Hazel froze at the sight of that familiar monocle!
She remembered. Of course she remembered!
It was one of the two things she had stolen from Scott's friend back then!
He-what did he mean by this? Was he bringing up the past?
Was he trying to remind me, to make me realize what I had done-
Hazel trembled slightly. The elation she had felt at being "trusted" instantly plummeted.
"So you do remember. I went out of my way to borrow it." Lorne watched her expression change abruptly, the corners of his mouth rising despite himself.
"I remember you saying that you stole things to complete a certain task, right?"
"Y-yes, so what!" Hazel's voice trembled with a hint of uncertainty.
"I was going to take all those things to the police station afterward! That day-that day, you just-" Hazel grew agitated as she tried to explain herself.
"Shh-"
Lorne pressed an index finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. They were still in a café with people coming and going.
Although it was not particularly busy at this hour, there were still a few customers.
Hazel also realized she had overreacted and hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands-
Only once she had finally quieted down did Lorne shake his head slightly.
"I just wanted to ask about the person who gave you that task. In other words, your teacher-"
"How did you know it was my teacher?"
"I guessed," Lorne admitted frankly.
"Uh-" Realizing she had fallen into his verbal trap, Hazel's cheeks instantly flushed crimson.
"I won't tell you anything about my teacher!" she said, embarrassed and angry.
"Hmm-you won't?" Lorne leaned back in his chair and regarded her at leisure. "Does your teacher know how fiercely you defend him?"
"Do you really think