Welcome to the Academy

VI

-:-
Epilogue

*****
The Day After the Arresting:

Giada texts on her phone and walks down the school hallway, not paying attention to where she walks, not listening to anyone but the music blasting in her ears.

The sound of her low heels echoes against the tiled ground of the hallway as she makes her way to her locker.

Somebody grabs her arm suddenly and she gasps as she's pulled into a classroom and the door is slammed behind her.

"What the?..." She trails off when she sees the five seniors she was arrested with and she looks at Teyana in question who just shrugs unaware of what's happening either.

"Great, now that we're all here, somebody better speak up about the fire and the dead guy." Sarah says and Giada gets defensive.

"Don't talk about him like that." Giada says bitterly as she folds her arms across her chest and Sarah's voice softens.

"Sorry." Sarah says and Langa turns to them from where he looked out the window.

"So, let's cut the crap. Which one of you guys did it?" He says and Teyana looks at him.

"Why do you get to accuse us? How do we know it wasn't you?" She bites back and Giada holds her friend back.

"Why are you getting defensive all of a sudden?" Adonis says to Teyana and she glares at him.

"Teyana didn't do it." Giada says softly.

"Because she's your best friend?" T asks her and her eyes turn to his. "There's no need for this to carry on, just own up. Somebody! This has blown way out of proportion."

"Please, because you wanna leave campus? Maybe you didn't think of the consequences of what would happen if you were caught." Langa says glaring at T, who makes a move forward but Adonis holds him back.

"Stop, this is ridiculous. So, I didn't do it-"

"Because you're Miss. Perfect?" Sarah says and Giada turns to her.

"Okay, what is your problem? We're all trying to figure out the same thing." Teyana says, going on the defense for her friend and Giada puts a calming hand on her arm.

"Listen. I didn't do it, Teyana didn't do it. I honestly don't think any of us did it so,"

"What if the person who did it isn't even in the room." T finishes for her and she turns to him.

"Exactly. If a crime like this was gonna happen, I doubt finding the evidence towards your suspects would be this clean." Giada says and the six seniors stand in silence and ponder this.

"So what if-let's entertain this idea-you're right? What do we do?" Sarah asks and Giada turns to her.

"We figure it out. The only way to clear our names is to find out who did it."

"And how do we do that?" Adonis asks and this time T speaks up.

"We trace out steps back to find out what happened that night."

"Together. Because nobody is off the suspect list until then. We watch each other." Langa says and they all nod.

"We can't be suspicious so, we'll meet up at the school greenhouse after curfew. I can be sure nobody goes there and I have a key so, that won't be a problem." Giada says and they nod again.

So, I guess this is where it all started. When found guilty you have to seek innocence and sometimes the only way to do that, is to seek out those who are in the same position as you.

Six students, who were also strangers, don't have the choice of turning away but instead turning towards the night full of coincidences that brought them together. The night where it all began.

Although they remain wary, suspicion lining their gazes, they remain hopeful, that they'll be able to find out who it is and have life remain back to normal.

They say together, does that mean the person who did the deed wasn't in the group of the six? Or does it mean they're deciding to remain unseen until that unstoppable moment of being discovered?

Giada and Teyana leave the classroom first, walking down the hallway as though they never strayed from it. T follows with Adonis and they head to their lockers, sharing a knowing look but acting the same as before they were pulled in the class and lastly Sarah and Langa, walking in opposite directions to complete their group.

Watching the others with a wary expression on their face, the person behind it all turns and continues on. Is it one of them?

A/N:

This was the first book in the 'Academy' short story series. I really hope you enjoyed it. This is probably the most effort I've done for a book and I just have to say, I'm proud of myself.

I'm not sure how many books will come next, but they're all short and I hoped interesting. I just wanted to say thank you to all the inspired characters in this book, (you should know who you are) but especially 'TJ' (T) who is the reason I wrote this book in the first place.

Thank you to my sister (Baylor, she'll be present in the next book) for helping me edit and create.

If you enjoyed this story, make sure to go back and press the star to give me a vote.

-Gem