Once something went viral, though, it was like pissing into the wind to try and stop it. There were recourses we could take, like the takedown notices. But the risk of exposure made those recourses of questionable value.
The fact that she didn’t know the identity of her sex partner got me off the hook, but I had to wonder again if she truly didn’t know or there wasn’t a way she could find out. And if she found out, what would she do? Why had she uploaded it in the first place? But if I asked her that directly, she’d realize I knew it’d been her that had done it and not the other party. She wasn’t stupid—that much I’d pieced together—and could probably figure it out. I couldn’t risk that. I’d have to get to the bottom of her reasons for doing it in a more roundabout way.
After about an hour of poring over legalese, I fixed myself some dinner and hit the ‘call back’ button from the voicemail app on my phone. There were other women in my life that I couldn’t keep putting off.
“It’s about time you return my call,” was the first thing Hannah said when she picked up.
“I do have a life, you know. I’m not your personal homework helpline.”
“I know where the bodies are buried, Jordan. Don’t mess with me.”
“More like you know where I used to stash my joints and that’s what you used to blackmail me, you pain in the ass.”
“Whatever. I need help with this. I emailed you the problem. Just give me a hint?”
“How is college going, anyway? You’ve already been in two weeks and I haven’t heard a word from you since you started.”
She paused for a moment before answering in a too-loud, too cheery voice. “It’s going great!”
Hmm. That concerned me, but I knew better than to ask her directly. Hannah always liked to project that everything going on with her was perfect—even when it wasn’t. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t the greatest actress.
“Meeting a lot of new people? Any guys I need to go beat up?”
“Ha, ha. I’m concentrating on studies, thankyouverymuch. But this economics class is the bane of my existence. Already.”
I flipped open my laptop and pulled up her email again. “So this question is pretty basic, Banna.” I used the old nickname, just to mess with her. Big brother’s prerogative.
She blew out a breath on the other end. “The class is for my general education requirement, but we weren’t all managing multiple stock portfolios from our earnings at the surf shop at fifteen.”
“Too bad you can’t be a genius like me. Sibling rivalry is such an ugly thing. Try not to let it eat you up inside.”
“Whatever. Speaking of the surf shop…Mom told me something she found out from Ms. Nolan. ”
“Ah, how’s Ms. Nolan doing?”
“Mom’s been driving her to her treatments. She seems to be doing better. But this last time, she told Mom that Cyndi’s getting a divorce.”
I paused. The name stopped me first. The news, second. I had no idea what to do with that information. I actually had no idea how I even felt about that information. Deep down, I should have felt some sort of satisfaction to hear about her unhappiness, but I didn’t. Did that mean I’d moved past all that—past her?
“You still there?”
“Yeah. Not sure why you chose to tell me that.”
“Dunno. Thought you’d want to know. She was your girlfriend for a zillion years.”
“About a zillion years ago. I’ve had a lot of girlfriends since then.”
“Oh, so that’s what you call them? I’m sorry, but if you sleep with someone for a couple weeks, she’s not your girlfriend. You need to maybe think about settling down.”
“Why the hell would I do that? I’m twenty-five and I live like a rock star.”
“Ah yes, pissing away your youth and your filthy, ill-gotten millions.”
“Has Dad been spewing his Das Kapital bullshit again?”
She sighed. “Okay, I tease but…this is getting ridiculous. When are the two of you going to sit down and talk?”
I ground my teeth, tensing. She knew better than to get into this subject with me. Then again, I’d screwed up by bringing the old man up in the first place. “We’ve got nothing to talk about. So, about that homework problem…”
“Dude, speaking of problems…I almost forgot. I saw a viral video on the Internet. People dressed up as characters from Dragon Epoch—”
Uh, no. Just no. The thought that my little sister had seen me having sex brought on a sudden rush of nausea. “I’m not talking about that, and neither are you if you want help on your homework, missy.”