chapter 11

I swallow and continue plodding to them. Luckily, the bell rings and students slowly disappear to their classes.

"It's good to see you again, Miss Langford," Detective Chrome says with a hint of sarcasm.

"Wish I could say the same," I tell her. Meanwhile, Alisyn has been squirming with her eyes pinned to her locker. "What's going on?" I ask, confused.

"Uhm, Detective Chrome thinks it necessary to search your lockers," the Principal says, and I scoff.

Seriously?

"It will be quick, I promise," Detective Chrome says.

"Can we not take your word for it?" Matthew says, while Jeremy stands silently like a watchdog.

"There's nothing to be scared of if you aren't hiding anything," she says, then it hits me.

"Wait!" I shout out of fear. "What if…" my heart shakes, "What if someone put something in our lockers to make us look bad?"

"There won't be any need for that. We're looking for Zack's necklace, Mrs. Freeman said Zack never took it off, but yet it's the only thing of his found missing the night he died," She narrates, and I nearly collapse. "Have any of you seen it?" She shows us a picture of Zack with the necklace boldly on his neck.

"No."

"I haven't."

"Not really."

"Miss. Langford?" Detective Chrome calls me out of my anxiety.

"Oh, hmm…well you see, there won't be any need to search my locker because I ummm…I was the one who gave the necklace to him… so, it's not like I can steal it from him…" I laugh sheepishly.

"No, but we're searching your locker," she says strictly.

                                 JEREMY.

Who else has the ability to tell when someone is lying? I can sense the degree of her fear. What did you do Anna? Why do you keep getting yourself into trouble?

"Arianna, why don't we start with you first?" Detective Chrome says to Anna skeptically.

"You can start with mine," I say, and share a gaze with Anna.

Detective Chrome nods, and I walk up to my locker, unlock the password, and open it. She searches through everything inside my locker, practically scattering it, I almost thought she was doing it on purpose. She comes across a short knife and startles. 

She horrifyingly picks it up. I hear Principal  Casablanca gasps, and I feel everyone bulging their eyes at me.

"It's for sport," I say simply, and Detective Chrome creases her brows and tilts her head. "Knife throwing sport," I explain, but yet they all seem clueless like their minds are fixed on one thought. I sigh. "It's not like Zack was stabbed, was he?"  

Detective Chrome let out a breath. "You're right, but I think it's safer if you don't carry knives around," she says as she hands it over to her colleague.

"Who says I carry it around?" I ask rhetorically.

She searches Alisyn's locker next. It sparkles with colorful lights. There's a Mirror, hairband, hairbrush, deodorant, lotion, perfumes…Hamburger? And luckily there's a mini notebook, with extra pens. At the door of her locker are pictures of her and Mikeala from years back which are circled with a black marker and beneath it is written missing you MAJ with a crying emoji patched next to it. And at the top of it is my picture from when I was 11 years old, with three heart emojis patched next to it. I try not to let myself think that far. I hear Alisyn breathe out in relief as Detective Chrome closes her Locker, not finding anything suspicious, which is also suspicious in a way. Alisyn has always been a dangerous girl. She enjoys doing things she's asked not to do. And I can tell she's hiding something about Zack's death.

Next is Matthew. Matthew is definitely not innocent. Five thousand dollars for bartending my ass. There's more to that money. Why was Matthew at his house that night, and what really happened between the both of them? The last time I remember, Zack didn't want anybody around that night, and surprisingly, five people visited him. Matthew doesn't look bothered, his head is down while Detective Chrome goes through his locker, there's nothing much to search for because his locker is practically empty. Maybe he knew Detective Chrome was coming and had to disguise his locker. Smart, I'm impressed.

Now it's Anna's turn. "Arianna, please open your locker," Detective Chrome tells her.

Arianna stands still for a few seconds while her heart rises beyond normal. "What if —"

"Anna…Chill," I tell her. She's beginning to act like herself. Too fragile, too scared, and always feels guilty when she's not. She stares into my eyes for a couple of seconds and slightly nods, then she takes a deep breath and moves forward to her locker. 1237 she taps secretly, but that's no secret for me. Her birthday has always been her password for everything. December third, 200(7). 

What a locker! I think. You can call it a bookshelf. I guess she stores her books here because her shelf at home is probably full. Detective Chrome let out a frustrating sigh. I can tell her job isn't easy, especially when it's about finding her son's Murderer. She starts offloading the books, as she gets closer to the edge of the locker Anna Shivers. And I think, what can she do without me? After offloading all of Anna's hobbies, Anna is shocked that Detective Chrome didn't find anything.

"Well, lucky for you, it's not here," Detective Chrome says.

"Ha!" Arianna laughs sheepishly. "Lucky me," she says. She must be surprised. Probably thinking about where it went. How did it disappear from her locker? The best way to hide evidence is not to hide it at all, they'll never look at an indiscreet place.

"Thank you all for your cooperation," Detective Chrome says.

"Did we have a choice not to cooperate?" Mathew sneers.

Principal Casablanca escorts Detective Chrome and her colleague out. Alisyn angrily marches to class, and Matthew follows behind her. Now I'm left with terrifying Anna.

"Where is it?" Anna growls after a while.

At first, I act like I don't know what she's talking about, but fuck it, she knows me that well. "It's safe," I whisper.

"You went to my locker?!" She tries to put her voice down.

"You are welcome.".

She scoffs. "Give it." She brings out her palm. Can she ever be grateful for anything? I saved her ass once again.

"It's safer with me."

"Jeremy!" She yells and her voice echoes and shakes the both of us. She breathes in. "Please." I smile. That's one of the rarest words you can hear from Anna. I dip my hands inside my pocket and bring it out. The necklace glitters as I raise it.

"It's pretty, too bad he didn't have it for long," I say, and Anna grabs it from me.

"How did you know I had it?" She asks.

"How did you have it?" I ask.

Her eyes twitch. "It's none of your business," she says and stamps away. I smirk, knowing this won't end well for the four of us. I'm sorry Anna, but we're too close to the truth. We just need to take one step backward.

                                   ARIANNA.

Coming to school today is of no use because right now I'm unable to focus. I keep getting the answers wrong. How did he open my locker? No one knows my password. I breathe in. This is bad, this is very bad. If the police get to know that I have the necklace I might go to prison! I slap my palms on my face. How did I get to this point? Is it a crime to have a best friend whose life was cut short? After school, I trek home thinking about my life. I fall my butt on my bed as I sigh. What should I do? I can't tell anyone how I acquired the necklace, not even Mr Langford. He's partly the reason I'm in this mess. If only he hadn't deleted those messages, then I won't be a suspect anymore.

And yet he said he was doing it to protect me. How? Being treated like a murderer is no protection. The only way to get out of this is if the real murderer is caught. But who on earth would want Zack dead? And who would want to frame me for it? I stand up, pacing around my room. It's hard to tell when Zack has been keeping secrets from me the entire time. He was so cheerful on his birthday, happy and all...wait! He wasn't all that happy. He was gloomy that morning at school, he said he was going to tell me about it. Does that have anything to do with his death? I blame his parents for leaving him all by himself. If someone was with him he wouldn't have ended up dead, and I blame myself for not caring enough…but…but Zack said someone was coming over, didn't he? I stand still as if my head is about to explode from excessive thinking. Could it be that his killer was his guardian? Argh! I fall on my bed. My head hurt badly.

                                       JEREMY.

How did she get the necklace? It was never my intention to make her look bad, but somehow she got a hold of solid evidence, and the only way to protect her is if she's caught. I know someone is framing her, but who could it be? After minutes of thinking, I finally got the answer. I close the book I was reading and bolt out of bed. I'm searching around for my mother but I can't find her. Where could she be? It's 1 in the middle of the night…I'm not surprised, it's exactly the time she operates. Striding back to my room, I hear something hit the floor. I pause and look at my Father's door, it's halfway closed and light shines from inside. I plod to the door and gradually open it. "Mother?" I utter, surprised to see her inside the room of the man she despised. She turns to me, unfazed as she puts down my father's frame on the nightstand. The room is as good as new, it's as if Father still lives in it. The bed is tidy, the books and files are neatly arranged on the shelves, and the half glass of vodka I make sure to pour every morning before going to school is still on the table just as always. It may seem like a childish idea to leave a glass of vodka for your dead father every day knowing there's no way he would drink it.

"My little tiger," she coos, "what are you doing here?" She smiles.

I take two steps into the room and crease my brows, skeptically staring at her. "I should be asking you that," I say.

She clicks her tongue and lets out a breath. "Well, I suddenly miss your father," she says, and I tilt my head. 

"I know we fought at times, but he's such a good man…" she looks at father's frame with gleaming eyes.

My eyes bulge out. Is she aware of whom she's lying to? "All the time," I utter.

"What?" She asks, confused.

"You fought all the time." 

"Really? Well, looking back at it now, I certainly regret it," she says as if she means it, and I roll my eyes. "So what brings you here?" She asks.

"Oh." I almost forgot. "Um, I was hoping to have a word with you."

She smiles and leans on the nightstand with folded arms. "Shot," She says. I don't think Father's room is the right place to threaten Mother, but either way, he never liked her.

"Somehow Arianna was linked to Zack's death, perhaps you know something about that."

She grins. "It's good to hear that Arianna is in trouble, especially for something she didn't do, but that doesn't mean I'm involved," she says. She sounds honest, which is hard to believe because she's never honest.

"So you're saying you don't have anything to do with it?"

"I'm saying I want to have something to do with it, but it seems like someone hates her more than I do." Should I believe her? That would be a first.

"Step back, Mother. The only person who has the right to hurt Arianna is me, and I won't look back to crush anyone who tries, whoever it may be."

She laughs. "Stop being ridiculous!" She yells, glaring at me.

"The last time I checked, she was the reason you went to juvie. How can you still be protecting her when all she does is hate on you?!" 

At last, the side of my mother I've been yearning to see. "Hate on me, not you. Step back…"

"And what if I don't?" She raises her chest and tightens her Jew. "Would you murder me like you did Mikeala?" She spits out. I almost let out a breath, but no…this is her being Delilah. Devilish, cruel, and sassy. 

I take two steps closer to her and stare into her eyes long enough to resurrect her fears. "Maybe. Don't push me," I tell her and step out of the room.

                                   Arianna.

It's as normal as skipping dinner, having nightmares, witnessing murder, and losing a friend, twice. But yet, it's so fucking hard to belive that Mr. Langford killed Zack. I mean, that's certainly what he meant by saying "I'm the real killer, not him or her." Was my mother involved too? because she was unfazed when Mr. Langford said that. I don't know what to believe anymore, I heard him confess to killing someone as clearly as a crystal, but yet I'm confused like mud. But that only explains the reason why he deleted the text messages I received from Zack, to clear his name. Another sleepless night. Will I ever have a normal life where I don't have to witness someone's death or have constant nightmares about it? Finally, I get a hold of sleep, but that doesn't mean it is a peaceful one. Opening my eyes, a bright golden light sparks into a Glossy skin, it shines so brightly that I almost got blinded by it. I close my eyes again and slowly open it. Mom sits in front of me like a guard on duty, she isn't smiling nor is she angry. She looks pale though, and her eyes gleam with worry.

I crease my brows, Wondering why she's quietly staring at me. She usually blows a trumpet to get me out of bed, or yells my name out of sleep, but shockingly she's sitting quietly like a ghost. Wait a minute…is my mom dead? What if something happened to her while I was sleeping? I quickly sit upright. "Mommy?" I utter.

"Baby." She pats my face. I let out a breath, at least it proves she is alive.

"What is it? You look pale."

She sucks her teeth and breathes out. "I just wanted to make sure you slept well."

"I can't say, but…I'm alive, that's a good thing right?" I say and she nods.

Her face turns sullen again. "Mommy, is everything alright?" 

Tears roll from her eyes, and my heart rises. "The police are downstairs…" she cries. "They are here for you."

I gulp as fears grip me tightly to the core. "Wh-at?" I force out a word.

"They found the necklace…" she says.