I’d thought about how the feelings that Jay and I shared felt wrong because of Carter. It never dawned on me how it could be perceived as wrong in light of everything going on.
“Valid point,” I acknowledged as I grabbed my own bag and keys. “Let’s go.”
We drove separately since we both had afternoon classes in different buildings. I didn’t say anything else to Kim about it, but I thought about what she said the entire way across campus. When we arrived at the Athletics Building, we made our way to the classroom where the meeting was scheduled.
The room was packed.
I looked at my phone and we were almost ten minutes early. Doing a quick sweep of the room, I didn’t see Olive. Kim and I exchanged looks before taking seats in the last row.
Coach Ainsley stood at the front of the room, hands on her hips. Her head oscillated slowly, completely unamused by our presence. She didn’t say anything, and in turn, no one said a word. There was almost complete silence besides the muted sounds coming from the hallway. With each passing second, the uneasiness in the room grew and my anxiety spiked.
At twelve o’clock on the dot, Coach Ainsley took a step forward. Her hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail and her unsmiling face looked sharp. She did a roll call, checking off everyone’s name. I noticed she didn’t call out Olive’s name. Tossing the clipboard on the desk, it made a loud clanking sound.
“Your actions have resulted in the UFIT Cheerleading Team being officially terminated for the academic year. If they allowed the team to come back next year, it would be on a probationary basis.” She paused, looking around the room. “Now would you like to explain to me what’s going on?”
The room remained silent.
She crossed her arms. “This so-called prank has left one of our own dead and a cloud of suspicion over the rest of you. Are you telling me there’s nothing any of you want to confess to right now?”
I looked around and saw a few people squirming, but the room stayed quiet.
“I would tell you that I’m disappointed in you, but that doesn’t begin to describe how I feel about what has transpired over the last couple of weeks. You’ve let down your classmates who won’t be able to have on campus parties without an advisor present. You’ve let down the sports organizations that you were supposed to uplift and support. You’ve let down your coaches and teachers who thought you were more responsible than what you’ve proven yourselves to be. You have disgraced this team, this school, and yourselves.” She paused, letting the vehemence of her tone settle around us. “Your interaction with the police is a matter of the law. But your interaction with me is a matter of school policy. And how this meeting goes affects my recommendation. The cheerleading squad is officially terminated. But how this meeting goes will make the difference between this season being terminated and you being expelled along with it.”
There was an audible gasp heard around the room. I didn’t gasp because I was too busy trying not to swallow my tongue.
Expelled from school?
I did not see that coming. Kim grabbed my arm and I looked over at her. I was sure her panic-stricken expression matched mine. An expulsion wouldn’t just be bad, it would have a detrimental effect on graduation.
“Dakota,” Coach Ainsley barked.
Dakota sat up straighter. “Yes ma’am?”
“What do you think happened to Carter that night?”
She shook her head. “I-I-don’t know,” she stammered.
Coach Ainsley’s eyes narrowed. “This team doesn’t do anything without your knowledge, Dakota. So why was Carter at the lake?”
“I really don’t know,” she answered.
“What was going on at the lake?”
“I had absolutely nothing to do with Carter drowning!”
“That wasn’t my question. But I’ll ask another one. Did you take the keys to Trevor Dowd’s boat?”
She cleared her throat. “No.”
My mouth fell open at the blatant lie. I saw her with the keys!
The coach nodded slowly as she took a step back. “If you’re going to waste my time with lies, my recommendation will be for you all to be expelled and—”
“It was Brooklyn!” Vivian interrupted loudly.
The shock of hearing the lie being told right in front of me had me speechless for a solid ten seconds before I could even muster up the cognitive energy to defend myself.
“No, it wasn’t,” I bellowed jumping to my feet. Everyone turned around to look at me. “And you’re going to stop telling that lie. I had nothing to do with the fires inside the house that you set. I had nothing to do with the boat you set on fire. I had nothing to do with any of it!”
Especially with so much on the line, I was sick and tired of the bullshit.
Coach Ainsley focused her attention on me and then cast her gaze around the room. “Vivian said Brooklyn did it. Brooklyn said she didn’t do it. Dakota said she doesn’t know what’s going on. Who is telling the truth?”
“Brooklyn is telling the truth,” Kim spoke up, standing beside me.
“So, Vivian and Dakota are lying?” she asked.
“Yes!” Kim and I responded in unison.
“No,” a few of the cheerleaders called out a second after we’d responded.
The coach glared at us all before swinging her head to the
