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She had never intended to agree to helping solve the murder of her blackmailer--with the help of said blackmailer's worst enemy. It just kind of happened.

She held the cigarette between her teeth, scowling around it.

She was free now. There was no one left who could hold it above her head. "It" being that she had been crying in a bathroom stall during third period just over a month ago. But at what cost? Who could be happy over someone else's death? Their murder?

Aisha Kole sure couldn't. 

She didn't like Rosaleen--despised her, actually--but there was no part of her that was "happy". Blackmail was not cool, especially when you had as much power as Rosaleen. 

But her vulnerability in the bathroom could finally be forgotten. It was gone. No one could force her to intimidate freshmen into doing Rosaleen's homework. No one could force her to distract teachers so Rosaleen could fix her makeup.

But a 17-year-old girl was dead.

Aisha's scowl deepened as she took the cigarette between her fingers. She closed her eyes, letting the smoke fall from her lips and fade into the vibrant blue sky above. She leaned against the brick wall behind her.

"That's not very healthy, is it?"

Aisha's eyes slowly opened to find a girl standing before her. Her skin was a soft brown, and her straight black hair fell past her shoulders.

"Who might you be to judge my choices?" Aisha said smoothly, sticking the end of the cigarette back into her mouth.

"Oh, just a girl," she said, "Trying to atone for some past mistakes. Of which weren't made by me."

"And those are...?" Aisha wasn't going to play into her little tricks. She knew perfectly well who this girl was. Lucia Gutierrez. Rosaleen's greatest rival.

"I know all about you and Rosaleen."

Aisha coughed, smoke escaping from her. At this, Lucia's nose scrunched up, but she quickly covered it. 

"Like hell you do," Aisha spat.

"I'm serious. I know how much of a brat she was. It wasn't very subtle. And... I was in the bathroom at the time. You didn't notice me."

Why couldn't everyone just forget? Why did everyone keep bringing it up? Aisha had no idea. She scoffed.

"That's not very nice, is it? Insulting a dead girl? Some... certain people might think that's a little suspicious, too. Just being honest."  

"That's a risk I'm willing to take, but I don't mean it like that. In fact, I want nothing more than to solve the murder."

"That's illegal."

"So is buying cigarettes underage. I'm wouldn't be here if I didn't think you had something to offer."

"Are you accusing me of something? Because if you are, just say it."

"No, no, no," Lucia said smoothly, "I'm looking for help."

Aisha raised her eyebrows when Lucia hesitated, before dropping her cigarette on the ground and pressing her heel on the cinders.

"And I think you might be the one who can give it to me."

◈ ◈ ◈

Newfound partners, Lucia and Aisha found themselves in the library that very afternoon. They had no definitely ideas set up just yet, but they were discussing.

"Do you think we have any potential suspects?"

"I hardly think there's any evidence for that. Rosaleen had a lot of enemies."

Lucia saw Aisha raise her eyebrows. Lucia was right and Aisha knew this. At this rate, they might never solve the case.

"Like you," Aisha said.

"Do you really not trust me?"

"I have no reason to."

Lucia sighed, leaning back into her chair dejectedly. "Of course not. But I'm not threatening to tell everyone your secrets. I think that makes me at least a little bit trustworthy, don't you think?"

Aisha did not respond, rolling her tongue around her lips slowly.

"Here, give me your number," Lucia pulled out her phone, setting in front of Aisha, "That way, we can text each other if we think of anything."

"What about Lance?" Aisha finally said, completely ignoring Lucia. 

"Rosaleen's boyfriend? Are you sure? I mean, I really think that he was in l--"

"I never paid much attention to gossip, but I heard they were rather... on and off. Word got to me that she cheated on him more than a few times."

Lucia narrowed her eyes. "You're right. But is that even remotely close to a valid motive for murder? I mean, he could've just broken up with her."

"Who knows? Love and hate make people do crazy things."

Lucia wrote the name down. It was a start. "How about... Samantha Bennett?"

"No way," Aisha said. "They were too close."

"But Sam was always second to Rosaleen. Always, always, always. She was never anyone's first choice. Maybe she got sick of it."

Aisha looked at her, bringing her feet onto the table.

"You've really thought a lot about this, haven't you?"

"Yes. I want to solve it. I want to know."

"I think you've watched one too many episodes of Whodunnit?..."

"I'm serious...!"

"Alright," Aisha said, not wasting a second. "You got me. Write it down."

Lucia grinned with satisfaction before writing the blonde-haired girl's name.

"Two suspects isn't nearly enough. We have an entire school full of motive..."

"What about... that Wyatte kid? The junior? He certainly has a reason--"

Aisha and Lucia shared a look, and it went unsaid that they both understood what Aisha was talking about.  They didn't say anything more about it, Lucia scribbling down his name.

The two girls sat in silence for a moment, before deciding they couldn't really come up with anyone else.

"I think we're going to need more help," Lucia said suddenly, "if we're really going to do this."

"But who should we ask?"

"Samantha Bennett."

"She's one of our suspects. How could we ask her? What if she's the one who did it?"

"Then, she'll get uncomfortable. As we get closer to solving it, we might be able to guilt her into confessing. If she's the one who did it, that is. And there's no way she can deny us. We both know she was Rosaleen's best friend, after all. If she said 'no', it would look suspicious. Almost like... she didn't want the murder to be solved."

"Or that she didn't want to do anything illegal," Aisha was not going to give in easily.

"She's a high school girl who probably goes to a party every weekend. She doesn't care, trust me."

"Okay, I'll listen for a bit. Sam will almost definitely bring along her little kid brother, too. What about him? Can we trust him? What if he just gets in the way?"

"He's small. He can get into places the rest of us can't. And I'm certain that he'll want to prove that he's capable of doing this. If he tries to back out, we can just say that's a childish thing to do. He'll help."

Lucia hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"I'll make sure of it."

"Of course. It's a plan then?"

"It is."

Aisha's face went thoughtful for a moment. Her lips pursed, her eyebrows furrowed, her dark eyes narrowed. A finger landed gently on her bottom lip.

That was when Aisha suddenly made a bold suggestion. A suggestion that Lucia never saw coming.

"Well, if we're going to drag one suspect along, why not all of them? Surely, only one of them is guilty?" 

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