"Do you really think that David is capable of doing something like that?" Brenda asked, as she applied the finishing touches to her eye make up.
Appearing behind her in the bathroom mirror, Brandon shrugged "I don't know Bren, Andrea and Mrs Teasely both seem to think so."
Brenda paused, her mascara brush suspended in midair, and turned to fix Brandon with a questioning look "Yes, but what do you think Brandon?"
Brandon smiled ruefully, typical Brenda, straight for the jugular, she'd never been one to skirt around the issue. "I'd like to think that he didn't, but you have to admit the evidence against him is pretty strong" he confessed reluctantly.
Brenda nodded "I know. Donna's convinced that they're both going to be arrested for breaking and entering. I just wish there was something I could do to help." For a moment she looked hopeful "You're covering the story for the paper, hasn't Mrs Teasely let slip any information to you about what's going to happen?"
Brandon shook his head "So far she's been pretty tight lipped about the whole thing. I guess they have to make sure of the facts before they do anything official".
He frowned. He and Andrea were still arguing about whether to run the story in 'The Blaze', Gil Meyers the faculty advisor had backed off, told them that they had to be the ones to make the decision.
Andrea felt that they had a moral obligation to print the story, and as a journalist Brandon knew that the student body had a right to know what was happening. It was just that he felt that doing so was tantamount to betraying his friends, and he wasn't prepared to do that. Maybe he didn't have what it took to be a journalist after all.
It had been three weeks since David had first been accused, and both he and Donna still maintained that they were innocent. The problem was that as much as he wanted to, Brandon was having a hard time believing it. He knew that Mrs Teasely was convinced that Donna and David were involved, and was getting impatient to deal with the matter.
He couldn't blame her really, as school principal she had to be seen to take a tough line on this kind of thing. She had given David until today to confess, and then she was going to bring the police back in to the investigation. If that happened things would get a lot worse for David and Donna.
As if she had read his mind, Brenda asked anxiously "Do you really think Mrs Teasely will get the police involved?"
Brandon nodded "Mrs Teasely doesn't make idle threats that's not her style." He regarded her carefully for a moment "You know Bren you still haven't said what you think about all this".
What are you talking about Brandon? Of course I have." Brenda protested.
Brandon shook his head "No you haven't. Throughout all this, you've never once said that you believe them."
He looked at her suspiciously "Ordinarily you'd be storming Mrs Teasely's office in Donna's defence and demanding that we find the real culprit. It's not like you to keep quiet about something like this. What's going on here Bren?
Brenda hesitated, and began putting away her make up, careful to avoid Brandon's gaze. He was right. She hadn't made a big deal out of all this, because the truth was she wasn't sure if she did believe Donna. She frowned. What Donna needed right now was support, not a friend who doubted her. She'd kept quiet so far, but it was obvious that Brandon wasn't going to let her off the hook.
She took a deep breath "You're right Brandon, I guess I haven't said what I think." She hesitated again. This was difficult to say, even to Brandon.
"After everything that's happened this year I'm having a hard time trusting anyone right now" she admitted.
"Meaning?" Brandon asked.
"Meaning I don't know Brandon." She sighed heavily. "Last year, I would have trusted Donna with my life, and there's no way I would have doubted her not even for a second."
"And now?" Brandon prodded.
"Now I don't trust any of my friends, not properly, not the way I used to." Brenda spoke softly as though she were afraid that someone else might hear her admission, even though they were alone in the house.
Brandon regarded her in silence, unsure how to respond.
"I never thought Dylan and Kelly would cheat on me but they did, I never thought Donna would lie to me but she has." She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what to believe anymore".
There, she'd said it, and she actually felt better. She'd been bottling up these feelings for weeks now, refusing to acknowledge them, but they just wouldn't go away. Ever since Dylan and Kelly's betrayal, things had changed. She felt like she didn't really know any of her friends anymore, and she could no longer trust her own judgement. Her world was filled with suspicions and doubts. Years of trust had been wiped out in one moment, and she didn't think it would ever come back.
Oh on the surface things seemed pretty normal, but the reality was completely different. She had never been one to keep her own counsel, when something was bothering her she had always turned to her friends to talk it out, but things had changed. Now she was keeping secrets from her friends because she didn't feel that she could trust them. She wanted to trust them, she wanted things to be like they were before, but they couldn't be. She hadn't talked to Donna about her feelings for Dylan, and she hadn't told anyone that she was thinking of going away to school next year. She didn't want her friends to know everything about her life, she didn't want to make herself that vulnerable again.
She'd promised Brandon that she wouldn't make any hasty decisions that she would keep her options open, and she had. She had included California University amongst her college applications, and had let everyone believe it was her first choice, but in reality she had no intention of going there.
This latest development with Donna and David had just made her more convinced than ever that she needed to get away, start a new life; make new friends, friends that she could trust. Then there was Dylan of course, she couldn't move on as long as she was around him. She knew that if she was going to get over Dylan McKay, she had to get away from here. The way she had it figured, there were plenty of reasons to leave Beverly Hills, what she didn't have right now was a good enough reason to stay.
***
"So has David told you what he's gonna do today?" Dylan asked as he eased the Porsche in to his regular parking space.
Kelly shook her head "No. He won't talk about it, he just keeps saying that he didn't do it".
Dylan regarded her critically "And you don't believe him?" It came out more of an accusation than a question.
"Do you?" she countered, removing her sunglasses and looking at him intently.
Dylan shrugged "I don't know Kel, I mean David has pulled some stupid stunts in the past, but this, I just don't think this is his style. And as for Donna can you really see her doing something like that? She's just not that kind person."
Kelly looked at him quizzically "What kind of person?"
Dylan cut the engine and reached around to retrieve his books "The kind of person who would cheat and lie."
"Like us you mean?" Kelly asked pointedly.
Dylan winced inwardly. He wished he'd never started this conversation; it was beginning to make him feel uncomfortable. He didn't know if Donna and David were guilty of cheating and lying, but he knew that he was. He had cheated on Brenda, he had lied to her, and he had hurt her.
If that wasn't bad enough, now he was lying to Kelly. It had started last week when she had brought up the issue of college and her lousy finals results. It had soon escalated from a discussion about college to a discussion about their relationship. She'd begun to voice her doubts about what they had done, to question whether he really loved her. She was worried that she may have thrown away her future for nothing.
He'd lied to her, told her what he knew she wanted to hear. He'd told her that Brenda wasn't important to him anymore, that she was in the past. He wasn't sure if Kelly believed him, but she hadn't questioned their relationship again, hadn't talked about college since. Life would be so much easier if what he had told her was true, but it wasn't true. Right now he still wasn't sure what Brenda meant to him, didn't know if he meant anything to her, but he knew one thing, he hadn't managed to relegate her to the past. The truth was he couldn't stop thinking about her; she was constantly on his mind. He scowled. What was wrong with him? Why did he always seem to want what he couldn't have? Why couldn't he just be happy with what he'd got?
After a long silence he finally spoke "We had our reasons for doing what we did" he found he was unable to meet Kelly's eyes.
"Yeah we did." Kelly agreed. "We did it because we loved each other and we wanted to be together". She got out of the car and swung the door shut, and then turned back to Dylan who hadn't moved.
"We didn't do it because we're bad people or because we wanted to hurt anyone, we did it because it was what we had to do to be together. And if you ask me Donna and David aren't any different."
***
"I love you David".
David Silver paused at the door to the sound booth, and turned round to face his girlfriend. "I know you do Donna. I love you too."
"David I'm scared." Donna admitted fiddling nervously with the headphones that were on the desk in front of her.
David sat down on the edge of the desk and gently took the head phones away from her. Placing them on the desk behind him, he took her hand, and gave it a comforting squeeze. "I know you're scared Donna, I'm scared too, but everything's gonna be all right."
"How do you know that David?" Donna asked anxiously, her eyes wide with fear.
"Because we're innocent Donna, we didn't do it. Whatever Mrs Teasely does, however hard the police look, they won't be able to find any hard evidence against us because we didn't do it." David hoped he sounded more convincing than he felt.
The truth was he was terrified. This was like some kind of nightmare, except that he didn't get to wake up. Despite his reassurance to Donna, things were looking pretty bleak. David knew that the only way to prove his innocence was to find the real thief, but no one was looking. Mrs Teasely and the school board were keen to resolve this matter quickly, and they weren't going to widen the investigation. As far as they were concerned they had their man, they didn't need to look any further.
He knew everyone thought he was guilty, and that he was crazy for not owning up. Even his father had urged him to confess this morning, before the punishment became more serious. David had listened in bitter disappointment as Mel Silver had talked about criminal records, detention centres and community service. If his own father didn't believe him what chance did he have?
He could feel his resolve begin to weaken, and steeled himself to stay strong. He was on his way to the meeting with Mrs Teasely, her amnesty was almost up, and then she would be calling in the police. He couldn't crumble now, he had to believe that justice would prevail, that the real culprit would be punished and that he would be exonerated. He had Donna's trust and support, and that was all that he needed to get through this.
Kissing her lightly on the forehead, he slid off the desk "I'd better get going, I don't want to be late."
Donna nodded "Come and find me as soon as you're done."
David smiled "I will. And don't worry it's gonna be okay."
As she watched him leave Donna prayed fervently that he was right.
***
Steve Sanders watched from the shadows as David made his way to Mrs Teasely's office. He had been waiting outside the principal's office for the last half hour trying to work up the nerve to go in and confess. This last time he'd gotten as far as the door before heading back to the sanctuary of his hiding place. He had been horrified when he'd heard that David had been accused of the break in. It had never occurred to him that something like this might happen.
For the last three weeks he had prayed that Mrs Teasely would turn up some evidence that would let David off the hook, but so far there was nothing. He knew that time was running out, he had to confess before Mrs Teasely turned David and Donna over to the police, and everything got a whole lot worse. He just couldn't find the courage to do it.
Every time he got close to knocking on Mrs Teasely's door, he thought about how his friends would react, how disappointed his father would be in him, and the bleak future that would lie ahead. Now he had run out of time, David was in there taking the fall. Was he really gonna let that happen?