Fontaine Academy

Chapter 31

Patrick

“You want me to do what?” I ask.

“Call a truce with Jules.” Tiago says serenely.

“Why?”

“We decided to work together to clear yours and Ethan’s names. We can’t do that if you are still doing that petty rivalry stuff.”

““Petty rivalry”? You know dad, this is not a small thing for him. He expects me to absolutely destroy her and retain my top spot.”

“He will be happy as long as you do better than her in class, you don’t have to take it beyond that. Or are you telling me you are not confident of beating her fair and square? Are you counting on external factors to help you every time?”

“Of course not, I did better in Chem and French without any outside interference.” I say proudly.

“Yeah and you don’t share a class with Jules in any of those classes. Besides Jules doesn’t have French and you are part French, you have been speaking the language before you could even walk. Your dad made sure of that.” Tiago says.

“I think you let your dad get into your head about this. He and the teachers made it into such a big thing that you now see her as some huge rival. She is just a girl trying to navigate life same as everyone else. So can you please call a ceasefire?” he adds.

“You do know it won’t change anything right? It won’t change my opinion of her and it will not change how everyone else treats her.”

“Why don’t you like her?”

“She depends on handouts. Instead of putting her head down and working hard for a decent life she just had to beg for a handout to come to a place she is not welcome or needed!” I explode.

“That’s you dad talking.” Tiago says calmly.

“What?”

“You are just spewing his nonsense. “Handouts”? Those opportunities exist for people like her; brilliant but without access to the necessary resources to be great. Mom funds a lot of programs like that, Wings is one of them. You can’t even apply for it, they choose you. It is because of her hard work they noticed her and offered this opportunity. Someone of your intelligence should be able to recognize that instead of letting your dad’s words cloud your perspective.” He says and walks away.

Am I really becoming my dad?

I have always looked up to him and I do want to be like him when I am older but I don’t always agree with what he does. I thought I was very good at blocking out those parts of his speeches but I guess not.

I only see Tiago again the next morning before we begin the trek for Camp Day. Camp Day is a school organized day of outdoor activities for juniors and seniors. It’s a yearly tradition that takes place two weeks before exams. The day always starts with a trek to the camping spot, we set up camp and the rest of the day is filled with water sports and paintball in the woods. It reminds me of the hunt without the order.

“I’ll do it.”

“Do what?” Tiago asks.

“I won’t bother Jules for the duration of your partnership.”

“You can’t put a time limit on it. Think of it as payment for when we clear your names.”

“It’s not like she is doing that for me, she is doing that for her boyfriend.”“And you benefitting from it. You can think of it as your gift to me then.” He insists.

“Fine.”

It doesn’t take long to get to the site and set up camp. When that’s done we begin with the first event of the day, rowing. Even though we compete in seven teams of three it is seniors vs juniors at the end of the day. I end up in a team with Tiago and Jamie and we win our race easily. Charles, Damon and Clara come in second with Greta, Rhys and Gunther in third.

We take a rest and watch the other races. Jules is in one of the teams with her friend Ken and Keziah. The guys are cheering on Jenna, Sofia and Melody’s team.

As the teams reach the midpoint and turn back, Jenna’s team is leading. I search the water to see where Jules’ is and they are in third.

“What was that?” Tiago says.

“What?”

“Jules dropped one of her oars.”

“They should have picked someone with more experience.”

A moment later the boat overturns.

By this point the first four teams have arrived back on the deck. Jenna’s team came in first with the next two spots filled by senior teams.

The fifth and sixth teams arrive awhile later. The boat Mr. Ridley took out to get Jules’ team also arrives. Everyone is so busy celebrating they don’t even notice their arrival.

“What happened?” Amandla asks.

“We don’t know. It all happened so fast, one minute we a rowing, we hear Jules say her oar disappeared and then we are crashing into the water.” Ken says as they get off the rescue boat.

“Where is she?” Mara asks.

“We can’t find her.” Keziah says.

“Don’t worry we are still searching, we are going to get some diving gear for a more thorough check but I think she just got out of the water before her teammates. She will show up any minute now.” Mr. Ridley assures everyone.

But hours later Jules still hasn’t shown up. The diving team searched everywhere in the area and found no sign of her. I heard they are now operating on the assumption she is somewhere on the banks of the river so they are searching there.

“Good news, they found her.” Keziah announces.

“Where is she?” Amandla asks.

“They found her downstream…she was unconscious. They are on the way to the hospital now.” Keziah says.

“Oh thank god.” Mara exclaims.

At sunset we begin our trek back to campus. Some people are excitedly talking about the games they won, others are talking about dinner while Jules’ friends are still wondering how she ended up passed out downstream, she is a good swimmer after all.

We are walking right behind their group when Amandla falls.

“Are you okay?” Mara asks.

“Yeah, I think I trip on something.” Amandla replies.

She uses her phone light to search the area where she fell down.

“It’s a phone.” She announces sounding confused.

“It looks like it has been there a while.” Ken comments.

“That looks like Maisie’s phone.” Melody says and a hush goes over the whole group.

“Are you sure?” Mr. Ridley asks.

“I think Melody is right. I remember Maisie customized the cover herself because she loves daisies.” Dana says.

Mr. Ridley produces a clear bag to hold the phone and calls the police who say they will come get it immediately. I guess after months of no progress, this could be their big break.

The whole way back all anyone can talk about is what finding Maisie’s phone means. Like most people, Maisie is always attached to her phone. So is finding it a sign that something bad happen to Maisie Andrews?

🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

A/N
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- Oli 💌