Free Change of Heart by Norah McClintock Page A

part of this don’t you get, Robyn?” She was screaming at me now. The room behind her went silent. “I think you should leave,” she said. Colin went to her and slipped an arm around her.
    â€œMorgan,” he said. “Calm down. It’s okay.”
    â€œI want her out of here.” Morgan glared at me as tears ran down her cheeks. “I want her out of here.”
    I turned and fled from the hall.

    I should have gone back to school, but what for? I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate. So instead I started walking. The tears that I had managed to hold in when I left the church hall started to dribble down my cheeks. I kept seeing Morgan’s angry face. She hated me. She didn’t want me anywhere near her. Morgan and I had been friends for as long as I could remember. We had always gone to school together, always hung out together, always trusted each other. Until now. Now I was the enemy, and all because I knew what she should have known—that the sweetest, kindest guy in the world would never commit murder. What was the matter with her?
    I hadn’t had a destination in mind when I’d left the church, but I guess my feet had their own idea because I ended up on my dad’s street, looking up at his loft. I stood there for a few moments before deciding that the day had been bad enough. The last thing I wanted to do was run into Nick. I turned to leave—and there he was, coming toward me, his dog Orion’s chain leash in one hand, a book in the other. I might have slipped by him unnoticed—he was reading while he walked—if Orion hadn’t barked and lunged at me.
    â€œWhoa, boy,” Nick said, holding the leash tightly and looking up. His eyes met mine. At first they were cold and hard, but they softened a little as he studied my face. “What’s wrong?”
    â€œNothing.”
    â€œYou’ve been crying. I know you, Robyn. You don’t cry over nothing. Is it about Billy? Your dad told me what happened.”
    â€œMorgan thinks he did it.”
    â€œAnd you don’t.” It was a statement, not a question. “Did you talk to him?”
    I nodded.
    â€œHe’s scared, Nick. They’re keeping him in custody until the trial.”
    â€œIt can be hard in there,” Nick said. “Most people they lock up, if they’re not messed up when they put them in there, they get messed up pretty fast afterward. If you see Billy again, tell him the best thing is to keep to himself and not to talk to a lot of people about his life or the case. And tell him that if anyone gives him any trouble, he shouldn’t just take it. If you don’t stand up to the bullies in there, they just make it harder. It’s better to fight back, even if you end up getting hurt. If you cause the other guy some pain, he’ll think twice about coming at you again.”
    And there I was, fighting tears again. Nick could take care of himself. He’d learned how—the hard way. But Billy? Billy wasn’t a coward, but despite what had happened outside school, he wasn’t a fighter, either. Billy believed that if you treated people right, they would treat you right.
    â€œCrying won’t help, Robyn,” Nick said.
    He was standing close to me now, and I wished more than anything that he would hold me. But he didn’t.
    â€œYou helped me a couple of times,” he said. “You stood up for me when nobody else believed me and nobody else cared. You can help Billy, too.”
    â€œThis is different, Nick. This is murder.”
    He stared into my eyes.
    â€œI know what he feels like, Robyn. He needs to know that there’s someone on his side, someone who believes him, no matter how bad it looks. He needs it more than anything, especially if some people think he did it.”
    Nick was right. The fact that Morgan was convinced of Billy’s guilt made it all the more important that I stand by him—whether