I wanted to believe that I had done everything possible for Chapman to find something on Diaz. I wanted to believe I had won the battle, and that Chapman would inevitably win the war by doing his part, but I was afraid I was wrong.
Five days had passed after I had snapped the picture and sent it over to him. Five days with no word of anything. I had passed the point of remaining hopeful and was now settling in the new emotion of defeat. Maybe this had all been for nothing.
I was sitting in my dorm flipping through a text book when I heard a knock. Just the sound of it managed to annoy me. Melissa hadn't lied when she said the withdrawal was a bitch.
"Come in," I answered.
I watched the door slowly open and Melissa stuck her head inside.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
I shrugged. "Bad."
She slowly crept inside. "Wanna elaborate?"
"Not really."
I could tell she had gone back for another fix. She was most likely going to use till she left this place for good. I didn't blame her. It was hard not going back for another. I had only received one and it felt like the blood in my veins was as thick as syrup. My limbs were heavy and ached like I had been run over by a truck. And every little thing was managing to annoy me.
"The fifth day always seems to be the hardest," she advised. "At least physically. After today it's all about your mental."
"Fantastic," I jabbed.
She stood in front of me. "You should be fine. You're hard headed."
I rolled my eyes. "Why are you here?"
She allowed my remark to get to her as she sat on Paige's bed. Her eyes were on my shower bag. She was curious about Chapman. Too bad I couldn't give her any good news.
"Have you heard back from him...?" she wondered.
"No," I responded. "So I might as well be suffering for nothing."
She tilted her head. "Don't think like that."
"You'd be thinking the same thing if you hadn't juiced up again."
She bit her lip and I was sure it was because she had a mouthful for me. Yet, she held back. I wouldn't blame her if she went off. I probably deserved it. I knew I was being an asshole but I just couldn't help it.
"Are you going to dinner?" she wondered.
"I'm not hungry," I denied.
She shook her head. "Hiding away like this won't make you feel better."
"I spent all day like this, Melissa," I stated. "I'm not hiding. I'm exhausted."
"Food helps."
"I don't want your help!" I blurted.
Crap. I hadn't meant for that to happen.
She stood from the bed and just watched me. God, I wanted her to leave... but not leave at the same time. And now I felt too bad to even look her in the eye.
"Fine," she finished. "I'll go."
I watched her head for the door while guilt wrapped around my throat. I hadn't meant to lash out, but for some reason I couldn't say sorry.
She hesitated at the door but left without another word.
I was still confused as to why she had even stopped by. I guess she knew it was about that time where I would be feeling the after effects. Not to mention how off I was the past two days. She saw me too often to not notice when there was something wrong.
I continued to stare blankly at my textbook but I could no longer focus. Now that the drug had worn off and I felt atrocious everything seemed a lot harder. I knew it was bad that I already felt a small dependency on it, but that just meant I'd have to work harder than before.
I stood from my bed and eyed my shower bag. My heart pounded at the thought of checking it.
I knew it was no use. Chapman had found nothing and we were at a dead end. Why was there still this little thread of hope?
I broke and pulled out my phone and turned it on. The only way to prove my active brain wrong was to check.
But when I looked through my messages there was a new one from Chapman.
"Alexa, good news.
I have found some information on Diaz. Or for a full name, Michael James Diaz. He had been an employee at the camp at one time.
I couldn't find his name in our database, but the GIB had an employee of the same name. Apparently, Diaz left working at the camp to work for the GIB.
Only weird thing about this is that the Michael Diaz I'm looking at doesn't look like the one you've sent me. Your guy is a fraud.
I'm working on a face recognition, but so far, no luck.
I'll continue to try and find out more, but until then, stay low. It's almost over."
I read the text five times before a comprehensible thought formed.
So the faces didn't match, which could mean a million different things. If the original Michael had worked for the GIB, that place was already known for fraud. It wouldn't be a surprise to find out they were behind this.
I decided to save my phone just in time because Paige walked in not long after.
"Hey, why weren't you at lunch?"
I shrugged. "Not hungry."
She rummaged through her stuff. "You okay? You've seemed off all day."
"Just not feeling myself."
"Well," she started. "I hope you feel better tomorrow."
I forced a smile. "Me too."
She just gave me a small smile before she left for the showers.
I tried to settle my mind but I couldn't. All I could think about was who this man was if he wasn't Michael Diaz. And why had his name traced back to the GIB? I was having a hard time believing it was a coincidence, especially after knowing their history.
I surrendered to my bed and decided to sleep it off. Maybe Chapman would find something that could help me get this guy after all. I knew he couldn't make any brash moves even if he wanted. How would he explain his knowledge on the guy anyway?
None of us were supposed to have any means of communication with the outside world. Making Chapman do it would result in speculation, which could result in me not graduating. I was already on thin ice now that me being a felon was out in the air.
I drifted off to sleep with high hopes that my past wouldn't come back to haunt me, but hope was a dangerous thing.
* * *
The next morning, I took my time heading to breakfast. After receiving the text from Chapman, it had managed to occupy my mind the entire night, and I was feeling it now.
"Feeling better?" Paige asked as I joined her at the table.
I nodded. "I think I'll feel better after I eat."
She cut into her omelet. "Breakfast is my favorite meal."
I sipped my coffee. "Really?"
She nodded. " I could eat breakfast food for lunch and dinner."
I shrugged. "Not me. I was never a breakfast fan."
"Why?"
"Not a morning person, I guess."
She smiled to herself but I couldn't help but wonder why she found joy in that information.
"Why are you smiling like that?" I questioned.
"Because I know more about you now," she claimed.
"You care about insignificant details?" I joked.
She leaned forward. "No details are insignificant."
I watched her for a moment before I tore my gaze away. "Well, I'm glad you care about stuff like that. Not many people do."
The red in her cheeks brightened but before anything else could happen Melissa was taking her place next to me.
"Feeling better?" she wondered aloud.
I just gave her a weird look. "Yeah?"
"You looked bad yesterday, just thought I'd check up on you."
Paige gave me a funny look from across the table but I didn't want her to think this was normal. Melissa now pulled stunts like this often, and it made Paige ask questions. Questions I didn't want to answer.
"Do you need something?" I asked Melissa.
"No," she said. "Just wanted to eat with you."
I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore everyone after that. She was doing this on purpose. Aggravating me and clinging to me like a shadow. She was doing it because she was tired of me avoiding her, and she was ready to plead her case.
And I knew she wouldn't stop until I let her.
I ditched breakfast as soon as I could and attended my classes. The fact that Melissa was being persistent now was only becoming a bigger distraction and I needed it to stop. We had six days left, and the last thing I needed was to miss something important because of her.
At lunch she decided to leave me alone but the last few classes of the day would be spent side by side with her.
She proved me right.
"Heard from Chapman?"
I decided to stay quiet.
"Silence usually means yes."
I looked up. "Why are you being so annoying?"
"Because I'm tired of you being annoying," she defended.
"I'm not the one following you around."
"No," she answered. "But you avoid me until you need something, and I'm sick of it."
Okay, she had a point.
"Yes, I heard from Chapman," I confessed.
"Well?"
"Michael Diaz was an employee here at one time, and then he went to work for the GIB," I revealed. "But Chapman said they're not the same person, according to the pictures."
"So the guy here is a fraud," she confirmed.
"Yeah."
She hesitated with thought. "If his name traces back to the GIB, it has to be an inside job."
"Maybe," I agreed. "But isn't it weird that his name traces back to the GIB so easily? I feel like if they wanted to keep it under wraps, Chapman wouldn't have been able to find that out."
She tilted her head. "That is weird."
I shrugged. "That's all he told me, and it doesn't really help us."
"Does he plan on making an arrest?" Melissa wondered.
"How is he supposed to? He wouldn't even know it was happening if I hadn't told him."
"Are you saying you have to expose him yourself?" she asked.
I sucked in a tight breath and held it. It was the truth. Chapman wouldn't be able to do this without risking his neck. But how on earth was I supposed to?
"I guess so," I confirmed. "I just hadn't thought that far."
Melissa chuckled. "Really?"
I rolled my eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, there's been a lot of other distractions."
"Well that's because your job was to graduate, not expose a criminal," she countered.
Classes ended for the day and I escaped from Melissa's presence. I knew a confrontation was inevitable because her fishing was getting more persistent. I had gone two months without an explanation in prison, but avoiding one here was nearing impossible.
And the more she persisted the more curious I became.
But I had yet to figure out the real reason I was avoiding her. Don't get me wrong, there were still hard feelings, but I couldn't shake the fact that our dynamics had changed.
I believed that since she was so persistent, her reasoning behind what she did was true. I had to give her that. But why she refused to give up might be the real reason I was so afraid to hear her out.
She wanted to clear her name. She wanted my forgiveness. She cared what I thought about her, and she cared a lot. That thought alone revealed more truth than I wanted to know.
The pain I had felt that night she betrayed us was still fresh. It was like a wound that wasn't quite healed, and it wouldn't take much to rip it back open. And talking it out with Melissa would do just that.
It would rip the wound back open. My heart would bleed even when I was still trying to convince it that it was fine now.
I made it back to my dorm and caught Paige in the middle of studying. She looked up from her book and noticed my mood.
"You okay?"
I nodded and tried to hide it. "Yeah, just a long day."
She stood from her bed. "Maybe food will make you feel better."
I forced a smile. "Yeah, maybe. I'll meet you there."
She left me to change in peace as I slipped off my day clothes and changed into something else.
I had believed Melissa and I would never be anything but strangers after the fallout. But her being everywhere hadn't been part of the plan. She was supposed to ditch town and leave the people she had screwed over behind.
But instead she stayed around and ruined that.
And as much as I wanted to despise the idea of us starting anew, deep down I couldn't find the will to do so.
* * *
A few more days passed and I could practically taste the freedom of graduation. The only problem was that I had yet to figure out what I was going to do about Diaz, and it was becoming a distraction.
I hadn't had a chance to formulate a plan with the end approaching. There were tests I had to study for and demonstrations I needed to rehearse. I had so much to do but I knew I needed to finish what I had started.
Regardless whether Diaz was a fraud or not, he had possibly ended a career for one of the trainees here. For all we knew, he wasn't even a real doctor. Just some random freak distributing unauthorized drugs. He needed to be brought to justice, and I was determined to do just that.
It was currently Saturday evening. The last Saturday of camp. We had Sunday and then final examinations started early Monday morning. And if you passed, you would attend graduation on Tuesday.
I couldn't deny that I was nervous. This was the final stretch of a grueling two-month program that would determine whether I got to officially work as an agent. And I knew it was only the beginning of a long journey, but completing this would prove I could overcome anything. I was sure of that.
The door to the library opened and I looked up to see Melissa making her way over to my corner. She spotted me sitting on the ground.
"I guess we both had the same thought about studying here," she claimed.
I nodded. "It's quiet."
"No it's really quiet." She laughed. "That's probably why not many people come here. It's almost too quiet."
She looked back to the front where one other student was studying before she sat in front of me.
"Have you thought of a plan...?" she wondered.
I shook my head. "I honestly can't think about anything but finals."
"Alexa, you said it yourself. Diaz needs to be exposed. He could've killed that guy by giving him that steroid," she whispered.
I sighed. "I know."
"So why the change of heart?"
I looked up. "Chapman still hasn't gotten back to me with more information. We don't even know who this guy is, much less what he's capable of. I have a bad feeling."
"Alexa..." She stopped herself.
"What?" I pushed.
A thought ran through her mind which caused her to sit back and look at me. She had thought of something. I knew just by the look on her face.
"I have a plan," she confirmed.
"Yeah? And since when do you willingly want to help?"
"Since I know you won't do it without me," she finished.
I stared at her for a minute before I closed my textbook.
"What's the plan then?"
She leaned forward. "Go to the infirmary tomorrow and find Diaz. Slip him a note that says you want a fix before finals and to meet you in the library around nine."
"Okay, and what if he refuses?" I countered.
"He won't."
"How are you so sure?"
"Because he's done it for me," she confessed.
All I could do was look at her. I wanted to ask how many times she had met with Diaz, but couldn't bring myself to do so.
"So I give him the note, what good is that gonna do?" I questioned.
"We're also gonna leave an anonymous note for our dorm tenant complaining there's been some weird stuff going on in the library after hours," she continued. "Whoever the tenant is will alert security and they'll catch Diaz in the act."
I shifted. "What time does the library close?"
"Nine-thirty," she answered. "The dorm tenants come in around nine, so whenever they come they'll see the note and tell authorities. We'll have plenty of time."
It wasn't a bad plan. Was it the best? Probably not. But I couldn't think of anything better. And we only had one more full day till finals. If we were going to make a move, it needed to be now.
"And why can't you ask him to meet you in the library for another fix?" I wondered. "He knows I've been finding out information. He'll trust you before me."
She looked down at her hands. "I've already gotten one from him."
"When?" I asked.
"This morning."
I watched her open her bag and reveal a syringe. Melissa was probably waiting to take it for full benefit before finals.
"If I ask him to meet me again he'll know something is up," she claimed. "You have to do it."
I took a deep breath and tried to think this through.
My silence must've worried Melissa because she was staring at me again.
"Should we really do this?" I asked. "I mean, do you think it's worth the risk?"
Her silver eyes seemed to sympathize with me.
"Do you think it's worth the risk?" she asked.
I sat and thought about it. As much as I wanted to graduate and be like everyone else here, I knew I wasn't. I had noticed something dangerous for a reason. My pursuit had discovered a fraud in camp grounds, and I was the only one to try and do anything about it. I felt the need to help, and what if we left and the next set of trainees ran into this man?
What if more people suffered because I didn't do anything? Could I live with myself knowing I didn't do everything possible to stop him?
I looked at Melissa and nodded. "I do."
"Then we'll do it," she confirmed.
I picked up my textbook and silently wondered why Melissa was doing this. I had done nothing but practically ice her out until I needed her, which she had stated plenty of times before. Yet, that didn't seem to discourage her.
"Melissa why are you helping me?" I asked.
She gave me a smile. "I'm gonna try this new thing called 'being honest' and hope it works..." She paused. "I'm helping you because I don't want you to get hurt, or in trouble, and if I'm there I'll be able to stop it if it happens."
I shook my head. "Yeah but why do you care if something happens to me? I've been nothing but a bitch to you since we got here."
She broke eye contact. "You know why I care, Alexa."
Her confession seemed to hit a nerve inside of me, but the bell rang and pulled us out of the moment. It was time to head back to the dorms.
She stood. "Go right before breakfast tomorrow to see Diaz. This plan is gonna work."
Melissa practically rushed out of the library as I gathered my things to leave. Maybe after all of this was said and done I would understand why she was really helping me. She may have been helping because she still cared about me, but were there other reasons? She was helping me stay out of trouble as if it was her job, and I didn't like not knowing why.
I made it back to my dorm and found Paige waiting for me.
"Hey, how was the studying?" She asked.
"Great," I lied. "Um, I think I need to tell you something."
This grabbed her attention. "What happened?"
"Nothing," I stated. "Yet."
She took a seat on her bed. "Tell me what's going on."
I sighed. "I'm setting up Diaz tomorrow."
She furrowed her brow. "How?"
I sat next to her and explained the plan Melissa had conjured up. I was hoping Paige would tell me it was a horrible idea and that I shouldn't go through with it. That would've been enough to discourage me.
But she didn't.
"No, Alexa that's really smart," she said. "I mean, it covers all the bases. And when they do catch Diaz you can just lie and say that you believed he had the authority to do so. No one would expect you to know better."
Okay, well if Paige thought it was a good idea, maybe it was.
"But I need a favor from you," I stated.
She shrugged. "Yeah sure, anything."
"Keep an eye out here and make sure everything goes as planned." I looked at her. "If something goes wrong, come get me out."
"Promise." She smiled. "But I think it's a great plan."
So that was that. Tomorrow morning I would set the plan in motion and visit Diaz in the infirmary. I just hoped everything went accordingly, but from experience I knew to expect the unexpected.
But maybe the planets wouldalign for me just this once.