Thank you to all the people who are following this story,  you have no idea how happy it makes me when I see another vote/fan/comment, especially on these later chapters :) This one's very dramatic, so I hope you enjoy it :D

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Olivia glanced up at the clock for about the seventeenth time that lesson to see that hardly any time had passed since she had last checked, much to her dismay. She sighed and tried to concentrate on the work that was set in front of her, but her mind was too preoccupied – she hadn’t seen Alyssa since the locker incident and Chelsie was still sat in the chair in front, oblivious to what was supposed to be happening. Why hadn’t she been called in yet? Alyssa was supposed to have been going to see Mr Delmar soon after they’d planted the stuff in, but there had been no announcements or anything of the kind.

"Olivia – have you even started on the questions?"

She looked up to see the teacher staring straight at her, with a firm look on her face.

"Oh, um, yeah…" she said, vaguely, pretending to write onto the piece of paper until she looked away once more. How could she concentrate when they’d done something like this? Any minute now, Chelsie was going to get called in, get in so much trouble, maybe even be chucked out of school. Her whole life would be ruined – she knew how hard she had worked to get into this school, and it probably hadn’t been any easier for Chelsie.

Of course, she and Alyssa knew that the drugs were fake, but it would be another thing convincing Mr Delmar of that. She felt so guilty for letting Alyssa talk her into something of that magnitude – all she had wanted was a little revenge, to get her back for the things Chelsie had said. It had gone way too far.

"Uh, miss, can I go to the bathroom?" she called out, biting her lip.

Miss Gray, another chart-topper on the list of the strictest teachers in the school, narrowed her eyes at Olivia suspiciously.

"On the conditions that you come back quickly and actually do some work on your return," she said, reluctantly removing a hall pass from her desk drawer.

"Thanks." Olivia got up from her seat and made her way to the front of the class, but before she could reach out and take the slip of paper that Miss Gray was holding, the sound of Mr Delmar’s voice coming from the intercom speakers filled the room – a realisation that made Olivia’s heart sink to the bottom of her stomach.

The voice on the intercom cleared its throat. "Could Olivia Webb report to my office immediately." These stern words ended the message and the class grew silent as Olivia stood motionless at the front of the room.

"Well then," Miss Gray said. Her voice shattered the silence that was beginning to consume the room. "I think you should get over there pretty quickly."

The trip to Mr Delmar’s was torturous. The walk into the reception area and the wait whilst she sat on the plastic chairs outside the office were even worse. Even the stuck-up receptionist’s face showed no emotion towards her as she informed her that she could go in.

She pushed open the door to Mr Delmar’s office and stepped inside. The huge grand office that she had only visited four days ago seemed strange and unfamiliar – its high ceilings and large grand furniture seemed even more intimidating than before. Mr Delmar was stood behind his desk, hands behind his back, pacing up and down. Suddenly, Olivia noticed that Alyssa was sitting on one of the chairs in front of the desk, arms crossed and with a small hint of smugness on her face, even though she was not smiling herself.

"Olivia." Mr Delmar’s tone of voice spoke for itself – all was not well.

He stopped pacing for a moment, and looked up. "Take a seat."

She obeyed and sunk down onto the seat beside Alyssa.

"There have been some very serious allegations made today," he said. "Ones that could quite easily jeopardise the reputation of this prestigious school."

It was obvious what this was concerning – but how did this piece together? Why was she in the room, instead of Chelsie? Had they been found out? Surely Alyssa had explained that the powder was fake and this was all just a harmless prank?

"You see, Olivia. You have only been at this school for an extremely short while. A matter of days, in fact. At first, when I approved your application, I was confident that you would be an asset to this school. But now, I am thinking whether I should reconsider my decision."

The silence was haunting.

"I know how hard you have worked to get into this school, and yes, your hard work has paid off. But are you really going to throw it away for something like this? Do you want to be at this school, Olivia?"

Olivia bit her lip. "Yes. I do. More than anything."

"This is why I am confused, as to why you would do something like this. But that is not the real matter in our hands, as your placement at this school can easily be terminated."

More silence.

"And so, please tell me the truth. What is this?"

Olivia looked up to see him hold his hand up, dangling the familiar bag of powder in front of her eyes. She swallowed. "I don’t know, sir."

"You don’t know? You don’t know, hmm?"

He placed the bag on his desk and looked down at it, whilst Olivia stayed silent.

"If you don’t know, then why is it that you were seen putting this into Chelsie Marshall’s locker this afternoon?"

She felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach and the colour drain from her face. What was she supposed to do? Deny all knowledge? It would be tough getting Mr Delmar to believe that. She’d already been seen breaking into the locker and planting the stuff. But who could have seen her? Everyone had been in class at that time, and they had kept a close eye on all the hallways to check for anyone lurking around. Surely they wouldn’t have been spotted?

"Well? Were you, or not?" Mr Delmar was looking straight at her, expecting an answer.

She swallowed, words threatening to spill out of her lips, but she couldn’t tell which were the right ones. Deny all knowledge? Tell the truth, that it was all a harmless prank? Before she even had time to think about it, a voice to her right spoke.

"She told me about what she was going to do. She was afraid that someone knew about her… habit," Alyssa glanced over in Olivia’s direction, "because there were rumours going round and stuff… and she was going to plant the stuff in Chelsie’s locker, to blame it all on her. They had an argument, you see, and she wanted to get her chucked out of school to get back at her."

Olivia paused for a moment as the realisation of these words set in. "Wait – what?!" she shouted suddenly, rising from her seat in anger. What was Alyssa doing? They were meant to be getting revenge on Chelsie, not her! Why was she suddenly blaming it on all her? Alyssa was her friend! "That’s not what happened! She’s lying, Mr Delmar! I swear, she’s lying!"

"Sit down, Olivia. I don’t think that you’re aware of how serious this situation is. This is a police matter, and there is no place for lies in this room."

"But I’m not lying!" she pleaded. "Honestly. Look, I’ll tell you the truth!"

"What is the truth, then?" Mr Delmar raised his eyebrows, although it was clear that he was unlikely to believe any alternative story. It was too much of a risk to have illegal drugs in his school – his school, Serenity Falls, one of the best schools in the entire country with a reputation that had taken generations to build.

"Well," Olivia began, as she sunk back into her chair, although the desperation was still visible in her eyes. She couldn’t get thrown out, not now, not after she’d only been at the school for a week, not after her father had sacrificed their whole life to move states just for this one opportunity. All for her. "I had had a fight with Chelsie, but I didn’t want revenge to be anything serious. Just humiliate her or something, I don’t know. A harmless prank. And then we had this idea–"

"Wait." Mr Delmar interrupted, holding his hand up. "Who is ‘we’?"

"Well, me and Alyssa…"

"What?!" Alyssa pretended to gasp. Bitch. "Me?"

"Are you saying that Alyssa Taylor is involved in this as well?" Mr Delmar frowned. Her story obviously wasn’t believable. Well, why would it be? Alyssa was the one who tipped him off in the first place about the whole thing – why would she do that if she was involved?

"Yes, she was the one who came up with the idea to put the bag in Chelsie’s locker! But honestly, that stuff, it’s nothing bad, I swear. It’s talcum powder… isn’t it?" she looked at Alyssa.

Alyssa’s mouth was still wide open in fake shock, but Olivia could detect the spiteful glitter in her eyes. "Me? Mr Delmar, I swear, I wasn’t anything to do with this! Now she’s trying to blame it on me!"

Suddenly, Mr Delmar slammed his hand down on the desk, causing a loud bump to echo through the room. "At least one of you girls is lying, and whichever one of you it is, I suggest you stop it right now!" His last words were much louder, halting any speech that may have been about to come. Although his words were supposed to be directed at both of them, his eyes didn’t leave Olivia’s direction. It was clear who he believed.

"Now," he said, his voice quieter. "Is anyone going to tell me what really went on here?"

"I bet she’s an addict!" Alyssa burst out, fighting the urge to stand up from her seat. "I bet she’s been taking drugs ever since she got here, trying to cover it all up. And now she’s trying to blame it on me, to save herself." Alyssa sniffed, ready to launch into fake tears mode.

"Oh my god, this is not true! I swear! Look, me and Chelsie had an argument, right? And we thought it would be funny to put some fake drug in her locker. It’s not real, I’m telling you. It’s talcum powder. Please, believe me. We didn’t even mean any harm in all of this."

"Stop dragging me into this!" Alyssa turned to face Olivia, her voice now raised. "Maybe you don’t care whether you get thrown out of this school or not, but I do!" She lifted her hand to her eye as if wiping away tears, even though it was the most pathetic acting Olivia had ever seen. "Mr Delmar, please don’t believe her. She’s obviously not in her right mind. I always thought there was something strange about her, ever since I first saw her. I guess now we know what it is."

Mr Delmar took a deep breath and sunk back into his chair. "Olivia, if you really do have a drug problem, you could have talked to a counsellor or something. It didn’t have to end like this."

"But I don’t have a drug problem!" she blurt out. "Look, take the bag. Test it, do whatever you want with it! And you’ll see, it’s talcum powder. You’ve only got to smell it to find out."

"Are you telling me to smell the substance inside that packet?" Mr Delmar was taken aback.

"No, no! Well, yeah, but not like that. I didn’t mean it like that, I swear. All I was saying was that it was talcum powder. Please. Please believe me."

"I don’t think you are aware of how serious this matter is, Miss Webb. You have been spotted in possession of what might be illegal substances on these premises. This is no time for lying and covering your tracks."

"But I’m not lying!" she cried out. "I’ve never touched anything like that in my life!"

Alyssa scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Right. Like that’s true."

"It is! You know that it is!"

"How would I know about your drug habits?" Alyssa sighed. "You really need to stop blaming your problems on other people, you know."

"If you girls aren’t going to tell the truth, then I am afraid I am going to leave this in more… expert hands. I’m calling the police. I can’t have things like this happening in my school."

"Wait! Wait, no. Please, not yet," Olivia said desperately. "Could you just… bring in Chelsie?"