The Bad Boy's Sleepover

Chapter 13

"Look, you girls don't know how creepy that Adela freak was after Julian rejected her for the third time. I mean couldn't she take the hint? He literally threw the muffins she made for him out the window, in front of her!" Damien exclaimed and Lola could tell that her friends were boiling with rage.

Julian stared at Lola, a guilty expression plastered over his handsome face."That was the old Julian. I swear if she gave me muffins now I would swallow all of them down in minutes."

After a heated debate about how the bullied victims of the popular kids weren't necessarily the prime suspects because they had better things to do in life, the group parted ways in the small room. The girls gathered together, feeling more than angry that these two boys were so self absorbed to come up with such stupid theories.

"I mean what do they think, death by poisoned cake?" Hanna asked her friends in a fit of whispers.

Out of the three of them, she was the most affected by their accusations because Adela was a close friend of hers and she had been heartbroken by Julian's rejection.

"I know they suck but you may have a point, Hanna," Nalini exclaimed. She had also been affected by Damien's accusations, her illusion of him slowly cracking.

Let's just say Nalini wasn't looking at him with goo goo eyes anymore.

"What do you mean?" Hanna frowned in confusion.

"How did Fiona and Jason die?" Nalini walked back to the board and much to Damien and Julian's dismay, erased all of their drawings.

She drew two stick figures and wrote their names above their heads, labeling one as Fiona and the other Jason.

"Umm, I think Jason died from a peanut allergy and Fiona was stabbed in her room," Damien sat down by the table and stared at the board thoughtfully.

"Yes, Jason died in his room at night. His drink had traces of peanut powder and oil and his epi pen was missing," Nalini stated. She sat down, facing him while the rest joined them.

"Which means someone knew about his peanut allergy and got rid of his medication? Do you think the door was locked? Why didn't anyone save him?" Hanna asked.

"Apparently his mother was downstairs, but no one heard him till it was too late," Lola added.

"The same thing happened to Fiona, at night and around the same time. She was found stabbed in her room while her parents were downstairs. No one heard anything till it was too late," Julian added morosely.

"The problem is what do Jason and Fiona have in common?" Damien asked the question no one had the answer to. "I don't think I've ever seen them talk to each other."

Lola sighed loudly and ate some chips. They were currently at a dead end and she couldn't think of anything else.

She caught Julian staring at her and quickly looked away. As she stared at her friend Nalini, a thought occurred to her.

"The murders happened right after the leaked exam paper incident. What if they were connected?"

Nalini frowed at the memory and her hands bunched into fists on the table.
"Damn paper leak. Most of our papers were forfeited and I studied like a bitch for them."

"What if Jason and Fiona knew something about it?" Julian suddenly perked up.

"There are only a handful of people who could have access to those papers before the exam," Nalini said. "Teachers and the student body association. In order words the teacher's pets who worship them."

"Tyler," Both of Lola's friends exclaimed loudly.

Lola's heart skipped a beat as she heard her crushes name. "I doubt he had anything to do with it," She replied defensively.

"You girls know him?" Julian asked. "That's great, we can use him to get a list of people who had access to the papers. That could be our suspect list."

"We don't. But Lola does," Nalini smirked.

"No, I don't," Lola held her burning face and turned away from Julian's scrutiny.

"Why are you acting so weird?" His eyes narrowed on her red cheeks.

"She likes him," Damien pointed out and Lola wanted to dig in a hole in the ground and hide there.

"Since the sixth grade," Hanna teased and Lola felt like throwing the packet of chips at her.

She got up from her seat and started pacing around absent mindedly.

Wasn't this a good thing? At least now she would have an excuse to talk to him more. Maybe they would become friends and then something more later on.

"There's no way she likes that loser. I wouldn't be surprised if he polished Headmistress Keller's shoes every morning just so he could lunch with the teachers and suck up to them," Julian said in a mocking voice and got up to follow her. He sat on his bed and watched her pace around the small confinements of the pool house.

"He's not a teacher's pet. He's just really nice to everyone," Lola scowled and then she sat down on the bed as well. She suddenly felt like having another beer.

"Well teacher's pet or not, they're right Lola. Tyler's the only one who's always in and out of the school office. He should know at least something about the whole incident, especially since he's the student body president," Nalini said. "Anyway he's the only lead we have now."

"So we're looking for someone who might have been involved in the leaked paper incident and someone who possibly hated Julian enough to frame him," Lola summarized in a quiet voice while Nalini wrote her words on the board. 

"Girls, I have good news. Natalie's having a party this Friday and everyone is going to be there," Damien stood up excitedly and walked over to them.

"This could be your chance to befriend Tyler. He's always there at those parties," He told Lola.

She squirmed in place, thinking about the whole thing. First of all they've never been to a party, and now these people wanted her to get close to the guy she's had the hugest crush on for years. She liked Tyler a lot and what if he found out she was using him for this.  

No, he could never know. 

"Why does Lola have to do it?" Julian asked suddenly. "Can't you guys see how uncomfortable this is making her." 

"Tyler was staring at Lola the entire time in the car park and he talked to her yesterday before gym," Hanna gushed in a giddy voice. "I think she has the highest chances of getting close to him compared to the rest of us."

"I agree," Nalini winked at Lola.

Lola had to admit, her friends match making skills sucked. 

"Okay, fine but if I find out he's clueless I'm not going to push it." She put her hands up in surrender and was surprised when she saw Julian get up and walk away. He took out a cigarette and walked outside before lighting it up. 

"You just need to earn his trust by becoming his friend. Don't worry we'll be around to watch out for you," Damien said and her friends nodded. "So we meet here on Friday and go together, okay? Eva might not be happy about outsiders crashing but she can't do anything if you're with me."

The girls nodded apprehensively and were surprised when Damien held out his fist for a fist bump. 

"So are we good for Friday?" He asked them, his voice low and eager. 

The girls stared at him in surprise, despite being a stuck up douche bag towards the less popular students, one thing was certain about Damien Reed. 

Lola had to admire his loyalty to his friendship with Julian and how he was so enthusiastic about helping him out. She knew she would do the same for Hanna and Nalini as well.

"Yes, count us in, " She said as she brought her fist to meet his and Nalini and Hanna joined in just as Julian walked back inside. 

He stared at Lola, his expression indecipherable and she couldn't seem to look away.

She gulped softly wondering why her heart was thumping so hard.

Was it because she would be meeting Tyler at this party?

Or could it be the way Julian was staring at her right now?