I shifted my tone. "Who gave you permission to bring her to the mansion? Before my parents went abroad, they left Aunt Beth in charge of the house. They made an exception letting you stay there."
"But my parents made it very clear: no outsiders allowed. Did you just ignore that completely?"
Abner's voice went small. "That time was because Annette followed me home. She wanted to come inside and I couldn't exactly say no. It was just that once. I swear I'll never bring anyone back again."
"Just that once. Don't let it happen again."
Annette's patience snapped. "Are you two done talking or what?"
"We're done." I turned to her. "Annette, I don't care if you're dating Abner. But keep your eyes off what's mine."
Annette pouted and tugged at Abner's arm. "Babe, can you control your sister? I'm only looking out for her."
"Babe, my sister's been spoiled rotten since she was little. I can't tell her what to do."
"Then you'd better make sure she understands. Soon."
Annette suddenly doubled over, gagging up a mouthful of bile.
"Babe, I'm not feeling well. Come with me to the hospital to get checked out."
I went straight upstairs to the dorm and got back to my homework.
After dark, Annette came back.
She was glowing, one hand resting on her stomach. "Zelda, I'm pregnant."
"Once this baby's born, it'll be the first grandchild of the Heath family."
"As the baby's aunt, what are you planning to give your nephew as a gift?"
"A house would be the bare minimum, don't you think? I've actually had my eye on those new townhouses downtown. Let's go look at them tomorrow and put a deposit down."
I had reached my absolute limit with this woman. I grabbed my phone and called Abner immediately.
"You got Annette pregnant. Now she wants to keep the baby and she's demanding I buy her a house. You are going to tell her the truth right now. I'm giving you one day. If you don't tell her, I will."
After I hung up, the anger settled into something colder. Calmer.
"Annette, we're freshmen. You really want to have this baby now?"
"Of course I do. This is mine and Abner's child. There's no way I'm getting rid of it."
"You want to keep it because you think Abner is my brother, and you think this baby is your golden ticket to a share of my family's fortune." I paused. "Too bad you've miscalculated. This baby has nothing to do with the Heath family."
"That's not for you to decide. The second I found out I was pregnant, I called your parents."
"They were thrilled. They even want me to move back into the mansion so I can rest and focus on the pregnancy."
There are moments so absurd that all you can do is laugh.
"You have my parents' number? And they invited you to the mansion to rest during your pregnancy?" I stared at her. "You really do live in a fantasy world."
I decided Annette had lost her mind entirely. There was no point continuing this conversation. I climbed into bed and pulled the covers over myself.
Let Abner deal with her.
I had barely fallen asleep when someone started pounding on the frame of my bunk from below.
"Zelda, get down here! Explain this to me right now! Why is Abner's private photo album on the campus network full of pictures of YOU? Are you two having some kind of sick affair?"
"And what's with all these heartbroken posts he wrote? You're brother and sister! How could you do something like this?"
The other girls in the room jolted awake.
"Annette, what the hell? Some of us are trying to sleep!"
"Sleep? Forget sleep! Everyone get up and take a look at this freak show!"
"No wonder Zelda keeps denying Abner's her brother. Turns out she wants to sleep with him!"
"All those sexy photos you posted online, what were those for? To seduce your own brother? Have you no shame?"
Annette's screaming spiraled into full-blown hysteria, loud enough to wake every room on the floor.
