The Traitor

Chapter Six: Exposed Secrets and Cold Shoulders

That night, Lauren and I sat on our beds, talking about had happened in the office. I wasn't sure I completely trusted her not to go lying to everyone and saying that I had bombed the train, but I had run out of people to talk to, and she seemed like she could keep a secret.

"Your name was written on it?" Her eyes were wide and she looked horrified. I couldn't blame her; that was exactly how I felt the first time I heard it.

I nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. But I had nothing to do with it, I swear." I couldn't tell if she believed me or not, but at this point, there was nothing I could do if she didn't. 

"Did he believe you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows up even higher than they were before. They now rested in the middle of her forehead.

I shrugged. "He said he did," I replied. "But I'm not sure. He looked sort of...suspicious. Then he said he'd be watching me." 

Her face scrunched up in confusion. "Watching you? There's no way he believed you. Why would he need to keep an eye on you if he believed you weren't part of the attack?" Unfortunately, I realized, her reasoning made sense.

"Ugh." I collapsed onto my bed in frustration and threw my arms over my face. "What is going on? I don't understand why someone would frame me like this." I fought back angry tears as the hopelessness of the situation finally sank in. If I couldn't prove I wasn't part of the attack, people would think I was a traitor. I sat back up. "I need to find out who did this. If I don't, everybody is going to think I'm the one who bombed the train."

Lauren wore a puzzled look on her face. "But nobody else knows, right? Just you and Mr. Thomas?"

I nodded. "Yeah, and the train crew. Unless Mr. Thomas told somebody else." I wouldn't be surprised if he did, I wanted to add, but I held back.

Lauren shook her head. "I don't think he would do that. Look, Teya, there's nothing you can do about it now. Just forget it and move on. I'm sure everyone else will." She said it like I had just fallen over in public and was telling her how embarrassed I was. Nevertheless, I decided to try out her solution, as simple as it was.

I sighed reluctantly. "You're right. But what if-"

"Teya. Just forget about it, okay?" she interrupted, her voice gentle but firm.

"Okay," I surrendered. I wasn't sure how I could just forget about it, but Lauren had been a Daine longer than I had and she knew better than I did. I decided to follow her advice and drop the subject. I just hoped everybody else would too.

                                     .                                                      .                                                       .

The next morning, I stood waiting for the elevator on my way to breakfast, when I ran into Connor.

"Hey Connor," I greeted him. He ignored me and picked his skateboard up off the ground where he had been riding it. I thought he hadn't heard me, so I repeated my greeting, saying it louder this time while trying to catch his eye. But he continued to stare at the ground, then began fiddling with a wheel on his skateboard, still avoiding my gaze. "Connor? Hello? Connor."

He turned toward me, looking agitated. "What, Teya?" The annoyance in both his eyes and in his tone was unmistakable.

"I was trying to say hi, but you were ignoring me," I told him, annoyed. "What's going on?"

He sighed in frustration. "Look, Teya, I heard about what happened. I just... I can't believe you. I thought..." He paused. "You know what? Never mind, it doesn't even matter." He scoffed and turned away from me again.