Chapter 3

Henry followed right behind Luna.

The two of them walked toward me, heads held high, acting all superior as they faced the crowd.

Everyone in the class was practically gloating, faces full of schadenfreude.

Before Luna had reached us, Harper already barked, "Luna, Amelia threw all your designer stationery into the trash."

"What?" Luna's face went stiff, and she hurried over to check.

When Luna saw the disaster on her desk, her eyes went red with tears in an instant.

She turned to me, her voice gentle and shaky. "Amelia, I know you're upset about Henry rejecting you, but you can't get back at me like this. I..."

As she accused me, tears started streaming down her face out of nowhere. "I really don't know what I ever did to you."

Everyone started glaring at me with more hate in their eyes.

"Luna, don't cry." Henry frowned and stepped forward, putting her behind him. "Amelia, you're way out of line.

"I'm the one who rejected you. Why are you dragging Luna into this? Apologize to her right now. And return all her things, every single one of them."

I gave a cold snort. "Henry, why don't you tell everyone whose things these are, really?"

A flash of guilt crossed Henry's face. "These are..."

"Of course, all this designer stationery was a gift from Henry to Luna," Harper blurted out.

Henry and Luna's faces went pale in an instant.

Harper continued, "Amelia, you don't seriously think your family's the only one who can afford this stuff—"

"Harper, enough." Two voices rang out at once, abruptly cutting Harper off.

Harper blinked, glancing between Henry and Luna, confused. "Did I say something wrong?"

Henry's Adam's apple bobbed as he managed a strained smile. "Amelia, Harper blurts things out. Don't let it get to you. As for all this stuff?"

He paused, his tone softening. "It doesn't matter whose it is. Let's let it go for today. return Luna's stuff, and we won't hold it against you for tossing her things."

Luna chimed in, dabbing at the corners of her eyes and giving everyone her trademark understanding smile, "That's right.

"Amelia, I don't blame you. I've had these things for ages, but if they're gone, they're gone. It's really no big deal."

She turned to look at the classmates around her, her voice soft. "Everyone, go easy on Amelia. She didn't do it on purpose."

"Luna, you're way too soft-hearted."

"Yeah, after everything Amelia's done, you're defending her?"

Watching them put on their little act, I felt nothing but cold inside. "Who says I'm letting this slide?"

Everyone froze when I spoke up.

I turned to the guy who'd mentioned calling the cops. "Didn't you say this was going to get the police involved?"

He looked totally lost, nodding without thinking. "Y-Yeah."

"Then let's call the police." With that, I pulled out my phone and dialed 911. "Hello, I'd like to report a theft. The stolen items are worth thousands of dollars."

"No, Amelia." Henry lunged forward, trying to snatch my phone, his face turning very pale.

I stepped back, giving him a cold look.

Luna panicked, her voice sharp and shrill. "Amelia, what are you doing? Is it really such a big deal that you have to call the police?"

"Not a big deal?" I locked eyes with Luna. "Didn't you say you've had all this stuff for ages? Let's have the cops figure out who actually owns it."

Luna and Henry were left speechless, frozen in place.

*****

Less than ten minutes later, our teacher, Ella Baker, and two cops walked into the classroom.

Ella took one look at the mess in the classroom and the phone in my hand, and her face instantly turned stormy.

"Amelia," she shouted, storming right up to me. "You wrecked Luna's stuff and then have the nerve to play the victim? Do you think this school is a supermarket where you can cause a scene?"

"Honestly, a supermarket is more reasonable than this class," I said, my tone flat and unbothered.

Ella's face turned beet red, and she was about to blow up when the young female cop stepped forward. "Amelia, was it you who called the police?"

"Yes," I replied.

"You said someone stole your stuff?" the cop asked.

As soon as she said that, the whole classroom erupted.

"What? Someone stole her stuff?"

"Didn't Amelia throw Luna's things away? How did it turn into someone stealing from her all of a sudden?"

"Wait, is Amelia saying Luna stole her stuff?"

"Seriously? Didn't Harper say Henry gave all that to Luna?"

The whispers exploded like a tidal wave.

Luna's face kept flipping from pale to red and back again.

She bit her lip, eyes brimming with tears, looking like she'd been hit with the biggest injustice ever, but she couldn't say a single word.

Henry stormed over to me, his face like thunder, lowering his voice so only I could hear. "Amelia, that's enough."

I looked up at him for a second, saying nothing.

He took a shaky breath, dropping his voice more. "If you call off the cops, I'll go to the movies with you this weekend, okay?"

He hesitated, then tacked on, "Do me this favor and let it go."

I nearly snorted in disbelief.

I looked him dead in the eye. "Henry, who do you think you are? Why do I do you a favor?"

His expression darkened.

"Everything Luna took from me matters way more than you," I said.

The whole class went wild.

"She took from Amelia?"

"Amelia's accusing Luna of stealing?"

"Why does Henry look so pale? Could it really be true?"

"You're lying," Harper shouted, her face flushed red as she rushed over. "How could any of this possibly be yours? It's obviously—"

I cut her off, my tone flat and unbothered, "It's obviously Henry who gave them to her,

"But did Luna ever tell you that all this stuff was snatched from beside my trash can by Henry?"

The whole room went dead silent.

Even the air felt still, like nobody dared to breathe.

The young female officer frowned and stepped forward. "Luna, can you tell us what's going on?"

Luna's lips trembled, but she couldn't get a single word out.

I spoke up and laid out the whole story from start to finish.