The crowd thought that they had figured out the whole thing. Instead of criticizing Rachel and Holley, they started to rebuke Sheryl and Isla.
For them, Sheryl and Isla were deliberately making trouble out of nothing.
"I agree with him. You should hold yourself responsible. Why blame it on others? It's not right!"
"Oh, yeah. Don't be so dramatic. It was just a fall. Nowadays, girls are so fragile. They always make too much of a big deal out of nothing!" an old lady lectured scornfully. She also remarked that young people were lazy and narrow-minded.
"What are you talking about? How could you say that? Are you blind or something? What if she has a concussion due to this fall?" Isla berated those onlookers.
Pointing at Sheryl's face, she continued, "Can't you see that? Her face is swollen."
"It's not a big deal. She will be fine after she uses some ice bag at home," someone chimed in.
"Whoever takes a fall will get a puffy face. Don't be so fussy!"
When the one who expressed his opinion got a follower, most of the crowd would take his side and reasoned out to justify that they were right.
None of them cared about the fact, let alone how the real victim felt.
"How about I trip you to the floor so that you will feel the pain my friend is suffering? I would like to see if you could still say the same words?" Isla snapped, looking outraged. 'It is no doubt that those people left their heads somewhere. We just wanted to have lunch.
Why would we end up in such big trouble? What's wrong with the world?' she thought angrily.
"You are being impossible and you refuse to admit that. But can't you see, the fall is a pure accident? And now you are trying to blame us.
You are only making a fool of yourselves, don't you think?" Rachel broke in.
"What a petty girl! She deserves this!"
"Oh, yeah, she deserves this!"
The more Isla heard negative remarks from the onlookers, the more upset she got. 'These people are really good at confusing right from wrong. No matter how hard I explain, they still think it is our fault, and they see themselves as brave, honest heroes, ' she sighed with a speechless expression.
Holley and Rachel did not expect this to happen. After sweeping their gaze through the crowd of onlookers, they let their focus finally settled on Sheryl. The irritated look on Sheryl's face amused them, yet they hadn't shown the pleasure on their faces. They felt so good to see their enemy in an awkward position.
"Sheryl, I think I don't need to say anything to defend myself. People are smart, and you can't fool them. Your trick is definitely not going to work," Holley proceeded as she stared at Sheryl.
'Once these people learn the truth, Holley and I will be in deep trouble, ' Rachel thought.
Rachel winked at Holley, and the latter nodded as she immediately understood what was on her boss' mind. As soon as the crowd paid attention to Sheryl, Holley sneaked up to the counter. Several minutes later, she cautiously returned to her seat seemingly undiscovered.
"Yes, that's right. The truth will prevail once we see the surveillance video," Isla went along with Sheryl.
"There is no need to waste time checking it. Obviously, you are wrong," one said to Isla.
"Aren't you so sure that it is my fault? So what? You are afraid to see the video. Are you worried that you might find out that you misunderstand us?" Isla quipped provokingly.
"You must be kidding. You made a mistake. We have nothing to do with this. Why would we be afraid of knowing the fact?"
"Now that you want to check the surveillance video, you can go ahead. Then we will know who to blame!"
"I agree. We should let them go since they want to check the footage. Though I only have little time to finish my lunch, I will let them realize their own mistake!" There were some young cynic and idlers among the crowd who were against Isla and Sheryl.
No one would oppose their proposal at that time. What everyone wanted was the answer.
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