Edmund wasn't really sure what happened. He knew he had rushed up to help Jake. He knew he had hit both William and Brandon. He knew he had been blamed for everything. But the actually events were blurry. Everything had happened so quickly. What stood out against everything else was Jake's betrayal.

Edmund admitted he had been worried Jake might still be too shy to even nod his head. He had almost expected him to do nothing. Edmund couldn't describe the hurt he felt when Jake shook his head. In one instance he felt like a knife had been taken to his heart. There were other feelings mixed in, but that sharp pain was the most prevalent. It must have been like what his siblings felt whenever he had gone against them, especially with the White Witch. The pain he had put others through, the pain he had repented of, was now the only thing he could feel. Ironic, wasn't it?

Was this retribution? Was the pain he was suffering because he had put others through so much pain? He had thought a change in attitude and actions would be enough. Repentance: renouncing the old ways and turning away from them. Wasn't that all that was required? Didn't he already do what he needed to? Maybe this was Aslan's way of making sure he never forgot.

No. He might not always understand Aslan's ways, but Edmund knew that Aslan wouldn't punish someone for something they had already been forgiven of. But was Aslan even here? Edmund had tried to figure out if Aslan was in this land or not. It was hard to imagine a talking lion roaming the streets of London.

Knowing he couldn't speak out loud, Edmund offered up a silent plea. If you can here, I need your strength. There was no immediate calmness, no sudden answer, or even a feeling of bravery. But as he sat there in the principal's office, Edmund knew one thing. This wasn't about him, this was about Jacob. But not even that quelled his anger.

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Jake opened his eyes. He must have fallen asleep while in the infirmary. His nose was still throbbing, but it didn't hurt, which probably meant it wasn't broken. Immediately an image of Edmund's eyes came to mind, but Jake shoved it away. There was no point in dwelling on it. He had done what he had to.

Five minutes later the nurse came in and told him he could go. Glancing at the clock, Jake saw that it was past dinnertime. Oh, well, he wasn't hungry anyway. His motions were slow and his body stiff, but Jake slowly made his way outside. Despite there being cool weather, not many people were outside. Jake made his way toward the building where his room was. He opened the door and stepped inside when a realization hit him. He shared a room with Edmund.

Not ready to see him again, no matter what he told himself about the guilt, Jake turned and went back outside. Looking around he saw his spot was empty. He went over and sat under the tree. Tired from the walking he had just done, he closed his eyes.

"I was looking for you." Jake was startled by Edmund's voice. He looked up, but avoided Edmund's eyes.

"Why?" That was a stupid question. Of course he was looking for him.

"I just want to know why you lied." Edmund's voice was level, calm. Jake was surprised it didn't have any anger in it. Maybe he was angry and just hiding it well. Edmund did use to be a diplomat.

Jake contemplated answering him or not. He felt a prick of shame for hurting his friends, but once again he pushed it aside. He had only stood up for himself. He had done nothing wrong. Because he had done nothing wrong, he should feel no guilt in telling Edmund his reasoning. "I didn't want to be their punching bag for the rest of the year. I just stood up for myself." He tried to keep his voice calm, like Edmunds, but his words were laced with shame.

"So you think you're more important than anyone else." Edmund calm demeanor was starting to crack. There was a steely tone in his voice.

"What? No, that's not true."

"You allowed everyone to believe a lie about me so that you wouldn't hurt. People believing that I'm the same boy I used to be, that hurts me." Jake opened his mouth to defend himself, though he didn't know what to say. It didn't matter. Edmund turned and walked away before Jake could get a word out.

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After he had left Jake, Edmund went up to his room. He sat on the edge of his bed, trying to calm himself down. He wasn't surprised when a knock sounded on the door. "Come in." He said

Peter came in and sat next to him. "I heard."

Of course Peter had heard. Even in a boys school gossip traveled quickly. Peter's friends had probably loved telling Peter that they had been right all along. Edmund was still the same; he had just been fooling Peter. But Edmund knew without a doubt that Peter wouldn't believe the lies.

"What really happened?" Peter wasn't blaming him, only wanting to know the truth.

"I went upstairs to find Brandon and William hitting Jake. I stepped in to help him. I did hit both boys, but it was only because Jake wasn't going to stand up for himself. At that time Hanson came out and saw all three boys on the floor, and immediately blamed me. I tried to defend myself, but he wasn't listening. I turned to Jake, since he knew what had happened. He shook his head, saying that was lying." Edmund felt Peter tense up beside him. Peter may act cool most of the time, but Edmund knew he was as overly protective of him now as when he was in Narnia.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm angry and hurt. I thought that in this mess of making up for my mistakes, I had at least one friend. Now I am back to where I was last year, only this year it's worse, because I claimed to be changed, only to be called a liar by my one friend. Now people won't believe me. All they will see is a boy who's cried wolf."

Peter didn't say anything.

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Peter fought to remain calm. This was his little brother, and someone had hurt him.

"Don't you go getting into trouble too." Edmund said from next to him. Peter looked over at him. Edmund could read him so well, even when he tried not to be. He wanted to find Jake and make him pay for betraying his brother. Then he wanted to find William and Brandon for causing the situation. Then he would go to the principal and defend his brother. It was tempting, but Edmund was right. William and Brandon would likely tell someone in authority that another Pevensie brother was beating them as well.

No, getting revenge wouldn't do anything but cool Peter's own anger. "Since your days are now free, are you up for practicing our sword fighting?"

Edmund looked at him curiously, "How?"

"There's a clearing back in the woods. True, we don't have actually swords, but we should be able to find some sturdy sticks, so we can at least work on our form." This would help Edmund. In Narnia, Edmund had always taken his anger out by practicing his forms. It wouldn't be the same, not having swords, but hopefully it still had the same effect.

A/N: I actually wrote the first half of this chapter at the beginning of the week, I was just too busy with moving to finish it. I wish I hadn't of stopped, because I feel the story lost its flow when I stopped and then restarted. I usually have to write everything in one setting. I really like how the beginning turned out, though.