Chapter Thirteen —
Cassandra

Rosa spent the morning comforting Allie, and helping to make funeral arrangements.

Sam had chosen to inform his brother, airing on the side of caution since he was being somewhat considered a suspect. Rosa was glad to get out of that one. There was only so much she could take in one morning, and Campbell was definitely going to tip her over the edge.

Allie was, understandably, distraught, and Rosa had an incredibly difficult time keeping herself held together. Allie had wanted to see her sister's body, so Rosa and Will had escorted her to the hospital. By this time, there were already rumours flying around about an incident, and Allie agreed that something needed to be said.

At lunch time, Rosa and Luke called a town meeting and delivered the news, informing everybody that a funeral would be taking place later that afternoon. Rosa wasn't sure what the turn out would be, as many people seemed fearful, some even locking themselves away in their houses as a precaution. It was understandable, and Rosa knew they needed to work hard to find Cassandra's killer.

Allie had given Gordie permission to perform an autopsy, and it didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for – the bullet and casing.

The funeral arrangements were made fairly quickly, and that afternoon, after the news had broken, Rosa walked alongside Allie Pressman into the church.

Being the last person to see Cassandra alive, other than the vile person who murdered her, she had felt responsible in telling Allie what had happened, even if the single act had been absolutely soul crushing. To see a human being go through so much pain, to lose family, someone they loved more than anything, someone they needed, caused an agonising ache in Rosa's heart she'd never felt before. Rosa had never suffered with a loss like it herself, and she prayed that she never had to.

Before Allie made her way to the front of the church, she met Rosa's eyes appreciatively, in thanks for everything she'd done for her that morning.

Rosa released a heavy sigh, glancing around the rest of the room as people slowly filtered in to pay their respects. She lingered in the back corner for a while to wait for Grizz, offering sympathetic smiles towards some of her friends as they entered.

But, the moment she caught of sight of Campbell Eliot, her entire expression slipped.

Rosa had an idea or two about who could even possibly commit such a horrendous crime, and Campbell absolutely topped that list.

"Get the fuck out!" Will suddenly snapped, barging straight past Rosa to confront Campbell and Harry.

Rosa approached them cautiously, narrowing her eyes at Campbell. Harry noted that there was no trace of her usual warmth within her gaze, a flicker of darkness crossing them as Campbell attempted to continue past.

"We all know how you felt about Cassandra, Harry," Will sneered, blocking their way through. "You were super fucking clear. You too, so go, now."

Campbell took a step towards him, lowering his voice. "I don't have to listen to you." He shoved harshly past Will, forcefully knocking into the boy's shoulder.

Rosa stepped in front of Campbell, instinctively placing a hand out to stop him from going any further. Campbell's hand latched tightly around her wrist, fingers pressing into her skin so hard that Rosa involuntarily let out a soft hiss of pain, ripping her wrist from Campbell's grip.

"Hey, what the fuck man?" Glenn, who had spotted the commotion from the other side of the room, arrived at Rosa's side, taking one look at the red marks on her wrist before stepping in front of Campbell, the muscles in his jaw tightening at the smirk growing on the boy's face.

"What are you doing?" Gordie hissed, moving towards them the five of them. "Isn't this bad enough already?"

"Allie doesn't need to see them," Will stated.

"Allie doesn't give a shit about this right now," Gordie argued, his eyes drifting over to Glenn and Rosa, two people he knew very well could easily lose their cool. And if the tightened fists and white knuckles were anything to go by, that would be very soon. "You're making this worse, all right. Just let them in."

Rosa's stare remained on Campbell for a few seconds longer. She spared a glance in Gordie's direction, acknowledging his words. With a nod, she took a small step away from the boys, the sternness returning to her eyes as she turned back to address Campbell.

"In the back," she instructed.

Campbell moved past her, his shoulder brushing harshly against hers.

Rosa stiffened, remaining completely still as she watched them take a seat in the last row of the pews.

Harry glanced back at her as he sat down, an apologetic look in his eyes, but Rosa ignored it, too focused on the disgustingly smug look she was receiving from Campbell. A look she so desperately wanted to wipe off his face.

"Thanks for having my back," Will said, drawing her attention to him again. "I appreciate it."

"No problem," Rosa replied. "I'll keep an eye on them."

Will made his way back to the front of the church, whilst Rosa and Glenn headed for their seats.

"Everything okay?" Grizz asked them.

"Fine," Rosa answered shortly.

He glanced over at Glenn for an explanation as to why the atmosphere was so tense, but the boy merely shook his head.

Sasha looked up at them with bleary eyes. She had been good friends with Cassandra for a long time, and was always welcomed into the Pressman household. Sasha felt a strong aching sense of sadness for the loss of somebody so many people cared for, whereas Rosa's grief was now beginning to turn into pure anger.

The four of them sat along their row silently, whilst a girl played a somber melody on her cello, leaving the remaining teenagers time to fill into the church.

Rosa stared despondently into the distance, casting her mind back to the night before. The guilt had already began to weigh heavily against her chest when Rosa realised that, if she'd stayed behind, Cassandra may have still been with them. But now, she was gone, their leader was gone, and the town was left to descend into chaos.

Sasha's tears fell silently, reminding Rosa that she needed to remain strong for her friends, who were grieving, not just for themselves, but for Allie's loss too.

Grizz watched Rosa suck in a deep breath, straightening up as her eyes focused firmly ahead of her. She swallowing thickly, desperately trying to suppress any tears threatening to fall. His hand found hers, squeezing it lightly, knowing she was trying to keep herself together. Rosa glanced up at him, with watery eyes, leaning closer into his side for a sense of comfort.

The church's attention was abruptly taken to Allie Pressman, who made her way to the stage area. Rosa lowered her head for a moment, the grief stricken expression of the broken-hearted girl becoming too difficult to see.

Allie stood quietly for a few moments, the room filling with silence as her eyes slowly shifted over the people in the church. Eventually, she took in a deep breath, straightening up before she began to talk.

"My sister, Cassandra, was good," she spoke tearfully. "She was a good person. Um, she was captain of the debate team. You didn't want to argue with her." Her expression fell, watery eyes scanning the church again. "Who did this?" She called out, her voice wavering. "Huh? Who shot my sister? Why did you do that?"

Rosa closed her eyes for a moment, her breaths shaky as she inhaled deeply. Sasha let out a soft cry, most people in the church finding it difficult to watch Allie break down in front of them.

"We needed her!" Allie shouted out. Rosa squeezed her eyes shut, tears slowly falling against her cheeks. "I needed her," Allie's voice cracked.

Allie took a step back into Will's arms, leaving the stage. Rosa gripped harder onto Grizz's hand, holding her other hand out for Sasha to take. She stared ahead of her again, feeling a growing sense of anger towards whoever had caused this.

They'd killed somebody the town desperately needed. They'd caused devastation to Allie, and everyone else who cared for Cassandra. And even more so, they'd instilled the fear of living with a killer, and living in a town without a leader to enforce the rules, knowing that things would soon descend into chaos – which they would, Rosa was sure of it.

And she was sure of another thing. Whoever killed Cassandra Pressman was going to have hell to pay, and she'd make sure of it.

A/N

Cassandra deserved better :(

One day, Rosa is gonna fucking smack Campbell, and I look forward to writing it.