(Principal Fitzgerald's Office)
(9:30 A.M.)

The two teenagers, Andrew Bizaal and Claire Bellami are seated inside of the principal's office, waiting patiently and quietly. In an utmost awkward situation, there is a space, the length of two chairs, separating Claire and Drew. Drew taps his feet in a rhythmic beat to the ticking of an analog clock while Claire sits with her arms folded, occasionally sighing to herself. Other than that, it is pure silence between the two individuals.

*Tick Tock. Tick Tock*

Drew glances over at Claire. He looks at her for a second before clearing his throat, hoping to attract her attention. She looks over at Drew with a dull eyed look, clearly uninterested in whatever he has to say.

Claire: "What?"

Drew: "So, did you do it?"

Claire's eyes seem to narrow at Drew, confused by the direction the conversation is going.

Claire: "Excuse me?"

Claire watches in annoyance as Drew intently rolls his eyes at her. 

Drew: "Do I seriously have to say it out loud?"

Drew heavily sighs.

Drew: "Goddammit."

He takes a deep breath in.

Drew: "Did you kill your best friend?"

Claire looks appalled. She leans back in offense to. Drew's question.

Claire: "Oh my god, what kind of question is that?"

Drew shrugs dramatically, clearly imposing sarcasm. His tone of voice is also filled with sarcasm.

Drew: "Oh I don't know... The kind of question that the man with the shiny badge will be asking you in a few seconds?"

The conversation pauses.

Drew: "You know, I honestly wouldn't care. Nobody would blame you."

Claire scoffs at Drew and rolls her eyes.

Claire: "Say that when somebody's behind bars for getting a little knife happy."

Drew: "From what I know and heard, she was awful towards you. Vanessa a total bitch."

Claire shakes her head back and forth in denial as she bites her lip.

Claire: "You obviously know nothing about her then."

Drew's eyebrows raise. He slightly chuckles, humored by Claire's statement.

Drew: "Is that so?"

Drew smoothly slides one chair over, closing the awkward gap between him and Claire.

Drew: "It seems to me that nobody at this school knows a single thing about you."

He leans into her and whispers into her left ear. His tone is accusatory.

Drew: "That is, except me."

Claire forcefully pushes him away in annoyance, but not disgust.

Claire: "Can we please not have this conversation here?"

Drew tilts his head and smirks.

Drew: "What conversation?"

A small laugh comes from Claire.

Claire: "The kind where somebody thinks they've got my entire life figured out."

Drew's temper snaps, his dark brown eyes full of rage. While his volume is lowered, his voice finds a certain tone that exemplifies his frustration towards Claire.

Drew: "No, you know what? You've avoided me ever since the start of high school. We're cut from the same cloth, and you've burned every single tie to your past. Lucky for me, I know your past."

Claire sneers at the boy who is arguing with her. She also lowers her voice.

Claire: "Should I be saying sorry? I wouldn't particularly call our past life living the good life."

Drew: "And it is right now? Does being pretty and popular make it all better for you? Does subjecting yourself to other's needs and opinions make everything in your life picture perfect?"

Claire flips her platinum blonde hair and turns her chin the other way.

Claire: "I'm very happy with my life now. You and your filthy lot don't get to drag me down anymore. I have a good life, awesome friends, and a loving family."

Drew is taken aback. His face is full of disgust.

Drew: "Drag you down? Your family could give less of a crap about you. Your father?"

Claire scoffs at his remark. Part of her seems to agree with his statement but she shakes her head in refusal, clearly wanting to defend her father.

Claire: "That was five years ago Drew. They've changed."

Drew: "A leopard doesn't change its spots."

Drew points to the officer door that the police are currently conversing in.

Drew: "The cops are gonna be riding on your ass and trying to find ways you hated Vanessa's guts. You're gonna have to do a lot better if you want to convince them you actually had a cohesive relationship with that she-devil."

Claire is quick to respond, hissing at Drew for his remark towards her deceased friend.

Claire: "Don't call her that. She was a good friend."

She attempts to choke down those last few words. The words play on a loop inside of her mind. Regret is painted on her face.

Drew: "Look, who are you trying to convince? Me or you?"

Claire leans into Drew this time, whispering into his right ear.

Claire: "The last time I checked Drew, you aren't the one that's supposed to be asking the questions."

The officer door flies open and out comes Officer Wildes with his clipboard. He watches as Claire quickly backs away from Drew, pretending as if nothing had happened.

Wildes: "Do you guys need a minute or-"

Claire chirps in.

Claire: "No, everything's fine officer. We're just discussing some of the assignments we'll have to make up."

Drew joins in too, smiling.

Drew: "Yup, all is good over here in the land of teenage angst."

Wildes: "Apologies, we'll make this quick."

Wildes looks at his clipboard and scans it for a name. He looks up from his clipboard and glances at Claire.

Wildes: "Claire Bellami? You're Vanessa's friend, right?"

Claire: "Was. I was."

Wildes clearly recognizes his mistake as he grinds his teeth. Inside, he wishes he could smack himself upright the head.

Wildes: "My mistake. We're gonna have you come on in here."

A blue purse flies over Claire's shoulder as she stands up. She stretches out her legs before strutting over to the officer door where Gabriel Wildes awaits her presence. The officer gestures her in. Before she enters the room, she looks back and glances at Drew. He responds by shaking his head with regret. Disappointingly, she heads into the officer room. Wildes puts his foot in front of the door, stopping it from closing.

Wildes: "Mr. Bizaal, Sheriff Dawson will see you in a minute."

Drew nods to the rookie.

Drew: "Alrighty."

Wildes then removes his foot from in front of the door. As Drew watches as he walks to his seat, opposing Claire, the door shuts behind him.

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

A few minutes later...

Drew sits in a solitary room, with nothing but empty bookshelves and a wide rectangular table, which he is currently sitting at. Opposite of him is the Sheriff of Attwater, David Dawson. A silent standoff is ongoing between the two. Finally, Drew sighs and breaks the silence.

Drew: "Look, just tell me."

Dawson: "What should I be telling you?"

Drew: "Why I'm here. Am I guilty of something?"

Dawson: "Oh no. Not at all."

Dawson: "There's just a few things that we wanted to clarify with you."

Drew raises his eyebrows, impatiently waiting for an answer.

Drew: "And that is?"

David Dawson clears his throat before answering to the boy.

Dawson: "Your whereabouts that night. The night Vanessa-"

Drew interrupts Dawson at just the right moment in a very smooth manner. The sentences almost flow together.

Drew: "Was murdered. Gotcha, I can cover most of that."

Dawson: "Well that's just the thing... I've got a few questions about that."

Drew kicks back his feet and leans back.

Drew: "Alright, well shoot away."

Dawson: "Witnesses claim seeing you at the scene of the crime. Is that correct?"

Drew: "Yeah."

Dawson: "What time would say you arrived at the
scene? 12:30? 1:00?"

Drew shrugs. Taking a guess in his mind about the time he did in fact arrive, he decides on a time in his head after glancing at the analog clock.

Drew: "I'd say about 1:15."

Dawson: "Help me fill in the gaps Andrew. You say you arrived around 1:15. Your parents-"

Drew sternly raises his voice, interrupting the sheriff's question in an abrupt manner.

Drew: "Hold up a sec, don't refer to them as that."

To assure his answer and feelings toward the word are registering, he repeats his sentence to the sheriff.

Drew: "Please don't refer to them as that."

Dawson takes a break from his interrogation and seems to casually speak to Drew.

Dawson: "Do you have another name you prefer to call them?"

Drew: "Anything but that."

Dawson chuckles to himself.

Dawson: "Alrighty, whatever floats your boat."
The man clears his throat as he continues to ask his series of questions.

Dawson: "Your legal caretakers claim you were missing from your bedroom around 12:00 and heard you start and take the car. How come you left at midnight yet arrived about an hour later? It only takes around fifteen minutes to get to the location of the carnival."

Drew: "I had some places I had to stop."

Dawson: "Like?"

Like rapid fire, Drew responds in a mere millisecond. His response being very bland, he is eager to answer.

Drew: "Grocery shopping."

Dawson: "Okay, fair enough."

Dawson: "What were you doing at the carnival though?"

Drew: "An old friend of mine asked me if he could hitch a ride home. That's all there is to it."

Dawson: "Would that old friend happen to be..."

Drew waits in hesitation.

*Tick Tock. Tick Tock.*

Dawson: "Tyler? Tyler Kline?"

Drew is stunned by Dawson's response. He now sits upright. The boy takes in a breath of air. Caught off guard, his expression is full of surprise. No knowledge had been given to the sheriff about Tyler. He gulps, as he hesitates to answer the question.

Drew: "Uh... Yeah. Yeah, he asked me to give him a ride."

Dawson: "So he asked you to take him home I'm presuming?"

Drew: "Yep. That is correct."

Dawson: "Did he call or text you?"

Drew's mind is racing with thoughts on what the sheriff's intentions were with bringing him in for questioning.

"What answer? What does he want? What's with the sudden focus on Tyler?"

Lost in his own little world of thoughts, Drew dismisses Dawson's question for a couple of seconds. His eyes begin to wander off, staring off at the analog clock placed on the wall.

*Tick Tock. Tick Tock.*

The lack of attention is obvious to the seasoned police officer. Able to read the boy like a book, he allows Drew to continue to wander in his train of thoughts for the next few seconds. He waits through this time with patience that is equal to that of a predator waiting to pounce on their prey. Dawson is the predator, hungry for answers. To regain the boy's attention and presume the questioning, Sheriff Dawson loudly clears his throat.

Dawson: "Andrew?"

Drew blinks three times in rapid succession as he comes back to his senses.

Drew: "Text. He texted me."

Dawson: "Did Tyler ever give you a reason behind why he wanted to leave?"

Drew: "No, and I couldn't give you an idea of why he did. I was strictly business that night. Nothing else."

Dawson: "Did you owe Tyler something? Did he seem on edge?"

Laying down the law, ironically, Drew intensely slams down his hands in frustration on the wooden table. He glares at Dawson.

Drew: "Look, Tyler was somebody that I knew from a long time ago. We're merely acquaintances. So, if you wanted to learn more about Tyler, I'm not the guy you should be bringing in. If you don't mind, I would rather not waste my time with these blatantly indirect questions."

Dawson folds his arms.

Dawson: "Who should I be bringing in then?"

Awaiting a response from the boy, Drew rolls his eyes at the veteran cop. Drew finds ridiculousness in the sheriff's question. He gestures his left hand towards Sheriff Dawson.

Drew: "You're the cop. That's your job to figure out."

He then sighs and relaxes his posture as he sits back in his chair. He scratches his chin.

Drew: "But if I had to take a guess, try AJ Kappa. The dude is good friends with him."

Dawson takes a notepad from his pocket and writes a note in black pen.

Dawson: "Thanks for providing me that info. You've been a great help Mr. Bizaal."

Drew scoffs.

Drew: "Save it for when you catch the damn criminal."

Dawson: "Well, thanks to you, I think we're one step closer to catching him."

Tilting his head to the side, Drew is in a state of confusion. Dawson's statement has his mind running in circles.

Drew: "Wha-"

Dawson pushes his chair back from underneath and stands up, a man of tall stature.

Dawson: "That'll be all the questions I need to ask you. You're free to go back to class. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna have to go get somebody else in your school."

Dawson opens the door for Drew as he exits the room. Drew walks with his mouth wide open in disbelief. He now stands alone in the main part of the principal's office.

Drew: "What the fuck just happened?"

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

Ten minutes later...

Where Andrew Bizaal sat just a moment ago is now seated by the auburn-haired boy AJ Kappa, who taps his fingers rapidly. Anxiety runs through his veins. The boy is unable to keep a stable rhythm to his breathing as the footsteps of Sheriff Dawson get louder and louder. Tiny drops of sweat begin to fall from his face. Finally, the door opens and Sheriff Dawson enters with Manila folder titled "CLASSIFIED". Sheriff Dawson smiles at a nerve-wracked AJ as the door shuts behind him. AJ gulps.

As AJ attempts to speak, he also quivers.

AJ: "Am I in trouble sir?"

Dawson chuckles as he sits himself across from AJ.

Dawson: "You're not here for the reason you think you are. Trust me young man."

AJ: "Then why am I here?"

Dawson: "I was hoping you could help me out with something."

Dawson takes his folder and opens it, revealing many pictures with a time stamp in the bottom right corner. Taking a few of the pictures, the sheriff slides the mm across to AJ. AJ catches them with the tip of his fingers.

Dawson: "You recognize him, right?"

AJ looks down at the photos, spreading them out so he can examine them individually. As he scans through them, he begins to form a worry-some expression on his face. The shaking begins to fade away and AJ's finger tapping ends.

AJ: "Yes. Yes I do."

Dawson clicks his pen.

Dawson: "Could you specify?"

Shuffling through more of the photos, AJ begins to look more grim.

AJ: "That's my best friend, Tyler Kline."

AJ takes in a deep breath as he continues to examine the photo laid out in front of him. The picture is dated to the night that Vanessa was murdered at the Attwater Carnival. Displayed in the picture is Tyler, seemingly confronting Vanessa in a dark alleyway. The two seem to be yelling at each other, their faces filled with rage. AJ gasps for air as the realization hits him of what horrible act his best friend may have committed. Inside of his mind, a single sentence runs through his head on replay. Whether it is true or not does not matter to AJ. The mere fact that the idea is being brought up horrifies him.

"And it looks like he may have killed Vanessa Windemear."

______________________________________________
Looks like we've got ourselves a new suspect! Or maybe a few more depending on what you're thinking... Once again, thank you all so much for reading my book. I understand these hiatuses can get very annoying but I'm finally back from my cruise ship. So, the schedule may become less hectic for this book. Votes and sharing are appreciated, like always, and feel free to leave a comment or two. Thanks for reading! I'm also going to be starting something new. Each chapter will have a question at the end to give your thoughts about. Feel free to respond!

Question of the Chapter:

What secret past do you think Claire and Drew share?