to the courtyard. They sat on the lawn in front of Gregory Tower, where students were studying and napping quietly on the grass. The sky was bleak, gray.
Nakir kindly gave her a few minutes to gather herself together.
"What happened?" he asked gently.
"She broke up with me," Rainey said miserably.
Nakir grimaced. "I figured. I don't think I've seen Fiona that pissed since—uh, well, ever. Sorry."
"Why apologize?" Rainey said dully. She laid her head against the cold, hard lawn. "What happened, happened."
Nakir scratched his head tentatively. "What exactly did happen? One minute, I was under my seat and the next minute, you and Danika were rehearsing lines and getting pretty into it. Dude, I had no idea you were such a good actor."
Rainey winced.
"Unless, you weren't acting," Nakir said suspiciously. "Everyone started watching towards the end. Even Fiona. I wanted to tell y'all to get a room somehow but you seemed really into it—"
"Yeah, I know."
"Like really into it."
"Listen, Nakir," Rainey said desperately. "Danika kissed me first."
They looked at each other. Rainey remembered a time when Nakir had been her only friend in college—the only person she could count on.
"Okay," Nakir said warily. "So what?"
"I don't know!" Rainey threw her hands in the air. "Isn't that strange of her?"
Nakir looked worried. "Maybe."
"Do you think—" Rainey swallowed, finding the words difficult to get out. "Do you think Danika is straight?"
"I don't know, Rainey," Nakir said slowly.
"She kissed me—"
"In the play," Nakir reminded her. "She was acting."
"Was it just the play?" Rainey demanded. "Is she really a great actress? I don't know...Fiona said some stuff that really made me think..."
Nakir was silent.
"Listen," he said carefully. "You've been down this road before, with Danika. Remember Jessica's party? You set your hopes on her and you got hurt."
Rainey recalled the night of Jessica's party. Spin the bottle.
"I don't want you to get your hopes up again and get shot down," Nakir said.
Rainey remembered lying listlessly in bed for weeks, depressed out of her mind. That had been one of the worst nights of her life.
"Shit." Rainey closed her eyes. "I always get...sucked in by her."
Nakir patted her shoulder gently. "I understand. She's a charming girl."
Rainey said nothing. Danika. Her and Danika together. She had stomped out any possibility after Jessica's party.
"Do you want to get back together with Fiona?" Nakir asked.
Rainey searched her feelings.
"I do," she said finally.
"Then don't give up," Nakir urged. "Whoever you choose, don't give up."
"What about you and Mariah?" Rainey asked, ripping apart parts of the grass. "I know you're avoiding her."
"You're not the only one with relationship problems," Nakir said cryptically.
"You're not thinking of breaking up with her, are you?"
Nakir frowned. "Did I say that?"
"Just talk to her, man."
Nakir stood up. "You too, Rainey."
After he left, Rainey thought about what he said. Whoever you choose, don't give up.
She wanted her girlfriend back more than ever, but she needed answers first. From the one person in the world who confused her more than anybody else.
She texted Danika.
Hey, can we talk?
After an hour, Rainey called her phone. No answer. She stared at her screen, dejected. Maybe Danika needed space.
She would see her at work tomorrow anyway. At her apartment, she miserably pushed aside the extra scripts on her bed as well as some of Fiona's belongings. She couldn't believe Fiona had broken up with her today. It felt like a dream, almost. She fell asleep, completely clothed and utterly depressed, waiting for the uncertainty of tomorrow.
*******
There were limits to Rainey's patience. She didn't like when people walked into Nutty's Ice Cream Parlor just as she was about to close. She was testy with her chemistry professor who refused to grade exams until the end of the semester. There was an order to her life. So the fact that her only two employees ditched work the next day bothered her. Her patience wore ragged when they didn't show up for the rest of the week, despite the multiple calls and texts she left on their respective cell phones.
"Ethan, if you're hearing this message, you're fired," Rainey barked into her phone, ten minutes after the shift had started.
She hung up and dialed Danika.
"Hey, Dani, sorry you couldn't come in again today," she said, injecting as much sweetness as she possibly could. "Just to let you know, I need a warning if you can't make your shift. And, check your earlier messages, I really need to talk to you."
Rainey felt like throwing her phone after hanging up. Where the fuck was Danika?
Normally Rainey could turn around at any given time of the day and not find it out of the ordinary that Danika was behind her. The sophomore was available almost 24/7. She sent more texts than an automated response bot. After the fiasco at auditions, Danika was radio silent. Rainey found it downright nerve wracking.
After work, Rainey left another voicemail. During her night shift at Nutty's, she found herself glancing at the door whenever the bell rang, hoping, despite herself, that it was Danika about to ask for a free ice cream cone.
A group of friends walked inside, laughing and joking with one another. Rainey hung her head, depressed. It was embarrassing to admit, but throughout their entire friendship, it had been Danika who had reached out first to mend things. It was a strange feeling, being on the other side, not knowing if someone wanted to talk to you or not.
Does Danika feel like this all the time? Is that why she's ignoring me?
During the day, Rainey kept up the pretense that she wanted to make up with Danika as friends but at night, she couldn't help but replay the kiss over again...Danika grabbing her collar desperately...Rainey rolled over, feeling warm.
While she was imagining this scenario in bed, her phone rang on her bedside table.
"Hello?" Rainey scrambled to answer, her heart thumping.
"Rainey. This is Detective Nguyen."
Rainey frowned into the phone. "Oh. Sorry, I thought you were someone else."
"It's fine," Detective Nguyen replied. Rainey could hear voices in the background. "I'm calling because I have Ethan Kankle in custody."
Rainey sat up. "What?"
"I reached out to him to let him know that we were investigating his activities," Detective Nguyen explained.
"Why would you—" Rainey stopped herself from yelling at the cop. "Is that a good idea?"
"Well, after the information you fed us through the wire, I believed we had sufficient evidence to pull him in as an informant."
Rainey sucked in a breath. "Ethan would never be an informant for the Phoenix Kings."
"Tell me about it," Detective Nguyen said wryly. "He tried punching my partner when I suggested the idea. He's been in a holding cell for two days now."
Rainey began to pace the room, her blood boiling. "Did you tell him that me and Danika are working with you?"
"Of course not," Detective Nguyen replied, sounding offended. "But he's a young man with many suspicions."
"And I'm sure he's already guessed by now," Rainey finished. She felt like kicking the metal part of her bed. "No offense, but you're going to have to be a hell of a lot smarter than this if you want to take down the Phoenix Kings!"
"I admit I may have made a mistake," Detective Nguyen said lightly. "Mr. Kankle is a hot-head, no doubt about that. But he did provide some useful information in his many rants. About the vandalism at the Lambda Phi Sigma House, for one."
Fuck. Rainey stopped pacing.
"He did?"
Detective Nguyen's voice was disapproving. "You know, Ms. Dumar, you should be transparent with all the information you give us, even if you were involved in some way."
Rainey closed her eyes. "Am I in trouble?"
"No, but you should make it a priority to be honest with me. I can provide immunity in cases like this." Detective Nguyen paused. "We can talk more about immunity later. I called for another reason. According to campus laws, I can only hold Mr. Kankle for another twenty-four hours. So, this is a heads up."
"A heads up?" Rainey asked indignantly. "I'm going to need more than a heads up if Ethan knows I'm working with you! He's going to come after me, for sure! And Danika—you need to protect her!"
"We'll do the best we can," Detective Nguyen said lamely. "But we have no physical evidence to hold him any longer. We're going to patrol the areas you frequent with a much heavier presence, if that makes you feel better."
In all honesty, that made Rainey feel worse. But she had already been caught lying once to the detective and didn't want to push her luck.
"Just tell Ethan that me and Danika aren't apart of your investigation," Rainey said. "Please."
"Don't worry, Ms. Dumar. We'll be in touch."
The phone went dead. Rainey stayed up for nearly two hours, watching the street from her window until she decided to go to bed. Now she had to worry about a vengeful Ethan on the loose...she had to warn Danika too...but how could she, if Danika wasn't responding to her texts...
By Friday, she was nearing her wits' end. In the evening around nine o'clock, she drove to Danika's dormitory and parked by the side of the street. The air was chilly and the streets were wet and black. Rainey's boots thudded against the pavement, moving aside the ash and garbage that had collected by the side of the road.
She tried the main door but she needed a passcode to get in. She tapped on the window, to signal that she needed help, but the group of boys inside the lobby waved and continued to talk amongst themselves.
Feeling helpless, Rainey stepped back onto the sidewalk. She counted the windows on the fourth floor of the dorm. One...two...three...four...
Danika, she thought desperately. Where are you?
Bending down, she picked up a couple of small rocks by the sewer. Before she could change her mind, she threw one at the window she figured belonged to Danika's room.
THWACK!
Again, the rocks soared in the air.
THWACK! THWACK!
People were beginning to gawk at her on the street, avoiding the immediate area.
"What the hell are you doing?"
At the familiar voice, Rainey whipped around. She let the remaining rocks fall from her hand, her fist clenched into a tight ball.