She let the hot water rain down, closing her eyes. All classes have been cancelled and Orchid took advantage of the extra alone time by taking a super long shower. Silverleaf's water bills, not mine.

She sunk to the floor of the shower, her wet black hair covering her face. She tucked her hair behind her ears and tried to focus on something else. Another exposé. No, but she didn't have a place to write in peace, Professor Green's class was her safe haven.

Professor Green's death changed everything.

No time to sulk, though. Orchid got to her feet, turned off the shower, and got ready. She slipped on her school uniform and blow-dried her hair, slicking it back into a low ponytail.

Bailey went to Robert's dorm to debrief Professor Green's suicide earlier ever since word got out. Suicide. The word didn't work well with Orchid. As she stepped out of the bathroom, she saw a letter slipped under the door.

Thank God that Bailey isn't here, she thought, grabbing the letter and unfolding it. It was from Saira Levine in her neat and swoopy cursive.

This is insane, we need to meet up. It's raining like cats and dogs outside, so we can't meet at the roof again or for a while. 9 assume you're thinking the same thing—you'll be in the media. We'll discuss it later.

Meet up at the girls' washroom at 1: 15, one near Professor Asher's classroom. If it's not empty, go into a stall until it is. Don't forget to burn this letter with your box of matches.

Love, G. G.

G. G. Gossip Girl—Saira was clever to not use her real initials, S. L. Orchid went to the slit of her mattress, rummaging around until she found the box of matches that Saira and Stoll had to burn their letters as well.

Orchid lit a match and watched Saira's letter burn away in a puff of smoke. She wasn't worried about the smoke alarm, she had disarmed them when Saira first got the idea of exchanging letters and burning them.

She ventured outside of Room #204 and downstairs. She passed by the Event Board, a sheet of paper written with a typewriter posted on the board. She paused,

EVENTS:Silverleaf Newspaper Club (REGISTRATION ENDED)Silverleaf Gothic Literature Club (REGISTRATION OPEN UNTIL FEBRUARY 29TH)Science & Biology Team (REGISTRATION OPEN UNTIL JANUARY 10TH)Student Body Council of Silverleaf (REGISTRATION ENDED) Cooking Team (REGISTRATION OPEN UNTIL END OF SCHOOL YEAR)

There's going to be no Silverleaf Newspaper Club if Professor Green's dead, she thought miserably. Why didn't she join when the professor was still alive and well? Now, she definitely didn't want to join if Green was going to be replaced by another teacher. Oh God, Green's going to be replaced.

She was going to dread the rest of the school year for sure.

On the way, she caught a glimpse of Professor Green's classroom, closed off. There was a crowd of students, mumbling and sobbing. "He's been hung," a student cried out.

"How tragic," another commented.

"The professor killed himself on campus? Unprofessional."

Unprofessional, Orchid mimicked angrily in her mind. She seethed with grief and rage. She went to the Dining Hall and lined up for breakfast. The lunch lady gave her a comforting look and gave her some extra sourdough bread. Orchid realized she knew that she was the one who discovered the professor's body, and everyone also seemed to know.

She sat alone, but a girl slid into the seat next to her. The girl was Lizzy Connors. Orchid felt uncomfortable to be next to the girl she wrote about in the exposé, but she was surprised that she wasn't punished.

Headmaster Roux is occupied with Green's death, duh, her mind told her. Plus the stress of the potential flood was last notice, so the headmaster had bigger things to worry about.

Lizzy was a fair-skinned girl with a bush of red fiery hair. She wore tank tops that showed off her slim and flat figure, Orchid had to admit that she was sometimes jealous of her beauty. "My name is Lizzy," the girl said, stating the obvious. "You're like, Rose or Violet, right?"

"Orchid," she replied, unsmiling.

"Oh, just like the flower!"

"Yeah, like the flower."

Liz leaned in closer as if it was a scandal to be talking to Orchid. "You found Professor Green's corpse, right? Gosh, that must be so awful and gross." The word corpse still hit hard.

"Headmaster Roux doesn't want me to comment," Orchid mumbled, nibbling on her sourdough bread. Her mind was reeling as she waited for Lizzy's useless words to numb her mind.

"That's super sad." She clasped her hands, sighing loudly. "I just saw you from across the room and felt so, well, sad for you." Orchid didn't need her pity, or anyone else's. "I see you with that Preston girl sometimes."

"Bailey?"

"Yeah. I heard Bailey's cool."

Orchid soon was overjoyed to learn that it was 1: 10 PM, meaning she could escape Lizzy Connors. She excused herself to the girls' washroom and was off. Much to Orchid's relief, the washroom was empty. Saira Levine was already there, wearing a white crop top instead of the dress shirt under the school blazer.

"Saira," Orchid breathed, sighing. Saira grabbed Orchid and roped her into a tight hug for a second. It felt nice to be normal, even just for a split second. Then she released and Saira dusted herself. "Where's Stoll? Let me guess—late again?"

"Yup," the Gossip Girl said, huffing. "What are we going to do with Professor Green's death? Once actual newspapers hear about this, they'll print this by the ton. Not even Headmaster Roux can control this."

"I don't need my name in the public," Orchid agreed. If someone looks into her, they'll find out she's the journalist on the Shades of Gray website and also possibly her secret. She didn't need that. "Our secrets, Saira..."

"I totally forgot about that!" Saira gasped, looking mortified. "Oh my gosh."

As if on cue, Stoll Finnegan strolled in in his usual hoodie. "Seriously, people? The girls' washroom? I'm a boy," he shot a nasty look at Saira. The girl rolled her eyes, her hands on her hips.

"You're a janitor, just say you're cleaning the stalls."

"Oh, yeah, right."

Orchid leaned against the sink's counter. "We're so screwed. Professor Green's death is just so upsetting and things won't be the same."

"Professor Green's suicide," Saira added.

"No, death, murder even. Suicides don't usually end up with the victim having bruising on their knuckles. I saw Green and the classroom, it looked as if the professor was fighting off someone, but lost and it cost him his life."

Stoll looked shocked, and so did Saira. "Wait... Professor Green was murdered?"

"Unless you have a better answer, yeah." Orchid may have written exposés and done some behind-the-scenes sleuthing but never solved a murder. However, it was Professor Green, it was personal. "Look, our police department is pretty sloppy and the town is a few hours of a drive away. With the raging storm and everything, they're probably not coming for a while."

"So you want us to solve Green's murder," Stoll said slowly.

"Are we even sure it's murder?" Saira inquired.

"Why not find out?" Orchid replied.

Stoll thought for a second before continuing. "Sam said that he saw some flooding near the bottom of the school. He's not worried that we'll be flooded, but it does mean the police aren't coming. And since Headmaster Roux labelled Green's death as suicide with no foul play, it confirms Flower's no-police-department theory. So why not?"

Saira paused for a long time. Please agree, Orchid thought. "Wait, did you call Orchid, er, Flower?"

Orchid threw up her hands. "That's what you say, Saira?"

"You guys sure you're not hooking up with each other?"

"Jesus Christ," Stoll muttered. "I only called her that because someone isn't okay with me calling them Gray. So I have officially decided to annoy them by calling them Flower instead."

Saira was satisfied. "Okay, if you say so, Finnegan."

"Back on topic, Saira and I can visit Professor Green's classroom. Stoll, you're a janitor, so you can visit the kitchens. I suspect the academy is keeping Green's corpse in the freezer until it can be taken away."

Saira exhaled. "So, we're actually doing this?"

Orchid thought about it. "I think we are."