It was just as Iris had thought– there sure was a danger ahead judging from the daggering gazes fixed on them but they both had no idea what it was about. Before Nia could compose herself and bring her thoughts into words, Lily scampered towards them with a sheet of paper in hand.
"Would you mind telling us what this's all about?" She asked in a calm but authoritative manner as she stretched the paper towards Nia, her tone clearly expressing her anger.
The latter briefly threw a skeptical glance at Lily then to the stretched-out paper with literally no idea what it was as she exchanged quizzical looks with Iris who wiggled her brows towards it; urging her to take it to find out all that the fuse was about.
Allowing her gaze to travel back to Lily, she took the sheet from her but before she could read what was on it– the fuming girl snapped in.
"Thought we handed out all our tests to you to send to Ms. Connelly's desk? So now what's this?" She busted.
Iris instinctively drew closer to Nia at this new revelation as they both scanned through the sheet in the latter's hand. To their surprise, everyone scored zero except Nia. Iris intuitively bated her eyes– not believing what she was seeing and as if on an impulse, snatched the sheet from her friend to have a proper look; leaving the latter stunned herself.
From all dimensions, Nia could remember clearly with the young teenager's memory, that she sent those papers. But then, what happened?
"Come on guys–" Iris muttered with her gaze still fixed on the sheet; interrupting Nia's thoughts. "Th–this can't be possible." She added with a scoff, deftly lifting her gaze from the paper; allowing it to travel back to the enraged students staring at them. "This is absurd because I remember sending the quiz papers together with Nia to Ms. Connelly's desk." She continued while her hand vibrated with the sheet; confirming Nia's thoughts.
"Then can you explain this to us?" Another student barked among the crowd.
"It might probably be a misunderstanding." Iris justified while Nia stood in her steed– still clueless about what went wrong.
"Then you should explain to all of us here how everyone got zero while she received a mark?" Cassie shoot from the crowd as she lazily sauntered towards Iris and Nia with her arms folded across her chest. Intuitively, she threw a smugish gaze at Nia as she came to a halt in front of them– which indirectly gave the latter the deep impression that the former knew something about the situation at hand.
"I'm more than shocked you're still defending her." Cassie continued; switching her gaze to Iris. "Or you two staged this?" She added with a mischievous gaze that spoke otherwise.
The latter understood well what Cassie meant by her earlier expression but stared at her with a sense of indifference; deeply rooted in her steed as a loyal friend that she was. Nia knew from that instant that she had to say something– at least to defend herself but then what?
For some reason, she felt responsible for what had happened; as the entire class trusted their quiz sheets with her as their class captain but then she failed them all. The more she thought about it the more she felt guilty.
"Aren't you going to say anything about it?" Lily asked, feeling agitated by Nia's silence.
"I don't know what this is all about." She finally managed to say. "But trust me, I sent those sheets." She added, trying her best to prove her innocence.
The absurd ruckus was still going on when Emery glided into the classroom.
Instinctively, his brows creased with a confused gaze.
"What's going on here?" He asked, sorting for answers as his eyes loomed through the furious students who had their eyes fixed on Nia– who was by herself; confused and helpless.
Cassie, on the other hand, saw this as a golden opportunity to lock her target in a tight corner– knowing well how impulsive and cold Emery could be at times.
"It's better you have a look yourself." She said, snatching the sheet from Iris while she handed it over to Emery.
The latter first stared at Cassie with a skeptical gaze before taking the sheet. He studied it for some seconds and intuitively glanced up at his colleagues who waited in anticipation for his reaction.
"Nia knows nothing about this." He said; which made Nia glance deftly at him– her expression screaming out her surprise while their colleagues broke into ruckus once again with each of them grumbling about their disagreement. Cassie was by herself surprised too as she wasn't expecting such remarks.
"If she isn't then who is?" Lily questioned and the others attested their agreement on the question thrown to Emery.
"I don't know." He hastily answered with a half-shrug, the sense of indifference still lingering on his face.
"But someone has to take responsibility for this and it should be Nia." Cassie snapped in. "We all here know what she is capable of," she scorned with a fixed gaze— staring directly at Nia.
"And what if I prove that she is indeed innocent?" He replied.
Nia who couldn't believe her ears swiftly glanced at the boy standing beside her while a flash of shock swept Cassie's face. There was no way she was expecting that from him. "Why should he stand up for someone who tried to kill his sister?" The question ringed in her baffled mind. "Why is he protecting her?" Cassie's expression clearly read out her thoughts. He should be siding with her— if not for anything; at least for what she did to his sister.