"So you want me to find you crimes to solve?" Lestrade asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sherlock, I don't think this school is exactly brimming with criminal activity."

"Wrong!" Sherlock scowled, "There is a criminal mastermind walking among us, and I need to stop him."

"No need to get dramatic!" Lestrade laughed, dribbling his basketball absentmindedly. "What kind of 'criminal activity' is going on, then?"

Sherlock hesitated. "I don't exactly know."

"Uh-huh," Lestrade sighed. "Why did you boys come to me for help?"

"You're at the top of the school food chain," Sherlock stated. "Mature and popular."

Lestrade rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I have to give you that one. Sure, I'll be your... What did you call it?"

"'Detective Inspector'," Sherlock said. "Find suspicious activity, but don't solve anything. As a Consulting Detective, I solve the mysteries."

"Then what am I?" John piped up.

"My colleague," Sherlock replied, "You're my faithful assistant."

"Okay," John said. He thought that was a little boring, but he didn't want to complain. Sherlock might regret letting him join his game.

Yesterday had been such a pleasant suprise. Sherlock wanted John's help to solve crimes at the school. It was a thrilling concept: stop the bad guys and save the good guys. John felt like the Robin to Sherlock's Batman. John was fine being the trusty sidekick. He knew Sherlock was more of a hero than he was.

"As a matter of fact," Lestrade said to Sherlock. "Something suspicious is going on. A girl has gone missing."

"Missing!?" Sherlock squealed, "Was she kidnapped? Murdered?!"

"Of course not!" Lestrade's eyes widened, "Jesus, Sherlock! It's not healthy for you to get excited over something like that! Besides, she's not really "missing", exactly. Her sister knows where she is."

"Then what's the problem?" Sherlock asked.

"She refuses to talk to anyone, and she won't leave her hiding place."

"Well, she'll have to leave by the time school is over," John said.

Lestrade shook his head sadly. "It's not like that. I'll.... I'll show you during lunch. Hopefully her sister will help us, too."

"Fine," Sherlock shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds boring, but it will do for now."

"I'll see you at lunch," Lestrade said, starting to walk away from the boys. "Remember to be nice, Sherlock."

"I'm always nice!" Sherlock yelled after him.

***

"Aren't you going to eat lunch before Lestrade comes?" John asked his friend over the loud chatter of the lunchroom.

"Digesting slows me down," Sherlock mumbled. His head was down on the table, dark curls concealing his face.

"What's wrong?" John took another bite of his jam sandwich, "I thought you were excited."

"I'm fine," Sherlock growled. "There's just too many people here. It makes my head hurt."

John was about to say something when he saw Lestrade approach. He was followed by a pretty girl with long blonde hair.

"Boys!" Lestrade said loudly, causing Sherlock to jerk his head up quickly. Lestrade cleared his throat and began introductions, "This is Vivian Thompson. Vivian, meet Sherlock Holmes and John Watson."

"Really, Greg?" Vivian looked at the boys and wrinkled her nose. "These are little kids! How are they supposed to help my sister?"

Sherlock scowled. "Well excuse me for- Ouch!" He began to say when John kicked him in the shin.

"Be nice!" John hissed.

Lestrade gave Vivian a tight smile, "Sorry about Sherlock. He's a bit S-T-R-A-N-G-E."

"I can spell, you know!" Sherlock snapped. John gave him another kick. "Ouch, stop it!"

"But trust me, he's very smart!" Lestrade's smile turned into a nervous grimace. "And John here is... Um... Very nice!"

"What's the point of being 'nice'?" Sherlock grumbled under his breath.

"Anyways!" Lestrade said, turning back to Vivian, "Let's go find your little sister!"

John thought Vivian would lead them to a custodian closet or the abandoned swing set. Even the girl's bathroom would be an understandable hiding spot (although John wasn't sure how he and Sherlock could've gotten in there).

Instead, Vivian stopped them at the bottom of a stairwell. "Her name is Olivia," She told the younger boys. "She's a few years older than you, but is very short. Please be respectful of the way she looks."

"Okay," Sherlock agreed warily. "Where is she?"

"Under here." Vivian walked past the stairs railing and into a small corner. She bent down and pointed to a space underneath the stairs. "It's dark, but you should be able to see her."

John approached the secret room and peered in. A figure was curled against the wall, her legs pulled into her chest. She was short by the looks of it, but not in a way John considered "short". Her body was a little stocky and unproportial. She just looked... Different. John knew it wasn't bad or anything, but he just couldn't help but stare.

Sherlock, on the other hand, only took one look at the girl before crawling into the space in front of her. "Hello," he said softly. "My name is Sherlock Holmes, and this is my friend John Watson." He motioned John to come sit next to him.

Olivia didn't move. Her blonde hair remained drooped over her face like a curtain.

"Hi," John managed to say. He racked his brain for something to say. "I... I like your hair."

The girl just shook her head.

"No, I really do!" John said earnestly, I have blonde hair too, see?"

The girl slowly lifted her head. Her blue eyes squinted at him, but her face was expressionless.

"We're here to help you," John said. "Will you talk to us? Please?"

Olivia shook her head again."You wouldn't believe me," A ghost of a whisper came from her mouth.

"It depends," Sherlock said. John elbowed him. "I mean, we will believe you."

"Someone is after me," She breathed.

"Who?" John asked.

"I don't know," Olivia said nervously. "But somebody that hates me."

"Is there anyone you know that hates you?" Sherlock asked.

"Everyone hates me," She said. This silenced the boys.

"But I don't hate you," John smiled slightly.

Olivia shook her head sadly, "You can't say that. You can hardly see me."

"Who cares what you look like?" John frowned.

"Everyone."

"I don't care," Sherlock said. "I can tell that you are a kind, intelligent girl. You adore animals and are a fantastic artist. You also play the violin, so you have good taste."

Olivia's jaw dropped, "How did you know that?" She gasped.

"I'll explain it some other time," Sherlock said, waving it off. "Right now, I need to know why you feel threatened."

Olivia wriggled uncomfortably. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone."

"Promise," Both boys said in unison.

"Alright," Olivia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It started this morning when I went to the library to print out my report for English. I sent it to the printer, than went to check out a book. When I went back to the printer, someone had written on it. I... I have it with me."

She took a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Sherlock. He carefully opened it and read the messy handwriting.

"What does it say?" John asked, wishing he could read.

"It's... I don't want to read it aloud," Sherlock mumbled.

"But I want to know!" John argued.

"No, John! It's not-"

"They just said nasty things about me," Olivia interrupted. "They called me offensive names and said I was a messed-up freak." Her face was stoic, but her round cheeks turned red. "Then they said I didn't deserve to live. I'm worried someone wants to hurt me."

"Nobody will beat you up," Sherlock said firmly. "She only wanted to mentally hurt you."

"She?" Olivia looked taken aback.

"Yes," Sherlock stated. "Girls are more likely to verbally abuse others than boys. Also, the word choice is very similar to the way a girl would speak. For instance, "totally" is not a word boys often use. Are there any girls you know that could've done this?"

"I know one girl that is really mean to me," Olivia said. "But this isn't her handwriting at all."

"I know," Sherlock explained. "She created the message, but somebody else wrote it on your report."

"What? Who!?"

The corner of Sherlock's lips pulled up into a triumphant smirk. "The consulting criminal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HOORAY! UPDATE! WOOT!

I hope you guys knew what was going on in this chapter. Bullying is so disgusting. It makes me sad that people like Olivia are being harassed. Some kids (and adults) just really need to get their heads checked.

Thank you all for reading! I've gotten so much positive feedback from this fic, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy! ^-^ You guys are awesome!

Vote and comment if you liked it! Ciao! ~Meg