Forgiveness

By Hamna Maya 9A

“Can it, Harper!” I spat out her name as though it were venom. I yanked my arm from her
grasp and took a couple of steps back. “I don’t want to listen to your pathetic lies any
longer.”

“Wait, please! You need to listen to me! It’s important! Really, I mean it!”

I eyed her in disgust. “There’s no reason for me to listen to you. I can’t trust you anymore.
You may leave now. Goodbye, Agent 0387.”

With those words, I turned around and began walking away from the girl I despised, the girl
who lied to me and everyone else around me. How could I ever trust her again?

“No! Evelyn, stop! Please, listen! I promise you, you need to hear this! Just give me a few
minutes! Please!!”

I paused. I could hear a panic beginning to lace her voice and I couldn’t help but think it
sounded so… real.

I swiveled around. “You have two minutes, starting now. Speak.” I saw her breathe a small
sigh of relief as she began to talk. “Okay. You know the mission to attack SURV
Headquarters? The one that the team was planning before I was kicked? Yeah, it isn’t going
to work. Wait, listen to me first,” she added, seeing me opening my mouth to speak, “I’ve
been hearing quite some… interesting things since I’ve left. From what I’ve been able to
decipher, there’s a plan that will cause you to fail. Spies have infiltrated your base and have
been relaying a constant flow of information to the enemies and plan to put a stop to you
on Saturday, the day you will set out to take over SURV,” she took a deep breath and eyed
me nervously, twirling a strand of her short, shoulder-length hazel hair around her index
finger, awaiting my response.

My brain was whirling and I stared at her. What did she mean? How did she know all this?
What should I do? Keeping my face blank, I questioned, “Why are you telling me all this?”

“So I can help you, of course! I have a plan! If we stop this now, they won’t be able to harm
you!”

“Help us? You? Hah, likely story,” Poison seeped out of my glare. I tried to keep my voice
from trembling as I spoke, my voice low, “We didn’t matter to you before, so what’s
changed?”

She averted her eyes and waited a few moments before she spoke.

“Look, I know what I did was wrong. I don’t deny it. But I care for everyone here as well! I
was raised here, Evelyn! Surely, you must understand!”

I stared into her eyes. No matter how much I didn’t want to admit it, I wanted to listen to
her, believe her. I wanted to accept her apologies and be able to wrap my arms around her,
laugh with her, smile with her, make new memories with her. A lump formed in my throat
as I struggled to keep a blank face.

I miss you, Harper. Why did you have to make things so complicated?

I considered forgiving her. Letting her back on the team. It would be just like before — the
good old days. The idea of that was so tempting. So, so tempting. But, as I stared into her
beady honey-colored eyes, I realized that there was a cold look in them. And, oh, eyes do
not lie. They were the windows to her soul, to who she really was. I couldn’t trust her. I
knew that.

“No, Harper, I don’t understand. I don’t understand that even after spending years with
these people who treated you like their own child, gave you the first place you could call
home, you still left them like it’s nothing,” swallowing, I continued, “I don’t understand how
you could leave the people who loved and cared about you most, just because of some
stupid gold.” My voice began to break, but at this point, I didn’t care. “I don’t understand
how you could leave me, your best friend! I don’t- don’t-” I paused, unable to go on. My
throat felt tight and my breathing was short and shallow. My vision was blurry and I realized
I was slightly trembling.

Blinking my eyes, I slightly shook my head and whispered, “I can’t forgive you. I’m sorry,
Harper.”

Harper stood unblinking, trying to process everything she had just heard. Then, shaking her
head, she sighed, “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this.” Suddenly, she smiled.

“Oh, Evelyn…”

Out of nowhere, it seemed, she was clutching a gun aimed directly at my head.

“You’ve always been a bit too naive.”

There was a loud bang, and then there was nothing.