Chapter 136
Astrid POV
Aiden had kept the laptop in a way that it faced us as well. As soon as he pressed the button, the video of Tracy’s home began playing.
The first clip was that of her kitchen where a delivery boy had placed boxes of food on the counter and Tracy was signing the delivery receipt. She left the boxes on the table and went out, and her friends came in.
They poured drinks for themselves in paper cups. They turned their heads left and right to check out if there was someone around or not. One of them took out a small plastic bag from her pocket. The second girl giggled and extended her palm. “Hurry up!” she said. The first girl took out a white pill from it, mixed it in the drinks and the two gulped it down.
Suddenly, Tracy came in and she asked, “What are you two doing?”
The girls coughed and giggled. “Nothing Tracy. Just the routine.” They stuck their tongues out to show her the remnants of the white tablet in their mouth.
Tracy rolled her eyes and went out again, saying, “Can you get ginger ale for me? I’d like to give some to Astrid as well. She isn’t having her mojito.”
The two girls crinkled their faces. “Do you want us to teach her a lesson, Tracy?” said the first one. “Kael is paying her a lot of undeserved attention.” She licked her upper teeth and looked like a punch of adrenaline had hit her.
“Yeah! We can deal with her,” the second one added. “The bitch is getting cozy with Kael. I see she is seducing Toren and Aiden as well!”
“Bloody cunt! I want to do both Toren and Aiden!” the first one hissed. “He left me that day because of Kael, and now he is avoiding me.”
Tracy sighed. She took a step closer. She hissed, “Just pour the fucking drink for her. I’ll deal with her in my way.”
“Sure!” the second girl chirped. She poured a good helping of ginger ale in a glass, nudged the first one, who took out another pill from her bag and shoved the bag back into her packet. She didn’t mix it in the ale and walked out of the kitchen.
My eyes went to the time showing on the kitchen video. It was 9:32PM.
The video now moved to the swimming area where I was resting on a chaise lounge, watching other boys and girls. Tracy came along with her friends, looking all excited with a half empty glass of ginger ale in her hand. She came to sit with me and insisted that I have the ale. She pushed me, and under peer pressure I drank it. The time was 9:37PM.
Aiden argued, his voice filled with frustration, “Now the crucial question is, if Astrid had the ale and was drugged, why didn’t Tracy experience the same effects? How did Tracy know Astrid wasn’t drinking mojito, and why was she planning on giving her ginger ale? And what did the first girl do with the pill that she was holding in her hand?”
The video clip moved to the busy main hall where the students were dancing. Tracy navigated her way through the hall while drinking the ale, with her friends following her. Suddenly, she stopped after drinking half of it and handed her glass to the first girl, staring at her as if conveying something through her eyes. The girl nodded so slightly that if you didn’t notice, you wouldn’t know.
Aiden paused the video there and replayed those few seconds, saying, “Why did the first girl nod?”
As the video resumed, I saw Tracy turned her head towards the swimming area. The first girl crushed the pill in her hand before dropping it into the glass of ginger ale. Then she walked hurriedly after Tracy.
Blood drained from my face. It felt like a coordinated effort on their part to drug me. A shiver ran down my spine as my mind couldn’t register the maliciousness of these girls. Whatever they did, it was out of their jealousy and apprehensions. If they had looked closely, they would have known that I was distancing myself from Kael. It was Kael who was trying to get close to me. I blinked away the tears from my eyes because my misery got replaced with anger.
In the next video clip, I saw myself removing my clothes. Aiden had cut that part to save me from embarrassment. The scene changed to a hand pushing me into the pool.
The video ended, and Aiden closed the laptop.
Principal Henson was bereft. He sat on his chair looking like a ghost.
Aiden said, “This all took place within five minutes, Principal Henson. As you can see, there is clear evidence Astrid was drugged to destroy her reputation. Tracy and her friends wanted to take some kind of sick revenge on her.”
Kael took a deep breath in as he squeezed my hand.
Aiden continued, “You can’t blame Astrid for things that were not in her control. The main culprits are in front of you with evidence. If you think students aren’t doing drugs in Cedar Academy, then you are mistaken or you’ve turned a blind eye to them. I don’t want to mess with Cedar
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Chapter 136
Academy’s reputation, but this video could really cause a stir if it gets out.”
Henson rubbed his face with his hands as if not knowing how to go about it. Heavy silence descended on the room.
My teeth clenched as thoughts of revenge against Tracy consumed me. She tricked me and then destroyed me. I promised to myself that I’d give her back what she started.
Henson’s voice broke from my reverie. “I will take this into account,” he said to us in a controlled, low voice. “Send the video to me. However, you will still be suspended for a day because you all were involved in a fight on the school premises. And this won’t be noted in your records.”
I let out a sigh of relief, tipping my head up.
“You may all leave. Aiden, send the video to me asap!” Henson said, dismissing us.
“I have a small request, Principal Henson,” I said in a low voice, meeting his glare. “I apologize for not being careful and getting everyone into this mess, but my uncle and aunt love me a lot. They’ll be miserable if you tell them about this incident.”
“I won’t!” he huffed.
When we were out, and in the corridor, Kael was still holding my hand. He wouldn’t let it go even as I tried to tug it away. We didn’t talk to each other as we headed to our lockers from where we collected our bags. Aiden informed us he had deleted the video from Instagram.
Kael tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as I was packing my books. “I’m sorry you had to go through all this.”
I stopped packing and looked at him, swallowing thickly. “Thank you for helping me.” I couldn’t say much because emotions choked my throat.
He stared intensely into my eyes, as if trying to reach my soul. “Anything for you, baby girl.” He leaned forward and when our lips were just a hair- breadth away, he said, “Will you teach me math today? I know you won’t go home from here.”
His proximity took my breath away. Why was it that both of us were getting so attracted to each other although we hadn’t spent a single month together? I wanted to kiss him badly, needily, but I croaked, “Yes.”
“Kael!” Tracy’s loud voice interrupted us.
He whipped his head away, straightening. His eyes turned icy as he clenched his fists. His chest vibrated with the most dangerous rumble I’d ever encountered.
She came running to him and stood there with puppy eyes. “I know you’re angry with me, but I did nothing.” She glanced at me before turning back to him. “I was trying to be her friend, and have no idea what happened to her. Are you going to put our friendship of so many years at stake for her?”
“Tracy, we know that you and your friends drugged Astrid,” Kael said in a low, dangerous voice.
Her face paled. “N–no! We didn’t!”
“This isn’t over,” Kael growled. “Remember to stay away from me, and remember to stay away from Astrid. Because if I see you near her, I’ll claw your heart out!” Saying that, Kael grabbed my hand, closed my locker, and walked out of the school with me. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Toren showing her the middle finger, and Aiden bumped into her shoulder on purpose.
Tracy watched us all with shock, her mouth falling open.
It was so satisfying, but I knew it wasn’t over yet.
As I opened the main glass door, I heard Principal Henson’s heavy voice filling the corridor. “Miss Tracy, come to my room immediately!”
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