chapter 8

We were riding home in Austin's car. Austin looked at my sobbing form and sighed, "You should have stayed in the car."

I sobbed quietly, ignoring him and looking at the window.

"Are you alright?" He asked yet again.

"No," I whimpered, "She was my friend."

"I'm sorry," Austin mumbled, looking at me for a few seconds before turning back to look at the road.

"It's just-" I had to swallow the lump in my throat in order to stop myself from letting down more tears.

"What?"

"Why was she wearing her cheer-leading uniform?" I asked myself.

Austin’s eyes widened with anticipation, his detective instincts taking form. "What do you mean?"

"After cheer-leading practice on Wednesday, we went back to our locker room to change - Faye included. She never wore her cheer-leading uniform to go home," I told him. "So...why was she wearing her cheer-leading uniform?"

I gasped, placing my hands on my mouth, looking at him. "Was she... Was she murdered? Oh my God! That's so horrible!" I sniffled.

"We don't know anything yet," Austin stated.

I frowned, looking at him with grimace. "But I heard that officer say she was strangled to death."

"Listen, Emelie," he started. "I don't want you discussing anything you saw, or heard, with anybody. That includes your family and friends. It's very important." He looked at me with hope. "Can you promise me that?"

I looked into his emerald green eyes with my confused blue bell ones. "Why?"

"It's important in this kind of situation. Any details revealed...could possibly jeopardize investigations."

"Ok. I promise," I said softly.

He stopped his car in front of my gate, turning to look at me. "Thank you." He smiled at me. "Listen, Emma, we'll get to the bottom of this. Trust me, okay?"

"Ok." I looked into his gorgeous green eyes. He leaned closer to me. I could smell his aftershave as I stared back into his eyes. "Are you okay?" He whispered.

I nervously rubbed my neck, smiling sheepishly. "Yes, I think so. Thank you for asking."

"Ok, gotta go, Rooftop Girl," he said, rolling his shoulders. He turned to look at my eyes, gasping as he said, "Your um, your mom's watching us through the window."

Shoot! "See you!" I yelled, getting out of his car.

"Bye!"

I walked to my porch, preparing myself for one of Mom's infamous lectures. I placed my hand on the door knob, twisting it to get the door open. I got in and was met with my mom's intense gaze. "Hey, Mom."

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Mom looked at me, folding her hands atop her chest.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, playing dumb.

"I saw you getting out of that car," she said, giving me a look that said ‘don’t lie to me, young lady’. "Who was that?"

"It was our new neighbor, Mom," I mumbled, rubbing my elbows with my hands; it was a nervous habit I seemed to pick up. "He was just giving me a ride home."

She didn't look convinced. "A ride home? From school?" She asked. "Then you should have been home two hours ago. Don't lie to me, Emelie Elisa Cullen. Where. Have. You. Been?"

Shoot. I really don't want to tell her I followed Austin to the cemetery. And I promised not to say anything about Faye to anyone. I decided to keep quiet, looking at my mom like a sulking dog.

She looked at me and sighed, rubbing her hands on her head. “Em, you should be concentrating on your studies right now. Not going out with boys much older than you!"

I gasped, looking at her with wide eyes. "Much older than me? He's only twenty-one!" I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, I'm not going out with him... or anyone, Mom," I protested, pissed off at her. "I'm not dating anyone, unlike most of my friends my age! And you know I study really hard every day! I mean, I get As in every test. What more do you want?" I yelled at her. I ran to my room, not bothering to look at her expression.

I cried myself to sleep that night. The stress of anonymous attacks, the fight with my mom, Faye's death... it was too much. Most of all, I couldn't believe Faye was dead. Murdered. I really, really hoped that the police, that Austin, would find whoever did this to her.

*******the next day*********

"Earth to Emelie!" I heard Crystal scream.

"Huh?"

"I've been calling you for the past few minutes." She looked at me with concern. "Are you okay, boo?"

"Erm...yes..." I blushed with embarrassment, looking at Crystal.

She looked like she was about to burst with anger. "Argh! Between you spacing out and Miss I'm-too-busy-texting, here," she said, pointing at Skylar. "You guys are driving me nuts."

"Sorry," I apologized while blushing.

"What are you thinking about, anyway?" She asked, looking up at me. I couldn't talk about Faye. And even if I could, I didn't want to tell them about anything anyway.

I hadn't forgotten that one of them was behind the locker break-in and leaked gossip. "Nothing. Just tired, I guess," I shrugged.

"Anyway, can we all focus here?" Right now we were in the gym waiting for those auditioning. "It's time for the tryouts."

"Let's do this," I said, looking at Coach B.

"Alright, girls," Coach Bukky said, smiling at the auditioning girls. "Since we have Lekeishai as a substitute for Bianca, we have three candidates trying out today, for one spot on the team!"

"Joann!" She called out to a dark-skinned girl with dark hair and freckles scattered on her nose.

"Um... Hi, guys. It's always been my dream to try out for the team," she giggled. I could tell it was a nervous giggle.

"Sorry for rambling...I'm just a little nervous."

"Cait!"

"Hi, everyone," a blond-headed girl with pale skin waved. "Super psyched to be here."

"And Anita!"

A strawberry blonde girl with perfectly straight hair raised her hands with some attitude. "If the both of you think you even have a chance against me, you're deluded."

"Excuse me?" Cait asked, looking at her.

Let the audition begin

"Cait! You're up!"

She walked forward, jumping. "Give me an S-" she started but ended up falling down. "Ah, shit," she groaned.

"An S for Shit?" Skylar asked.

"Oh no, she tripped!" I gasped, worriedly looking at her.

"Ahahahahaha, what a loser!" Anita called out to her, laughing. Meanwhile, Cait got up and ran out of the gym. "Thank you, next!" Anita said, picking at her nails.

"Ok, Anita, you're up!" Coach B called out to her.

Anita grinned, flipping her hair. "No problem, I was born ready."

"Give me a B!" She said, whipping her waist around. "Give me an E!" She started flicking her hands. "Give me an S!" She started clapping her hands. "Give me a T!" She shaked her hands, moving forward and fist bumping. "What's that spell? Best! Best - I’m better than the rest!"

"Good cheer!" Chloe praised, smiling.

Yeah, she's good. She's a bit full of herself, though.

"Thank you, Anita," Coach B called out to her. "Ok, Joann, your turn!"

She did the exact same thing as Anita but she added some flair here and there.

"Wow!' I exclaimed. "You really owned that cheer!"

"Oh! I... Thank you!"

"Ok, it's obvious that we should pick Anita," Skylar whispered to us.

"What? Why?" I asked her confused.

"I thought Joann's was the best-" Crissie started.

But Sky interrupted her, "Duh! She's too good. She'll outshine us if we let her on the squad. We need to pick the other one," She whispered whispered.

That's not fair...or good for the team.

"Thank you all for trying out, we'll be making our decisions and will let you know shortly," Coach B thanked and turned to us. "Alright, girls, tell me what you think of Joann and Anita."

"I think Anita's cheer was good, and I think she'll be a great fit on the squad," Skylar said, nodding her head with a smirk on her face.

"I...umm...both girls did great," I exhaled.

Joann's tryout was definitely the best. Somebody needs to vote for Joann. Plus Joann has a better attitude than Anita. "I think Joann had the better tryout."

"Both girls did great, but Joann seems rather timid. I'm leaning towards Anita."

I frowned, sighing, "Whatever you think is best, Coach."

"Alright." Coach cleared her throat in order to get the candidates attention. "The girl who will be joining the cheerleading squad is Anita."

"I knew it," Anita sassed. The two girls left the gym, one sad and the other happy.

"Hey, you guys want to go to the mall with me?"

Sorry, Sky. Not before I find out which one of you did those things to me. "Can't. I have to go home and wash my hair."

I stood up from my seat and waved at them. "See you guys on Monday!"

***************

"Mom? I'm home," I called out to my mom as I stepped into my house.

"Honey! There's somebody here to see you," Mom called out from the living room.

I walked into the living room and was surprised to see Austin.

"Emelie, you didn't tell me that Austin was a detective," Mom breathed out, smiling.

"I need to speak to you."