Page 80 of Crush
“You weren’t there,” Dupris continues, unaffected. “I was.”
“No need to bring up my absence, Blanche. You know very well why I couldn’t be at my daughter’s race. Why I can never seem to make time for her. My orders are the same as yours.”
My attention bounces between them. I’m sensing the undercurrent of Society talk, but my brain’s too foggy to keep up.
“I can make my own rules as well, and I’m deciding, as her queen, to tell her the truth,” Dupris says.
“Yes. Truth. Please.” I sit up, ignoring Malcolm’s pleas that I keep resting.
Dupris nods, her expression blank. “You had illegal drugs in your system, Ember.”
I blink. “I’m sorry. What?”
“You overdosed. With cocaine, ingested through your mouth, along with traces of Fentanyl,” she says.
My mind takes a moment to catch up to her words. Then—“No! That’s not possible! I don’t do drugs, Headmistress.”
“I’m afraid the labs don’t lie.” Dupris sounds perfectly sympathetic. If it weren’t for the flat affect of her gaze, I’d believe her.
I’m being set up.
I whip toward Malcolm. “You don’t believe this, right? I would never jeopardize my position at Winthorpe, my future. My life.”
Malcolm’s lids lower, not in empathy, but in mourning. “I know, Ember.”
Dupris adds, “I’m afraid there are a few witnesses. Belle Marks, Zachariah Aiden, and Thorne Briar all say they noticed you prior to the meet drinking a suspicious clear liquid that you then offered to them to help with their performance.”
I practically leap out of the bed. “That’s ludicrous!”
Malcolm shifts beside me. “Blanche, you’re well aware of Ember’s history with these kids. There’s not an ounce of credibility to their statements.”
I expel a breath, relief taking its place in my lungs. Someone’s on my side.
“Their schoolyard feud notwithstanding, I must take a report of what they say they saw,” Dupris says, her voice collected and terrifyingly cool.
“Like you did with me?” I croak. “When Aurora tried to attack me in the bathrooms?”
“What?” Malcolm flicks his eyes to mine, then back to Dupris. “What is she talking about, Blanche?”
At last, a blush spreads across Dupris’s cheeks. “It was handled, as is this matter. In fact, it’s due to that situation that I’ll be slightly lenient with you, Miss Beckett.”
Malcolm flinches at Dupris’s use of my last name.
“You are no longer on the swim team, and your substance abuse will be put in your school records.”
“No!” Agony laces my denial. “Headmistress, my future will be ruined. No reputable school will accept me if that’s on my record—”
“Perhaps you should have thought of that before stepping into areas you have no business exploring.”
It’s like she splashes ice water on my face. The spreadsheet. Connecting Savannah’s notes with Malcolm’s and Damion’s. The cocaine laced with trace amounts of Fentanyl…
This has nothing to do with my fake drug abuse. It has everything to do with helping Aiko find Savannah.
“You’re supposed to be my queen,” I hiss. “Not his.”
She knows who I’m referring to.
“Ember,” Malcolm warns.