Part 7

The fact that Dash and I had found our first clue made my heart pitter patter with a strange thrill. Maybe this whole investigation thing would not be so bad, it had been fun so far, and Dash took me out to the woods. I had hardly ever ventured in that territory for the fear of getting in trouble. But Dash took me out, and the woods felt great.

"Why are we back here?" I asked Dash as we entered the cafeteria.

"Because you ate my bacon and I'm still hungry. So we are here because I am going to eat," he answered, pulling out a chair for me to sit on.

"Oh my, thank you." I smiled. Only when I was about to sit down, I found my butt meeting the hard floor rather than the soft cushion of the chair. I raised my head to glare at Dash to who was doubling over with laughter; the chair he pulled out for me was behind him. The jerk! I actually thought he was being a gentleman for a change. I could hear the other people laughing at me, and that made heat burn my cheeks.

"You are so stupid. I am suppose to be torturing you not being kind to you." Dash laughed once more.

"You said I will enjoy having you as a boyfriend." I wanted to hit him with something heavy. Perhaps, I'd smack him with a spoon.

"I said that? Oh, what I meant to say was that I will enjoy being your boyfriend, because I can torture you all I want." He grinned at me, and I cursed him for looking so cute.

"You are the worst boyfriend ever. You know what." I stood up, dusting my skirt. "I do not accept you as my boyfriend. I am out of here." Just as I turned to leave, Dash grabbed my arm, halting me in my tracks.

"Oh come on, lighten up. You can't go anywhere without me, so sit down...on the chair I mean." Dash chuckled before giving me a sharp tug and forcing me to sit down on the chair. "Now be a good girl and stay put, while I go and get something to eat." Without waiting for a response, Dash strode away leaving me sulking over this new arrangement.

This had never happened to me. In all my time as Burswick Academy, no guy dared to do what Dash had done in so little time. It was weird how he was not afraid of anything. The teachers at Burswick were respected and feared by all students, but Dash wasn't scared of them. He did whatever his heart desired. And I wasn't sure if it was an admirable quality or not.

I looked around the cafeteria. There were a lot of students sitting and eating, which comforted me for some reason. When I came earlier, there was hardly anybody here, and now there was a considerable crowd.

My eyes continued to survey the students in the cafeteria until my eyes on landed on Damian. I was surprised to see he was already looking at me, so I smiled softly in reponse. Damian was fairly cute with soft, brown hair and hazel eyes. I liked Damian, his eyes always held a spark of youth in them, and he was always so nice to me.

Damian smiled in response before picking up his tray and coming over to where I sat. "Do you mind if I sit with you, Bri?" He asked, ever the gentleman, unlike Dash.

"Of course, sit down. How are you?" I said.

"I'm fine, just a little rattled after Janice's death. I cannot believe somebody was cruel enough to do that," Damien replied, taking a seat beside me.

"Exactly, it's heart breaking. Are your parents here?" I enquired.

"No, I told my parents not to come. I mean, it's not easy taking a flight from Germany to come here," he said. Damian's parents lived in Germany because of their business.

"It is easy, it's just hectic." I chuckled.

Damian rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, smartass." We both laughed until I felt a tray slam down on the table.

"What are you laughing at, sweetheart?" Dash asked, pulling out a chair with a little too much force and sitting down.

"Oh nothing, just something Damian said." It took me a moment to realize Dash had called me sweetheart. What in the educational hell?

"And who is this Damian?" Dash questioned, not sparing a glance at the boy sitting besides me.

"Dash, meet Damian; Damian, this is Dash," I introduced the two.

"Hey, nice to meet you." Damian nodded in acknowledgement while Dash just eyed him like a bug that needed to be squashed immediately. What was his problem?

"Yeah, sure. Baby, why don't you eat something, you didn't eat enough during breakfast." Dash pushed his plate towards me, but I barely glanced at it, my focus on Dash. First sweetheart and now baby, what was he playing at?

"What are you doing?" I hissed, making sure to keep my voice low.

"What are you talking about?" Dash covered my hand with his in a proprietary manner.

"So, Bri, I was wondering if you are free on Saturday. Maybe you and I can go out and spend the day together." Damian's cheeks pinked as he asked me this. Just as I opened my mouth to say yes, Dash said,

"Actually, I am taking Brielle out on a date on Saturday." What the hell?!

"Oh." Damian's face fell, but he tried to mask his emotions. "I didn't know you two were going out."

"Well, we are. But Bri here is a little shy, she doesn't like talk about our relationship with people," Dash replied before he leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

What relationship? He kissed me!

"Oh yes, Bri is a little shy," Damian agreed.

Why wasn't I doing anything? This jerk was taking control of my life and my body refused to cooperate, my mouth refused to listen to me. What was wrong with me?! I was supposed to slap him. He was ruining my plans with Damian.

"Yes, I've planned a fantastic date for my girlfriend. But it's a surprise for her," Dash stated, completely oblivious to the fiery daggers I was shooting at him through my eyes. He was going to die. I was going to kill him just like that monster killed Janice. I could not believe Dash was making me have evil thoughts; he was a terrible influence.

"Oh, that's great." My heart sunk in an ocean of guilt when I saw the sadness in Damian's eyes. Dash was ruining everything and I was sitting here frozen like a useless ice sculpture.

"Uh, w—we can go next week," I suggested, and Damian's face lit up. God, he was so cute.

"Oh did you forget, we have a date next week as well. My girlfriend can be forgetful at times," Dash said, throwing in a chuckle for effect. Damian's face fell once more and I had the strongest urge to kick Damian in the balls. Maybe I would do that once we were alone.

"Uh, Damian, I didn't see you in any of my classes; what subjects are you taking this year?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Damian was a great guy and I did not want to lose him. He may not be my best friend but he was still a wonderful guy.

"Oh yeah, I decided not to attend classes on the first day, I was tired from my flight. But we discussed which subjects we'll be taking, so I'm taking the same subjects," he replied.

"Oh great, that means you'll be in all of my classes with me. That's wonderful. I'll save you a seat." I told him.

"I hope you will not give him my seat because I will be very heartbroken," Dash stated. There was seriously something wrong with him. He hated me, so why was he acting like this?

"Anyways, I will see you in class. I have to go now; I still haven't unpacked. I'll see you around, Bri, take care." With a smile, Damian stood up and left the cafeteria. Once I could no longer see my friend, that's when I turned my glare on Dash.

"What. The. Hell. Was. That?" I was so close to snapping his neck, it was a wonder how I was controlling myself.

"I should be asking you that question? Why were you flirting with another guy when I'm your boyfriend?" Dash glared at me.

"You are not my boyfriend, you are a jerk. And you ruined my plans with Damian! We are not going on a date, so why did you lie to him?" I questioned.

"I did not lie to him. We are going on a date, I planned everything, I just didn't tell you. And I am your boyfriend; you are going through the ten semesters right now which means you do as I say or your life will get much worse," he answered.

"Damian is my friend; I was not flirting with him." Then I understood what he said. "You what? You planned a date and you didn't tell me? When did you do that?"

"While I was getting food. So yes, we are going out on Saturday; wear something nice. I want to show off my girlfriend to everyone." He winked at me before picking a donut and taking a giant bite out of it.

I leaned closer to him. "You are the worst human being ever. I cannot believe God made you a human, you do not deserve such privileges."

"You are a terrible girlfriend, did you know that?" He didn't seem fazed by my words, just continued eating his donut.

"I'm a terrible girlfriend because I have a terrible boyfriend. So it's really your fault that I am like this," I retorted.

"Does that mean I have the power to change you?" He picked up another donut. What was his obsession with donuts?

"No, it means you have the power to make me commit suicide," I snapped, feeling my mouth water at the sight of the chocolate donut. Chocolate donuts were my favorite.

"Then that power is useless, because I don't want to kill you. I want to torture you," he responded evenly.

Everytime Dash said something like this, it made me wonder whether he was Janice's killer. I mean, he talked about death so easily, like it was nothing special, nothing to be scared of. And he would only think like that if he faced death on a regular basis. He might be helping me with this investigation but he was still a suspect on my list.

"What are we going to do with the button?" I asked, wanting to focus on something other than my impending date with this troublemaker. The thought of going on a date with Dash made my heart do funny things.

"You are going to look at every student's uniform and see if they have a missing button on their shirt. Meanwhile, I am going to take a closer look at Janice's friends," he answered.

"This makes no sense. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. There are thousands of students here—"

"That's an exaggeration. Burswick only takes the best of the best."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Get to the point, shorty."

"Well I doubt I can find out if a student is missing a button. A lot of students lose buttons, and they can also sew the button right back on. So it's useless," I argued.

"Wow, you do have a brain. You're right, it's useless."

"So, did you guys find anything?" Tracey asked, plopping down on the chair that Damian vacated a few minutes ago.

"Where's Ben?" Dash asked.

"He is talking to Lauren; the girl cannot stop crying. I didn't know you could cry so much, but it looks like a dam has been opened and her tears keep flowing out," she replied.

"So, what did Lauren say? Did you get any leads?" I asked.

"Well Lauren kept bawling like a baby. I don't mean to sound insensitive but she just wouldn't stop crying. So, Ben is there helping her calm down. Although I did manage to steal her diary," Tracey replied.

"That's great! Where is it?" Wow, did I really just say that? My best friend stole something and I was congratulating her. Dash really was a bad influence on me.

"I hid it in our room before coming here. I'm sure if someone saw me with Lauren's dairy, I will be in trouble. We'll read it together after curfew," she said. "Oh, donuts, can I have one?" Dash pushed the plate containing donuts in her direction and Tracey grabbed one with purple glaze. "What about you guys, did you find anything?"

"Dash and I went to the woods. He showed me the spot where they found Janice's body," I answered.

"Yeah, we didn't really find much," Dash added.

"You went to the burial spot. Oh man, you guys have all the fun. He took you to the woods, while I had to deal with a crying Lauren. I'm trading places with you next time," Tracey stated, taking a bite of her donut.

"Yes, please. This guy aggravates me to no end," I huffed.

"Tracey, I'm taking Bri out on a date on Saturday," Dash said.

"No, you are not. I am not going anywhere with you. Tracey, help me get rid of him." I turned to my best friend. If anyone could get me out of trouble, it would be her.

"A date? That's wonderful. You know, Dash, Bri never went out on a date before. I'm so glad you decided to take her." My best friend smiled at my tormentor. This world was a terrible place. My own best friend had betrayed me. There was no one I could trust now. Yes, I was dramatic.

"You've never been on a date before? Are you fucking serious." Dash laughed, and I could feel my face turning the color of beetroot.

"Yeah, well, I didn't find anybody worth my time," I shot back.

"Well that is perfect. Your time is mine now and I will make the perfect use of it. When you are not studying or in class, you will be with me. I will keep you busy. After all, I am your boyfriend." Dash winked at me. Why was he so hot?

"Please kill me, Tracey, I do not want to be with him," I pleaded with my best friend who giggled.

"Ten semesters, baby," Dash sang.

Somebody shoot me, please.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Note.

Hi guys,

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

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Thank you for reading.

Until next time.

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Ciao.