chapter 12

Maybe this was supposed to happen. Someone placed the necklace in my room that night knowing it would lead me to jail, someone is framing me for what they did.

"I swear, I wasn't the one who took the necklace...I just—I, I found it lying in my room."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

That's a good question. I should have told my parents I found strong evidence in my room but I didn't and that's only because I don't trust them. Since the night Zack died, they have been acting strange, Whispering something to themselves. "I was scared and…and confused." I sob.

She hugs me and pats my back as I cry on her shoulder. "It's okay, it's fine. Everything is okay," she repeats. Is it just me or do you think Mom says this every time there's chaos? And surprisingly, she's always right. Someone bursts in on us.

"I'm sorry, I have no choice but to interrupt this mother-daughter love." I raise my head and find Detective Chrome standing in front of my door. Fear grips me and I turn to Mom, she nods with a smile. I sniff and stand up from my bed, trudging to Detective Chrome. She leads me downstairs where I find Charity and Mr. Langford among five police officers. Mr. Langford is bickering with one of them. Charity looks at me with red eyes, while Mr. Langford quietly stares at me for a few seconds as though he's passing a message which if I'm not mistaken would be, "Shhhh! Don't say a word." It's confusing. What do I know that he doesn't want me to say? An officer approaches me with handcuffs, as he's about to put them on me, "Is that necessary?" Mr. Langford asks.

"We need not explain to you our procedures since you're one of our senior officers, Mr. Langford," Detective Chrome says.

"It's not like you have proof that she's the murderer, do you?" Mom asks, glaring at Detective Chrome. "Take the cuffs off." She takes one step closer as she dares detective Chrome.

Detective Chrome stares into her eyes for not too long. "Do as she says," she tells the officer and he obeys. 

When I step outside, I see Mrs. Oscar standing in front of her house with folded arms and a sullen face, looking directly at the officers. But why is she sad? I expect her to be drinking the most expensive Champagne in America because getting rid of me has become her potential goal in the past five years. An officer opens the door to one of their cars and I reluctantly go inside, staring at my parents and my sister.

"It's not Goodbye." A voice startles me, and I find Jeremy on the edge of the seat. His hands are folded and his head is lying on the window.

"What?" I utter out of confusion.

He raises his head and sits upright. "You'll still be seeing them. You aren't going for good, just yet," he says.

I roll my eyes as I shake my head. "Let me guess, you did something wrong?"

"That's pretty obvious. Try guessing what I did?" He dares me, and all of a sudden I'm a curious cat.

I let out a breath, looking at him skeptically. "What did you do?" I ask, and he smirks.

"I helped you hide the necklace, didn't I?" He whispers to me. I ring down my face, too ashamed to look him in the eyes. Should I be grateful or sorry?

"How did they find out about that?"

"How did they find out about the necklace?" He asks back. 

That's one logical question. I can swear I hid it in the most discreet place. How on earth did they get into my toilet? "I have no idea," I mutter to myself.

"It's the CCTV camera from school. It saw me giving you the necklace." What the heck?! How did it not occur to me that a CCTV was watching us? I mean, I've been walking around that hallway for the past three years, and yet I was so stupid not to have noticed. How can two people be stupid at the same time? Thinking about it, Jeremy isn't stupid. He's like the number one most intelligent teenager I know. He's too smart to fall for an easy trap like this. Probably he did it on purpose. What if he is the Mastermind behind it? Just what if he has something to do with Zack's death? What is his game? Who are his players?

Finally, we get to the station and the officer parks the car at the parking lot. I share a terrifying gaze with Jeremy before we step out of the car. A month ago I wouldn't have believed I'd get to this point. How on earth did my life get this twisted? The officers lead us inside where Detective Chrome awaits us. The inside is more terrifying than I imagined. The way the officers are staring at us can bore a deep hole in my body. It's as if they haven't seen a criminal before, not that I'm one, I don't even look like one. We stride behind Detective Chrome as she leads the way to where we don't know. She takes a left turn in the hallway and proceeds further where I find a series of prison rooms with all sorts of people in them. My heart skips and I hold onto my chest. She finally stops at the front of one of the cells. When I look inside of it, I see Matthew seated on the floor with his head down and Alisyn pacing back and forth inside the little space. My eyes grow wide. I can literally die out of curiosity at this moment, but somehow it calms my nerves because this shows I'm not alone, and the case will be easily resolved. Alisyn might have fainted already as her face has turned red. My presence doesn't surprise either of them. Detective Chrome opens the cell with a key. "Get in," she pushes the door wide open. I wait for a second, too scared to step into jail for the first time in my life. Where the hell are my parents? I hope they have plans to get me out of here as soon as possible. Jeremy walks past me and steps inside with both hands in the pockets of his pants. Of course he's not afraid. He spent five years in a place worse than this.

I gulp and reluctantly step inside. As Detective Chrome is about to close the gate, "When are we getting out of here?" I ask her.

She smiles. "No rush dear, you just got here. Ask that after 48 hours," she says and closes the gate then sashay out of sight.

I scoff. She doesn't mean that, does she?

"What does this mean for us?" Alisyn finally stops pacing.

"I don't know about you guys," I say as I turn to face them. Jeremy rests on the wall with his left foot against it. "It only means I've successfully gotten rid of my middle name." I see Jeremy smirks. Matthew raises his head and smiles, while Alisyn rolls her eyes. Come to think of it, why are they here? What is their offense? "What are you guys doing here?" I ask.

"What about you, murderer?" Alisyn crosses the line.

"Call me that one more time…" I threaten. 

I know she has always seen me that way since Mikaela's death, but I only ignore her because she's stupid. She wasn't even there when Mikaela was murdered. There was a series of evidence that shows Jeremy actually killed Mikaela. He confessed to it. I testified to it. and he was caught on camera stabbing the hell out of Mikaela, yet Alisyn strongly believes that I'm the killer. Is it because I wasn't good to either her or Mikeala? Or is it because I insisted on taking my book back from her best friend??She raises her chest as she steps closer to me.

"That's enough!" Matthew yells. "Being in here is already hard enough…" he adds.

"What did you do Matthew?" I ask out of curiosity. Matthew has never been in trouble before. He hardly even came in contact with Zack. This has nothing to do with him. But then again, why was he at Zack's house in the middle of the night?

"What he does best," Jeremy mutters.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear a cock crow," Matthew says and turns to me. "They found drug particles inside the glass of Zack's wine," He says, and I breathe in.

"Okay…" I utter for him to go on.

"A, I swear, It has nothing to do with his death…" he pleads with puppy eyes.

My heart tightens against my chest. "What did you do…?" My voice is small.

He blinks and puts down his head. "I sold drugs to him."

I drift back. It's unbelievable. I'm not surprised that Matthew sells drugs, I'm shocked to hear that Zack does drugs. Wait a second…are we still talking about Zack? The boy I thought I knew so well? Is it the same Zack That tells me everything? Is it Zack that cracks jokes and drinks less alcohol? No…this is so not him.

"I only did it because…"

"Because what?!" I yell, "He asked for it?!" 

Matthew's eyes bulge with shock. "No!" He yells back as he stands up. "I did it because of Nana! She was sick and I needed the money." 

I shake my head as he speaks. "You keep saying that until it loses its meaning!" I yell even louder, and a thunderous voice clashes its cells gate commanding us to be quiet

"I'm sorry if that's what you think," he apologizes and steps back. He falls to the floor, sitting close enough to the wall. I wonder What Alisyn's crime is. This just proves I have no idea who Zack really was. It hurt me to know that the people I trust wholeheartedly happen to be strangers. We all stay quiet for a couple of hours until Detective Chrome comes to us. I quickly approach the gate and hold the rods tightly.

"So…?" I ask. I can tell it is past 4 due to the time we left home and the time we've spent here. Is she really serious when she said we'll be spending two days in jail? Are our parents not coming for us? Seriously, What is our status? She stares at me for a couple of seconds, then she brings out a key and opens the gate.

"All of you are free to go, except for Mr. Johnson,"  she says, and my heart skips.

"What?" I mutter. "Why can't he leave with us?" Alisyn approaches the gate.

"Are you guys leaving or have you fallen in love with this place?" Detective Chrome asks.

"Hell no!" Alisyn raises a finger and steps out. I hear Jeremy breathe out behind me, then he steps out and follows in the direction of Alisyn. I look at Matthew who buried his face in between his legs. I don't like that he'll remain here. Why aren't they letting him go? Just like me, there's no evidence that he killed Zack. Well, I guess this is his punishment for selling hard drugs. I reluctantly step out of the cell and walk up the hallway. When I burst out in the hall, I see my mom sitting in front of Mr. Langford's desk who is busy with some files. He doesn't even care if his daughter is gone for half the day.

As soon as Mom sees me, she rises. She cries too much these days, otherwise, why is her face always red and swollen? "Baby," She utters, and I run to her and give her a big hug. Being in there is horrible and destructive. I kept thinking of how my life has ended. The things I wouldn't be able to do. I kept thinking that I will no longer be able to breathe fresh air. "You okay?" She places both of her sweaty hands on my cheek. Her eyes brim with worries. Has she been here since the morning I was taken away?

I nod.

"Thank the Lord," she says, and I look at Mr. Langford. He fully ignores me as he keeps busy. "Let's go home." Mom takes me by the hand. When we get outside, I catch Arianna having a private conversation with Jeremy as her parents wait by their car. I pause, looking at them. I don't like that they are close, but why? I don't like either of them anyways.

"You can go say hi," Mom says. 

I look at her and scoff. "We were locked together for more than five hours, I think that's long enough to say hi." 

"But yet you didn't," she says. It wasn't fun that the four of us were locked up together, but it did bring back some good old memories. I can't lie to myself about how much I miss those times I spent with them. I can't lie about how much I miss him. 

Jeremy glances at me. I take a deep breath and approach them. "So?" I ask Alisyn with my hands crossed on my chest.

She rolls her eyes and sighs. "If you're so eager to know, just pull out your phone and you'll see the truth punching you in the face," She says and walks to her parents. I quietly watch her get into her dad's Ferrari like a queen and Zoom! it goes 

I turn to face Jeremy. It still feels awkward standing this close to him. "Who could have done it?" I ask, knowing he could be the murderer. But yet, a part of me still believes there's a bit of innocence left in him.

"It's not your place to know that," he says.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"Tiger!" Mrs. Oscar yells from her rolled-down window that's parked at the curbside.

I furrow my brows and push back my head. "She calls you tiger?" I ask rhetorically.

He let out a breath. "You don't have to worry, he'll be out probably in a day or two," he says and walks towards his mom. I guess he knew about Matthew all this while. He hates him like mad but yet he didn't say anything. One thing is for sure, Jeremy has the talent of keeping secrets, I wonder how many are up his sleeve.

I get home, take a shower and eat the meal mom prepared for me, then I dive into thoughts, thinking and thinking of who killed Zack, and who is framing me for it.

I wake up early in the morning and the first thing I do is visit my closet. I have a few new clothes which Mom bought for me and a bunch of old ones. Maybe that's because fashion isn't my thing, or maybe I just don't have enough money to get new things for myself, but I made sure to get the best badass black outfit for Zack's funeral which is today. It's Versace. Body-fitted with a spaghetti strip that reveals more of my skin. I'm not celebrating his death, I'm just paying my last respect by dressing the way he would love it. The heel is about 2 inches high. I would have gone for a higher one If I could walk in them.

"Baby?" I hear my mom knock on the door.

"Come in!" I shout and hear my door open and close. I hear the knocking sound of a heel approaching me.

"Wow," Mom mutters behind me.

"It's beautiful," she adds.

"Of course it is, it costs all of my allowance."

"Honey…" she coos. "You should have told me, I would have…"

"I Know," I cut in as I turn to face her. "But I don't need you doing everything for me, being my mom is very much enough," I say and she smiles.

"You look good by the way," I compliment on her black full-length gown with a front slit and a turtle neck.

"Really?" She looks down at herself. "I feel like I'm overdressed."

"Like you're going to a party? Yeah," I say bluntly, and Mom tilts her head. I suck my teeth. "That…I didn't mean that," I apologize.

"You okay baby? You Look off."

Of course, I'm off. Zack is going to be lying on the ground today, and from now on he is going to disintegrate into dust. "I don't know…I just…" tears instantly fall from my eyes. "I don't know if I can do it. Watch them put him in the ground, or look at his lifeless body. I don't know if I will be able to accept that he's gone." Tears strike my face.

"Come here," she says with open arms, and I fall into them and silently cry on her shoulder.

I hear her chuckle as she pats me on my back. "Zack is probably in heaven making fun of how ugly you are when you cry," she says and I chuckle as I pull from her. I sniff and wipe my face.

"You're right, he's such a dick…" I say bluntly and immediately throw my hands over my mouth. My eyes bulge at Mom while her eyes grow wider. "Sorry," I say chirpily. She takes a deep breath and shakes her head as she knocks her heel out of my room. Imagine me saying dic* in front of Mr. Langford, that would be the end of me.

I brush my teeth, take my bath and dress up in my Versace. God! Wearing heels is as bad as I thought it would be. When I arrive downstairs I see my family smashing in black, even Mr. Langford. I'm not surprised, there was a day I saw Mrs. Oscar in church. So I guess Devils also go to church. We drive to church in Mr. Langford's car. I can hear the Angelic voices of the choristers as we get closer to church. There are so many cars in the parking lot that there isn't any space left for Mr. Langford. Mr. Langford has no choice but to park across the church, at the roadside. I did expect the church to be this crowded considering Zack's friendly appearance. He had the softest heart, and everyone he came across always loved him, but unfortunately, he didn't have that effect on his murderer. Why on earth would anyone harm such an innocent boy as Zack? Is he even innocent? It happens to be that there are a lot of things I didn't know about Zack. From his biological mother to finding out that he did drugs, now I just can't believe this revelation that's punching me in the face. "Zack and Alisyn were dating, did you know?" Charity shows me the text that has been airing on the internet since yesterday, where Alisyn wrote to Zack,You bitch! You promise you won't cheat on me, what were you doing with all those chicks at school today? I swear, I'm gonna kill you for real this time. And this was sent a day before Zack died. Mr Langford and Mom are already inside the church, while I stand outside with Charity and this big-ass revelation. It's as if my heart is about to explode. Why did he keep things from me when he promised he'd never do that? And how did I not notice any of it after calling him my best friend?

I'm pissed at him and I'm angry at myself. "Oops, I'm guessing that's a NO," Charity says as she takes her phone from me and strides into the church.

The service is normal as with every other heartfelt funeral. Some are sniffing the tears on their handkerchiefs. And some silently wipe their tears even before it drops, and there are some with a neutral face who if I'm not mistaken are numb, just like me. But something isn't right. Mr. Freeman is absent at his son's funeral. The last time I remember, Zack and his father were buddy buddies. He wouldn't have missed this for the world, or maybe he's too sad and not ready to say goodbye. The pastor calls me to come to say something about the deceased. I don't know why he thinks I have something to say, and I don't know why they do stuff like this at funerals. But anyways, I'm down for it, even if I don't have anything prepared.

I climb the altar, feeling hundreds of eyes on me. "Ahem." I clear my throat, unable to look in the eyes of the crowd. "Zack wasn't my friend." It's my opening line that blows everyone's mind. Last night, Mom had told me that Zack was suffering from depression. She asked if I was aware of it. I was too ashamed to tell her I wasn't, so I lied, and it hurt so much. "I thought he was, just like he thought I was. After his death, I'm beginning to find out stuff that I should have known about him but didn't. Like how I should have known he was dealing with Depression before he died. What kind of a friend am I not to have noticed that her friend was dying? Zack could make a furious person the most joyous just in a matter of seconds. He could make sadness disappear, but unfortunately, he had no one to make his sadness go away. He thought he had me but I happened to be a scumbag. I know he kept a lot of things from me but…Everyone has secrets, right? I know I fudged* up as a friend but…Few Relationships On Earth Never Die, right? And the relationship I had with him is one of those few. As I grow, I start to understand that friendship isn't about hanging out together, hating together, gossiping together. Friendship is about Fighting for the ones you love, Relying on them, it's about Integrity, friendship is something Eternal, it's non-nefarious, it's fudging* Debonair." When I raise my head my eyes get stuck on Jeremy who is standing at the entrance of the church, hands always in his pocket. He's respectful enough to make sure to put on a black shirt on top of a pair of blue jeans. He waves at me, and I roll my eyes and put them back down. "I love you Zack, and I pray you rest in peace," I say to his corpse which is lying inside the opened coffin that's in front of the altar.

"Amen…Amen…" people begin to mutter.

After the service, people pay their last respect to Zack by queuing in lines to say goodbye to his face. I am too scared to look at his cold pale and lifeless body, but I feel like if I don't say goodbye now, I can never move on from his death. It gets to my turn with Mom behind me. We stand and face him. He looks fat and his hair looks thick and dry. His lips are dark and he looks angry. Probably because he can no longer have tacos with ketchup. "Hey tacos…" a warm tear rolls down my cheek. "I'm gonna miss you. I hope you don't have too much fun on your way from Earth, that way you might make heaven." Another tear falls from my eyes and Mom grips me by the wrist, probably afraid I might try to touch him, which I would if she hadn't stopped me. After everyone says goodbyes, they close the coffin with Zack inside and about four hefty men raise it, taking it outside. Mrs Freeman trudges behind them sniffing her tears. While my family and I follow behind her. I can't imagine the pains she's going through despite not being his biological mother. Speaking of…I don't see Detective Chrome, I bet she didn't come. She's obviously not motherly enough to show her concerns. As we arrive outside, I see hundreds of youths with billboards that say, "Justice for Zack."

What's going on?

"Justice for Zack!" Chris yells on top of his Range Rover SV. Of all the people in Stoneybrook Chris happens to be the one who is leading a protest about Zack's death. He's the one person who clearly shows his hatred for Zack. As a matter of fact, he is hashtag-no.1 suspect. I remember him punching Zack in the face at school, claiming Zack stole his girlfriend from him. No one knew who his girlfriend was but he was furious as hell. 

"Justice for Zack!" The rest of the crowd yells back.

What do they think they are doing? Mr. Langford holds me by my hand, which is the second shock I'm having in the past three minutes.

"Justice for Zack!" Chris jumps down from his car and lands in Jeremy's face. "Justice for Zack!" He shouts at his face, and my heart races. This doesn't look good.