Upside Down Tendrils

Chapter Thirty Three

After finding out everything about myself through Mr. Peters, it was lunch. I remembered about meeting Lucas. My heart soared and wilted as he sidled up to me outside the cafeteria.
"Let's talk."
I nodded. "Lucas, I'm really sorry for blowing you off with the kiss and everything-"
He shook his head, interrupting me. "It's fine. It didn't mean anything, just forget it ever happened."
"Oh, uh, okay." I muttered, turning to my food.
I could feel Lucas's uncertainty as he began talking. "You were weak and I took advantage of that. You have a boyfriend and I ignored that. It's my fault, I just want to be friends."
"Lucas, I had an interesting talk with the professor today. He told me you knew who and what I was. Why did you lie to me?" I asked him.
"W-what do you mean?" He stutteres out. I glared at him and he finally started talking again. "Yes, I've known you for a while. I heard about you and immediately began to investigate. They sent me as a spy. I set it all up."
"What do you mean you set it all up?" I asked, angry, confused, frustrated.
He paused, his eyes downcast, pitying me. "Jordan. I knew Jordan."
"Please feel free to elaborate." I almost yelled, anger boiling inside me.
"Uh, Jordan's dad and my dad had a history together. They were the first people to recognize how there are special people with Abilities and things like that. They brought it into the world. My dad went one way with the business. His went another. But, that's a whole different story. Anyways, I was able to use him to get to you."
I glared at him. "Use him?"
"Not like that. I just needed him." He tried to persuade me otherwise, but I was not buying into it.
"Okay, just continue."
He smiled, believing he had convinced me that this was all for the good. I wasn't so sure about that. "Well, anyways, I got him to take an interest in you. Like, with all the Abilities and powers and stuff. Then, I convinced him to bring you in to get tested and to turn you over to me and here."
"So, it was all set up." I stated the hard truth.
He patted my shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"Don't even try, okay?" I glared at him.
"No, I really am sorry. It's not my fault." Lucas said, eyes beginning to water.
"Excuse me? After telling me how you set this whole thing up are you seriously going to try to convince me that this, somehow, isn't all your fault? Who else's fault could it be? Just take the blame." I started shouting, getting in his face with my anger.
He pushed my shoulder away, in an attempt to calm me down. "I'm serious," he said, "I couldn't have done anything different. I had no choice."
I ignored him. What was at stake? My future. My love. My life. How did that even concern him? I don't understand.
"Seriously, trust me. I had to. It was the right thing to do." He was still trying to convince me but I just couldn't take it any longer.
"Exactly. I get it. It was the right thing to take some girl that was living a perfectly fine life and make her think some guy loved her when really he was just using her for some other guy that was his friend so she could be sent off to train and die with him." I countered.
He paused. "You forgot a lot."
"Like what?"
"The fact that you're not going to die." Lucas said.
I raised an eyebrow. "And if I do?"
"You won't."
Sure. I decided to ignore him.
"You also forgot the part that the two best friends are both in love with the girl."