by Anne Eliot
“About what?” I swallow, hoping, wishing, and praying someone will come into the hallway.
“My cast was fake. Long before the program started, I picked you out to be my girlfriend.”
“Oh. Lucky me.” I roll my eyes.
“I figured with Cam out of the picture and your heart all broken, plus all of your talent, that we’d be a perfect couple. I even got on your Facebook before you came here. That’s how you and ended up with matching casts. You fell for my act so easily. Do you know what else was fake?” He barks out a brittle laugh.
“No. No, I don’t want to know,” I say as my heart grows heavy with dread. “Please. Harrison. Just walk away from me.”
He answers anyway. “My glasses. The flannel shirts. That stupid candle. Hell, you even fell for the fake syllabus I handed to you. But, of course, with all of your guard-dog friends, I knew I could only make you miss one turn-in date before someone caught on. I thought I’d be able to break up with you after two weeks. But no, I had keep pretending I liked you. You were supposed to be out of the scholarship running after you missed that first assignment, but then stupid Professor Perry took pity on you.” He barks out another brittle laugh.
“Why are you telling me all of this? I don’t want to know. Isn’t it bad enough that you’ve been caught? I’m going to tell everyone all that you just said.”
He laughs again. “I want you to know. Don’t you get it? If you repeat any of this, you’ll sound as crazy as that Irish nut-job. No one is going to believe you—because it’s your word against mine. Everyone saw how I was into you. I’ve got x-rays and doctor’s notes in my dorm room all about my injury. And because at this point I’ve got everything to lose. You and I, Ellen, are at a 50/50 draw right now. They will either believe me or they will believe you. Besides, I want you to know how hard I had to work to make sure everyone thought I was in to you. I also made certain you had no proof.” His grin turns from wicked to proud. “This wasn’t easy to pull off, you know. I should get some sort of acting award.”
I shake my head, stunned. “Why did you do all of this?”
“Because I discovered that I could?” He shrugs. “And because my work alone, sadly, isn’t good enough to win any scholarship. I got into the WOA the same way I tricked you. My girlfriend last year was as carefully chosen as you were. She thought I was cute, and while I gave her the boyfriend of her dreams, she helped by providing the shots I needed to win the WOA. And then I dumped her. Easy as that.”
“So what you are saying is she won this summer scholarship for you?”
“Yes. We won it together. Group project, you know?” He winks. “But she wasn’t as smart as you are. I perfected my fake-syllabus game on her all last year. I kept switching it out. Even altered what she’d entered into her phone. It worked so well that she almost failed digital photography. When word came out that she and I had won the competition, we were thrilled, but because of her D in the class she wasn’t allowed to come here for the summer. It was for the best. She was so in love with me she would have been in the way. Don’t worry—I took her to prom before I dumped her. She still has no clue what happened.”
Finally his eyes meet mine, but they’re cold. So cold.
“You suck. You might be the worst person I’ve ever known.”
He shrugs, like he’s not even sorry. “You don’t know how it feels to have all the inspiration, all of the desire…but then…to have no natural talent. Working with you has only deepened my resolve. I think my stuff is good but not good enough. I need the years of study this place offers, but I can’t afford to come here without the first-place scholarship. I’m asking you to feel sorry for me. Yes. I suck. Yes, I’m the worst person alive. I’m asking you to understand. Walk away. Let me have the shots. Give me a chance to do and be something better? You can get another digital photography scholarship at any school in your sleep. Let me have this one.”
“I don’t do my work in my sleep! I work hard to get my shots, and I’m not letting you steal them. If you want be a better person, you’re going to have to join a church and check yourself into some sort of therapy program. Harrison, the school administrators are going to see through your act.”
“They haven’t seen through it yet. They love me.” He blinks.
“Was anything between us even real? Are you even a real person?”
“The kissing. How you made me feel. That was real. Very real. And truthfully, as much as I was pretending at the start, you really had my heart there for a couple of weeks.”
The way his eyes keep traveling down my legs is making me regret wearing a skirt. I’m also suddenly so afraid of him right now that I feel like my CP is trying to take over, which would not be good right now. Not at all.
He nods at my laptop bag. “What did you bring with you to use against me?”
Hoping he can’t sense my new level of fear, I grit out, “I brought the truth.”
He starts toward me. It’s obvious the guy is as crazy as the people I’ve only heard about on the news—and now that he’s told me everything, I have no idea what he’s going to do to me. There’s no way it’s going to be anything good, that’s for sure. I have no clue how I’ve kept the shaking out of my voice when I manage, “Harrison. You’re not supposed to be talking to me at all. I need you to…”
“To what?”
I decide to raise my voice in case someone—Cam, hopefully—can hear me through the doors that lead into the classroom. I shout as loud as I can, “Just get away from me! Leave me alone!”
I’ve surprised him with my shout, to the point he’s paled slightly and paused, which gives me hope that his confidence is as shaky as mine.
“Hey now. I only want to see what’s in your bag. What’s the big deal?”
*Prays: Someone, please come out here and rescue me.*
When no one comes forward to rescue me and Harrison’s creepy smile returns, I decide it’s time to rescue myself. As he steps toward me again, I put all of my weight on the good leg and swear by all that is holy if he tries to touch me or hurt me I am going to act like Laura and wreck every inch of him with these crutches—to the point that I won’t even care if I end up locked up or sent out of Canada after it’s over.
My expression must be betraying my thoughts, because he stops right in front of me, as if he’s reconsidering. I keep my eyes on his hands. When he reaches out, I raise up one crutch and smash it down on his head.
He flinches, but then acts like my hit didn’t even hurt—but then we’re both surprised by the trickle of blood coming from his cheekbone. “You’re going to be so sorry—” He slams his foot onto my computer bag, and I hear my laptop crunching under his foot. “Oops. I’m so clumsy. And so are you. Look, you’ve broken your laptop when you fell on it.”
Then he pushes me, hard. And I wobble, but I think I’ve surprised him again when I manage to stay on my feet. That’s when he continues stepping on my bag. I force my voice to sound deadly and devoid of fear. “Any preference as to which teeth you want knocked out of your mouth first, you ass?” I raise my crutch again, vowing to aim better this time, because this is my last chance at defending myself before he easily overpowers me. Then he’ll do whatever damage he has on his mind for me next.
I swing the crutch as hard as I can. Harrison ducks away from it, which is how he saw the classroom door opening before I did, because I was struggling not to fall. Professor Perry and one of the school administrators have come out into the hallway.
Before I can cry out, Harrison has already hit the floor and is howling at the top of his lungs.
“Help! Help! Please someone help me. She’s attacking me! Please.”
“He’s lying! He was here to ambush me!”
“I’m bleeding! Help me!” Harrison adds in this panicked screech to cover my shaking voice, and throws his hands over his face to curl up into a fetal position. “My God! Please. Take away her crutches. I think she broke my nose! You’ll never ever get away with this, Ellen!”
Cam bursts through the same doors only seconds later. “Ellen. What happened?” Then to Harrison: “If you’ve hurt her, I’ll kill you, Harrison Shaw. I will.”
Harrison starts this dramatic fake sobbing. “See how they bully me? Death threats! He’s given me a death threat and now I’ve been attacked as well. All of it is completely unprovoked!”
I shout, “Professor Perry. Don’t let Cam come over here. He needs to stay out of this!”
“Camden Campbell, she’s right. Don’t you move. What is it about you Brights Grove kids that makes you all want to get in fights?” Professor Perry shouts, running to Harrison’s side so he can step between me and Harrison, like he’s really afraid for Harrison’s life.
His face is pale and panicked, and I wonder if the guy now thinks we are all truly dangerous.
“Cam!” I call out again, when I notice Cam’s got his hands all fisted. “Please. Don’t.” I say to the school administrator, “Please don’t let him move. It’s got nothing to do with him. Just let me get my CP under control and…please, Cam. I’m fine. Fine.”
“Stay put, son. She’s right. You know you can’t afford to be involved right now. Nobody move. Security is on the way.”
Cam stays put, but I can tell it’s killing him not to have his arms around me, so he’s not going to stay put for long. The school administrator walks over and takes my arm. I grip it for dear life so I don’t lose my balance. My eyes drop to the laptop bag, and I start shaking so hard that there’s no way I can talk to defend myself.
Harrison is able to spew lie after lie around my silence. His words echo off the walls and fill the air inside the tight hallway until it’s all used up. When Professor Perry helps him stand up and reveals the streak of blood coming down his face, he points his finger at me and says, “You’re going to pay for this, Ellen Foster.”
Cam steps forward like he’s had enough.
“No! Cam!” I manage to gasp out. “I’ll never forgive you or myself if you touch him.” My words are just enough make him stop in his tracks. I’m so relieved that my head spins in one direction while the hallway flips in another.
As four security officers barge in, I start to panic all over again, because they remind me of the police that dragged Cam away from me after my accident.
These guys have guns and pepper spray and those sticks for hitting people, and as they come toward me and Cam, the hallway fills with more shouting as Cam and Professor Perry seem to be getting into a whole new argument. I fixate on their handcuffs and wonder if we’re all about to get arrested, but I get physically ill and dizzy when I catch Harrison shooting all of us this terrible, confident, bloody smile.
From far away, I hear Harrison screaming, “What? No. Take Ellen Foster away. She’s the one who bloodied up my face. I need to go to the hospital to have my nose checked. I’m sure, just sure it’s broken!”
I figure if they let the guy go to the hospital right now, he will have a broken nose—because he’ll break it himself somehow before they can x-ray him. But I’m the only one that knows just how far he will go.
My head spins more with that realization as the security guards approach me.
*Harrison’s won! He’s really won, and I’ll never have a chance to explain.*
I lean all of my weight on the administrator lady and say, “I didn’t mean to do that to him. I swear his nose isn’t broken. I only grazed his cheek…and I’m sorry.”
And just as the room starts to go black, I think I hear her say, “We know, honey. We know. It’s going to be okay.”
I hold on to her like a lifeline. “You do?”
“Yes. Now let’s get you off your feet, shall we?”
She nods, and with the help of the security guards, they practically carry me into the digital photography room.
Professor Perry looms over me as they settle me into my desk at the front of the room, and whispers so only I can hear, “We caught everything on tape. All of it. I’m really sorry we left you out in the hallway so long, but once we realized he was confessing, we wanted to have as much evidence against Harrison Shaw as possible, should we need it.”
Cam
I get to Ellen’s side as soon as I’m allowed. She grips my hand as I take the seat next to her. “Don’t let them send you away.”
“Ellen. It’s okay. The guards are here to protect you. They aren’t taking anyone away.”
“They’re not?”
“No. Sadly, not even Harrison. The ass. I called my mom, and she called her hotshot lawyer, who informed us that pressing any sort of charges against Harrison will be close to impossible because he’s only seventeen. The attorney said his crimes, although horrible, are probably impossible to punish, because he’s going to be able to lie his way out of everything. He also said that universities keep all this kind of stuff under wraps. But oh, wouldn’t I love for him to meet my judge back in British Columbia. That guy would send him packing.”
“I don’t want anyone else locked up, even Harrison. I only want the guy to get some serious help.” She glances over at Harrison, who’s now being held by the guards as well as Professor Perry. She starts to shake when one of them approaches with her computer bag, and when he sets it down on the table, her laptop slides out and it’s all dented and destroyed.
“Did he do that?” I say, grabbing it off the floor.
“With his foot.” She nods. “Whatever. It was so old.”
“Better than him smashing you, I guess.”
She nods. “Only you get to do that.”
I raise my brows, putting my arm around her shoulder. “Are you really going to joke right now? Because that was not funny.”
“Sorry.” She smiles up at me. “But I have to do something. My CP is really taking over,” she says. “I’m trying to focus on the good parts of this moment. I’ve got you here, you’re holding me, you’re not being sent to lock-up or to Ireland, and Harrison didn’t stomp on me or my Nikon. But none of that information is working. I feel dizzy. I—I don’t want to faint in front of all of them—especially not in front of him.”
I want to let her know she’s really okay. I also want to bring color back to her cheeks, so I brush a fast kiss across her lips before she can protest. It does the trick. Pink floods back into her pale face, and she seems to suddenly sit up straighter. “Thanks. That kind of worked,” she whispers.
“It worked for me.” I wink, relaxing finally, because if she can joke and blush she’s fine.
Just then, the rest of the administrative tribunal arrives. It’s all four of the judges from yesterday, as well as the president of the university. I recognize him from the painting that hangs in the cafeteria lobby. Professor Perry and the administrator lady shake hands with the two men and two women as well as the president. Like yesterday, they don’t take the time to introduce us, and, frankly, I’m not in the mood to learn names, so I don’t even care who they are, as long as they have the power to save Ellen and get rid of Harrison.
I settle Ellen’s crutches under her seat where she can’t trip on them. As I stand to approach Professor Perry, I overhear scattered phrases he and the president are whispering to Harrison.
“You’re in a deep well of trouble, son.” Then, “Better come clean or else,” and finally the president’s whisper of, “Own the truth, and we will see if I can keep most of this off of your permanent record, but should I find there was indeed foul play, you will not be welcome here at Western Ontario Arts. Not ever again.”
Harrison’s brown-nosing reply to that last one: “Please. Don’t say that. I’m sure you’ll see this was all a huge mix-up. I’m still innocent until proven guilty.”
Harrison catches me listening, and I stare at him like it’s the first time I’ve seen the guy. What makes a person lie and deliberately try to hurt someone over winning a scholarship? As if Harrison can read my mind, he smiles like he’s the devil himself.
Disgusted with the guy’s apparent lack of any and all remorse, I interrupt
: “Professor. I’m sure you can all see Ellen’s exhausted, and as I mentioned in my email, I’ve got some things to show you, so…can I start?”
Harrison rolls his eyes, but thankfully, because he’s surrounded by security guards, the professor, and the school administrators, he has stopped his usual snide comments.
Professor Perry walks over and picks up Ellen’s destroyed laptop and places it on his desk. “I hope this machine is not where you two stored this proof. Ellen, did you have your files saved to some sort of cloud?”
Ellen nods. “Yes, but truthfully, that laptop didn’t have anything on it that would prove Harrison wrong. I simply just brought it along—just in case it was needed and then…”
One of the security guards adds, “I could radio for someone to download what’s caught on the hallway cameras, sir?”
Harrison cries out, “I hope you do review that video! You’ll see that Ellen Foster attacked me with her crutches! She brought me to the ground while I was simply talking to her. Let’s all just look at which one of us has the bloody face here.” He points to the scratch on his cheek. “As for the smashed-up laptop, well…she did that herself. The cameras don’t reach down to the floor. So of course that’s going to be her word against mine again.”
“Interesting that Harrison is aware of how our security cameras work,” Professor Perry says to the administrator lady. She takes a few notes. “Let’s have a look at what Cam’s brought for us to see. Then we can go after the video feeds from there, shall we, Harrison? Because I really wouldn’t be too hasty in reviewing those just yet.” His voice is laced with fury, and enough threat that Harrison doesn’t do anything other than nod.
I fish my camera’s memory card from my shorts pocket. “Uh,” I say, holding up the memory card, mostly so Harrison can see it. “I was going to show these photos on my laptop, but then at the last minute I asked Ellen to bring hers. That’s because my own laptop and my Canon camera mysteriously disappeared from my dorm room last night.”
Ellen gasps.
“I’m not accusing anyone of anything,” I go on, pausing to aim a direct glare at Harrison. “But I suppose when we were split up to private rooms, for our personal safety, new key cards should have been made.”