Piper Watson swung her legs back and forth on the edge of her dorm bed, listening to how the wood squeaked under her weight. The furniture in Barnes Hall hadn't been replaced in fifteen or so years, and it showed.. Her mind was less distracted on the faulty furniture though and more on her roommate, Julia Bautista, who was gazing into the cabinet mirror on their pale wall while she applied a fresh coat of pale lipstick.

"If you don't like this girl that much, then why are you bothering to go on a date with her?" Piper asked out of curiosity.

Julia smacked her lips together with a pop.

"I feel bad for her, you know? She asked me out and everything. That takes bravery. We'll enjoy a nice coffee, and then I'll let her down slowly," Julia explained. She rummaged through her blue make-up bag for her mascara wand before slowly applying it to her dark lashes.

Piper watched her roommate quizzically and held back a sigh. Paired randomly together freshman year, she and Julia had remained close, and now they were living together for their third year in a row at St. Ignatius University. She had been there through it all, from when Julia had finally become a political science major after remaining undeclared for two semesters, to when Julia admitted to her that last day of their freshman year that she was a lesbian but was too afraid to tell her mom, to helping her create a dating profile at the end of their sophomore year, to the romantic advice Piper had offered as Julia started going out on dates during their present junior year, all of which usually ended after one date.

When Piper had first met Julia on move-in day freshman year, when the summer air of Massachusetts was hot and humid, Julia was, to her, a shy and timid Filipina who liked to keep to herself, study hard, and live quietly. However, the longer she lived with Piper, the more Piper had seen Julia break out of her shell and grow more bold. After she had officially become a political science major, it was hard not to imagine Julia becoming a loud-spoken politician one day who would make her voice heard and make the world a better place. She realized that Julia was funny, charming, and intimidating when she wanted to be. Slowly, Piper realized she was falling in love with her roommate, even though Piper was under the assumption that she was straight up until about half a year ago. She still had not yet told Julia that the reason for her recent break-up with her two-year-long boyfriend, Henry, had been because of her questioning her sexuality.

"I'm heading off, and then I'm going to Mass with my mom afterwards. Do you want to come?" Julia asked.

Piper shook her head.

"Well, my mom's making pancit afterwards. You're welcome to stop by for dinner," Julia said. Her mother lived locally, just a few minutes down the block from the university. With her mom being a single mother after Julia's father passed away when she was young, Julia liked to stop by often, and Piper found herself frequently going over for Sunday evening meals, though it was becoming increasingly more difficult to go the longer Julia went without telling her mom that she was dating women, especially when Julia's mother would pry Piper for details about her daughter's romantic life.

"I can't. I have to go over to the Howard Apartments, remember?" Piper asked.

"Oh, right. To help with that murder case thing. It's still so sad that happened," Julia murmured. "I hope they catch who did it. Or well, I hope it's at least not the girl Professor Murphy assigned you to help."

"I'm honestly just surprised Professor Murphy let me help with the investigation," Piper admitted.

"Well, he's probably tired of you always asking for work. He already gave you a teaching assistantship, but you still wanted more," said Julia.

"Maybe he's finally seeing the potential in me. Plus, this way I'm bound to get a letter of recommendation from him for law school."

"Don't speak so soon," Julia said. She paused to look at herself in the mirror one last time before giving a wave to her roommate. "I'm off. See you later this evening."

Piper responded with a small wave and listened to the metal door shut loudly before beginning to gather her things. Should she bring her criminal justice textbook? One notebook? Or two? She would have to take notes of course...but Professor Murphy did tell her that she could be too much at times. She settled on just two notebooks, plus a few extra pens just to be safe, as well as a copy of the police report of the crime.

After becoming a teacher's assistant to Professor Murphy in the fall, being able to help him with his current client was a dream to Piper. Upon entering as a freshman in the criminal justice program, Piper had fallen in love with the major and had been desperate for hands-on experience. Professor Murphy, one of her professors who was also a lawyer outside of his teaching gig, was most likely the only professor capable of handling her enthusiastic nature. She suspected he had only let her help with the case because she was taking up too much time during his office hours to talk about all things litigation and criminal justice with him. This kept her away from his office at least.

The job was relatively simple, though Piper intended to complicate it. She was to get to know and take notes from Lucia Peterson until the date of her preliminary trial in mid-November. Professor Murphy had warned her this was mostly a matter of note-taking in a search for Lucia's alibi, but Piper was willing to search for evidence if need to be to prove this girl's innocence, even if she had never even met Lucia.

As Piper headed out of her dorm room, she forced herself to wipe the smile off her face and had to remind herself that this was a serious matter. Only a few weeks ago, a student had been murdered. There was a bigger case at hand concerning Riley Davis, the primary suspect. That case Piper would not be allowed to play a part in, as it would most likely be the one going to trial and receiving all the press coverage, but Lucia had also been questioned shortly afterwards and was named as a possible suspect. Professor Murphy assured Piper that Lucia was most likely innocent, but they were having trouble proving her location on the date of the murder. Piper had promised him that she would prove Lucia's innocence, even if she had to lose sleep over it, to which he politely asked her to just take some thorough notes and focus on her current classes.

Still, a rotten feeling stuck in Piper's stomach as she headed over to the apartments on the other side of the campus. If Lucia didn't do it, did that mean...Riley did it? She didn't know the girl herself, but she knew no one was giving Riley Davis benefit of the doubt. She had already been expelled from the school and had not been seen publicly since the date of the murder despite being let out on bail for the time being. The university's orchestra was already desperately searching for two new violinists in preparation for the school's Christmas concert, since both Noel and Riley had been talented violinists.

Prove Lucia's innocence first, and then you can worry about Riley, Piper thought.

The sun was setting over the campus, illuminating the autumn colors in a sea of gold. A stray leaf pulled loose by the wind from a tree managed to stick into Piper's dirty-blonde ponytail. She pulled the leaf loose and continued her walk until she came to the apartment complexes at the end of the campus.

She rummaged for the note in her pocket written by Professor Murphy that told her specifically which apartment Lucia lived in.

"301, 301," she muttered to herself as she ascended the concrete steps of the complex before matching the number to the door. She could hear the sound of loud chatter inside. She supposed it made sense. Prior to Noel's murder, Lucia had been the star of the women's soccer team, and it was likely that her roommates were also her teammates.

The first knock was unable to be heard over the noise. Clearing her throat, Piper knocked louder, until two blonde girls garbed in athletic wear, one in pink clothes, the other in green, were glaring down at Piper. Though only a few inches taller than her, she felt that they were much taller, but perhaps that was because they were more muscular than her as well. She didn't realize she was fixated on one of the girl's arm muscles until one of them finally spoke.

"Who are you?" the one in pink asked in a tone that could only be attributed to annoyance.

"Um, I'm here to see Lucia Peterson. Unless that's one of you--"

"Hey, Lucy!" the one in green yelled. "There's a girl here to see you."

The room was met by oohs as Lucia finally made her appearance. She was considerably taller than Piper, around 5'10" compared to Piper's measly 5'3" stature. She had golden tan skin, short, dark brown hair, and like the rest of her roommates, she wasn't without her share of muscles either.

"Shut up," Lucia muttered to her roommates, or friends, or teammates. Piper was still not quite sure how so many people could fit into a tiny apartment. "She's just here to help with the trial. She's Murphy's minion."

Disappointed choruses echoed from the living room.

"Um, well, I don't technically like being called a minion, but--" Piper was interrupted as Lucia grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the apartment, past the other girls lounging on couches, to what Piper could only assume was Lucia's room. The door shut behind them with a thud. For a moment, Lucia paused against the door and let out a sigh before crawling up on her bed.

"Just ignore them," Lucia muttered.

"Ignore what?" Piper asked.

"Nevermind."

"So Lucia--"

"I'm going to stop you right there. It's Lu-chee-uh, not Lu-see-uh. It's Italian."

"But your last name is Peterson?"

"My mom is from Sicily," Lucia explained. "Plus, don't call me Lucia. Just call me Lucy. I feel like I'm being scolded by my parents."

"Sorry, uh, Lucy. Well, as you know--"

"Are you gonna take a seat?" Lucy asked, gesturing to the beaten up chair sitting next to her wooden desk.

"Oh, yes," Piper said, taking a seat and rummaging for her notebook. "I'm Piper Watson, and Professor Murphy sent me here to--"

"Hold up. For real? Your last name is Watson?" Lucy asked with a cackle.

"What's so funny about that?" Piper asked.

"Like Sherlock Holmes and all that?"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard the joke before," Piper murmured. "Anyway, if you're through with interruptions, Professor Murphy sent me here to get your story so we can move forward with the investigation to prove your innocence."

"Did Professor Murphy really send you? I really don't need help proving my innocence," Lucy muttered. "I know I'm out on bail right now, but I'll fix things up with the judge at my preliminary trial and--"

"Uh, well, you currently have no evidence to prove your innocence, which kind of puts you in a tight spot. Otherwise you wouldn't be needing a lawyer," Piper muttered.

"Jesus, you talk like him, too. Let me guess. You want to be a lawyer, too?"

"Yes, but that's not really the point--"

"Look, I'm innocent, okay? I can't believe they made me a suspect to begin with. That other girl--Riley--clearly is more likely to be the one--"

"You think it was her?"

"I don't know," Lucy muttered, her tone suddenly becoming more serious. "I don't know what to believe anymore. But if it isn't her, then who else?"

"Well, our job right now is to make sure it's not you, and, if as you say, you're innocent, then I'd like to hear your side of the story."

"They kicked me off the soccer team? You know that? I can't believe they think I would murder someone like that," Lucy said, pouting some. "What happened to the whole 'innocent until proven guilty,' you know?"

"I don't think that applies to sports teams, but if you cooperate, maybe we can get you back on the soccer team."

"Have you been to a game?" Lucy asked.

"No."

"Thought so."

"Listen, why don't we help each other out if you're so bent on not wanting to let others help you," Piper suggested, finding her temper rising the longer she went without writing a single word down in her notebook.

"How can I help you?" Lucy asked. "I just met you, what, like, five minutes ago?"

Piper hesitated for a moment. She had not planned to bring this up, but perhaps it would break Lucy out of her apathetic trance.

"You're a lesbian, right?" Piper asked.

Lucy's eyes widened. "Uh, look, I don't want to offend you, but I'm not looking to date anyone right now. I just went through a bad breakup recently, actually."

Piper rolled her eyes. "I'm not looking to date you! You're very...muscular and attractive or whatever..." (Lucy appeared to be gleaming at this statement) Piper cleared her throat. "But what I actually want is your advice."

"I mean, yeah, experiment if you want, but not with me--"

Piper slapped her hand across her forehead with a large smack.

"Ouch, that seemed like it hurt," Lucy said.

"Listen, I recently realized earlier this year that I have a crush on my roommate, and I need some advice--"

"Oh, the classic roommate situation. Same thing happened to me my freshman year."

Piper found it best to ignore Lucy's comments by this point. She took a deep breath and continued speaking. "I think recently I've realized I'm bisexual or pansexual or...just not straight, but I've never dated a girl before, so I don't really know how to go about it. I don't want to scare her off. We're really close and--"

"Is she gay?"

"Yeah, but she's been going on all these dates recently, and I'm afraid she'll find someone before I tell her..." Piper let her voice drift off. Since when had this turned into a therapy session?

"Well, I can't just make her fall in love with you. There's no such thing as lesbian magic like that."

"I know that! But." Piper paused and let out a sigh again. "Look, I'll help you with the case. I'll help you prove that you're innocent and then you can go back to the soccer team and be a star or whatever. And in the meantime, would it be possible for you to, I don't know, give me some pointers on how to woo her or something?"

"Well, first of all, no one uses the word 'woo' anymore."

"You know what I mean!"

"Well, I've never had a gay pupil before, but very well. I can teach you my ways, young one," Lucy decided. Her eyes seemed to glow with enthusiasm at the thought of it, though Piper was more afraid of her taking this as a joke rather than a matter of seriousness.

"All right. Good. Just to the preliminary trial, okay? I can figure it out from there."

"Deal," Lucy said, reaching to shake her hand.

Piper held forward and grasped hers, meeting Lucy's eyes for the first time. Huh. She didn't know that brown eyes could look golden like that when the sun hit them just right.

"So, now will you let me take some notes?" Piper asked.

"I told you. I'm innocent."

"Okay, yes, I know, but why are you a suspect anyway? Professor Murphy mentioned a fight, but he didn't go into much detail, precisely because you haven't told him much detail."

Lucy gritted her teeth, clearly not wanting to get into the story. Finally, she let out a sigh. "I had a fight with Noel the day she died in the dining commons."

"You two know each other?" Piper asked.

"Yeah. We went to high school together, at Rolling Hills," Lucy explained.

"How close were you? Friends?"

"Yeah."

There was a pause as Piper's pen continued to scratch against her notebook.

"Did you two have a falling out that day?" Piper asked.

"No. We never really had an official falling out. Around sophomore year I started to distance myself from her, especially when she started to hang out with Riley."

"How come?"

"Look, do I have to go into all the details?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I can give you a break right now, but we might need the details later," Piper said. "So, do you know Riley, then?"

"Not well. Like I said, I stopped hanging out with Noel when she started hanging out with Riley."

"Okay. So the day of her death. October 8th. You two got into a fight at the dining commons."

"It wasn't really a fight, more like...an argument," Lucy muttered.

"About what?"

"Look, I really don't want to go into all the details. It was about some stuff in the past that got brought up again, okay? And I was already in a bad mood because--well, it doesn't matter. I was just in a bad mood."

"Okay," Piper murmured. She suddenly realized why Professor Murphy had assigned her to do all his dirty work. This girl was a mess to talk to. Her inability to be open was most certainly what had led her to be a suspect to begin with.

"So...we'll have to revisit all that later, but now let's go to the evening of Noel's death. Where were you?"

"I went out to take a walk around nine o'clock."

"Where did you go?"

"Not really sure. I just walked for a few miles and eventually found my way back somehow or other. It was partially in a neighborhood, though it kind of divulged into the woods at one point. I turned around shortly after that."

"Did you tell anyone you were going on a walk? Like your roommates, for example?"

"No."

"Not anyone?"

"No."

"How come?"

"None of your business!"

Piper glanced up and narrowed her eyes. "You have no idea how suspicious you sound right now."

"I didn't kill her! I wasn't even near the place where the explosion happened."

"Did you hear the explosion?"

"Yes."

"Did you see it happen?"

"No."

"So you were in the vicinity," Piper muttered.

"But I wasn't there at all! I don't even think I've ever walked down the street where the explosion happened. Jesus, I go for one walk in the woods at night, and I get accused of murder," Lucy said before placing her face in her hands.

"You do realize it's not usually likely for a twenty, er, twenty-one?"

"Twenty-one," Lucy confirmed.

"It's not very likely for a twenty-one-year-old girl to go off on a walk late at night, especially without telling anyone."

"I had pepper spray on me," Lucy explained. "I wasn't defenseless."

"What about a phone?"

"Left it back at the apartment."

Piper grumbled to herself. Using cellphone data to try to prove her location certainly wasn't going to come in handy now.

" Did you talk to anyone on your walk?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, I saw two dudes in my Business Calc class as I was coming back to campus."

"You spoke with them?"

"Yeah, they asked me what the homework was again and told me to have a good night."

"So we can use them as witnesses, then!" Piper exclaimed happily.

"I already told Murphy that, but he said they're unreliable because they reeked of weed when I ran into them."

Piper let out a groan and ran her fingers through her ponytail before returning to her notepad.

"Did you see anyone else that evening?"

"No."

"Did you go anywhere with shops nearby? Or, you said you walked through some neighborhoods. Did any of them have cameras?"

"No, that's where the problem is. The university has me on camera exiting and re-entering the university, but there's no visual footage of me or witnesses who saw me during the time of the murder."

"What time did you get back?"

"A little after 10."

Piper was biting her lip nervously. Even if Lucy was telling the truth, it was would be relatively easy to prove she had a connection to the murder given the lack of evidence. A fight earlier in the day, a mysterious walk at the time of the murder with no witnesses or footage to prove her innocence.

"It's hopeless, isn't it?" Lucy muttered.

"No. No. We'll figure something out," Piper said. "Do you remember where you went at all?"

"It was dark. So no, not really."

"Well, our next task is going to be figuring out the exact route you took. Maybe there's something we missed somewhere." Piper shut her notebook and stood up. "Think long and hard about where you went. Maybe go on a few runs or walks around where you took that walk. What's your number? I'll give you a text for the next time we can meet up."

Piper waited patiently as Lucy punched her number into the phone.

"Thanks," Piper said, shoving the phone away back into her pocket. "And in the meantime, you can think of some good one-liners for me."

"I don't think that's the approach you want to take," Lucy muttered.

"Whatever. Just think of something, and I'll also think of something. I'll bring the information I have to Professor Murphy, and we'll touch base again. See you around," Piper said, heading toward the door.

"Wait."

Piper paused, spinning back around.

"Thanks...I know I can be a lot to handle--"

"Don't worry. We'll prove your innocent," Piper said. Though later as she descended down the cement steps of Lucy's apartment complex, she was picking at her nailbeds and beginning to worry just how they would be able to prove Lucy's innocence with so little evidence surrounding her alibi.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weekly QTPOC Book Recommendation: Mangoes and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera

Premise: "Kiskeya Burgos left the tropical beaches of the Dominican Republic with a lot to prove. As a pastry chef on the come up, when she arrives in Scotland, she has one goal in mind: win the Holiday Baking Challenge. Winning is her opportunity to prove to her family, her former boss, and most importantly herself, she can make it in the culinary world. Kiskeya will stop at nothing to win , that is, if she can keep her eyes on the prize and off her infuriating teammate's perfect lips.

Sully Morales, home cooking hustler, and self-proclaimed baking brujita lands in Scotland on a quest to find her purpose after spending years as her family's caregiver. But now, with her home life back on track, it's time for Sully to get reacquainted with her greatest love, baking. Winning the Holiday Baking Challenge is a no brainer if she can convince her grumpy AF baking partner that they make a great team both in and out of the kitchen before an unexpected betrayal ends their chance to attain culinary competition glory."