The Class Reject: A Martyr in Maelstrom (Book III)

11

Sometimes the truth was better left untold.

As Artemis made her destructive way toward Soren's room, this thought plagued her with every step she took. Maybe she was a bad person, but it felt easier to just assume he was worse, even if he wasn't responsible for the video. Because if he wasn't, then wasn't she the one at fault in their relationship?

So he wanted to have sex? Big deal, right? She had hinted to losing her V-card to him on homecoming. But that was before Miren went missing. Before she died.

She closed her eyes as she walked the halls, trying to consider how this would all go down. She'd have to swallow what was left of her pride if what Levi was saying was true. Then again, Levi was as slippery as Jemma. It was almost a surprise that they weren't dating. After all, he was as handsome as he was cunning, maybe more so than Soren or even Parker if his eyes weren't so dazzling...

Artemis shook her head. Nope. Nope. Nope. She wasn't dating anyone. Not now. Probably not ever. Her parents had instilled Muslim principles in her growing up, but due to their busy professional lives and blah, they hardly enforced them. They didn't even blink when they realized they enrolled her in a Catholic high school. But nothing felt quite as demoralizing as knocking on his door. Something told her she'd have to do some form of begging for forgiveness just for him to say something useful.

"Fucker," she murmured before she heard footsteps.

"I told you I'd get the budget for prom later this week, Karsha." His gaze lowered to his ex-girlfriend, but he hardly seemed surprised as hung up his phone without a goodbye. "What are you—"

"We need to talk," she said, stepping into the space. It was as she remembered before, except now a soccer bag rested by the foot of his bed.

"I wanted to talk months ago." His expression shifted to a more annoyed one, but he motioned to a chair. "But fine. Fire away."

Artemis sighed. This encounter would be as painful and awkward as ripping off a thousand Band-Aids.

"I just wanted to say that I don't think you were responsible for the video. In fact, I probably should have thought about the circumstance a bit more before jumping to conclusions." Soren raised a brow, his brow eyes filled with something that resembled confusion.

"Are you trying to apologize?" She groaned, instantly regretting coming here.

"No," she said firmly. "I thought Miren's death was bad. But that video in many ways seemed to honor her. It called for us to question Penelope's character. And considering the fact that you probably don't care about either of them, I don't know why you would go through all that trouble."

"That's because I wouldn't." Soren shook his head, his short blonde hair moving along with it. "But whether or not you think I'm innocent doesn't matter. The damage is done, and the culprit is still at large."

Artemis locked her jaw. She hated to say it, but he was right. Some suspects came to mind, but she couldn't throw Olive or Chara under the bus. "Do you have any idea who it might have been?"

"If I did, you would know." Soren rose to his feet, opening his curtains. A ray of light cut through the room, and the reality of the situation was almost blinding. "But I don't know why'd you come here if you didn't have a hunch." Suspicious eyes fixed on her. "Spill, Artemis."

It was probably a mistake to bite her lip, to offer him anything other than a poker face. But he only thought he had control of the situation. The fact was that they both had no real clue. So why not throw him off guard completely?