What Would Emma Do? Part 19

The producer held up another sign, this one with the word NO. I think he really needed to give us a bit more credit. We could have worked that one out without the flash card.

"We live in dark times. Times when our children threaten one another. When even our schools are not safe, not safe from the inside. Here in Wheaton there were those who would harm their fellow students, who planned to bring down their school, and do you know what saved them? Was it luck?"

"No!" the crowd shouted out, due in part, no doubt, to the helpful signage.

"Was it the law that saved them?"

"No!"

"Was it coincidence?"

"No!"

"Was it logic or fancy CSI kinds of science?"

"No!"

"That's right. It was faith. It was faith that kept our children safe. It was faith that ferreted out the sinners. It was faith that purged this community clean and it will be faith that will take this community forward!"

I glanced around the tent. Joann and Colin were sitting together and if I had to guess, they were holding hands, but I couldn't tell from here. Both of their families were there too, sitting just a few rows back. It seemed like almost all of Wheaton was in the tent. None of the kids who had been blamed were here, or their families, which was probably for the best. It looked like the crowd could rile themselves up into a proper witch burning. Anything to keep things pure. I shifted in my seat. I wasn't sure how any of the accused were going to be able to come back to TES or even deal with living here. Normally I would consider being banned from Wheaton a good thing, but I knew some of them would want to stay.

Teaks had loosened his tie, and the sweat was starting to stream down his face. Of course, with the bright lights directly behind me, I was doing some sweating of my own. I felt nauseated. Between the heat, the loud, booming voice of Teaks, and everyone cheering, I was rethinking the wisdom of coming. I looked down the aisle and tried to figure if there would be a way to sneak out. I didn't belong and didn't even feel like trying to pretend I did anymore.

The choir finished another song, and Reverend Teaks walked over to them. Darci stood up straighter. She could tell the cameras were on her. However, Teaks was headed for Kimberly. He placed a hand on her shoulder. Kimberly looked like she was ready to pa.s.s out again. It was like she had been pulled out of a crowd by a rock star at a concert.

"We're going to pray over this girl. This girl was the first to be struck. She hovered near death. Do you think the doctors knew what to do? No, they did not. They were ready to throw their hands up, but you know what? The rest of the town threw their hands up! They didn't throw them up in surrender, they threw them up in prayer, and their prayers were answered."

A few people yelled out amens. I stood up. I was done. I started to excuse myself and shuffle out of the row. That's when I heard Darci's voice.

"Reverend!"

I turned around in the aisle. Darci had fallen on her knees in front of Teaks. He looked over, surprised; this apparently had not gone down in dress rehearsal.

"Reverend, I've sinned and Jesus wants me to repent!"

I had no doubt Darci had a lot of repenting to do and plenty of sins that could be catalogued, but I doubted her motives.

"I haven't been honest, Reverend. I allowed friendship to slip between me and the Lord. Between me and the truth. We aren't safe yet. There's still another involved in the plan. I didn't want to turn her in, because she's a friend. Now I realize, Reverend Teaks, it isn't for me to protect her, it's up to the Lord to judge her motives." Darci looked out over the crowd, her arm outstretched with a pointing finger. She smiled, her lips turning up slightly. Suddenly I knew exactly where her finger would stop.

Darci pointed directly at Joann. Everyone followed Darci's finger and stared at my best friend. The people next to her took a step back. Joann's head spun as she looked around in confusion.

"I...I wouldn't hurt anyone," Joann stammered.

"She was a part of the group that was planning to hurt kids," Darci said.

I could see the shock in Joann's eyes. She couldn't figure out what was going on, but I could. They didn't make a school poisoner the queen of the spring dance. Darci was in the middle of a royal a.s.signation, and Joann still didn't see it coming.

"I had nothing to do with it!"

"Do you swear? Here before G.o.d?" Reverend Teaks bellowed. He wasn't going to let Darci steal his show; if there was some witch burning to be done, he was going to be the one lighting the kindling.

Joann nodded madly. I willed her to shut her mouth and just walk away, but she looked pinned down. She was so sure the fact that she was telling the truth would be enough. "I was never involved, I swear!"

Reverend Teaks looked at a complete loss. There was no script for this turn of events, and the focus wasn't on him-two things he was poorly prepared to handle.

"Check her purse," Darci said.

Joann clutched her purse, pulling it closer. "No."

"What are you hiding?" someone in the back yelled out.

"Give me the purse, young lady. If you are right with the Lord, you have nothing to fear," said Reverend Teaks, his arm held out.

Joann held it out, and even from here I could see her hand shaking.

Reverend Teaks reached into the bag and fished around. Suddenly he stopped and looked at her. He pulled his hand out, his fist tight. He opened it slowly, everyone leaning forward. A camera zoomed in on his hand, filling the screen behind his head.

There in his palm was a bottle. The camera zoomed in enough that you could see the label on the side: trinity evangelical secondary chemistry lab.

Joann's eyes widened. He might as well have pulled a rabbit out of her purse. Teaks held up the evidence and turned slowly in a circle so everyone could see.

"On your knees!" Teaks roared when he completed the circle, and Joann took a step back. She shook her head. "Repent!"

"I didn't-"

"Repent," the crowd called out. This time they didn't need any signs.

Darci stood to the side with a small smile. Joann looked ready to cry. A few people in the crowd were looking around uncertainly. I held my breath, waiting for someone to jump to Joann's defense. It was one thing for Darci to pick on those on the outside, but Joann had friends. Someone would stick up for her. My hand rubbed the front of the track medal as if I were trying to wear the letters down.

Joann's face was pale, and her eyes were full of tears. Then it occurred to me: You either waited for someone else to do the right thing, or you stood up and did it yourself. Winning wasn't about medals, it was about choices. I was scared, but I was more scared that I would be the kind of person who sat back and waited. Maybe the only way you become the kind of person you want to be is by acting like it.

"Stop," I yelled. Reverend Teaks couldn't hear my voice over the crowd, but the people near me turned around. I pushed toward the front. "Stop it."

I stopped and looked around. Everyone was facing me.

"I have a confession to make," I said. I took a deep breath, my hand tightly clutching the track medal in my pocket as if it were a lucky charm. "I've lied about what I knew too. I lied because it made things easier for me, and for that I'm ashamed." I turned to face Darci. "Joann didn't have anything to do with all this, and you know it. Neither did Stu, Carla, Joe, Dwight, or Todd. n.o.body poisoned you or Kimberly or anyone else. You've been pointing fingers to cover up what happened at the Barn. I saw you. I saw both of you. You partied too hard, you took some drugs, and Kimberly pa.s.sed out. Everything else, all of it, is a lie."

Kimberly took a step back and fell off the choir riser. Darci's lips grew thin.

"You're a liar. You're probably in on it," Darci spat.

"You had Joann's purse earlier, and you put the drugs in there yourself. They're going to have your fingerprints on them."

"You put your faith in science, but I'll put my faith in belief." Darci raised her hands, palms up, and one of the producers, who had more than a small sense of drama, made sure one of the lights was on her so it looked like a beam of sunlight.

Darci and I stood face-to-face.

"You want this to be about belief?" I turned to face everyone. "You don't need to believe me. You need to believe yourselves. Do you think Joann would do this? Do you?" No one said anything for a beat; Colin pushed through the crowd and stood next to Joann. He took her hand.

"I was at the Barn that night with Emma. We both saw what happened. Everything she says is true."

"Oh, big deal," Darci said. "He's Joann's boyfriend, of course he's trying to defend her."

Justin, Darci's boyfriend, took a step forward. "And I'm your boyfriend. And I'll say they're telling the truth. I was there with you."

"Me too," said Richard.

Kimberly went to stand with them. She couldn't say anything. She was crying too hard.

"Darci?" Reverend Evers asked, his voice soft.

Darci looked between the crowd that stood in front of her and her dad. Her face was flushed, and her hair was starting to fall limp. People in the crowd were whispering to one another. The producer on the sidelines was flipping pages madly, trying to find some way to get back on track. Reverend Teaks took matters into his own hands, or to be more precise, he took me into his hands. He grabbed me by both shoulders.

"Praise G.o.d! He has seen fit to bring us the truth through the mouths of babes."

I yanked away from him.

"Your G.o.d...isn't mine."

I didn't wait for him to say anything else. I walked toward the door. I could hear the producer yelling for them to go to commercial. People in the crowd were calling out to one another, and Kimberly was still crying.

I didn't stop for anyone; I walked straight through, the crowd opening up before me until I was outside the tent in the fresh air.

35.

G.o.d, I'm not sure what you would do if you were living my life, and I'm going to stop worrying about it. It's time to make my own decisions. From now on it's a case of WWED: What would Emma do?

"Hey, wait up."

I turned, and Colin was coming out of the tent after me. He shuffled to a stop when he got close.

"What you just did was a good thing," he said.

"Yeah, sometimes things have a way of working out."

"I'm sorry about everything."

"Me too."

"Joann wants to talk to you. She feels bad."

"She shouldn't. She's right, I haven't been a great friend. I treated my stuff as more important than hers. I owed her one."

"What about Todd?"

"What about him?"

"You guys going to go out now?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure he'll give me another chance."

"He'd be an idiot not to."

"Maybe I'll get you to tell him that," I said, giving Colin a smile. It felt right between us again, for the first time in a long time. "Maybe you could flash him that bathtub photo. I'm topless in that one."

"You know, school rules mean they're going kick you off the track team." Colin kicked at the dirt ruts, setting a puff of dust up into the air. We both watched it for a moment.

"I figured as much."

"Will Northwestern offer a full ride if you don't finish the season?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll see."

"I'm sorry."

I shrugged. A few hours ago I thought the chance at the track scholarship was everything. Now I wasn't so sure.

"What are you going to do?" Colin asked.

"Long term?"

He nodded. I looked out across the field. People were starting to leave the tent. Guess the show was over. The sun was just starting to set.

"I don't know what I'm going to do long term, but for right now?" I looked at him. "Right now I'm going to go for a run."

"A run?"

"You take care." I leaned over and gave Colin a kiss on the cheek, and then I turned away and started running.

The first few steps were hard, the way they always are, but I found my stride and started to pick up speed. I raised my arms straight out and felt the air rush by. For the first time I wasn't running from anything, I was running toward the future, without fear, only exhilaration. And I had no idea what would happen next.

Acknowledgments.

"Acknowledgments" is just a fancy way of saying "Whoa, I totally couldn't have done this without you," and I have a whole bunch of people who fall into that category.

I have to thank my parents, who always encouraged me to read and clean my room. Turns out both were skills I needed. To the rest of my family, thanks for giving me so many fun things to write about.