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P3 - Chapter Twenty-six

December 20th, 2020:

My eyes narrowed as I started walking around him, scoffing.

"No, stop," Umber said, stepping in front of me again. "Please. Just hear me out."

"Have you come back to blackmail me again?" I asked. "Or Qibli? What are you playing at, Umber?"

"I just want to talk," Umber said. "About Sora and about why you can't tell anyone. Please. Give me five minutes."

"Alright," I said with a careless shrug. "Timer starts now."

"W-wait," Umber said, looking around nervously. "Here? I was thinking maybe a more secluded place, like the library, for example?"

"You either talk now or get out of our way," Qibli suddenly spoke up, which stopped Umber for a second. I could tell it hurt more when it was Qibli saying something since Umber was helplessly in love with him.

"Alright," Umber finally said, looking away. He lowered his voice. "You guys are the only ones who know about Sora and her past... and what she did. If news like that were to ever get out, Sora would go to jail. Do you understand?"

Although I was currently mad at Umber, I couldn't help but be curious. "But... Sora's so sweet and quiet and good. How could someone like her do something so awful?"

"Nobody's good or bad," Qibli pointed out. "But people determine who are based on their actions. Someone people consider 'bad' do bad things for their own good reason. Everybody does something for a reason. I can understand why Sora did what she did, but it doesn't justify it."

"Right," I agreed. "But two innocent people were killed and one injured. Doesn't she deserve to get punished anyway, despite her reasoning?"

"No," Umber exploded, taking an angered step forward, causing Qibli to step in front of me. Umber quickly realized what he did and stepped back again. "I'm sorry, but no. Icicle is horrible and burned our house to the ground. She deserves what Sora tried to do to her."

"No one deserves to die," I said, stepping around Qibli so I stood beside him. "Not even Icicle and not even Sora. It's horrible that you think so."

"But it's not like Sora can just kill two people and get away with it, and the same for Icicle," Qibli said. "We won't say anything, but Sora should come clean. It'll give her a do-over."

"And what if she's in jail for the rest of her life?" Umber demanded angrily.

"She did kill two people," I said. "She has to pay the price. Like, an eye for an eye."

"What, so you're saying she should get executed?"

"What?" I cried. "No, of course not. But she does need help. What happened to Crane must've been really hard on her." I took a step closer to him. "And hard on you, too. I can tell you have all this anger built up inside of you."

"You don't know anything about me," Umber snapped. He took a step back. "Just promise me you won't tell anyone, even in your dreams." Qibli and I exchanged a glance.

"We won't," Qibli promised. Umber stared at both of us for a moment before sighing and walking past us toward the direction of gym class. Once he was out of earshot, Qibli turned to me. "Well, technically we could also now get in trouble just for keeping this a secret."

"I know." I sighed, tucking my hair from my face. "And it doesn't help you got us detention."

"Me?" Qibli asked, the smile returning to his face. "Playing Truth or Dare was all you."

"Let's just blame it on Winter," I said, nodding thoughtfully. "Since he was the one who gave me the dare?"

"Yeah," Qibli laughed.