Serenity Falls

Chapter 14

Chelsie was in AP Chemistry when the second intercom announcement was made.

Her and her lab partner, Spotty Stephen (who had been the unfortunate sufferer of a bad case of acne ever since freshman year and although he was a nice enough guy, was avoided by most people), were just about to conduct their assigned experiment: testing the reactivity levels of various different elements when mixed with water.

The first announcement, which happened only around fifteen minutes ago, was still a mystery to her – why had Olivia been called in to see Mr Delmar? He only ever called people in to his office during class when something was really serious, but she wasn’t guilty of anything except being a massive bitch, or so she thought. Maybe her and Alyssa had been tormenting some freshmen or something.

The second announcement startled the class slightly, as they stood there hoping that it would give more information on the whole Olivia scenario, but, to their disappointment, it didn’t. Its message told only that Chelsie Marshall was to go to the principal’s office too.

The walk along the empty hallway was swift, her sensible flat black shoes barely making a sound that would break the silence. She approached the principal’s office, knocked three times and waited for a reply, not making eye contact with the bad-tempered receptionist whose glare she could feel burning into her back.

"Come in." The voice from inside was her signal to push open the door and walk inside the principal’s office, a place of where she had not spent a great amount of time. It was a place she had only visited no more than a couple of times – and even then, only for positive reasons such as her continuous academic excellence or considerations for skipping a grade (an offer which she declined).

The first thing she noticed was its extraordinarily high ceilings that gave a daunting impression, and the hundreds of books organised on shelves that covered most of the walls.

Inside the office, behind his desk, sat Mr Delmar, with a stern look on his face. It was apparent that everything was far from well. There were two girls sat on the seats facing his desk, heads angled slightly downwards as if in shame, and, as they had their back to her, it took her a few seconds to realise who they were.

"Take a seat, Chelsie," Mr Delmar said quietly, his hand gesturing to the seat next to Olivia. As she sat down, she glanced at her, but Olivia did not react and she stayed sitting very still in her seat, staring down at the floor.

"Do you have any idea what is going on here?" Mr Delmar asked, his hands motioning towards Olivia, Alyssa and a small unidentifiable packet that was lying on his desk.

Did she?                                                                                                                                   

"Uh… no."

"I see." Mr Delmar stood up, beginning to pace lightly behind his desk. "Then I assume you weren’t aware of the fact that this–" he gestured towards the packet on the desk, "was in your locker this afternoon?"

"Wait, is that–" Chelsie frowned, as she realised what the small transparent bag contained. "Why was that in my locker?"

"So I’m guessing that answer is no." Mr Delmar turned to Olivia. "What are you trying to do here?"

Chelsie turned to, intrigued as to what was going on. Was Olivia being accused of dealing drugs or something? She studied her face, which was a picture of pure desperation as she turned to Chelsie and began to speak.

"Please, Chelsie. Tell him. I’m not guilty."

Chelsie opened her mouth to ask what the hell was going on, when Mr Delmar interrupted. "You know this is not evidence, Olivia."

What was Olivia going on about – guilty of what? How was she supposed to defend someone when she didn’t have any idea what the supposed crime was?

"Just… hear her out. Please?"

Mr Delmar sighed deeply. "Chelsie. You see, Olivia here has been spotted planting a suspicious substance into your locker this afternoon. Her argument is that it was just a harmless prank to get back at you, although I might add that I don’t see the logic in that, on account of the fact that this is a serious offence. However, an opposing side – and possibly a stronger side, might I add – has reported that Olivia is a regular user and that she was planting the drugs in your locker as a way to cover up her own habits."

"Right…" Chelsie said slowly, as she tried to absorb the details of the situation. It was still just… weird. Did Mr Delmar think she was involved, or something? The stuff had been in her locker, after all, and she had no evidence that proved that she was clueless about it. Was that why he called her in here? Her heart dropped slightly at the thought of her punishment – suspension, expulsion? Her life would be ruined if she was expelled. She had worked so hard to get into this school, to make her mother happy. If she got thrown out, it would all start to go wrong.

Her mother was the only reason that she strived to do so well at school. It seemed like the only way she could put a smile on her face was to come home with an A+ in her hand. It seemed tough when anything less than the very best was considered a failure, but it had been going on for so long that it seemed it was one of the only things that could make her happy too.

"Tell him the truth, Chelsie," Olivia said. "Tell him I wouldn’t touch anything like this. Please. That stuff isn’t even real, I swear to you."

Chelsie swallowed. What was she supposed to say? She didn’t know anything about this – she didn’t have any more evidence than anyone else. It did seem unlikely that Olivia – shy, sweet Olivia that she’d met at the start of the week – would be a user, but then it wasn’t impossible.

And anyway, why should she stick up for her after she’d been such a bitch to her for the rest of the time? She certainly wasn’t deserving. After the confrontation that morning, she was hardly able to tolerate her presence. It was only the fact that Mr Delmar was behind his desk in a mood that could not possibly get any worse that was refraining her from lunging at Olivia and kicking her bitchy self to the ground.

Maybe she’d had something like this coming ever since she got in with Alyssa. Because, and it was undeniable, wherever Alyssa went, trouble and/or heartbreak was sure to follow.

"Please. I know I’ve been a bitch, but you’ve got to tell him."

Chelsie opened her mouth to speak, although she was still somewhat unsure of the words that were about to come spilling out of it like a verbal waterfall, but she was interrupted by the sound of the office door slamming open without warning and a short, stocky figure rushing in, shouting, "It was me! It was me who did it! Olivia’s innocent!"