Tale Teller (West Hampton U Series #1)

Chapter 4 ● Crossroads

-- Sameer --

"This is fucking insane," Ruhaan is astounded, falling onto the couch with his laptop in his hands.

Zain shrugs, not taking his eyes off his own textbook. "It's not like you guys didn't already suspect as much. Thompson reeks of shit like this." I watch my cousin, surprised at his words. Zain shuts his laptop and then leans back on the couch, stretching his arms out behind his head.

"How do you know all this?" I look at him suspiciously.

"I'm not the writer, stupid," Zain smirks, throwing a pen at me. "Thompson and his frat bros have a reputation for this. I don't see any girl willingly sleeping with them, so is it really a stretch to assume he laces girls' drinks?"

Ruhaan and I look at each other with wide eyes. I mean, we might have subconsciously suspected as much but never actually thought it could be a reality. "Should we tell someone?"

"Without any proof?" Zain snorts. "His dad will get you kicked out of this university faster than you can blink. Find proof and then get him."

I sink defeatedly into the couch as both boys wander off to different parts of the apartment. The thought is so unsettling. My teammate, someone I have spent countless hours with on and off the court, the fact that he could do something so wretched and disgusting makes me sick to my stomach. It doesn't matter how much I disliked him, I never thought he could do something so evil. Allegedly.

I was at a crossroads here.

I of course wanted to confront him, ask him if what the article was insinuating was true. But Zain was right. Without proof, I couldn't just go up to Jack and start hurling accusations at him. I was on a basketball scholarship and his dad was a big donor. One call to the university administration would get my ass kicked out of here back to the streets.

But I couldn't just sit quiet either. If Jack was truly harming girls like this, he deserves to be behind bars as soon as possible. Maybe if I was able to find some solid evidence, we could do something about it. But how?

"Stop thinking so much about it bro," Ruhaan drops my backpack beside me on the couch. "There's nothing we can do except make sure he doesn't do it when we're around. You can't risk your scholarship, Zain is right."

I look up at him, hating how much his words are right. I can't trade my future for someone else's, no matter how much I want. It's easy to want to be the hero, but it's harder to be a brown man without a degree in the United States of America. "I just don't like that we're sitting here doing nothing."

"Who says we're doing nothing?" Ruhaan smacks his hands down on my shoulder. "We can give that bastard a taste of his own medication. Mix some Dulcolax into his protein shakes and he'll be so busy in the bathroom, he won't have to party."

We both snicker at the actual good idea that was. I push myself up off the couch, unable to sit for a minute longer thinking about this and take my backpack, following Ruhaan out for our late night study session in the library.

Ruhaan was blabbering about something or the other when we walked into the quiet, almost empty library. To be fair, it was past 8pm and so most of the student traffic has disappeared. We both automatically walk towards the study room that's been booked weekly for our weekly study sessions with some other friends. However, when Ruhaan tries to open the door, it doesn't budge. He gives a tug a few more times before maniacally shaking the door back and forth.