Playing With Fire

Chapter Twenty-Two

******HAS NOT BEEN EDITED YET.*******

                                                   Recap

 I stare at him, my chest heaving and my ears ringing, partially in disbelief and the other half in rage. I place a hand on my head and clamp my eyes shut and grit my teeth as hard as I possibly can to gain control.

        "You know what?" I finally say, my voice unnaturally calm, "I'll find out myself."

       I push off the counter, not bothering to look back, and tug at the door. I step out and exhale just as Travis calls my name.

       "Wait—" He says, his voice coming out strangled, intertwined with irritation and hope, "Just—stay home and lay low for a while."

        "Why?" I urge, my voice low and quiet, "Just give me one reason why."

         Travis looks at me for a moment longer before exhaling and turning away. He clenches his jaw and fists his hair in agitation while I simply stare, my heart beating and hoping that he will just—tell me.

           "I—" He opens his mouth, his eyes bright; however, he falters. "I—Faye...the less you know, the better."

             I narrow my eyes and slump my shoulders, "Not good enough."

             With that, I spin on my heel, wincing as my head starts to throb drastically, and storm off. 

                                               Chapter Twenty-Two

After storming away from Travis's home, I swore to myself that I would find out what this was. What he was. How I am involved. That night before the game, Ashley had asked of me a huge favor—to steal Layla's office key.

"As the president," she had stated innocently, "She has connections."

It took her a while to convince me, for the last thing I wanted was to get her in trouble as well, but I gave in in the end. I knew there was no other way to get in. Even I wouldn't go so far as committing a crime to find the crimes Travis committed.

The plan we had decided on was to go to the game when it started, and then eventually leave once the score had taken onto a more intense level. We figured when everyone was so into the game, we could leave without being noticed.

So, when the score was 4-3, Pacific High Oceaners in the lead, Ashley and I climbed off the risers in the big field and headed towards the office. Since then, it has been a total of seven minutes, and we had promised to get out of the office after no more than ten minutes.

I take a quick glance again before returning my attention back to Ashley's crouched form.

"Anything?" I press, my voice barely reaching a whisper.

She holds one finger up, her back still facing me. I purse my lips and hold the key tightly in my fist.

            Remorse for taking advantage of Layla's position slithers through my conscience, poisoning my every thought, but I push that feeling back for now. If I let the guilt consume me, I will never find answers.

            Ashley gasps, "Bingo."

            My heart spikes and I hastily peek through the cracks of the door. Ashley turns around to face me with a paper in her hand. She glances down at it, reading with an engrossed frown.

            Silence engulfs us again as she continues to delve her eyes into the answers to all my nagging questions. I stare at the paper, somehow hoping I can see what it says, but I give up on that thought when I realize I'm no superman. Instead, I focus on Ashley's features. Her furrowed brows, which were heavily creased a few moments ago, gradually relax and lift in amusement. Her lip twitches as she lip reads what's written on the paper.