The morning was horrible. News traveled quickly throughout the school, and the rumors were flying. Dela had tried to kill Miss L! Some kids mocked her as she made her way from class to class. Others made sure to stay as far away as possible. Even her Hazel classmates stayed away from her. She ate her breakfast and lunch alone while the other students just pointed and whispered about her. It was a miserable day.
After dinner, which she ate in her dorm room, Lilly and Luke came to visit her in the most secluded corner of the library. “I knew you’d be here,” said Lilly.
“Why? Because you can read my mind?” asked Dela.
“Read minds?” asked Luke. “Can you read minds?”
“Me?” scoffed Lilly. “Of course not! That’s crazy talk!” She gave Dela an intense look that meant be careful of my secret. “Anyway, I knew you’d be here because this is pretty much the most secretive place in Hazel. Plus, you weren’t in our room.”
“Can he be trusted?” asked Dela to Lilly.
“I think so,” said Lilly. “He knows you didn’t do this.”
“Besides the obvious problems of pulling off such a stunt, I don’t think you have a motive,” said Luke. “Plus, I know about the Oracle. I sometimes play online games with her.”
Dela tugged on her Hazel bracelet. “So who would have a motive?” she asked. Lowering her voice, she added, “Besides Mr. Hudwin, I mean.”
Luke looked behind him before responding. “I heard on the social media chatter that Mr. Hudwin has always wanted to be Headmaster of Carey Academy. He’d love to turn this place into the most important Dark Wizard School in the world.”
“I hear he can lick his eyelids and also likes to pinch kitty cats so he can hear little kids cry,” whispered Lilly. Luke and Dela stared at her. “I mean it!” she cried.
“Anyway, I’m just glad you two believe me,” said Dela. “I don’t think I could stay here at Carey if I didn’t at least have a couple of people to trust.”
That was very important to Dela over the next couple of weeks. Dela went to class and studied hard, but really nobody paid any attention to her, and if they did it was to avoid her by walking on the other side of the path or to find a seat elsewhere. Dela found herself eating with only Luke, Lilly, and Hailey. Plus, she and Nat were not on speaking terms anymore. They had classes together and would walk past each other, but they never even looked at one another. How did she ever trust Nat?