Part 20

The next month passed by in a blur. Life at Burswick started to get back to its normal flow, but the thought of Janice never really left us. Sure, people tried to act normally by worrying about exams and the Winter Formal, but the thought of Janice loomed over our heads like a dark cloud.

It had been a month and there had been no change in Janice's case. The police arrested that Sierra girl, but after that we heard nothing about it. Some might believe that the criminal had been caught and the case was closed, but other people, people like me knew that it wasn't over.

Sierra was not the killer. I didn't know how I knew, but my heart told me that the police arrested the wrong person. However, if Sierra was not the killer, why was she still in the police's custody? It had been a month, if she was innocent she should've been free by now.

Was I missing something here or was Sierra really the killer?

I had read Janice's journal, and it wasn't really helpful. The thing that surprised me was that there were pages torn from the journal. More than thirty pages were torn, at least if not more. Which meant that there was something Janice or someone didn't want me or anyone to know. And it made me all the more curious to find out what happened between Lauren and Janice. But in order to do that, I needed to find those thirty pages and I didn't know where they were.

"I don't know what I'm going to wear at the Winter Formal," Tracey said, slamming her hands on the table hard enough to cause the plates to rattle, effectively stealing our attention.

"That is still two months away, Tracey," I replied, swirling pasta around my fork.

"That is not a very helpful thing to say, Bri. I have nothing to wear. I don't have a date. I. Have. Nothing." She looked like she was either going to burst out crying or going to throw a furious fit.

"Relax. We have plenty of time. We'll go to the mall again on the weekend. Relax, Trace, sit down and eat something." I told her.

Pulling out a chair, Tracey sat down with a huff, besides Ben. I wished Ben would ask Tracey out for the Winter Formal. She was already crushing on him so hard, it would hurt her if he asked out someone else.

"What are you wearing to the dance?" Dash asked me. Throughout the past month, Dash had been the best boyfriend. Not only did he spend time with me, but he brought me gifts and made me laugh. Sure he was annoying during half of those times, but he still made me happy. And he knew how to court a girl.

Dash had taken me out to so many incredible places, it made me wonder just how rich he was, because those places were not inexpensive in any sense of the word. He took me out to expensive restaurants, amusement parks and movie premieres. And every single one of those dates was fantastic.

"I have an old dress lying around in the back of my closet somewhere, I'll just wear that," I answered.

"Absolutely not!" He stated, causing me to frown in confusion.

"Why not?" Now he had a problem with my dress, why did he have to be so bossy?

"Because you are my girlfriend and I want you to wear the best dress. I want you to win the crown," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "I do not want to win the crown. Gemma wants the crown and I don't want to take it from her. Besides, my dress is fine. I wore it like...two times, max."

"That dress is old and I don't want my girl to wear an old dress. You have to look like a princess. I will call my tailor and he will make a dress for you," Dash replied.

My eyes widened. This rich, spoiled brat! He really needed to control himself. Why couldn't he understand I did not want a new dress? Why did he have to be so difficult?

"No! You are not calling your tailor. I already told you I have a dress," I stated. If he called his tailor over I would throw a fit.

"Stop being so ungrateful, Bri. You have such an amazing boyfriend who wants to buy you a beautiful dress and now he is calling his tailor over to have a dress custom-made for you. If I have a boyfriend who did this for me, I would never leave him," Tracey cut in.

"That's not the point. I already have a dress, and it's just a dance, not something important," I argued.

"Excuse me, it's not just a dance, it's your first dance with me. And I will make sure my girlfriend has the best dress. I will call my tailor today and have him come up here to take your measurements," Dash stated, effectively shutting me up.

I was at war with my emotions. On one hand I was irritated and angry with my boyfriend because he was being bossy and telling me what to wear for the dance. But on the other hand, I was touched about the fact that he cared enough to buy a dress for me. I mean, as far as I knew, not a lot of boyfriends did that.

"Dash, you already got me so many gifts. I do not need a dress," I said. This guy literally had no respect for money. He'd clearly never met my father because if he had he would know the value of money, because money was the only thing my father valued.

"I want you to have the best dress. So I will call my tailor here, no arguments," he stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Fine. But I will pay for that dress." There was no way I would let him spend any more money on me. He already spent too much.

"That can't happen. You are not allowed to do that." Dash told me.

"Excuse me?!" The war has ended, and anger had won. Dash was being crazy now and I would not stand for it.

"You heard me. Besides, the tailor would never tell you the price of the dress since my dad will pay for it," he responded.

"Bri, you better not leave him. Don't they just make the cutest couple, Ben?" Tracey looked at Ben who was busy eating while looking at a textbook.

Ben paused, raising his head to look at Dash and I. "Uh, yeah, I guess they do," he muttered before going back to reading his textbook.

Tracey rolled her eyes. "What are you studying? The midterms are two weeks away."

"He is studying for his exams. And why are you asking him when you are worrying about a dance that is two months away?" I snapped.

"That dance is important!"

"How is it important when it happens every year?"

"Would you two shut up and let me study!" Ben threw in, shocking us all. I could not believe he'd spoken up. He was usually so quiet and only spoke when spoken to. And right now he just told us both to shut up.

"Come on, chocolate chip, relax. Don't worry, I will get you the best dress," Dash said, throwing an arm around my shoulders.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude," Ben apologized.

"It's alright, Ben. Don't apologize. I'm sorry we disturbed you." I told him, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Bri is right, Ben, we're really sorry. You can study, we will try not to disturb you," Tracey added.

Ben shut the textbook and sighed audibly. All three of us were staring at him, wondering what was wrong. He was upset, that much was obvious from his pale face and slouched shoulders.

"It's just that, I can't stop thinking about Janice and who killed her," Ben admitted.

"Ben, man, the police arrested the killer. It was Sierra," Dash said.

"I know the police arrested her. But I don't know why, I'm not...satisfied. I just don't think that it was Sierra who killed Janice. I don't know, I just think there is something more to it," Ben responded, looking forlorn.

"You are not the only one who thinks that, Ben. I don't think Sierra is the killer either." I put in, letting Ben know that he was not alone.

"Why? Why are you guys not convinced that Sierra is the killer?" Dash asked. Was it just me or did he look irritated?

"Because, it just seems too easy. Like, the police arrested her and that's it. Nothing happened after that. So it seems strange that we haven't heard anything about it," I answered.

"Exactly. And besides, Sierra wasn't even that close to Janice. So I don't think she killed her. Sierra is being framed," Ben agreed.

"There is more. I was reading Janice's journal and a lot of pages are missing."

"What do you mean missing?" Ben asked.

"Means they have been torn. I think about thirty pages are missing from different parts of the journal." I told him.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"Because I wasn't sure and I kind of forgot with the exams and assignments," I confessed, ignoring the shards of guilt sinking in my heart.

"This could be important, Bri." Ben looked as if I had committed the biggest sin.

"Yes, but I don't know where those missing pages are, let alone what is written on them." I told him.

Ben sighed, leaning back in his chair, frustration evident on his face. "What are we going to do? My girlfriend left us with a mystery which we don't know how to solve."

"Ben, don't lose hope. We will figure this out. We haven't given up, not really," Tracey said, attempting to comfort him.

"That's not true. We would've found the killer otherwise," Ben snapped.

"Ben, we are trying our best, man. But this is a murder so obviously it'll take us some time. And we have classes and exams as well. Despite the fact that we want to spend every hour of everyday trying to solve this murder, we can't, because we have other things that require our attention as well," Dash said. I wanted to kiss him right now because he was making Ben understand what I was unable to say.

Ben sighed. "I know." He paused. "Look, I'm sorry. I know I'm being irrational and crazy but it's just so hard to move on knowing that her killer is still out there."

"Oh Ben." Sympathy coupled with empathy flooded my system for Ben. "Let me hug you." Just as I moved in to hug him, I was pulled back by Dash as he wrapped his arms around me.

"No, no, shortcake. You don't hug him, you hug me," he said, squeezing me tight.

"Dash." I tried to pull away but he only tightened his hold on my body, preventing me from hugging anybody else.

"No, you only hug me. I cannot let you hug other guys, it makes me jealous," he murmured only loud enough for me to hear.

"You are crazy. Ben needs a friend," I muttered, wanting to bang my head against the wall because of my unique boyfriend.

"He has friends. He doesn't need hugs from you. Only I need them. You can only hug me, no one else," he stated, kissing my neck. Why did he have to make it so difficult for me to hate him?

"But they are my hugs, I have the right to give them out to whoever I want whenever I want," I whined, loving the feel of his strong arms around me. Dash's hugs were so warm and his body was so comfortable one could actually sleep on him.

You are shameless!

"No! All your hugs became mine the moment you agreed to be my girlfriend," he stated.

"You forced me to be your girlfriend," I reminded him, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Fine. I stole all your hugs. Now they are mine. Once I steal something, it becomes mine forever," Dash replied.

I sighed. "You are impossible. What am I going to do with you?"

"Never leave me, that's what you are going to do. By the way, I'm taking you out on Sunday." He told me.

"Taking me out where? You do know that exams are in two weeks, right? I cannot go anywhere. We can go after exams," I stated, already worrying about my exams. There was so much going on right now; I had a boyfriend and there was a murder to solve, I could not give undivided attention to my studies. If I scored anything less than an A, my dad would kill me. I was sure he just needed a reason.

"It's just one day and it's really important. I can't change the day, so we don't really have a choice," he replied.

"What is so important? You can take me out on a date some other time." I really wanted to give time to my textbooks because exams were looming over our heads and I still had a lot of studying to do.

"It's not a date...well not like a regular date. It's something else," he said.

Now I was confused and curious. "Dash, what is it? Tell me." I had no idea what Tracey and Ben were doing behind me.

"It's a surprise, chocolate chip." He kissed my cheek.

"No. Tell me right now. You said it's important and you have no choice, so I want to know what it is," I demanded.

Dash sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you. But promise me you will not freak out. You are coming with me, you don't have a choice in that. But please, don't freak out."

Now I was eager and curious. "Dash, just tell me already."

"First promise me."

I sighed. "Fine. I promise I won't freak out. Now tell me."

"Good." Dash took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing...Bri, I'm taking you to meet my dad."

Oh shoot!

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Author's Note.

Hi guys,

Here is another update, I hope you all like it.

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Until next time.

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Ciao.