Chapter 4

The next day, I found out what Ryan meant.

I'd underestimated how much weight his words carried.

Emily's mom's things—the ones Rachel Jones had left her—were gone.

Emily was crying nonstop, and some of the other students were helping her look for them. They seemed genuinely concerned.

I looked away.

But then Emily walked straight up to me, and her tone wasn't friendly. "You were the last one to leave the classroom earlier."

I crossed my arms and looked up at her. "So?"

"Let me see your bag." She reached for my backpack before I could respond.

I slapped her hand away and stared at her coldly. "Proof," I said.

"What proof?" Emily's expression twisted.

"Proof that I took your stuff."

"You were the only one in the classroom. If it wasn't you, then who? The stuff just grew legs and walked away?"

Actually, I wasn't the only one in the classroom earlier, but when I glanced around now, I couldn't spot whoever else had been there. I looked down and gripped my bag tighter.

"No proof means you don't have the right to make me open my bag."

"How can you be like this? Those were things my mom left me—they're important to me." Emily's voice cracked, and tears started streaming down her face. Emily's voice cracked, and tears started streaming down her face.

She said, "You just don't like me, do you? You did this on purpose. Who knows—maybe you're trying to get back at me for what happened last time, so you waited until everyone was gone and stole my things."

When she brought up what happened last time, I almost laughed from sheer anger. I opened my mouth to snap back, but then other people started chiming in. "Sophie, if it's really not you, just open your bag and show us."

"Yeah, exactly. We're all classmates here, so there's no need to make this such a big deal."

"Besides, that thing belonged to Emily's mom, so it has to be really important to her. She's literally crying."

The words died in my throat. I could go toe-to-toe with Emily without a second thought, but these classmates? They'd been nice to me before, and I couldn't bring myself to lash out at them.

Just as everyone was getting worked up, I lifted my head and saw Ryan.

He was leaning against the doorframe with his head tilted back slightly, and I had no idea how long he'd been standing there. He was watching me with that infuriatingly calm look on his face, and his meaning was crystal clear.

He wanted me to beg him for help.

I clenched my backpack strap tight and then let go, looking away like I couldn't care less. "Fine. Go ahead and look."

Ryan's expression darkened immediately, and his knuckles went white as his fists tightened.

I held my breath and watched Emily tear through my bag without a shred of care.

My things tumbled out one by one, and my books ended up scattered all over the floor, but she didn't find anything.

I watched calmly, about to say something, when Emily suddenly shrieked, "Found it!"

That was impossible. I looked up in shock.

But when I saw what she was holding, my eyes went wide. "That's mine!"

I reached for it, but she dodged away. "It's mine. My mother left this to me—there's no way I'd mistake it."

She was lying. Diana left that to me.

Yesterday the chain broke, so I put it in my backpack. I couldn't have gotten it wrong.

I looked up nervously and caught a flash of malice in Emily's eyes. She did this on purpose. She toyed with the locket in her hand, playing with it carelessly.

My heart clenched with every movement she made, but I didn't dare grab it.

"Think about it again, Sophie. Maybe you got confused. When we were all helping search earlier, Emily said she lost a locket."

"It's not hers—it's mine!" I practically screamed, and my legs felt like they'd give out.

The classmate backed away awkwardly.

"Check the cameras. My mother left that to me," I said.

"The security cameras broke a couple days ago," the class monitor said helplessly, spreading his hands.

Emily suddenly spoke up, "I have an idea. The locket my mom gave me is silver—it won't break easily if you drop it. Want to test it?"

"No—" My heart jumped into my throat. I couldn't let her drop it.

Emily smiled, "Then that proves it's not yours. You little thief. I'm definitely not giving it to you."

Something suddenly clicked, and I grabbed Ryan's sleeve desperately. "I wasn't the only one in the classroom just now. Ryan was here too. Right?"

I looked up at him with hope in my eyes.

Ryan's lips parted like he was about to say something, but Emily cut him off before he could get a word out. "You're lying. Ryan was with me at the teacher's office just now."

I felt everything inside me collapse.

Ryan froze for a second at Emily's words, and then he looked away from me. He wouldn't even meet my eyes anymore.

Emily's face lit up with triumph, and something in me just snapped.

I lunged at her without thinking. My hands found hers and I pried them open, and then I slapped her—hard, over and over.

Emily screamed and stumbled backward, but then a brutal force shoved me away.

My lower back slammed into a desk, and I crashed to the floor. The locket fell with me, and I heard it shatter with a sharp, final crack.

My heart broke right along with it, splintering into pieces I knew I'd never put back together.

I looked up through blurring vision and saw Ryan holding Emily close, protecting her from me. His brow was furrowed tight, like I was the problem here.

I hated him in that moment. But I hated myself more.

I scrambled on the floor, trying to gather the broken pieces with shaking hands. The sharp edges cut into my palms, and blood started running down my fingers.

"Stop it," Ryan said. His voice got louder. "I said stop!"

Then his hand closed around my arm, and he yanked me to my feet.

His face was twisted with anger, but my eyes were so blurred with tears I could barely make out his features.

I wanted to run, wanted to disappear, but then a deep, commanding voice cut through the chaos from behind me.

"Sophie."

Emily's expression changed instantly, and Ryan's grip on my arm went slack.

I turned my head.

Emily called out nervously, "Dad."