Penfield's Greatest Swimmer

🌊~34

"...this is absurd you guys!" Nadia's voice filtered out into the hallway. "Why in the world would Akwasi go out of his way to sabotage a project he himself spent hours working on!"

No answer came because, in that moment, I barged into the lab, capturing everyone's attention.

"Oh good." Mawuli stood up. "The guilty culprit finally arrives."

"Shut up, asshole!" One look at his face and all I wanted was to smash it into a wall. "You know I didn't sabotage anything, so take back that lie!"

"Oh, but it's not a lie, Akwasi." The dark guy crossed his arms. "We have proof." He gestured towards a laptop sitting on one of the lab tables. "One of the lab cameras caught you tampering with the robot the night of the final testing."

Knowing that was another lie, I drew closer to the laptop and opened the security footage. The black and white video began with a figure leaving the dark lab.

"That's not me!" I blurted out, but spoke too soon because after a few minutes, the lights flickered on and I saw myself enter the picture, heading straight for the robot. My face grew cold.

"Do you remember now?" Chad appeared at my side. "That was the night you came by my place to ask for my copy of the lab keys."

"Yeah, because I left my phone on charge in the lab," I retorted. "When I came back the robot was already like that. All I did was put the arm down and cover it up."

"Are you sure?" Chad quirked up an eyebrow. "Cuz earlier that day, you and Felix were the ones who fixed the mica sensors in the robot's right arm, and that's the same arm that caught fire during the fair."

"So what? You think I came back to take the sensors out?" I quipped in an incredulous tone. "This is unbelievable!"

"Well, what do you expect us to believe?" Chad shot out. "Felix didn't come back and you were the only one who was around that night."

That night. The sentence suddenly struck my brain like a pebble hitting a rock. "I wasn't the only one around that night, Mawuli was here too!"

"Oh of course." The jerk rolled his eyes. "Try putting the blame on someone else."

"Don't you dare deny it, Mawuli," I warned. "You were here too, you made up this dumb excuse of coming for a tool bag when you never even worked on the project. So tell us, what did you need the tool bag for, hm?"

"What I needed the tools for is none of your damn business!" He snapped. "What matters is the fact that I was nowhere near the machine that night. It was all you, so stop trying to dodge the bullet and face the consequences of your actions!"

"Bullshit!" Rage seeped through my veins. "I'm not gonna face any consequences cuz I didn't do it! I didn't do anything!"

"If you didn't do it," a slender voice began, "then why didn't you show up at the fair?" Her appearance only increased my heart beat. Arms crossed, Shola leaned against the last table in the lab with nothing but a solemn expression on her face. "You promised me that you'd be there, remember? So why didn't you show up?"

A simple question, but the answer weighed down on my tongue like a stack of rocks.

"Where were you, Akwasi?" Shola stood up, drawing closer to me.

"I..." I shook my head, unable to meet her eyes. "I can't tell you."

A hint of frustration blossomed in her tone. "Why not?"

"Because he's guilty!" Mawuli yelled.

"No, I'm not! I just..." Against my better judgement, everything spilled out. "There was this party that Ethan and the guys forced me to go to. I swear I wasn't going to take that long, but all of a sudden, I lost track of time and... what are you..."