GIRL POWER

Chapter 25

She's awake. After so long, she is finally awake. Skyler and Ivy gave a squeal in unison. Agent Savvaro took a moment to process the news and turned to us.

"You guys are not moving an inch until I come back," she said in such a manner that my mind said that things were serious.

We stepped away from the hallway and stood near the wall beside her cabin. We all glanced at each other without saying a single word. It's been months since her attack. The doctors gave up hope long time ago. But the universe saved her. I recalled her sudden movement of fingers in my hand earlier today. Noah gave my hand as squeeze and said, "It's a miracle."

"I guess everything is starting to become right. The guy from the mall might wake up too. Luke will go through his trial and get his punishment. All wrongs will be right," Skyler said. She collected herself from the grave truth that was put before her. She didn't let her emotions get in the path of truth which filled my heart with respect for her.

About fifteen minutes later agent Savvaro came out of the cabin. The furrowed brows told me that she was a little bit worried. "I regret the fact that you guys got the news. This was supposed to be confidential."

"What do you mean by confidential? She is our friend," Noah said coldly.

"You don't understand. Word getting around might put her life in danger. The anonymous might try to get her again."

"Everyone knows that Alex is awake. Besides, Luke is already behind bars. There's no way she can be in danger."

"There's something else too." We waited for her to continue. "When I asked her if she had seen the attacker's face she nodded. She's asking for you," agent Savvaro pointed her index at me.

When we entered her cabin, Mrs. Stone was beaming at us. She was probably thanking the universe for answering to all her prayers. Lola had also come and standing at a corner of the room. Her face didn't show any emotions at all. I turned my gaze to Genevie. She looked exactly the same. Agent Savvaro put a hand on my back and nodded. I stepped towards Genevie and sat beside her.

I sensed the tension in the room. Noah was peeping through the glass slab on the door. Agent Savvaro insisted that they stayed outside. It was not good for Genevie to face all those people at once. I took her hand in mind and called out in a low whisper, "Genevie?"

No response.

I hate my mind for imagining all the worst possible things. But I pushed all the thoughts aside and called out again. This time a little louder, "Genevie?"

She moved her head a little. "Genevie, it's me Jenny." Her eyes fluttered open. She gazed at me with those tired eyes for a long moment. "You okay?" She grasped at my hand with all the strength she could manage at this stage. "Jenny, Jenny, Jenny." She kept mumbling my name over and over again. I was getting a little uncomfortable and a lot scared. I looked at agent Savvaro and she nodded her head again.

"Did you see his face?"

"Jenny, Jenny, Jenny."

"The guy who did this to you, do I know him?"

"He said we were all gonna suffer. Burn. Like he did," she was breathing heavily. I had no will to push this any further. But agent Savvaro stood behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.

I let out a sigh and asked her, "Was it Luke?"

She stared at me like I was crazy. Then her eyes razed with fire and she said, "Not Luke, not Luke, not Luke."

Her grip loosened and she fell back unconscious. Mrs. Stone pushed me hard and started calling Genevie's name. The next few moments were a blur. agent Savvaro called for the doctor. The nurses kept running here and there checking for vitals and trying to get her consciousness back. When she gained consciousness, the doctor sedated her and she slept peacefully.

Among all the chaos and frantic moments, my mind kept repeating her words.

Not Luke

Not Luke

Not Luke

************************

"I don't feel well. Please." I was begging Noah to keep me out of the celebration. They aced their hockey match again today and were headed to MallO's smoothie.

"Look, we are supposed to live normal lives. We cannot show anything. you not showing up in my win celebration is gonna trigger suspicion." I couldn't ignore what Noah was saying. But my mind has been a whole mess since Genevie woke up yesterday.

Not Luke

She was stable now. But the doctors kept her sedated most of the time. I had not a single bit of interest in going out and plastering a smile on my face. But reluctantly I headed for Noah's suv.

The MallO's smoothies was already packed with kids. Basically the whole school attends this type of celebration gatherings as you gotta pay for your own food. Noah waved towards his team and said, "I'll catch you later." I started scanning through the crowds for familiar faces. I saw Naomi by the smoothie machine and headed for her.

"Hey," she said as soon as she saw me. "You missed practice yesterday."

"Yeah, we went to visit Alex."

"How's he doing?"

"He looks good. He'll probably be released after a couple of days."

"I wonder how he woke up this fast." She was sipping her smoothie peacefully. She might've just said it just like that, but it's not like it didn't cross my mind.

"Lucky I guess. Oh, I almost forgot." I took out the golden bracelet from my jeans pocket and handed it to her. "The night was so frantic I forgot to return it."

"Uh-" Naomi hesitated. Like she didn't want to take the bracelet.

"What?"

"It's not mine. I found it on a shelf at Alex's house."

"What?" Is she out of her mind? "You found a random bracelet and gave me to wear it? What if it's valuable. You stole it."

"Hey, it was lying around. On the other hand, why didn't Alex notice the bracelet when he was giving you the cupcake?" I knew it was true, but I couldn't just keep the bracelet. "Okay, keep it with you. We'll return it once Alex is discharged."

I stared at the stone engraved infinity sign on the golden bracelet. But the detail that caught my eyes stopped my breathing. I could see a faint 3D outline of a horizontal lining along the infinity sign. If I look harder, the outline of the vertical of the cross seemed visible clearly. My head started spinning fast. I held on to the bracelet and went for the bathroom. I splattered some water on my face and looked in to my own eyes through the mirror.

What have you done?

My stomach churned and tears kept rolling on my cheeks. I have led an innocent to the cell. I destroyed a life. If I only noticed the bracelet carefully before and talked to Naomi, none of this would have ever happened. It was all my fault.

Not Luke

Not Luke

Not Luke

I sat down on the floor of a corner leaning my head against the wall. I wanted to puke, but nothing came out. I started crying again. How could I do this? I heard the door creek open and Skyler stepped inside. I stuffed my head in my knees. I didn't want her to see me like this. If she knew what I have done, she would never forgive me.

"Jenny, are you okay?" she knelt down beside me and put her hand on my back.

"Please go. I have done something horrible." I mumbled keeping my head down.

"What are you talking about? Where's Noah?"

"With the team." I could not face Noah now. I was the one who blamed his friend. He took in everything and trusted me against his will. And most of it, he wouldn't understand.

"Should I call him?" She tried to get up but I grabbed her hand.

"I can't tell him." She looked me in the eye and nodded. She pulled me up by my hand.

"I know a place, come on."

I followed Skyler out of MallO's smoothies. She headed back towards the parking lot. She kept walking and got past the parking lot. She headed for the woods and stopped in front of a tree. She pushed her hand inside the hollow trunk and brought out a sheet.

"I come here when I need space and fresh air," she said as she spread the sheet on the ground. We sat there for sometime facing the wood and taking the silence in. She didn't ask anything or pry which I was grateful for. When I gathered myself up, I started talking.

"You know, yesterday, Genevie caught my hand and said not Luke." Her eyes became wide but she didn't say anything. "Naomi found this bracelet at Alex's place, on a shelf." Skyler nodded as she recognized the bracelet from the party. "If it was on a shelf, it didn't belong to any partygoers. Look at the design carefully."

I handed her the bracelet and she squinted her eyes to examine. Once she noticed it, she let out a low squeal. "That's it. It wasn't Luke. He never wears bracelet. Besides, I checked his call list, he was on the phone with his mother when the branding occurred. After he asked me if we could hang out, his phone rang and he went to take it. That's it. It was not Luke." Her eyes were shining. "But why were you crying?"

"Don't you get it? I let my feelings for Alex get in the way of my judgement. When I saw Alex on the tub, I recalled all those fights Luke had with Alex. I made myself believe it was Luke. if I told Noah, he would despise me."

"But we have to take steps. We have to get Luke out. We can't do it without Noah."

"You don't understand. Noah takes this type of judgement very seriously. When he knows that I made an innocent suffer, he'll never look at me the same way."

"Okay, it's time you start hanging out with some girls along with Noah. You need to women up." She dragged me towards the smoothie shop.