6am the following morning

The girls' room

KNOCK KNOCK

Shane's pov

I knock twice before opening the door and turning on the light. These girls are in for a rude awakening. The buzz over coffee this morning was about four girls the security guard chased out of the woods at 1am. He almost caught two of them when one tripped and fell, causing her to limp. The guard couldn't identify the girls but he was pretty sure he saw them run back to the Center.

This story had my girls' names written all over it. Now I just have to prove it.

"What the hell! Who turned on the fuc..."

"AHEM!" I clear my throat loudly to interrupt Lisa's early morning profanity lesson. I shoot her a look indicating I'm far from amused. "Rise and shine ladies."

"If you're not Zac Efron waking me up to turn my dream into reality, go away, I'm not interested," Stacey says, briefly poking her head out from underneath her comforter.

I sigh and shake my head before crouching down next to Stacey's bed.

"Not a dream, luv, more like a nightmare." I pull her comforter off and smack her bottom.

"Ow! Rude and unnecessary," Stacey whines, rubbing the sting from her behind.

"Seriously, why am I awake right now?" Julie groans, not bothering to lift her head up from her pillow.

I walk over and take a seat on the corner of her bed. I lean back and jostle her awake by gently shaking her legs below the knee. She immediately tenses, clutching the bed sheets and grimacing in pain. I knew it.

"What's the matter? Did I hurt you?" I ask, feigning innocence.

"No, you know clumsy ole me tripped over one of my shoes when I got up to go to the bathroom last night and I twisted my ankle."

The way she so brazenly and effortlessly lies to my face, I find both impressive and appalling.

I narrow my eyes and sternly question, "Is that so?"

"Uh huh," she says, avoiding eye contact.

"Anyway...." I give Julie's injured ankle a little squeeze, causing her to wince. I frown at her before standing up and walking over to Carrie's bed. "The reason I'm here, ladies, is because I heard a very interesting story this morning over coffee and I wanted to share it with you."

"I highly doubt a story about coffee was interesting," Lisa says, flopping down on her pillow while rolling her eyes.

"The story's not about coffee." I'm getting flustered.

"Was Juan Valdez in the story? Because if he was, I'm pretty sure I've heard that one already," Stacey questions.

I swear they try my patience on purpose in hopes of exasperating me to the point of surrender.

"The STORY, as I was saying before I was so senselessly interrupted, was about four girls running around in the woods at 1am with flashlights trying to avoid one of the Center's security guards. Oh, and, Julie, you'll appreciate this part. One of the girls tripped and twisted her ankle. Isn't that an amazing coincidence?" I keep my glare focused on Julie as Carrie shifts nervously beside me. "I mean, what are the odds?"

"Well, we would simply need to know the ratio of favorable outcomes to unfavorable outcomes," Julie smirks, ever the smartass.

I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and pinch the bridge of my nose.

"Yeah, she's right, you know. That is how you determine the probability of an event occurring," Lisa chimes in, nodding her head in agreement.

It would be wrong to beat them to death, I repeat silently. It would be wrong. They're only children.

"Why, Shane, you can't possibly think those four girls were us!" Stacey says mockingly, in her best southern debutante accent, laying her hand over her heart for dramatic effect.

Once I have proof, I'll see how smug they are when they're over my knee begging for mercy.

"I'll go much easier on you ladies if you just come clean now."

All four of them look away and remain silent.

"This is your last chance for leniency." I wait patiently hoping the tension and awkward silence will spur a confession. After three minutes, I feel I've given them enough of a chance to come clean. "Alright, you leave me no choice then." Standing slowly and putting my hands on my hips, I state, "Since none of you want to own up to what you did..." pausing for some dramatic effect of my own, "...CARRIE, will be accepting the punishment for all of you."

Julie's pov

SON OF A BITCH! Well played, Admiral Donovan.