Stephen
Markham sat at his desk, his eyes closed, the heels of his hands rubbing at his
temples. How had it gotten to this? Bethany was dead, and it was
all because of those damn pictures. Even though no one had said anything
to his face, he knew what the word was around campus.
They
thought he had taken and posted them.
The
kicker was, he hadn’t. He had no idea where those pictures had come from,
or how they had gotten on his GreekLife page. He had been hacked before,
but it was usually just one of the guys from the house, and it never had been
anything like that. Those pictures were… cruel.
When
Stephen had questioned the other brothers involved in the past three photo
incidents they had all said the same thing. Yes, the pictures had been
taken in their rooms, but no, they hadn’t taken them, and they sure as fuck
hadn’t posted them online.
Then
how the hell was someone taking those pictures?
He
leaned back, sighing loudly. Even though he hadn’t posted those pictures,
he still felt guilty. Bethany’s death still ripped him up inside.
She had been so sweet, and Stephen had actually really liked her.
Sure, he hadn’t known her all that well, but she seemed like the kind of
girl he could have started something with. Now, that would never happen.
The
door to his room opened, and Stephen opened his eyes. His roommate, Chad,
walked in. He had been accused number two. Photos of a guy he had
been seeing had shown up on the web, first on Chad’s GreekLife page, and then
later on some anti-gay forums that a few students at the school had started.
Chad had claimed his innocence at the time as well, and Stephen had paid
him lip service, but he hadn’t really believed him.
Now,
though…
“You
look like shit.” Chad plopped down on his single bed on the far side of the
room.
“I
feel like shit.” Stephen sat up and stretched. “I can’t stop thinking
about her.”
“I
know.” Chad shook his head. “So, what do we do about it?”
Stephen
looked at him, confused.
“We
know we didn’t take those pictures,” said Chad, “but someone did, and we need
to find out who. This shit needs to stop, man. The son of a bitch
who did this to me ruined any chance I had at starting something with Lance,
and now this whole disaster with Bethany... “
Stephen’s
brain kicked into high gear. “Hey, you still got any of the photos?”
“Are
you kidding me? I trashed my old computer just in case. Those things are
fucking evil.” Chad was on his feet now. “Why?”
Stephen
didn’t say anything. Instead he turned to his computer, and did a search
on Bethany. Instantly he was greeted by those now familiar photos.
The nudity had been blurred out, but her face was still clearly visible.
He glanced from the photo, then back at his room. His head swiveled
back and forth, from the computer, then to his room.
“Holy
shit…” he muttered.
Chad
was standing next to him now. “What?”
“Someone
hacked our fucking web cameras.”
-**-
It
didn’t take much for Stephen to get proof that his computer was hacked, and a
little extra digging showed that every laptop in the Delta Alpha Kappa house
had been hit by the same IP address.
Sure,
the information would clear his name, and the names of his friends, but more
importantly, it would help them find the son of a bitch who had humiliated
Bethany, and the others.
When
he presented the information to Dean Stanton, he had requested that Rachel
Fischer, and the other Sorority presidents were present. He had doubts
that they would come, but on the day of the meeting, Rachel was there, as well
as representatives from three other houses.
They
had all been there when Stephen had given the Dean copies of all his research,
and the list of IP addresses that led back to the hacker.
“Listen,
if our house got hit, then that means every single house on Greek Row is
probably hacked as well, not to mention the dorms.” Stephen glanced back at
Rachel. “Someone has been spying on us, taking pictures of us, hacking
our social media accounts. I got you everything here, but my access is limited.
Still, there is enough in those files to prove to you, and everyone else
in this room, that my friends and I not only didn’t post those pictures, we
didn’t take them.”
“Well…”
Dean Stanton stood up, handing the documents and discs off to Smithers, “thank
you Stephen for doing such thorough work, and I promise that my office will look
into your claims. However…” He paused.
Stephen
felt his stomach drop. He glanced at Rachel again, expecting to see
surprise or shock on her face. Instead she was shaking her head, as if
she already knew what the Dean was about to say next.
Dean
Stanton started again. “After the suicide of that young woman, we think it is
best that Hartford allow proper time for the students and families involved to
grieve before further investigating these claims. You understand that
Hartford is in a very sensitive position, and our aim right now is to…”
“You
want everyone to forget about Bethany, right?” Rachel laughed. “Someone
actually gives you evidence that you can use to shut down the pervert who has
been spying on all of us, and you want to sit on it? What bullshit.”
“Miss
Fischer,” Smithers looked flustered, “such language!”
“No,”
Stephen glanced back at the Dean, “she’s right. That is complete and
total bullshit.”
Dean
Stanton sat at his desk, watching the students before him. He was
smirking, his hands clasped over his slight belly. “While I understand
your frustration, you must allow the school to handle this situation as it sees
fit.” He leaned forward. “Now, as far as you are concerned, the matter is
closed. Leave this up to the grown ups, okay?”
And
suddenly the meeting was over.
