The walk to Cynthia's house seemed like it took forever, though it was right next to mine. Dane and I had to work as a team, in order for us to get what we needed. Dane distracted the investigators as I snuck passed them and into the house.
"Ow!", Dane shouted and fell to the floor, over dramatically. The police men rushed over to him. He held his arm as if he was in pain and shot me a look.
I gave him a thumbs up and quietly walked into the house. The first thing I saw when I did-was indeed-the china cabinet. I saw two long drawers that were on the bottom of the cabinet. I took a moment to look around and I imagined Cynthia's body laying on the floor again. I shook my head and turned my attention back to the drawers.
I looked around, put on the gloves that Dane insisted I wear, and opened the first one. In it were stacks of letter, and notes. They were all in bags, as if they were waiting to be investigated. I put the bags of letters in the larger bag I brought and closed the drawer, opening the other one.
There was a pocket knife, a gun, and a green hooded jacket. I gulped and put all the things into the bag.
I heard voices inching near the house, so I ran upstairs as fast as I could and hid behind one of the walls. After I heard the voices pass the staircase, I opened and closed every door, until I came across the door what had small, glittery, and sticky letter that said her name on the front of it. I opened the door and walked inside. It smelled like perfume and alcohol. The walls were covered in wooden wallpaper, along with the rest of her house. Her bed was white and almost all of her furniture was black. Everything matched too well and it made my skin crawl. It was too perfect in here.
As promised, there was a laptop sitting on her bed with a USB port in the side of it. I walked over to it and took it out right when someone walked in.
"What are you doing?", An angry looking man with thinning grey hair asked at the door. I turned to him quickly and held it behind my back.
"I-", I stuttered and shoved the USB in my pocket."I-"
I tried to think of an excuse, but when he started walking towards me and grabbed my arm, I knew I was screwed. He pulled me out of the house and pushed me towards the stairs.
"Found this one inside", He said.
All of the officers stared at me and one of them pulled out handcuffs.
"Julie!", Someone shouted. I looked up to see Rosie walking towards me angrily."What have I told you about leaving the house at this time? Come on", She grabbed my arm and pulled me along with her, then grabbed Dane by the ear and pulled him with us too.
"What are you doing, ma'am?", One of the officers asked. She stopped and turned around, letting go of Dane's ear. He winced and put his hand over his ear.
"I'm sorry, officer. These kids are always up to no good", She sighed."Wait 'till your mother hears about this", She snapped at me.
"Please don't tell mom. I promise it won't happen again", I decided to play along with whatever she was doing.
"I'll mow your lawn. I promise", Dane said.
"I watch these kids when their parents are out of town, and they always sneak out. I'm sorry, sir", Rosie said."Say you're sorry"
"I'm sorry", I mumbled.
"Sorry", Dane said.
"Now if you'll excuse us", Rosie said and pulled us away from the crime scene.
"Whatever it is you're doing, I want in", She whispered.
Dane and I exchanged looks."What are you talking about?", I asked.
"Oh, come on. You wouldn't sneak into a dead girls house after watching her die just for fun. You're gonna try and find who killed her, and I want in"
"Wha-", Dane started and she cut him off.
"It's not too late to go back and tell them the truth, you know?", She said. We all stayed quiet."Please", She sighed."Cynthia was my best friend, and I would kill to find out who hurt her...", She gulped."Killed her"
I sighed deeply."Okay-"
"Arin", Dane snapped at me.
"If I was murdered, wouldn't you want to know who did it and why?"
He sighed and closed his eyes."Fine.."
Rosie thanked us a few times and as she walked away, I heard her sob, and it made my heart sink. If I didn't watch her die, it could have been Rosie. And maybe that's why I was the one to watch her die.
*
I stared at the clock, tapping my fingers to the sound of the ticking.
After a week of calls, emails and searching, Dane and I finally found Barry Tread, and he agreed to meet with us after school.
When the bell finally rang, I packed my stuff quicker than I ever have and I glanced over at Cynthia's old seat. I saw her dead body laying there, staring at me. Her hand around the handle of the knife that was in her and she held her hand out to me.
"Not...safe", She said and plunged the knife in her chest. I looked away quickly and ran out of the classroom before I could scream, cry or throw up.
"Rain", Tom caught me by the shoulders before I could run into him.
"Hey", I smiled at him."Sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention"
"It's okay", He smiled."Where are you going?", He asked.
"Just trying to get to my brother before he leaves me here"
"Oh, I'll walk you out"
"You don't have to", I said. He shook his head.
"It's okay. I'm going the same way, anyways"
I nodded."Right"
"So..", He started."I was thinking...and maybe if you're not busy on Friday..", He bit his lip and looked down."Maybe we could go out or something"
I looked up at him."Are you trying to ask me out?"
"Maybe", He smiled back at me.
"I'll have to check my schedule", I said jokingly.
"You do that", He laughed and we walked our separate ways. Dane drove up to the front of the school and I got in his car. He drove away and I told him the directions to where we were meeting Barry. It was only ten minutes away.
When we go up to the building we're meeting Barry at, and I saw Rosie leaning against a red mustang. I got out of Dane's car and walked up to her with Dane following close behind.
"What are you doing here?", I asked quietly.
"I'm a part of this", She shrugged.
I nodded."But how'd you find out that we were coming here?"
"I have my resources", She shrugged.
I looked up and around, searching for Barry. I saw a man-who couldn't be older than twenty-leaning against the building, looking through a file. I walked over to him without consulting Rosie or Dane about it. I knew they were following though.
