Why did you do that?
She attacked you, and I just … reacted.
You shouldn’t have.
I know, but I can’t take it back now.
“What’s going on with you two?” Sophia questioned, her eyes narrowing on Peter and me.
“Yeah,” Belinda put in, and I winced. Seriously, her voice was like nails on a chalkboard to me at this point. “What’s going on with you two? That’s the second time you’ve defended her against me, Peter. Are you fucking or something?”
“Don’t be so crude,” Sophia exclaimed, then lowered her voice to speak to Peter, “Sorry. We can talk in private later if you want.”
Peter shook his head and levelled his steely gaze on Belinda. “Darya is my friend.” Such a simple statement, but oh, hell, the butterflies that flooded my stomach were unreal. All from four little words. “But even if she wasn’t,” he went on, “I would defend anyone against an unwarranted attack. You heard what Mrs Kanumba said. Casting spells against another student is forbidden.”
Belinda lost some of her bluster. “She made me do it.”
I barked a laugh. “I didn’t make you do anything. It’s not my fault if you can’t control your temper.”
“Me?! You’re the one who lashed out at my poor uncle, and now he’s dead.”
“I had no hand in his death, Belinda. You know I didn’t, and yet you went around spreading rumours. It’s almost like you wanted me to be the killer. You wish it were me. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Darya, back off her. You’ll only provoke her to cast another spell, and we’re already in enough trouble, Peter advised.
I sighed inwardly. You’re right, but she makes me so crazy.
The classroom door opened, announcing Mrs Kanumba’s return. “Well, it looks like Principal Wolf is out on a meeting, and since none of you are willing to explain yourselves, I have no other choice but to give you all an hour of detention.”
“But the storm is getting worse,” Anna complained.
“I don’t care about the storm. You should’ve thought of that before breaking the rules of St. Bastian’s.”
“At least let Nic and Sophia go,” I said. “They weren’t involved.”
Mrs Kanumba’s attention fell on me. “Oh? Tell me exactly how they weren’t involved, and I’ll allow them to leave.”
My gut sank as I fell silent.
“Hmm, just as I expected,” Mrs Kanumba said before walking to her desk.
“Don’t worry about it,” Nic whispered to me. “It’s only an hour.”
“Yeah, but you shouldn’t be punished for—”
“No talking please,” Mrs Kanumba interrupted, and I clamped my mouth shut. “All of you can spend the next hour studying quietly.”
In my pocket, my phone buzzed with a text. I pulled it out and checked the message discreetly. It was from my dad.
Stuck in traffic. Weather is bad. I’ll be a little late picking you up. Stay inside until I get there.
This was good news. If the weather kept my dad away for long enough, I could avoid telling him I’d gotten detention. Big silver lining. I typed a quick reply.
No problem. See you soon.
Remembering that Rebecca was probably still around here somewhere, I sent her a message, too.
Dad’s going to be late picking us up. Where are you? I’m in Mrs Kanumba’s classroom if you’re looking for me.
Her response came soon after.
That’s okay. I have a little more work to finish anyway. The storm looks bad. I wonder if Dad will even make it up here. The roads sometimes flood when there’s heavy rain.
Do you think we’ll be stuck here for the night?
Worst case scenario, yes. We need to wait and see if the rain clears up.
I stifled a groan. The idea of having to stay here for the entire night certainly didn’t appeal to me. I thought of Grace. She probably didn’t bother coming to school because of the weather. I imagined her having a cosy night in with her parents while the storm raged outside. I wished I was there with them.
Put your phone away. Mrs Kanumba is looking.
Peter’s voice startled me from my thoughts as I deftly slid my phone back into my pocket.
Thanks for the heads up.
No problem.
I’m sorry for getting you into this mess. I should’ve just ignored Belinda.
Don’t worry about it. She was out of line using her magic on you.
Well, thank you for defending me.
As I said, no worries.
I cast Peter a glance over my shoulder. His eyes met mine briefly, and then I turned back around and tried to concentrate on studying. A few minutes later, there was a loud crack of thunder. Behind me, Sophia let out a small squeak.
“My goodness, that was scary,” she exclaimed.
In front of me, Belinda scoffed. “Scared of thunder? Seriously?”
“We can’t all be fearless bitches, oops, I mean, witches like you, Belinda,” Sophia shot back, and I grinned. Sophia wasn’t as meek as I thought.
“Sophia, language,” Mrs Kanumba reprimanded.
“Sorry,” Sophia quietly replied while Belinda twisted around in her seat, glaring at Peter’s friend.