Page 14 of False Idols

“You put my boy away for a murder he didn’t commit and that’s all you have to say for yourself?” Mrs. Du Pont is there beside the reporter and her eyes, the ones that are identical to Beau’s, are angry. She looks mean as a snake and I know she’d slap me if there wasn’t a camera crew filming the whole thing.

“Mrs. Du Pont-”

“Mama, I forgive her. We went over this.” Beau’s voice. My heart squeezes and stutters at the sound of Beau’s voice. I’ve tried to remember what it sounded like, but it’s not like I had any recordings. The only ones I could find when I looked were his trial and questioning. I couldn’t watch either of them. Over the years, I’ve almost forgotten what he sounded like, but this is right. It’s like a key sliding into a lock and everything just clicks.

Beau looks at me and there’s an apologetic look on his handsome face. “You didn’t know they’d be here, did you?” he asks and glances at the reporter. “Your mama was supposed to have told you. I’m sorry, Nevaeh. I wouldn’t have let them do this if you weren’t okay with the interview.”

“Interview?” I ask and look around because yes, this is an interview. The reporter is there with her dumb microphone and the camera man shows no sign of letting up. There’s even one of those sound guys that has the big stick with the fuzzy microphone on one end. I can see two other television vans pull up and a second later reporters and more cameramen hop out and start heading our way.

“I didn’t know anything about an interview.” I shake my head and back away, I bump into Tyler and he jumps away from me, but Sunny is right there and grabs my hand. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this. I c-can’t.”

I turn to try and run before the other reporters get to us, but the one that’s already there shouts after me. “And what about the school revoking your scholarship? What are your plans for college?”

That stops me.

The scholarship.

I’ve been kicked out of my house. The scholarship is the only thing I have. I can’t lose it, I can’t! If I do, I don’t know how I’ll afford Bloom State. I was a good enough student and did all the right things, but I didn’t apply for any other financial aid because I didn’t have to. I had the scholarship trust waiting on me, so it seemed unnecessary. I should have known it wasn’t going to work out.

“What do you mean?” I force myself to go back. The reporter knows she has me from the smug look on her face and I hate that I have to ask her. I’m so tired of people forcing me to do what they want. First it was the questioning when things started to fall apart and I didn’t know what I had seen. Why was Beau there? Why did he grab me? I hadn’t seen a knife, so maybe it hadn’t been him, right? That had been before the detectives. I don’t remember a lot of what I said then, but it cost me Beau and my fucking conscience.

“What did you say about my scholarship?”

“Bloom State has made a motion to revoke your trust and forfeit your scholarship.”

I hear Pastor Mike make an indignant sound. “On what grounds?” He sounds angry. Poor man. I don’t know why he’s defending me. No one should.

“On a morality clause issue, given Ms. Santiago’s part in what happened to Beau. Her presence on campus could prove to be nothing but a distraction to the student body and a reminder of that horrible night.”

Pastor Mike sweeps me behind him and confronts the reporter and the Du Pont’s head on. “No, I don’t accept that-”

Mr. Du Pont nods and holds a hand up, stopping whatever it is that Pastor Mike is going to try and convince them of. We all know what I did, so it can’t be my innocence. “Now Pastor, we respect your authority at Crown of Thorns. That’s what part of this is about.”

“I think the school is right. She should lose her scholarship.” Mrs. Du Pont’s eyes on me are sharp as ever. “She can stay if she can pay her own way. It’s only fair, with what she’s done to our family.”

Pastor Mike doesn’t back down. “That’s not true. She’s just a girl, you have to forgive her!”

I open my mouth to tell him they’re right. That it’s okay and can he please help me move my shit out of my dorm, but everyone starts talking at once. A camera flash goes off and that’s when I realize the other crews are here.

“Excuse me, Nevaeh, can we get a photo for the paper?” There’s another flash and it’s hard to focus. I can hear Mrs. Du Pont’s sharp voice and when there’s more camera flashes, her blue eyes are the only thing I can see. Her look tells me everything I need to know. If she could kill me, she would do it.

“I’m sorry, I have to go.” I turn and try to get away, but I run right into one of the reporters. I don’t know if this one is new or if it was the one that was talking to me, but her microphone hits me in the chest and I have to back off.

A voice rises up out of everyone. “Do you really think you’re going to be forgiven for what you did?”

I go still but Sunny catches my arm and glares at the person that spoke. “Let’s get out of here, Nev.”

“Yeah, okay.” We start to push out of the crowd and I’m thankful Pastor Mike is there. He helps clear a way, but we aren’t going anywhere fast. Not with the crews and reporters shouting questions at our backs. That’s when I hear Beau.

“I have,” Beau blurts out, cutting everyone off.

“Are you saying that you’ve forgiven the girl that put you behind bars for the murder of your girlfriend?”

My gut twists. I know I shouldn’t be paying more attention to the fact that Carrie was called Beau’s girlfriend than their mention of what I did to him. I should not feel upset about the mention of Carrie. That’s sick.

“That’s right,” Beau says and I look over my shoulder at him. He’s standing in the circle that’s formed out of everyone, his family at his back. Tyler and Jared are awkwardly to the side and the reporters, journalists, and their crews have fanned out around us, blocking us in. Students and their families have started to gather. Some close by and others further back, but everyone is watching what’s happening. Everyone in Bloom is going to know about today, even if they weren’t here, they’ll know. I look at Beau because I’d rather look at him than anyone else. I don’t know how he manages to stand at the center of it looking unaffected. I feel like I’m going to pass out.

“I’ve forgiven her,” he says and looks around at the group of people before his eyes come to me. “And I don’t want you to lose your scholarship. It wasn’t your fault.” The amount of camera clicks and flashes that go off when he says that are insane. A half dozen microphones swing his way and Beau keeps talking, raising his voice as he does and takes a step in my direction.

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