I didn't think that Landon had fully comprehended that fact that someone had died until we pulled up to Katherine's residence. It was pretty evident when he asked for a bag. I handed him a Chinese takeout plastic bag that was floating around the passenger's seat. (God, I really needed to clean my car.) He grinned, lifted the bag to his lips, and threw up right into it. "Shit, sorry," he meekly said, wiping his lips and coughing. "I'm just still kinda processing it."

"Did you know Carson?" I asked, rubbing his back.

"Never met him before. We just...he was in school with us for years, and I never bothered to talk to him."

"It's okay, Landon. We can make up for it now." I don't think Carson had any friends. Maybe friends could've helped him when it counted.

Landon nodded and hit me with his signature smile. He carried the bag to the trashcan stationed on the Summers' curb and tossed it in. I made a gagging sound and Landon rolled his eyes. "C'mon. Let's go," he encouraged, gripping my shoulder and leading me to the front door.

"Big" was an understatement description of the mansion. The front lawn alone was larger than my house and the mansion itself was probably four times my home's size. It looked like the White House but way more extravagant, as if the house itself was screaming, Hey, look at me! The people who live in me are super rich!

I rang the doorbell, which instead of a typical ding, it rang to the tone of the American National anthem. Landon burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh, Jesus Christ," he laughed out. I elbowed him on his side and chuckled along with him. We waited for several moments until the door creaked itself open.

"Hello," a distinguished voice greeted. The door finally swung open for us to greet a man who probably wiped his nose on dollar bills in the morning. His brown hair was sleeked back and his ascot was painfully bright against his black suit. He looked ready to go yachting or perhaps take his private jet to the Bahamas and forget about Eldbourne for a few days. "Who may you be?"

"Good morning, good sir," Landon greeted with a slight bow. ("It's traditional where I come from," Landon had once jokingly told me, despite the fact he was born in Philly (and his South Korean mother would roll his eyes when he exaggerated the greeting around her)). I refrained from rolling my eyes when he dripped a British accent onto his "sir". "We were wondering if Katherine may be around on this fine evening."

"What would you like with my daughter?" he demanded.

"We simply would like to inquire upon her," Landon answered.

"What would you like to inquire?"

"Could you tell her that it's about Carson?" I cut in to prevent Landon from condescendingly asking further of Mr. Summers.

"What does my daughter have to do with that boy?" The last words of his statement where full of venom.

"That's what we're trying to find out."

"What are your names?"

"Avery."

"Landon Thompson, at your service."

"Avery, Landon," Mr. Summers spat, "please go back in your 'car' and drive far away from my home and far away from my daughter. Have a pleasant evening."

He was about to slam the door shut when Landon stuck his foot out between the frame and the door--which violently collided with his foot. Landon winced but managed, "Mr. Summers, a boy died. And we just want to ask Katherine about it. We won't even come in. If she could come here, or if you could deliver a message, we'd be immensely grateful. It would really help Carson."

Mr. Summers was silent for a moment. "Nothing can help Carson now," he retorted. "Now remove your foot or else I will call the police--"

"Daddy, who's at the door?" a voice from within required.

"Nobody, Katherine." Mr. Summers glared at us.

"Katherine, do you know anything about Carson?" Landon yelled.

"No, she does not!" Mr. Summers exclaimed, about to slam the door yet again. A pale hand grabbed his arm.

"Daddy, calm down," Katherine said, peeking her head into full view. She looked at us. "What do you want?"

"Do you know anything about Carson Harris?" Landon heaved, probably nervous of his foot getting injured yet again.

Katherine stared at us, her eyes darting between Landon and me. Her eyes finally settled on mine. "Aren't you the girl on the news? The one who's...Carson's girlfriend?"

"That's you?" Mr. Summers inquired, appalled and shocked. "We will not have a murderer in my house. Katherine, call the police and go to your room."

"Daddy, she didn't kill Carson," Katherine replied. Her eyes were soft and her hair was messy, but she remained determined against her father. "Come in, please."

Landon smiled broadly and I finally cracked a grin. "Thank you," he replied, extravagantly stepping into the house. Mr. Summers stared at me, his eyes examining my every movement. He didn't seem like he wished to defy his daughter's wishes.

"Hunter!" Mr. Summers suddenly called out. A few awkward moments later, a muscled Hunter Summers leapt down the staircase and landed at our feet.

"Sup, Dad? Yo," he greeted with a lazy wave.

"Please escort Miss Avery and Mister Landon to Katherine's room and watch them," his father ordered, still staring at me. Hunter grinned, his mop of curly brown hair doused with sweat. He punched his father on the arm.

"Sure thing, Pops. Basketball later, one-on-one?"

"Perhaps," his father said. "Make sure they leave in fifteen minutes. Any longer and I will call the police."

"Daddy--," Katherine began.

"Fifteen minutes," he affirmed, gyrating on his heel and stomping out of the room. Hunter grinned a wicked smile at me.

"Hey, you're Avery, right?" he inquired, leading us up the stairs. I nodded. "Ah, man, I'm sorry about Carson. That really sucks, man. He was great at basketball--I used to seem him on the court before the whole 'accident'." Everyone knew about the Accident, but I felt as though barely anyone had any information on what Carson was like before the event. He liked taking pictures and basketball, I thought, smiling at the thought of him snapping a picture right before the ball swished through the hoop. I then frowned, confused. I can't even remember his face, I thought. I wondered how much Mrs. Harris remembered of her boy. Was every painful detail etched into her mind, or was each feature of Carson slowly disappearing after each agonizing day?

"Thanks," I replied. Katherine gripped onto the handrail with pale knuckles. After an absurd amount of time, we reached Katherine's room. When we opened the door, I was greeted to the sight of books scattered across her room and clothes thrown about. The violet walls were decorated with inspirational quotes imprinted on posters. Katherine sat herself down on the edge of the bed, Landon and I reclined on beanbags in the far corner of the room, and Hunter stationed himself by the doorway. I noticed Landon examining him in the corner with a wishful gaze. I rolled my eyes. Landon just had to get that way around any remotely attractive human being.

"Why are you here?" Katherine inquired softly. Her voice reminded me of Mrs. Harris's: broken, but ready to become infuriated at any time.

"Um, Carson left me a box," I replied, "and it had some things in it. There was a bear with the letters 'KS' on it." Katherine's eyes widened. "They're your initials, and Mrs. Harris said she saw Carson around you a lot, so I thought maybe--"

"You were his girlfriend," Katherine suddenly spat, her whole demeanor changing. "Why don't you tell me what 'KS' stands for?"

I uncomfortably shifted in my chair. "It stands for Katherine Summers."

"How the hell did you know Carson? Why did he write out your name?" she demanded. She rose from her seated position. Hunter gazed at her from the corner. "Why the hell did he write your name?"

"We were dating, that's why," I calmly explained.

"Like hell," she replied, rolling her eyes. She approached me. I stood, ready to face her.

"Five more minutes," Landon uttered, still looking at Hunter.

"Why do you say that?" I asked, building up some confidence.

"Why would he follow me around all the time if he was dating someone?"

"I don't know, so why don't you help me figure that out?"

"Because you're a lying whore!" Katherine suddenly exclaimed.

"Whoa," Hunter said, finally breaking his stance at the door. "No need for that, Kat."

"Shut up, Hunter."

"No, you shut up," he replied. "Don't talk to our guests like that."

"They're not our guests--she probably killed Carson!" she replied, jabbing a finger at me.

"I did not kill Carson," I replied. "I'm trying to find out who did, so why don't you tell me why Carson had a bear with your initials on it?"

Tears seemed to well up in Katherine's eyes, but she shook them off. "Fine? You know what, if it gets you out of here, then I'll tell you." Katherine sat back down onto her bed and Hunter protectively stood by her. "Carson Harris was obsessed with me since frickin eighth grade. I guess he bought that blue bear to give to me as a present or something. He did that sometimes. He would try and ask me out with little gifts like that all the time."

"Why didn't you ever say yes?" Landon asked.

"Why would I? He's not rich and all he ever did was take pictures," Katherine replied. I rolled my eyes.

"So that's your reason for not going out with him? Because he was an introverted member of the middle-class?" I retorted, disgusted with the girl sitting before me.

"He practically stalked me for three years. That's just creepy. Why would I date a creep?" she asked. Her voice lowered. "I've never seen that bear. It was probably just another gift. Maybe he decided to give it to you in that box because you're his girlfriend."

"Thank you," I said. "Landon, let's go."

"Wait," he said, standing. "Now, I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but I'm Asian and can figure out a problem. So, Katherine, Kat, Kattie; you say that you've never, in your whole entire life, seen that blue bear?"

"Yes," she replied.

"That blue bear."

"Yes, that blue bear," Katherine echoed, her voice dripping with irritation. "So what?"

"Well, I think you're a liar." Landon placed his hands on his hips. "Because you would have had to seen that bear to know its color, because we never said it was blue."

Katherine seemed panicked. Hunter put his hand out. "Look, dude, I don't know what you're getting at, but my sister doesn't know anything. You guys seem cool, and I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Be quiet, Handsome," Landon said, placing his hand to Hunter and staring at Katherine. Hunter blushed and Katherine bore her eyes into my friend's. "Now, Kat. I don't think Carson was just your stalker. I think you might've taken that bear. I think maybe you didn't just take that bear, but you gave it back; threw it away, maybe. And I think you broke poor Carson's heart."

"Shut up," Katherine meekly replied.

"I think Carson Harris was in love with you, and just wanted a chance with you, and you broke his heart for it."

Hunter stepped in between his sister and Landon. "It's been fifteen minutes. You can leave now." Landon didn't break his gaze.

"You've never seen that blue bear, huh?" he continued. "Maybe you felt threatened by Carson. Maybe the only way to get rid of that little nuisance was to kill him for it--"

"Landon, stop," I said. I grabbed him by the arm. "Let's go."

"But--"

"I said, let's go. We got enough information. Don't accuse her of anything." Landon stiffened and walked out the door. "Sorry about that," I said when he was out of earshot. "He gets carried away sometimes."

Katherine suddenly burst into tears. Her sibling wrapped his arms around her and caressed her hair. "If you need anything else, just call instead," he replied, not looking at me. I nodded and hurried out of the room, closing the door behind me.

"Who are you?" someone behind me asked, making me jump. Landon was already far down the stairs, so when it wasn't his voice, I slightly panicked. The person looked like the siblings in Katherine's room, so I figured it was Matthew Summers. His hair wasn't curly like his brother's, but instead spiked up at his forehead. He had the same brown eyes as his siblings and possessed a goofy smile.

"I'm, uh..."

"Nice to meet you, Uh."

"Sorry. I'm Avery. I just needed to ask your sister about something."

"About Carson?"

"Yes," I timidly answered.

"Oh. You probably want to leave, then."

"Yeah, I was just making my way out."

Matthew's eyes widened. "No, no, I didn't mean like, you have to leave, but like, you probably would want to leave after that whole...um...'situation'." The other Summers boy awkwardly rubbed his arm. "Um, could I walk you out?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, sure." We were down the hall to the staircase when I added, "Um, if Katherine asks, can you tell her that Landon didn't mean what he said?"

"Who's Landon?" Matthew asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Oh; he's my friend. He's probably waiting in the car for me. He was kind of a wiseass to your Dad, though," I replied with a slight chuckle.

Matthew chuckled back. "Yeah, my dad is kind of a douchebag. Well, not kind of--he's just a full on asshole. Well, not like, literally an asshole, cause that'd be gross, but like...y'know what I mean...he's an ass."

"Yeah, I get it," I replied before Matthew could fumble over any more of his words. "Hey, by any chance, did you ever see Carson around your sister?"

Matthew's face drew a blank as we descended the stairs. "He would stop by her locker sometimes and give her these gifts--well, at least try to, but he always failed. It was kind of like in the movies, where the kid falls in love with the rich, spoiled girl, so the girl defies her pompous father to run away with the boy. But it didn't work out like that. I guess that's unfortunate for Carson."

"Yeah, that's unfortunate for Carson," I echoed. He never even stood a chance.

"So, will I, uh...see you around, any time soon?" Matthew inquired as I stood outside the door.

"Not here," I answered honestly. "Katherine and Hunter won't want to see me any time soon."

Matthew nodded. "Um, I'm at Avedon's a lot, down by the mall, if you ever wanna stop by," he said with a sly grin. "I saw Carson there sometimes. With his photos--they were...they were uh, really good." Midway through his sentence, there seemed to be regret in his face. He doesn't want me to see some of Carson's pictures, I deduced.

"Really? What do you do there?" I asked to stray away from the subject of Carson.

Matthew's eyes lit up. "I have some paintings there. Um, I've seen Dakota Roberts there sometimes, so I thought, um, maybe you would like to go?"

"Yeah, totally," I said. While it would be nice to peruse Matthew's selection of paintings--and I did intend to--the chance to see Carson's works seemed more beneficial to the current situation. "When's the next time you're gonna be there?"

"Wednesday, probably. My brother says it's lame, but...y'know, it's fun for me."

I smiled. "I'll be there with Dakota and Liam on Wednesday," I replied.

"Liam?"

"My boyfriend," I replied, the disappointment apparent all over Matthew's face.

"Oh, okay. Well, I, um, I'll, uh..."

"Uh?" I echoed with a cock of the eyebrow. Matthew laughed.

"Yeah, I'll see you there, Uh." He waved a curt wave and closed the door. I turned and made my way to the car to greet Landon lounging in the backseat with his arms crossed against his chest.

"Hello, Mr. Grumpy," I said. "That was quite a show you put on in there."

"She knows something, Avery," Landon assured. "She knew the bear was blue. It wasn't a lucky guess. Carson gave her that bear."

"I have an idea of where to go next, at least," I offered, backing out of the everlasting driveway.

"Where?"

"Wednesday. At Avedon's."

"What, that little hipster joint?" Landon inquired.

"Hey, it's artsy there," I replied. It was a quaint little part of the mall in which people could showcase their art--photos, paintings, poetry, fashion, etc.--and open it up to critique and perhaps purchase. I knew of at least one or two people that had become pretty successful due to them being found at Avedon's. "Matthew Summers invited me. Apparently, Carson had some of his photos there."

"Have you ever seen any of his photos?" Landon asked.

Just the ones in the box, but I don't think he took those. "No," I answered, "but I'm excited to. According to Mrs. Harris, he always carried that camera around."

"Avery, what if...what if Katherine really did kill Carson?" Landon asked quietly as we traveled down the road.

"What do you mean?"

"What if she actually did kill him? What if I just looked face-to-face with a murderer?"

"Why would she kill him?"

"Because she felt threatened. Or annoyed. Or just got sick of him. People have killed for worse reasons," Landon said.

"I guess we'll find out," I replied. I thought back to the blue bear sitting on my pillow, and I made it a promise. I made it a promise to make sure it got back to its owner, because I knew Katherine was lying. She knew Carson, and she was going to help me. I had to make sure of it. For Carson. For the bear. I looked at Landon through the review mirror and uttered, "I promise."