"Rebecca, if you don't apologize, I'm telling the faculty advisor! You know what happens when they catch you stealing? That's a major demerit!"
I didn't move.
"Then go. I didn't take anything."
She could stomp and fume all she wanted. I wasn't budging.
Her little threats didn't even hit as hard as my second aunt back home.
I knew exactly what she was playing at.
Pin the thief label on me first, and once that stuck, the online romance scam money could be dumped on me too.
Too bad for her. It didn't work.
The onlookers weren't stupid.
"It was under the chair. Could've just rolled there off the floor…"
"She said one was missing a minute ago. Now it's two?"
"Then again, someone did show up accusing her of scamming money. Maybe she really does have sticky fingers."
I stayed perfectly calm through the speculation.
One thing about growing up in the mountains: you learn not to flinch when people run their mouths.
Whether Susan actually went to the faculty advisor, I never found out. Nobody came to me about it.
The advisor never brought up the money Mr. Pierce had demanded from me, either.
Over the next few days, as I kept my eye on Susan, I actually spotted something off.