Chapter 3 Turning Against Me

The hospital called during lunch.

Sophia put the call on speaker, and the doctor's excited voice filled the classroom.

Her mother was awake. The lesions had shrunk rapidly, and her test results were returning to normal.

Sophia cried as she made the doctor confirm it several times.

The moment the call ended, the whole class erupted.

"She's really better!"

"Naomi was so kind!"

"Guess a certain someone has nothing to say now!"

I stood outside the crowd, and for the first time, I wavered.

Could I really have been wrong? But the doubt lasted only a moment.

Someone who had been dead for three months. A wish wheel that had appeared out of nowhere.

A good outcome, at least for now, did not mean we could stop being cautious.

"I'm glad your mom is getting better, too." I looked at Sophia. "But she still needs to be monitored. You'd better keep all her test reports. And don't touch that wheel again."

The smile vanished from her face. "So, you're still hoping something happens to my mom?"

"I never said that."

"Then, why can't you admit it? The wheel is a gift Naomi left us."

Felix gave a cold laugh.

"Because if she admits it, she won't be able to keep pretending. Naomi didn't hate us. That proves we never drove her to that. If anything, the person who claimed to be closest to her is more suspicious."

Beatrice pulled out her phone and pointed the camera at my face. "Clara, apologize to Sophia. Then apologize to Naomi."

I blocked the camera. "Why should I apologize?"

"You almost stopped Sophia from saving her mom."

"I stopped her because I had no idea what that wheel was."

"Now you do. It's a gift Naomi left us!"

I looked at them, unable to believe the irony.

When Naomi was alive, they called her dirty and accused her of putting on an act.

Now that she was dead and the wheel was giving them what they wanted, she had suddenly become the kindest person they knew.

What right did people like them have to demand that I apologize to her?

"I'm not apologizing."

Sophia suddenly took off the bracelet I had given her and threw it at my feet. "Then, we have nothing left to say to each other. Anyone who can't even be happy that my mom is getting better doesn't deserve to be my friend."

…

That afternoon, a video of me stopping Sophia from claiming her wish was posted in the school group chat.

The video had been edited down to show only me grabbing the phone and stopping Sophia from claiming her wish.

The title read, "The Person Who Drove Naomi to Her Death Is Now Trying to Kill Sophia's Mom."

The next day, my desk had been moved into the girls' bathroom.

My backpack was soaked in the mop sink. My workbooks had been torn apart and scattered across the floor. The word "Murderer" was written all over the back of my school uniform.

I dragged my desk back into the classroom. They carried it away again right in front of me.

When I tried to stop them, Beatrice raised her phone and laughed. "Don't touch me. I don't want to become the next Naomi."

"This is bullying."

Felix frowned. "Don't throw that word around. We're just demanding justice for Naomi."

Sophia stood among the crowd and enunciated clearly, "Clara, you know exactly what you did to Naomi."