The Hurting Girl

Chapter 10

I knew it was wrong that I was making Cato lie. I knew that I shouldn’t have done it. But it was the only way people were going to believe the truth about Amy.

Luckily, Cato had agreed to my one condition. I went home happy that night. Even my brother, Shane, noticed it. “Why are you so happy, Clovey?” he asked me right before I went to bed. “Oh, you know…” I answered. “Friends and stuff.”

“Yeah, right.” He rolled his eyes. “More like young luuurve!” then he jumped up and ran away. I rolled my eyes, but he had got me thinking. How did I really feel about Cato? And more importantly, how did he really feel about me? After a lot of tossing and turning I drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next couple of weeks went by as usual. Get up, lessons, lunch, lessons, go home, sleep, get up…The air was turning cold as the winter months were just coming in. Much remained the same. I was still confused by my feelings for Cato and his for me…all I knew was that he was on my side and he was my friend. I certainly had feelings for him, but whether they were friendly feelings or went past that boundary I did not know. I had never been in love. I had never had any friends. So how was I supposed to know what those two feelings felt like? I had never felt more confused in my life.

The next Monday I got a surprise. As soon as I entered the academy I was pulled aside by Mrs McHeal. “Miss Greenleaf…go and sit upstairs in my office will you? And if you see Mr Jet, make sure he joins you.”

It turns out I didn’t have to find Cato. We exchanged quick smiles before Mrs McHeal came sweeping in with the two peacekeepers behind her. “I will make this quick.” She spoke frankly. “The Peacekeepers have decided to make a full investigation into your accusations. You will be interviewed a lot. It will take a lot of your time. And if by any chance we find any of you being…untruthful” her eyes flitted from me to Cato, and then back to me again. “There WILL be consequences. You have to be absolutely sure you want to do this. So may I ask you…are you both telling the ABSOLUTE truth?”