The Divide Page 0,39

He hadn't calmed down since he learned of the accident. "I still wish you could have called me," he said to Cassie. "How'd you even get home?" Cassie hesitated.

It was a simple question. There was no need for such a long pause, and the entire group picked up on it.

Adam stiffened and turned accusingly to Nick. "Did she call you? Were you the one to drive her home?" Nick appeared blindsided by Adam's accusation, but he quickly mirrored Adam's aggressive posture with his own.

"No, she didn't. But I wish she had," he said.

"Stop it, both of you." Cassie didn't have a choice. She had to tell them the truth.

"I didn't call anyone to come pick me up." She paused, not wanting to go on. Cassie looked down at her shoes.

Run, she thought. Just run away from this awful moment.

But there was nowhere to run to, and she knew it. Almost inaudibly she said, "Scarlett happened to drive by while I was stranded. She drove me home."

Adam shook his head, sidestepping Nick, who'd also dropped his bravado. Diana reached for a nearby tree to steady herself. They were speechless, but Faye had the words right at hand to announce what the whole group was thinking.

"Oh, yeah," she said. "Scarlett just happened to drive by, finding you in the middle of nowhere. What a lucky coincidence!"

Cassie wasn't having it. The last person she owed an explanation to was Faye. She stepped to her, boldly. "Why would she have helped me if she'd been the one trying to hurt me?"

"You're being stupid," Deborah said, not holding back an ounce of disgust. "It can't be a coincidence."

"She's not being stupid," Diana said. "Cassie's just blinded. She wants to see the best in Scarlett."

"Exactly. Which is just plain stupid," Deborah insisted.

"No," Cassie said. "Scarlett is innocent, I swear." Diana frowned at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Cassie.

But it's too suspicious that Scarlett would just happen to know where you were last night after the accident. This appears to be the proof we've been looking for all along."

"It's the principal," Cassie shouted. "I can feel it in my bones."

Adam responded to Cassie softly, guardedly. "We haven't been able to dig up a single suspicious thing on the new principal. He's clean, Cassie."

Even Adam wasn't willing to side with Cassie this time.

She could plead with him, with all of them, all afternoon, but it was useless - they'd already made up their minds to not believe her. Cassie turned to Nick, desperately, thinking if anyone might back her up, it would be him. But Nick was stone-faced, unwilling to rebel against the status quo on this.

Faye rose up and positioned herself in the middle of their huddle. "I say we go down to the docks after school and have a word with Scarlett."

"We should do the witch-hunter curse on her," Deborah yelled out.

Diana went to Faye's side, crossed her arms over her chest, and nodded. "I agree," she said. "Who's with us?" An assemblage of hands went up.

"But we should have a full Circle to do it. Otherwise we might not be strong enough." Diana beheld Cassie in her gaze. "So are we a complete Circle or not?" Cassie turned to Adam. His eyes were filled with longing and love, urging her to trust them, to trust him. And she wanted to trust Adam, she really did.

"Cassie," Nick said. "If Scarlett's not a hunter, the spell won't work on her. This could be your chance to prove yourself right." He smiled gently, giving a nod toward Diana and Adam. "And prove them wrong."

"That's true," Melanie said to Diana. "If we perform the curse on Scarlett and she's not a hunter, then she'll know what we are."

"I know that," Diana said with confidence.

Cassie raised her eyes to Diana's. "You're that sure," she said, "that you'd be willing to expose the Circle to a harmless, good-intentioned Outsider."

"I'm that sure." Diana stared back at Cassie without anger or hatred, but with utter conviction.

"Then I'm with you," Cassie said in a hushed tone, almost to herself. "We'll go to the docks after school today."

Chapter 17

The group cruised along the picturesque coastline of the New Salem waterfront until they reached the docks where Scarlett worked. On the way, Diana had taken Cassie aside and thanked her for coming with them. She said she felt bad about going against Cassie's wishes, but insisted it was for the safety of the group as a whole.

Cassie forced herself to sound agreeable and said she understood.