I looked up at Oakley and Dale, who were standing with their arms crossed and uneasy expressions on their face. “What happened?”

“Chantell here is sixteen,” Oakley grumbled. My eyes widened. Sixteen? Holy shit.

“You didn’t—”

“No!” Oakley snapped. “We were making out, then she just started crying. I didn’t know she was underage, I swear.” Staring at Oakley, I tried to gauge if he was telling the truth. His clothes were wrinkled, but he didn’t look like he’d just attacked the pink fortress.

I turned back to Chantell with a grimace. “Chantell, are you…”

“I didn’t mean to drink so much. My parents are going to kill me,” she sobbed, this time even louder.

“When is your curfew?” I asked.

“Two hours ago,” she croaked back. “I just wanted to make my boyfriend jealous. He cheated on me last week with Tammy fucking Tabernackle. As if fucking that stupid whore is something to brag about.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Oakley groaned at my back. I stood up and let out the breath I had been subconsciously holding. My mind was racing as I mentally went over what needed to happen. First, I needed to calm Chantell down. Then, I needed to figure out a way to make sure that she wasn’t going to lie to her boyfriend or anybody else and say that she and Oakley had been about to bop squiddles. And lastly, I had to start on damage control, who saw what and who were they telling?

I took a deep breath and turned my attention back to Chantell. I sat next to her on the bed and started rubbing her back in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. I didn’t have any actual siblings, but I had done this a thousand times, comforting my drunk sorority sisters back in California. “Chantell, sweetheart,” I cooed. “Everything is going to be ok. I’m going to help you. Your parents don’t need to know about tonight, ok? Do you have a friend you can go stay with?”

“Uh-huh,” she sniffled.

“Ok, good, that’s a good start.” I spoke gingerly. “Text your friend and let them know you’re coming. What’s her name?” I asked.

“Jessa,” she told me. After she texted Jessa, I took her phone and scrolled through until I found her messages with her mom. I didn’t trust Chantell to text her mom convincingly while she was so upset. I quickly tapped out something I thought was believable and hit send. Chantell seemed to be calming down.