Chapter 4

"Wait. Did you actually lose them?"

Daniel finally lost patience. He snatched Austin's backpack and dug through every pocket.

"Are you kidding me? They're gone!"

"No way!"

Everyone crowded around Austin. A few kept searching his bag while others patted down his pockets.

"You said you'd keep them safe! Where are they? How could you lose our tickets?"

"I... I..." Austin backed away, holding up his hands, but no one stepped in to defend him this time.

"You'd better find them, or you can explain this to the police!"

Several girls crouched on the ground, crying.

"We should've left them with Victor. He actually takes this stuff seriously. He wouldn't have lost them!"

Gloria stepped forward, looking torn. "Think, Austin. Could they be at your house? We still have time to get them."

Someone had already called his parents. They searched the house and found nothing.

"You idiot!" Daniel yanked at Austin's backpack so hard that a seam split. "I spent all night working through your practice questions, and now I can't even take the test?"

The parents who came to see their kids off crowded around, demanding to know what happened.

"How could you be so careless? You're the class president, aren't you? I thought we could count on you!"

When they found out Austin took over at the last minute, they turned on their own children.

"Why would you give them to someone else? Victor's always been responsible! You should've left the tickets with him!"

Angry students and parents closed in around Austin. Just as the crowd surged toward him, he spotted me and pointed.

"Hold on. Victor took them yesterday. Said he didn't trust me to keep them safe and demanded I hand them over."

Everyone turned to me.

I looked at the parents. "You know me. Do you really think I'd do something like this?"

They exchanged uneasy glances. They knew how seriously I took my responsibilities.

When no one moved, Austin turned to Gloria.

"You were there, Gloria. Tell them. Victor took the tickets..."

She went rigid, then looked at me.

"Gloria." My voice sounded rough.

For a moment, she hesitated. Then her expression hardened.

"It's true. I saw Victor take them last night."

The parents stared at her, then rushed at me. They grabbed my clothes and shoved their hands into my pockets.

Someone slapped me across the face.

"Where's my son's ticket?"

"What did you do with my daughter's?"

My cheek stung, but I pulled out my phone.

"I never took them. Austin lost them, and now he's blaming me!"

Austin stared at me, his jaw tight.

"Seriously, Victor? You think I'd risk everyone's futures? You're the one who promised us practice questions and then backed out. Now you're trying to pin this on me?"

One of the student council members knocked my phone out of my hand.

"It has to be him! He promised to help us study, then told us we were on our own. Austin actually sent us practice questions!"

"Yeah, why would Austin help us study if he wanted us to miss the test? Victor's the one doing this!"

Students and parents crowded around me, demanding answers. Someone grabbed my arm as I tried to pick up my phone.

"Where are the tickets? We don't have time for this. Hand them over!"

"My son misses his test, you'll pay for it!"

I tried to explain, but they kept shouting over me.

I looked at Gloria. She moved in front of Austin, shielding him from the crowd, and scowled at me. "Enough, Victor. Just give them back!"

Blood filled my mouth. I struggled to reach my phone on the ground, then held it up.

"You wanna know what happened to your tickets? Watch this."

Austin went pale.