The bell rang at an alarming volume, startling Carmen awake. She had been so deeply asleep that she couldn't even remember how or when she got to class. Either way, study hall was over. She hadn't gotten caught. And if she did, the teacher obviously didn't care enough to reprimand her.

Carmen trudged down the hall to AP French. Her body felt heavier than a pile of bricks. For a second, she imagined she literally was carrying a handbag full of bricks. She sunk into her chair at the edge of class and struggled to keep her heavy eyelids open. Jeez.. how many pills did Amber force her to take?

What did she even dream about before... The whole point of this was to dream. Carmen scavenged her backpack for a notebook and pen. At least now, she looked like she was taking notes while her teacher read unknown phrases out loud in a melodious voice.

Of course, she wasn't taking notes on the class. Carmen was determined to write down the most important parts of the dream or dreams before it all faded away into a foggy cloud of distant memories. There was something about churros.

Carmen remembered the first time her dad bought her a churro and smiled. Ever since then, those sweet cinnamon sticks had been her most favorite snack ever.

Carmen snapped back and began to fill the lines of the paper with rapid writing. Rain and Joel— well, her father— asked out their crushes. Sloane went with them to the fair. Rain and Darren Banks made out.

How did they move so fast? Oh, they started working together too. Carmen almost forgot about that part. They'd had a heated interrogation, where Darren confided in Rain and told her about how he'd been cut off from his dad's money. Now they were both competing for the same scholarship.

Rain and Darren weren't the only ones to have a passionate moment. Sloane had made out with Holly Jones. Carmen shook her head. Holly Jones seemed like such a player, and Sloane was such a fake friend.

If Sloane was a fake friend... would it be fair to put her on the suspect list? Up until now, the only people who could have killed Rain were herself and maybe her mother. That lady seemed intense. Carmen hadn't had any more dreams of her, however, so it couldn't have been her, could it? Sloane seemed like the most likely culprit here. What if she killed Rain to ensure Carmen's dad wouldn't know about her and Holly?

Before Carmen knew it, the bell rang again. Slowly but surely, her body was finally starting to feel lighter. The rays of sun that peeked through the hallway windows shined brighter. Her footsteps became faster. Students rushed out of classrooms and packed the corridors as school ended for the day. If she hurried, she'd make it in time for one final task.

Another thing was for certain. This dream confirmed that Rain and Darren Banks had a romantic relationship. Carmen wasn't sure how long it lasted. What mattered is that they trusted each other. That attractive substitute teacher, Mr. Banks, must know something about Rain. Carmen had done the math. Darren Banks would be in his late thirties, assuming he'd been seventeen or eighteen in 1980– the year of Rain Wilson's death. Mr. Banks certainly didn't look forty, but he didn't look twenty either.

Of course, Carmen couldn't just ask him about Rain right away. She had just the perfect plan to gain his trust. People like him always trust the smart students, especially since he was one himself. Being a new teacher at Willowburg High, it was in his best interest to form positive relationships with his students, too.

Carmen paused and took a deep breath before approaching his door. It was slightly ajar. As she walked closer, she could hear the chirpy voice of a young female student and his. It seemed she wasn't the only one trying to get close. Carmen stepped quietly and peeked through the crack.

"I just don't understand, Mr. Banks. Could you explain why I got this question wrong?" Shelby leaned over Mr. Banks' desk while pointing to something on a paper with a pen.

Mr. Banks cleared his throat and pulled the paper closer. There's something really odd about the way she's leaning over his desk, Carmen thought.

Shelby's pen suddenly rolled off the side of the teacher's desk and clacked on the ground.

"Oh, whoops! Clumsy me," Shelby giggled softly before bending down to pick it up. Instead of squatting a bit, she made a scene of bending down all slow right in front of him.

Mr. Banks stared for a few seconds before adjusting his necktie and going back to the paper. "Shelby."

"Yes, Mr. Banks?" Shelby popped her head back up and stood up straight while twirling the pen around her fingers.

"You still have a lot to learn, there's a lot of.. huge errors on this paper."

"I know, it's just kind of hard for me to understand it. I might need more of your help," she disclosed while biting her lip.

Mr. Banks stared back at her for a moment before finally saying in a low voice, "We can get m- your grade up if you put in some extra practice. Would you be willing to meet me here during breaks?"

"For private lessons?" Shelby cocked a grin.

"Sure," Mr. Banks smiled back. "Perhaps our one-on-one could get you on your, I mean back on track."

"Thank you, I would really—"

Carmen knocked on the door loudly before pulling it open. Shelby quickly leaned away from the desk and Mr. Banks sat up straight. Both turned to Carmen with equally startled expressions, but Mr. Banks was the quickest to compose himself.

"Fuentes, can I help you?" Mr. Banks lifted an eyebrow curiously.

"Hey Carm," Shelby said with a light blush suddenly appearing over her pale cheeks.

"Hey. I need to speak to you, Mr. Banks," Carmen said flatly. She tried to avoid Shelby's eyes at the moment. She knew that if she looked at her, she wouldn't be able to hold back a glare. Why was her friend acting like this? She had to know what she was doing, right?

"I'll let you two talk. Thank you for the help, Mr. Banks!" Shelby waved before swiftly leaving Carmen and their teacher together in the classroom.

Carmen cleared her throat and walked up to his desk. "I've been meaning to ask you for a favor for a while," she started carefully. "Our previous teacher, Mr. Dacus had offered to write me a letter of recommendation for a scholarship right before he was hospitalized. I was wondering if—"

"Oh, Carmen," Mr. Banks interrupted, leaning his head back and shaking it slowly. "I can't write you your letter. I'm sorry, I just don't know you that well."

"N-no, that's not what I meant," she stammered, holding her cross nervously. "I simply wanted to ask if you still had contact with Mr. Dacus so I could contact him."

"And pressure him to write your letter while he is recovering? He needs to rest."

Carmen felt her cheeks go red and her head goes blank. What could she possibly say to that? "Of course, but I still need to know whether he's working on—"

"Wait. You look familiar. Are you by any chance a relative of Joel Larson?"

"He's my father, sir. I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with our discussion?" Carmen's heart started pounding in her chest.

Mr. Banks closed his eyes and nodded. When he opened them, his eyes were like slits of daggers and his gaze was one of undeniable contempt.

"Joel Larson, huh. Everyone knows what your father did with his money. He studied and not only picked up skills in the art of music but in the art of illicit drugs. In other words, it would be a waste to have his daughter go down the same path, wouldn't it? Anyway," Mr. Banks waved his hand dismissively as if batting away a fly. "You're asking the wrong person. I was only given a position to fulfill."

Carmen backed away slowly. Moving her feet was like lifting a ton of bricks and every vein in her body throbbed with fear and anger. She felt a knot tighten inside her throat. Finally, she couldn't take it.

Carmen raced out of the classroom, down the crowded hallway, and slipped into the closest bathroom. She slammed the stall door closed and locked herself in. Carmen clutched her chest and the door as she struggled to catch her breath, but it was no use. Heaving sobs overtook her body and she shook violently, covering her mouth to silence her desperate cries.

The salty tears stung her skin as they rolled down her burning cheeks. How could he say that about her father? What the hell did he know!

Carmen's mind raced back to all the memories she had of him when she was young. He would always be smiling and lifting her up. He wanted to make her smile too.

She clutched her head and gritted her teeth. The camcorder and the dreams showed proof of how he'd always been involved in the party scene. Sure, he rolled up the occasional blunt in high school. Yes, he met up with dealers during his young adult life. And sure, he got caught up with dangerous drugs that eventually led to a fatal overdose.

Carmen's breath hitched as she clutched her fists. That wasn't all there was to her father. It wasn't fair to define his life and reputation by his addiction, especially when he'd done all he could to be there for Carmen. What did that shallow, overprivileged teacher know about anything! He didn't know shit about her father, and least of all anything about her. He had no right, absolutely no right at all, to talk that way.

After Carmen had waited for most of her rage to pass and for her tears to dry, she made sure nobody was outside before stepping out of the stall. She splashed water on her face and sighed. To her brutal disappointment, she still hadn't made progress with either the letter issue or getting Mr. Banks to tell her what he knew about Rain. Still, it would be wise to tell the other girls about her latest dream and her newest theory.

***

"You think Sloane had a hand in Rain's death?" Shelby repeated.

School had ended for the day, so Amber had driven the girls to the mall where they could have their meeting over coffee in the busy food court. It wasn't somewhere one would expect aspiring paranormal researchers to congregate, but they were high school girls after all.

"Yes, I have reason to believe so," Carmen responded while furrowing her brows. Once again, she could hardly hold Shelby's gaze for longer than a second. "I know right where this is headed. Think about it, Rain just caught Sloane making out with their best friend's crush. It's possible Sloane wanted to ensure Rain took that secret with her to the grave and nowhere else."

"Who's to say Holly didn't kill her?" Amber finally spoke up while tapping a pen to her chin. She'd been taking diligent notes of their clues for the past half hour.

"But what motives would Holly have to kill Rain?" Carmen asked.

"Yeah," Shelby said. "They barely even talked."

"Sloane was out of the closet. We don't know if Holly was. Based on how you've described her in your dreams, Holly seems like someone who would care a whole lot about her social standing. Especially since she had all eyes on her as the popular girl."

"I don't know.. she doesn't strike me as the violent type," Carmen said hesitantly.

"Still, I don't think we should rule her out just yet. It's important that we keep our minds open to any possibility. Speaking of which..." Amber adjusted herself to sit straighter, then changed her mind and laid her hand gently over Carmen's. "Carm, I'm really sorry about what Mr. Banks said to you. It was totally uncalled for."

"Thank you," Carmen sighed.

"Guys, I'm sure you're overthinking it," Shelby smiled gently. "He was probably stressed out at the time and so it came out harsh, but I'm pretty sure he was only worried for you. He's a really caring person."

Carmen turned her head. "Worried for me? In what world would a man like him be worried about me?"

"Listen," Amber interrupted and took a deep breath. "What I'm about to say may come out harsh too, but I need you to be open-minded."

Carmen turned her head back. Why was Amber only directing herself to Carmen?

"You mentioned how Holly didn't strike you as someone violent. Well, there's someone else who is."

There was a hesitant pause before Amber continued. Something was definitely weird here, thought Carmen. Amber wasn't one to pause mid-explanation.

"Joel Larson, your dad, has shown signs of aggression multiple times in your dreams. Remember that time he pinned that guy against the locker and threatened the other two?" Amber asked.

Carmen slowly shook her head side to side in disbelief. "He was defending Holly from those perverts."

"Not to mention, he experimented with drugs," Shelby added. "Mr. Banks must have given us our clue without knowing it. There must be a reason why he has such a bad impression of Joel, so bad that he's scared to offer you help for your scholarship."

"Carmen, your father's a suspect," Amber declared while furrowing her eyebrows together gently in regret.

That was it. They'd pulled the last straw. Carmen stood up abruptly. Her chair clattered loudly behind her.

"Carm?" the girls said in unison. Carmen startled the other mallrats around her too, but she didn't care.

"Know what? Fuck you Amber, and fuck your fake pity. You're cold and heartless, don't even bother pretending that you care about ANYONE but yourself."

Amber's jaw dropped, but before she could say anything, Carmen turned and finally faced Shelby.

"And fuck you, Shelby. You're a slut who cares more about flirting with the teacher and defending his bigotry than worrying about how his words made me feel."

Shelby stifled a cry. Carmen ignored her.

"You're both pathetic and shallow. I never thought you two, of all people, would dare talk about my father like that. Screw you guys."

With that, she armed herself with her tote bag and stormed out.