Page 95 of Swallow Your Sorries

“I saw you, you know. That night Zedd was in the greenhouse blasting that girl out.”

Rin stiffens and straightens. “So? You were there too. You just said so. For all I know, you could be Beaussip.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You already are.”

“Proof?” I cock a brow. “It’s all right here.” Faster than a blink I reach for the monitor and power it on and the second I do, a pop sounds in my ear. Like a lid leaving a container.

“Oops.”

Water from Rin’s fucking five-gallon cup gushes down on the flat screen monitor, making it spark, hiss and crackle until lines of yellow, white and black stripe across the screen.

Then, a dozen sounds go off at once. Rin’s heels bouncing out of the computer lab. Enaj’s gasp, and the scrape of her chair across the floor as she stands to observe the damage, her hands flying to cover her mouth. The clicks of the librarian’s sensible pumps as she trots toward the lab, asking, “What the hell was that noise?”

Then there’s my gasp of utter disbelief as I watch smoke waft up from the two-grand plus machine.

“What have you done?!” she shrieks, despite her strict rule of silence. I eye the nameplate attached to her fuzzy cardigan. Ms. El-Agha. I’d never seen her up close, just in passing when I needed to print something fast and get the hell out of dodge before the senior girls got any ideas, just like Rin had. But still, her small heart-shaped face looks so familiar, like I’ve seen her somewhere else once before. Not just in passing around campus.

The unmistakable scent of burning plastic fills the air as she bends down and snatches the still-dripping computer cords from the outlet and examines them.

“Can you not read?” Her expression, like she’s just sucked on a lemon, makes it clear she’s waiting for an answer.

Heat crawls up my neck and spreads across my chest and face. “Y-yes miss,” I say finally.

“Then you saw the rules that said no liquids allowed?”

“I did—”

“Then?” she snaps.

“I didn’t bring in any liquids. It was Rin—”

“Rin Jung?” She crinkles a brow. “I just came up the stairs. No one else was there.”

“She must be hiding somewhere. Like in the bathroom,” I say, going to step around her to check, but she catches my arm, and my shoe skids in a puddle. I fall out of her grip and onto my tailbonehard.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Ms. El-Agha asks, glowering down at me.

“To find her. I know she’s hiding. That’s her cup.” I point at the bedazzled white cup, the size of a damn bathroom bin. “I can’t even afford one of those. I swear.” I turn to Enaj who quickly looks away the moment we make eye contact. “You saw Rin. Tell her.” I nod to the librarian. “Tell her that Rin spilt the water.On purpose.”

Seconds tick by and finally Enaj says, her eyes downturned, “I can’t. Because I didn’t see anything as it happened. I just saw when the computer started sparking. Sorry.”

“And was she alone?” Ms. El Agha asks impatiently.

“When I looked up, yes, she was.”

Rage roils through me. Why the fuck is she standing up for a bitch like Rin, of all people? Rin, who wouldn’t spit on Enaj if she were on fire.

“She’s lying,” I say, getting to my feet. “I’m telling you it was Rin.”

It’s crystal clear Ms. El-Agha doesn’t believe a single word I say as her lips draw into a thin line.

“What’s your name?”

She’s asking, but something in my gut tells me that she already knows. Everyone knows who I am. Gant’s made sure of it.

“Eloisa Ginhart,” I mutter, then a thought crosses my mind that makes my brow crease in utter confusion. Regardless of Gant and my stellar reputation, why would she pretend to not know my name if I have detention with her?

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