Honor Among Friends (NaNoWriMo14)

Chapter 6-A

The room erupted in noise, everyone talking—Kelly yelling—over another. Wyatt scrambled out of his seat and put his thumb and forefinger in his mouth. Seconds later, a piercing whistle cut through the air.

"Everyone calm down," he ordered. "No one is going to find out anything."

"You can't guarantee that," Kelly argued. "From what Madison said, it sounds like we're about to be found out."

Garrett put an arm around his sister, trying to soothe her nerves. "Panic isn't going to help the situation. Madison, tell us exactly what happened."

She told them everything, leaving out the personal parts of course, and when she finished Garrett rubbed his neck and asked, "How positive are you that he's going to pursue this?"

"A hundred and ten percent."

Wyatt, who was standing off in the corner of the room, piped up. "What I want to know is how he came up with the idea for this article." He pushed himself off the wall with his foot and prowled around the table. "Seems suspicious he would suddenly write a piece about crimes when he's never done it before."

Madison felt the hair on the back of her neck raise. She didn't like his tone or the implication. "Is there a question in there, Wyatt? Or are you just talking to hear your own voice?"

He put his palms flat on the table and leaned on them, lording over her. "You seem awfully defensive."

"And you seem awfully hostile."

"I have every right to be. Inquiring minds want to know the truth, Madison," he said, narrowing his eyes. "And why weren't you in school today except for the class you had with him?"

"That was pure coincidence."

"I don't believe in coincidences."

"You obviously don't believe in innocent till found guilty either," she shot back. "If you're asking me if I tipped him off the answer is no. Why would I tell him when the truth could implicate me along with the rest of you?"

He stood and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe you made a deal with him." He stuffed his hands in his pocket and began pacing. "We've been doing this for a year now without getting caught and the instant you join our group someone is threatening to expose our secret. That alone gives me every right to question your intentions."

Avery opened her mouth—most likely to defend her honor—but Garrett butted in. "He has a point. There are too many coincidences to ignore."

Madison's fingers curled into her palm, the nails digging into her skin. Welcoming the bite of pain, she gritted her teeth and spat, "For your information, the police have been looking into you long before I came into the picture. Instead of accusing me, you should be thanking me, because without my knowledge you would never have known what was going on."

"You still haven't explained yourself," Wyatt said, not moved by her speech.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered. Reaching down into her bag, she pulled out the heavy medal. "The reason why I came to school today for only a short period time was to steal this." She tossed the medal on the table. The sound of metal hitting wood reverberated across the room. "I haven't told anyone about this club. I don't snitch. I don't break my word. And most importantly," she looked at Wyatt straight in the eye, "I don't betray my friends."

"We're friends?"

"No," she told him bluntly, then motioned to Avery. "But she is."  

Wyatt grunted while Avery ducked her head and grinned.