The Four Beta Brothers

Chapter 16 - A Late Night

JUNIPER

	“What is she doing here?” Nathan was trying to whisper. His voice had that raspy hush to it, but he failed the volume aspect of a whisper.

	“Ask Asher,” Axel said.

	I kept my eyes closed. I wasn’t ready to wake up and talk to anyone yet. My body felt too heavy. The couch was surprisingly comfortable, possibly more so than my bed, but the conversation with Axel had only made it more difficult to sleep. 

	“But she slept over. Does that mean—”

	“I implore you not to ask that question,” Asher said. “And stop staring at her. Let her sleep.”

	“But why is she here?” Nathan asked again.

	“Sleeping, obviously,” Axel said.

	I could practically hear the eye roll from Nathan. “That’s not what I meant. “

	“Does it matter why she’s here? She’s here. Leave it alone before you wake her up,” Axel said. 

	The dorm quieted after that, and I managed to fall back asleep for a few minutes. It was only when my phone started buzzing, that I jolted awake again.

	“You’re awake,” Asher said, standing in the kitchen.

	I rubbed my eyes, trying to remove the sleep from them. “Where are your brothers?”

	“They’re out right now. Breakfast is almost ready.”

	The smell of pancakes and syrup hit my nose, and my stomach quickly responded. My phone buzzed again, and I grabbed it off the table, looking at my notifications.



	She’s horrible.

	How could she do something like that?

	I didn’t know she would turn into a bully.



	My name was tagged in several comments on social media. I clicked on one of the notifications, which took me directly to a video.

	Asher said something to me, but as I looked at the preview of the video, the rest of the world disappeared. It was me standing in front of Moira in the cafeteria. She looked scared of me. The title of the video read, “President of the Student Council Bullies Innocent Student.”

	“June?” Asher said.

	I clicked play on the video. It was compiled from multiple angles, but it wasn’t the conversation I had with Moira. It was spliced and edited to make the things I said to Moira seem terrible. It wasn’t even well edited, but the comments were filled with students who believed every part of it.

	“June.” Asher touched my knee. He knelt on the floor in front of me, looking up. “What is it?”

	My entire body felt numb again. I turned my phone and played the video for him. He took the phone from my hands, and the more he heard, the harder his eyes grew. He scrolled through the comments, and then he stood up and started pacing.

	“How dumb can these people be? It’s so obvious you didn’t actually say this stuff. It doesn’t even sound like you.” His eyes were glued to my phone.

	“People will believe what they want to.” I leaned back on the couch and pulled my fingers over my face, stretching the skin.

	“We can stop this. I’ll talk to Ethan today. He’ll know what to do.” Asher was frantic. His reaction to the situation was bigger than mine. Seeing him rage on my behalf, made me feel a little better. At least I still had him on my side, but it felt like the rest of the world was trying to crush me.

	I stood up and grabbed his arm, stopping him from pacing. “I’ll report the video as bullying and try to get it taken down, but at this point, there’s not much I can do. If everyone wants to think of me as the monster Moira has painted me to be, I can’t change their minds.”

	“How are you so calm right now?” Asher’s shoulders sank as he looked at me.

	I shrugged. “I’ve been through worse. The only friend I lost was Moira. I didn’t exactly have a lot of friends. School has always been my priority, and I just have to keep it that way. If I can get through the rest of this semester and the spring semester, then I’ll be able to leave this place and never look back. Moira might be able to turn the student body against me, but she can’t stop me from earning my grades.”

	“You shouldn’t have to live like this. We can’t let her win,” Asher said. There was defeat in his eyes.

	I cupped his cheek and smiled. I should have been a complete mess, but with Asher here, something told me that everything would be okay. “She won’t. I won’t let her.” I lifted onto my toes and kissed Asher.

	It felt right kissing him and having him in my arms. It made it clear that Axel wasn’t anything. He was just a temporary distraction, but Asher was the one I wanted to get closer to.

	“I’m still going to talk to Ethan. Between your room and this video, I’m sure we can do something about Moira’s bullying.” Asher kissed me again. “Let’s have some breakfast first, and from there we’ll figure out what to do.”



	***





	ASHER

	I felt nervous as I strode up to Ethan’s apartment. I knew he was Juniper’s best shot, and I hated it. I wanted to do more for her, but I was just a student here. Ethan may have only been a TA, but he was also sent as the official representative from Beta Burrell’s office. Even at his young age, Ethan could give orders to the principal here. He had power. He could influence the school to actually do something about the bullying to Juniper.

	I knocked on his door, knowing there would be a price for asking for his help. There was only one thing he could ask me to do that I would immediately refuse. If he asked me to stay away from Juniper again in exchange for his help, then he would truly be following in my father’s footsteps.

	The door opened, and Ethan was dressed in a button-up and black slacks. Even on the weekend, he was dressed like he was going to the office.

	“Do you ever wear comfortable clothes?” I asked.

	Ethan’s expression didn’t change. “These are my comfortable clothes.”

	“Right.” I pushed my way into his apartment, knowing this conversation couldn’t happen in public.

	“Come right in,” Ethan said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

	“We need to talk.”

	“We are talking.” He shut the door.

	I glared at him, hating the effect he had on me. I wanted to storm out of the apartment already. Juniper was the only reason I stayed. “Juniper is getting bullied. Why haven’t you done anything to stop it yet?”

	“Sit down. Nothing productive is going to come out of this conversation if you start throwing out accusations now.” Ethan walked past me and into the kitchen. “I’ll brew some tea while you organize your thoughts.”

	My jaw clenched. I wanted to do the opposite of what he said, just like an angered child, but I sat as he instructed. I needed his help, and he was unfortunately right. Nothing would come out of this conversation if I just yelled at him. I had to listen to him, even if he was a condescending jerk.

	I tapped my foot, eager to start the conversation. The sooner I finished with Ethan, the sooner I could go back to Juniper and tell her everything was going to be okay.

	“What kind of tea do you want?” Ethan asked, pulling out two fancy teacups. They were white with various shades of blue flowers printed all around it. The edge of the cup was brushed with a shimmering gold. The same gold rimmed the saucer beneath the cup.

	“I don’t like tea,” I said. Ethan knew this well.

	“Hot cocoa then?” His voice was even, and to anyone else, it would sound like he was simply offering an alternative to his guest. To me, it sounded like he was talking to me like the child he thought I was.

	“Fine.” I wanted to tell him where he could shove his drinks and politeness, but that would only halt the conversation.

	Ethan brought over the drinks. He interlaced his fingers, keeping his perfect posture. “Now, tell me exactly what’s going on. I can’t do anything if I don’t know the details.”

	I took a deep breath, ignoring the drink in front of me. “Have you seen the video that went viral? The one that was manipulated to make Juniper look bad?” The video came out yesterday morning, and it had only gotten worse since Juniper first discovered it.

	I tried to get her to stay for the rest of the weekend, but she insisted on going back to her dorm to deal with the mess Moira left.

	“Yes.” It was such a simple answer, but it enraged me.

	“What are you planning on doing about it? This is libel. It’s making her look horrible.” I tapped my finger on the table repeatedly, trying to release some of the anger that was building.

	“The video was edited rather poorly. It’s pretty obvious Miss Johnson didn’t say the things they made her say. It doesn’t even sound like her, but there’s not much I can do to stop the students from believing the lies. All I can do is protect her from the school.” Ethan squeezed a little lemon into his drink and stirred it.

	“Protecting her from the school isn’t enough! Her roommate destroyed her stuff. She is being bullied and harassed. You have to do something. You’re the future Beta. You hold more influence than anyone else here, and it’s like you don’t even care.” My words were sharp, but I didn’t care. 

	Ethan was too calm about the situation. I wanted him to just show a little emotion, act like he actually cared about Juniper. Even with our father’s orders to leave Juniper alone all of those years ago, I knew he cared about her. He loved her as much as I did at one point, and that kind of love didn’t just disappear.

	Ethan stopped stirring his tea. “If she’s being bullied, she needs to report it to the school. I told her to come to me if she faced any issues, and I would help her. I am here to make sure students are safe after all. She needs to be the one to report the bullying, though.” He tapped the spoon gently on the side of the cup and then set the wet utensil on a cloth napkin. Every movement he made was careful and deliberate. “As for her reputation with the students, there’s not much I can do, but you’re forgetting something.”

	My face twisted, trying to understand what he was saying. I wished he wasn’t so roundabout sometimes. “And what am I forgetting?”

	“You’re a Burrell, too. Since you have insisted on ignoring my instructions and getting yourself involved with Juniper, why don’t you use your reputation to try to help her? People trust and respect the Burrells. If you tell people Juniper is a good person, it might help people see the real her.”

	I leaned back in my chair. Ethan’s advice was perfect, which only annoyed me that I hadn’t thought of it first. I could make most people swoon with a simple smile. Why hadn’t I tried to use that to make people like Juniper, too? There had to be a way to get the students on her side using my reputation.

	Instead of expecting Ethan to handle everything, it was my turn to do something. I stood up and said, “Thanks. That’s actually some really good advice.”

	“You sound surprised, but we both know why you came to me.” He took a sip of his drink.

	“Do you have to act so arrogant all of the time?” I growled. “Can’t you just say, ‘you’re welcome,’ instead of rubbing in the fact that you’re superior?” 

	Ethan’s tone came across condescending more often than not. No matter how hard I tried, he was always ten steps ahead of me. He was smarter and more dedicated. Even if I spent the rest of my life trying, I knew I would never catch up with him. I just wished he didn’t make it obvious that he knew exactly that.

	Ethan’s lips twitched as he thought about it. “You’re welcome. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.”

	“Just make sure the school doesn’t take any actions against Juniper unfairly. Thanks for the drink.” I walked away from the table with the cup of cocoa still untouched.

	Just as I was reaching for the door handle, Ethan said, “Oh, Father will be in town at the end of the week to check on things. I expect you to join us for the day.”

	I grabbed the door handle and squeezed. Ethan’s help was never without a cost. “Sure.”

Chapter 17 - The Four Beta Brothers