Unconventional

Chapter 20

I sat nervously in Helen's office, waiting for her to enter the room. Like Grant said, they couldn't prove I'd done anything wrong, because I hadn't. But it was still scary to be in this situation. I might be able to relax a little if I didn't still have the little ink marks on my fingers from when they took my fingerprints. It was a startling and constant reminder of how much trouble I could be in.

I knew Erin hated me, but I had no idea she'd stoop to something like this. This wasn't just something that could cause trouble for me on the show, it was an actual crime. If they decided I was guilty, I could go to jail. And I wouldn't have any way out of it either. People like Erin and Brooke could easily afford to pay any fines or hire lawyers to get them out of any charges. Even with my payment for the show, I'd never be able to do any of that.

At least I wasn't waiting to talk to the police though, so that was something. Unless of course, they planned to give me to the police after they conducted their own investigation...

Thirty agonizing minutes after I first arrived in this room, Helen came through the door.

"I didn't do it," I said as soon as she took her seat behind the desk.

She just watched me patiently.

"I haven't even been on that side of the room before," I said. "I wouldn't have any idea where Brooke keeps her things."

"And how did it come to be in your possession?" Helen asked.

"Someone planted it," I said.

"Who?"

"I don't know." I sighed. "But a few people decided to...have fun on my bed earlier today. I didn't see them, but Grant did. He can tell you who it was."

Helen pursed her lips. "So it's your word against Brooke's?"

I looked down, thinking for a moment.

"The cameras," I said. "Someone must have, at least, seen them on my bed. They could have easily planted it then."

Helen was quiet, considering.

"They should also show that I never went anywhere near Brooke's stuff."

I was nervous when a minute passed without Helen saying anything. Finally, she spoke.

"I'm inclined to believe you."

"You do?" I said, relieved.

She nodded. "The necklace was checked for fingerprints, and yours weren't anywhere on it. Even so, as you said before, I doubt you'd have been so careless if you had been guilty. And based on your behavior before this, you don't seem to be looking to acquire things."

"My behavior?" I wondered.

"The fact that you've hardly asked for anything since you've been here. Everyone knows they are free to ask for whatever they like and they'll usually get it. Most of the others have taken advantage of that, but you have not. Considering your background, that's fairly surprising for a lot of people. And then there's the way you behaved when the prince gave you his gift."

I smiled, grateful that it seemed I wouldn't have to worry.

"However, the necklace was found in your possession," Helen said, wiping my smile away.

"But I didn't take it."

"I know." She nodded. "But to simply let you off the hook because I believe you to be innocent, would appear to be favoritism. We have to determine that there is, in fact, absolutely no proof before we can declare you innocent."

"So what does that mean?" I doubt they'd be able to do that in a few hours.

"Well, for the moment, it means you are on probation."

"Okay..."

"You will stay on the show, but you will be watched a little more closely. And you'll be unable to participate in the remaining challenges until we are able to come to a decision."

I watched her, nervous again. Did that mean I would automatically lose the challenges I couldn't compete in?

"We will be combing the footage from the last few days to see if the cameras detected anything helpful. If there is no proof one way or another, you will likely be determined to be innocent. And hopefully, we'll be able to figure out who actually took it."

"If they look at the footage from earlier, they'll see whoever was on my bed," I said. It wouldn't be as satisfying as having Erin found guilty, but it would still make me feel better.

"If what you say is true, that will be taken into account," she said. "But we would still have to actually see the necklace being planted, and I have a feeling that whoever did it, knew that. So it probably won't be obvious."

My shoulders sagged. This whole thing was going to be a waste of time. Erin and whoever was in on this, would have made sure that nothing was detectable on the cameras.

"Try not to worry," Helen said. "If you truly did nothing wrong, we should be able to clear you quickly."

I nodded. At least there was that.

"About the probation," I said. "Does that mean I'll lose the challenges I have to miss?"

"Absolutely not," she said. "It simply means you won't be able to earn points. The scores are tallied at the end of the challenges on an average. So you'll simply have one or two fewer challenges to factor in."

"So, I can't possibly receive a punishment?" I asked, smiling.

Helen just smiled back.

Apparently, Erin had done me a favor. I didn't care one bit about winning this thing, so she'd just given me a vacation from the stress of worrying about losing the challenges. On top of that, Grant would be able to do better because he wouldn't be worrying about helping me.

"How many more challenges are there, exactly?" I asked.

"Well, I'm really not at liberty to say."

"Any chance you can drag this investigation out for a while?" I tried.

Helen laughed. "I'm afraid not."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be locked up?" Erin said when I returned to the room.

Rolling my eyes, I ignored her and went to Grant. He seemed nervous, but relaxed when he saw that I wasn't upset.

"What happened?" he asked, when I reached him.

"I'm on probation," I said with a shrug as Michelle and a few others came over.

"You mean, they're letting you stay?" Erin shrieked.

"Disappointed your plan didn't work?" I said irritably, looking at her.

It would have been nice if she was dumb enough to admit it, but she just scowled.

Turning back to Grant and the others, I said, "for now, I'm just being watched. Big change there." I rolled my eyes. "Until they can review everything and determine that I didn't do it..." I glanced at Erin, who was pretending not to listen. "And hopefully discover who did, I'm not allowed to participate in the challenges."

"Does that mean you'll lose?" Michelle asked, concerned.

Smiling, I shook my head.

She didn't seem to get why I wasn't more upset, but Grant did. He understood my feelings perfectly, and smiled back at me.

I couldn't help glancing at Erin, and laughed when I saw her irritated expression.