Submerged in Water

A week went by way too quickly that resembled the past few days minus the whole hydrangea incident. Nobody tried to drug me again and nobody seemed suspicious enough for me to confront so Robyn, Rune and I decided to drop it until we got more information or there was another case.

Jonathan became more popular during his first week in school than I could in the entire year I was here. He didn't even sit with Scott and Aubrey but instead formed his own clique with girls that wanted Jonathan and the guys that didn't mind having the leftovers of the girls that Jonathan didn't want. It was rather disgusting when I thought about it and for that reason I didn't particularly like it.

Layla, on the other hand, was obsessed with him. I tried not to blame her, I mean it was biologically embedded into us to go after who we thought was attractive, but Layla took it to a whole other level. I let her confide in me during this time since I had done the same only a month earlier with Scott and Aubrey.

Our morning training sessions were still going on, Rune and I hadn't been alone because Robyn met every morning with us. Rune couldn't show up one morning because he said his Uncle was having a few friends over and it would be risky to attempt to leave the house while they were still there. Robyn and I became good friends during that time and she even found some good information on the Kamille and what was supposed to happen physically in their body. I hadn't read the book she gave me yet, but I was planning to once I had a few moments to myself. I was always busy doing something.

"It's calmed down." Rune noted, Friday morning, as we finished my training session for the day.
"What do you mean?" Robyn asked.

"It's just been a calm week. No drama, hydrangea or anything else really. Except for Jonathan, but that was to be expected."

Robyn snorted. "That dude is not human."

"You know..." Rune started. "Who's human and whos not? We should probably talk about that.

"About what?" I asked, awaking from my nap I was having along side the river that I was laying near.

"Who do you think could be Oro or Ender at our school?" He wondered. "It's obvious that Talon and Layla are Oro and that they know about Robyn and I. I wonder if they know about Emele."

"Probably." Robyn assured him. "Or at the least suspect something."

I groaned. "Am I that obvious?"

"Yes." Rune and Robyn both said together.

"But chances are they're either in denial or don't consider you to be much of a threat." Robyn continued. "Maybe they wanted to absolutely be sure before they go off and tell people they found a Kamille. It would look stupid if they started telling people and you turned out to not be one."

"Yeah, it would." Rune agreed. "Maybe that's why they tested you, with the hydrangea."

Robyn shook her head. "I don't think they did it. How could they get in her house and plant it in her food supply without anyone noticing? And how would they know if she was drugged or not? If she didn't show up to school? She was fine before she got there. It had to be someone with inside access."

"Well, like Emele said, the only people who are at her house on a daily basis are her parents, Aubrey and Scott."

Robyn pursed her lips and started fiddling with her golden curly hair. "It just doesn't make any sense."

"You know, " I spoke up. "While I was still under the effects of the hydrangea, Scott was asking me a lot of questions, especially as to why we had problems when we we snuck out."

"You think he might be the one to plant it?" Rune asked me in return.

"He doesn't have any motive." Robyn argued.

"It doesn't make any sense." My voice rose. "Scott has never been interested in me."

"Maybe that was just because he thought what we all thought at the beginning of the year, that you were just some strange coincidence and that was it." Rune offered.

"Could be." Robyn said. "He doesn't strike me as Oro, though. He's on the swim team and he doesn't do archery. Do you know anything about him, Rune?"

"No." Rune shook his head. "I don't really know the guy. I just know he has a huge thing for Aubrey and that's about it. No guy can get near Aubrey without him going beastial on their ass." Rune turned to me. "What do you know about him, Emele?"

I shrugged. "Not much, Aubrey might know something, I guess I could ask her. Still, I don't see how he could have any connection in all this."

Robyn seemed antsy as she began to tap her foot against the sand in an attempt to calm herself down. She had become accustomed to doing this, I noticed, whenever she was thinking deeply about something. It was like her own form of meditation. I think the beat helped her focus and concentrate. "You never know, it's best to explore all options."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do."

School passed by quickly without much to report. Jonathan seemed to have less followers now and a few times I saw him pass by me, glance at me and then walk away like he decided against trying to talk to me.

After school, I found Aubrey on her computer in her bedroom, it had been a while since I'd been in her room, but Aubrey used to have posters of half-naked men plastered all over her wall. They were empty now and I wondered why. Maybe Scott didn't like it or something.

She noticed me standing at the doorway. "Hey." She said.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Not much. Just looking at youtube."

"Cool, listen, can I talk to you?"

She turned off her monitor as soon as I got close and laughed. "More drama in the supernatural world of Emele Westbrook?"

"Not exactly."

I still hadn't told her about the hydrangea incident. In fact, I hadn't talked to her much the whole week. Not because I didn't want to but because she always seemed to be out with Scott or just away from the house somewhere else. I debated if I should catch her up to speed, but if Rune and Robyn were right, then it wouldn't be a good idea to let her know that we were suspecting Scott of malpractice.

"Well?"

I released a shaky breath. "I'm actually here to ask you about Scott."

"Oh?" She wanted more information.

It was probably a good idea to lie. "Jonathan and him have been acting strange around me lately." That was only partly a lie. "I was just wondering if you knew anything about why that might be."

"Jonathan? His little brother?" She pursed her lips. "You know, it's strange, but I get the feeling that the two aren't that close. Jonathan isn't even at the house most of the time I'm over there and when he is, he usually retreats to his room. The two conversations I've caught from the both of them were really secretive and abruptly ended as soon as I entered the room. I didn't think much of it till now."

"What were they talking about?" I asked her.

"I wish I knew." She shrugged. "Jonathan has been really friendly to me though and hasn't been mean or anything. He even hugged me when Scott first introduced me to him." She blushed suddenly. "He is really cute."

"But Scott is your man." I corrected her.

"Obviously."

I smiled. "Thanks Aubrey. I wish I knew more about what is going on."

"Well why don't you catch me up to speed?"

I shrugged because I felt bad for keeping her out of the loop. "Nothing is for sure yet, but when I find out information, I'll let you know."

"Okay." She turned back on her monitor. "Is that all?" She asked me.

I bit my lip. "Yup, that covers it."