This chapter is dedicated to Rejoicedavid12

˗ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗

"Krystian?" Was I being delusional? Even if I was, did it have to be about him? 

"Hey, new girl." His smile, voice, and presence were enough proof that this wasn't an illusion. It was real, prompting me to be enveloped by yet another series of questions. 

"What are you doing here? How did you know where I live?" The question fell from my lips as I creased my brows in utter disbelief and confusion. 

Krystian looked around before pulling his left hand from his pocket and pointing to a sofa. "Won't you offer me a seat?"

"I just asked a question." I moved closer. "How did you know where I live?" 

Krystian gave a tiny shrug and let his left hand fall to his side. "Because I've been here before."

My mouth slightly opened on its own accord. He was confusing me. Danielle and Krystian were never close, so what did he mean by. . . . I let my wandering thoughts stop as I looked at my visitor. Without saying a word, I turned and headed for the dining table. I didn't have to look back to know that Krystian was trailing behind me. 

"What do you mean by you've been here before?" I pulled out a chair and sat down. Krystian did the same. He pulled out the chair beside me and sat down, setting his backpack on the dining table.

"I was paired up with Danielle on a project." He answered ever so casually. It might not be a big deal to him, but it kind of was to me.

"You and Danielle?" 

He responded with a nod. Krystian turned around and pointed to something in the living room. I also tried tracing his fingers. "You see that portrait?" I gave a nod. It was an image of my sisters and me. "Danielle told me about you after seeing that portrait."

I cleared my throat and sat erect, as Krystian withdrew his hands. We were now backing up the living room. "That's difficult to believe. You and Danielle are not close enough to start a talk about me."

"True, but we weren't holding a conversation about you." I saw him shrug. "It was a topic she just brushed in and then brushed off seconds later."

I remained silent for a few seconds. I couldn't believe I was about to name him a stalker. I assumed he knew where I lived because he was probably stalking me without my knowledge. Fortunately, my series of questions prevented me from jumping to conclusions.

"Does that mean . . ." I dragged, then paused. I couldn't believe this: "You knew who I was!" 

"What?" 

"From the start, I bet you knew." It was Krystian's turn to look confused.

"I don't get you, new girl."

"You knew who I was right from the beginning, right from when your car splashed dirty water all over my shoes!" 

"Yell louder, and your house might collapse." What kind of response was that? And why did he sound so cool? He reached for his bag and opened the zipper. "I never knew who you were," he replied, taking out a notebook and putting it to my front. "You were just an annoying girl I wanted to shoo off so I could get out of the rain."

"That doesn't make sense," 

"It will, only if you let me finish." His response forced me to lean against my chair. "I only realised how familiar you looked right after you'd bombarded me with questions at Femi's birthday party."

Krystian smiled and leaned in closer, his face just inches away from me. "It then hit me that I'd seen you before, at Danielle's home, in one of those portraits."

I put both hands on his shoulders and forced him back to his position, away from me. He scoffed at my acts but said nothing about them. Instead, he pointed to my note. "You can do the assignment and call Kim or Romeo to come pick it up."

Krystian began to get up, but I held his forearm, stopping him. "I can't. . . ."

I don't think I needed to go further for him to understand what I meant. His face alone clearly showed his understanding of the situation. "You haven't told them that you are Danielle's sister."

"And I don't plan to," I quickly added. "At least not now. Can you help come pick it up the day after tomorrow?" 

"I'm not doing some charity work." 

"But here you are," Krystian scoffed as some kind of reality check had hit him. 

"Doesn't mean anything?" he leaned against his chair, probably in his own thoughts. "What's in it for me?" 

"What?" 

"I won't be helping you for free during your suspension. So," he turned to me with a smile. "What's in it for me?" 

I sighed. Of course, never make a deal with the devil. "I'll let you in on every detail I've found so far."

It was a bad move, more like an insane one. But the problem was, Krystian knew pretty much everything that was going on with me so far, but he kept his mouth shut. It does not exempt him from wrongdoing; rather, it shows that he was not a threat. Besides, I no longer had Seidi's assistance. What was the worst that could happen? I needed to take the risk.

"Are you sure?" I was a bit stunned by his question. 

"Why did you ask that?" 

"Am I not your murder suspect?" He questioned further. What was I to say?

"You won't blame me." I shrugged, playing with my nails. "You'd never wanted to disclose anything to me."

"Cause your manner of approach ain't it," he sounded cold. Was he getting angry? "Coming at me with some concluded theory."

"Because you've been silent about what you saw in the press club and literally everything else!" I yelled. He wasn't the only one who could get angry.

"That's because I've been avoiding drama." 

"For your parent's sake, I know—"

"For my sake," I paused to look at Krystian. He momentarily closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "If you want me to be a part of this whole scooby-doo shenanigan you have going on, then you'll let me do things my way."

"What does that mean?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. But then it hit me. "Are you going to help?" 

"I just implied that." Krystian avoided my gaze as he said that, forcing a small smile from me. If it wasn't for the fact that we weren't close, I would've hugged him. Trust used that moment to walk in on us, but he didn't settle at the dining area; instead, he headed for the kitchen. I watched as his gaze moved from me to Krystian, and then back to me again, before disappearing to the kitchen.

"What's with him?" 

"Ignore him." I didn't want Krystian and me to centre our conversation around him. "Do you want to see something?" 

"See something?" 

"It's up in my room." 

Krystian coughed, giving me a bewildered look. "Me and you in your room? What happened to the plot of you not being in a closed room with a boy?" 

I rolled my eyes before getting up and grabbing my notebook. "It's my room. Try anything stupid, and I have a thousand weapons in there to use on you."

"Sha, don't rape me," Krystian remarked, getting up and grabbing his bag. "Cause I'll shout."

"Very funny," I scoffed, then turned towards the stairs, with Krystian trailing after. We strolled down the long corridor leading to my room. I paused to look at Danielle's door before opening my room's door completely for Krystian to make his way in. 

"Your uncle?" He asked, stepping into the room and taking note of the not-so-small space. "Won't he mind?"

I left the door wide open and stepped into the room after Krystian. "The room's door is open for Uncle Trust to take a look whenever he wants to."

He gave a small nod, still looking around. "What do you want to show me?" 

"This," if I was going to tell him what was going on, I needed to do it correctly. I went to the side of my wardrobe, and Krystian automatically followed me. He looked at the sticky notes I had placed there, his face filled with perplexity.

"What's . . ." Krystian dragged, throwing a judgmental gaze at the sticky notes. ". . . this?" 

I cleared my throat and made a jazz hand gesture towards the notes taped to the side of my wardrobe. "My murder board."

"Your what?" Krystian choked, then turned to give me a bewildered look. "Tell me you're joking."

"I'm not a comedian," I responded dryly, offended that he was seeing this as a joke. Krystian ignored me and moved further to have a better look at the notes. 

"My motive: killed Danielle for not returning my feelings?" Krystian looked at me with a raised brow. "Toyosi, got Danielle out of the way because she wanted me all to herself?" there was a pause. "This is the most hilarious," Krystian exclaimed, pointing to Ore's note. "Ore couldn't stand Danielle on the track team because she was a threat and decided to kill her?" I stayed quiet. "And you say you're not a comedian?"

"It makes sense!" 

"To you," he said, folding his arms and trying not to chuckle. "Are you like a low-budget Enola Holmes?" 

"Don't insult me."

Krystian scoffed, moving his gaze back to my murder board. "Why's Hymn the only one with a question mark? Didn't your bizarre brain come up with something for him?" 

"My brain didn't come up with any bizarre thing," I snapped. He moved to my reading area and sat down. Was it a great idea to team up with him? "I worked with what I was given. Besides, I haven't updated Hymn's record yet."

"To what?" He made it sound like he was genuinely curious. "Killing your sister with music?" 

"It's not funny," 

"I'm not trying to be."

I counted to three in my head, then moved to the edge of my bed and sat on it. "Kim told me Danielle and Hymn had a huge argument before she died."

Krystian gave a slight nod. "True."

"True?" Was he serious? "That's the only thing you can say?" 

"What do you want me to say?" He creased his brows and gave a small shrug. "They did argue, but I don't know for what reason."

"I find that hard to believe." I scrunched my nose at him. "You two are best friends."

"It doesn't mean we tell each other everything." Was that a way to save their friendship? Keep things that were private, private? If Seidi hadn't told me about Davidson, would we have remained friends? It wasn't like we were no longer friends, but still. . . .

"About my motive, and also Toyosi and Ore's," Krystian broke off the silence. "Where did you get them from?" 

"Why?" 

"Cause it's stupid." Has anyone ever felt as if millions of glasses were shattering in their head? I was experiencing that moment. Yes, I was surprised by his bluntness, but I was also irritated. Angry because he was denying it, the purpose may appear and sound exaggerated, but we didn't need a soothsayer to tell us that there were some facts to it.

Toyosi clearly liked Krystian. Ore despised the thought of Danielle joining the track team; Chika and Daniela could speak to that. Krystian liked an outsider, which meant he liked someone who was not in his friendship circle. It couldn't be Ore or Toyosi because they were part of the Elites, therefore it was probably Danielle.

I stood up and proceeded to my reading table, lingering over Krystian as I opened my laptop, refusing to accept defeat and proving that my goals so far had not been dumb. Krystian was understandably taken aback by my actions, but I ignored him.

"What are you doing?" He sounded out of breath, but I ignored him and connected Danielle's drive to my laptop. Suddenly, the usual box with many files emerged. I moved the mouse cursor and clicked on her drafted work.

"It says here that Toyosi was in love with you, Hymn was in love with Toyosi, and Ore was in love with Hymn. Despite it being in initials, there's no doubt my sister was talking about you four." I pointed at each initial. "TA, OA, HU, KW. Fantastic four; it's all clear!" 

"Your point?" 

"I'm not done," I looked at the screen again and scrolled down, deciding to make my next point. "Toyosi thought it was appropriate to return Hymn's affections since she believed that following the one who loves her was better than following the one she loves. She either did this out of selfishness or she was unaware of Ore's emotions for Hymn. Also, the fact that she and Hymn aren't lovey-dovey, shows that the strategy failed. You, on the other hand, informed Toyosi that you liked someone else. Danielle labelled it as an outsider, therefore it is not Toyosi or Ore."

"Are you done?" He asked, lifting a brow. I pressed my lips at his nonchalant response but nodded nonetheless. "What has all this got to do with Danielle's death, because I'm not seeing it?"

He wasn't seeing it because he had decided to go into complete denial. "I believe the outsider you liked, was Danielle." I hesitated to get his reaction, but there was none. "And I also felt in the past that you must've killed her because she didn't reciprocate your feelings."

Saying that out loud felt stupid, but I didn't want to give Krystian that satisfaction. "Didn't that smart brain of yours spare you some hint that your sister would've written her name if it was her?" 

"That's where Toyosi comes in." I wasn't ready to back down. 

Krystian nodded with a small smile on his face as he rested his back on the chair he was sitting on. "Enlighten me."

He probably thought I was stupid. He probably thought that, because he wasn't the one with a dead sibling. "Toyosi might have known—I mean, thought you liked Danielle and possibly killed her."

"I never knew Toyosi was that strong." 

"Do not underestimate the power of women, especially one as double-faced as your friend." I cut him off. 

"Ore?" 

That name alone made me frown. "She's the obvious. Hated Danielle because she was the best on the team. At least she doesn't hide her feelings, so it's easier to handle her. She probably hated the fact that Danielle was the captain and chose to take her out of the picture."

"You make us sound like psychopaths." 

"You won't blame me." I ignored him until I caught a movement in my peripheral vision. I instantly switched my focus to Krystian, who was rising and grabbing his backpack.

"Where are you going?" 

"Home," 

"All of a sudden?" I stood up from my bed. "We are not done."

"I am," he said, hanging his backpack and deepening both hands in his pocket. "The stupidness of your theory is dulling my brain."

"Can you go a day without insulting me?" 

"You are making that hard to do." I frowned at his words. Why was he acting like I was stupid? Like I didn't know what I was saying.

"Danielle said—" 

"Danielle's words aren't God's." I frowned deeply at his words, his voice was surprisingly cold. "You can't just go about accusing people when there's bound to be two sides to a story."

"What are you saying?" 

"I'm aware Toyosi had—or should I say that I'm aware she has feelings for me?" Krystian moved further into the room and sat back on the chair he was sitting on earlier. "I'm aware Hymn has feelings for Toyosi and Ore towards Hymn. I'm not blind."

And why were you acting like my motives were stupid? was what I wanted to say to him, but I opted for something else. "And the outsider?" 

"You,"

"What?"

"You."

"Me?" Krystian offered a small nod. I scoffed, looking at him in astonishment. Was he sincere, or was he trying to provoke a reaction from me? What was this? He didn't know me in the past, and I didn't know him either. So, what did he mean when he said I was the outsider? This was crazy.

"What's with that look?" Why was he sounding so calm? I was in a dilemma and he was there at my reading table, acting cool.

"This look," I pointed at my chin, "is a result of my brain not braining. What do you mean by me?" 

"Not you, per se, but you." He wasn't making things better. 

"You have feelings for me?" My question came out so slowly that it felt like I was scared of words. 

"I certainly do not." He shook his head, and for some reason, that got me angry. It wasn't like I had feelings for him, but his rejection kind of low-key hurt my pride. 

"You're confusing me, Krystian," I spat out.

"Understandable," I observed as he sighed. He pulled his backpack and set it back on the reading table. He probably wanted to feel as comfortable as possible. "After the project I worked on with Danielle, Toyosi ambushed me one morning and invaded my personal space. She was acting stranger than ever, most likely due to her intense affection for me."

"Are you feeling yourself right now?" 

"I'm trying to tell you the story as it is," Krystian scolded playfully. "Now, don't interrupt. Like I said, intense affection." I shook my head, hiding the small smile on my face. "To get rid of her, and whatever feelings she had for me, I thought of you."

"You thought of me?" I parroted slowly, and he nodded. 

"I thought about you in the portrait at Danielle's home and decided to use you as an excuse. I told her I had a crush on an outsider, someone who wasn't in Greenville High." Krystian emphasised certain words. "I had to do that to save my friendship with Toyosi. If she had come at me with the same strange attitude, I would've broken our friendship."

What could I say to that? I paused my lips together and looked everywhere but at his face. "This is so uncomfortable," I mumbled, then took a chance by peering at Krystian, only to discover him staring at me. I sighed, tempted to bury my face in my hands. "Why didn't you end your friendship with her? Why did you feel the need to use me as an excuse? Now you're making me uncomfortable."

"Probably because she has gone through a lot." I scoffed at his response. If he cared so much, he should've dated her. 

"So . . ." I cleared my throat. "I just popped into your head." 

"Seems like it," he shrugged, acting like it wasn't a big deal. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe I was overreacting.

"Still, she isn't free."

"Who?"

"Your friend," I said, pointing my chin at him. "Let's say she didn't kill Danielle because you had feelings for her; there are other motives as well."

"The picture," 

"Yes." I got up, pacing back and forth. Not because I wanted to act dramatic, but because I wanted to shake off his previous revelation. "What if she was aware of Danielle knowing the truth and then, decided to end her?" 

"Mr. Obi was in there as well." 

"With a jacket over Toyosi." I reminded him. "He probably went there to take her home after someone called or something."

"You're making no sense." 

"I know," I sighed and sat back on my bed, with my face buried in my palms. "But you know our class teacher way more than me. It's the way he had acted ever since my and Ore's issue. It's making me feel like he can't do something like that."

"Do not judge a book by its cover." 

"A book is meant to be judged by its cover, unless why put it there?" 

Krystian scoffed, shaking his head. "Whatever you say, new girl."

I frowned, looking at my palms. "Tell me, is it too late to let the police handle things?" 

"Handle what exactly?" I slowly looked at Krystian. "The case has been closed. They can probably only reopen the case when there's substantial evidence. And that's why I'm here. Unlike you, I'm not ready to play detective to the end. I'm going to help you find enough evidence so you can submit it to the person who was in charge of the case."

"You think that will work?" 

"Hopefully," he nodded. "Also, I want you to stay away from Toyosi."

I frowned, "Why?"

"As I've said, she's been through a lot." I found myself rolling my eyes. "I'll talk to her in my own way or try to find evidence around her in my own way. Get it?" 

I refused to respond, forcing a sigh from Krystian. I watched him get up with his backpack swung in one shoulder. "Can you snap those pictures and send them to me on WhatsApp?" 

I gave a nod. "Your number."

"You can get it from the class group chat." I scrunched my nose at him which earned a little chuckle from him. Was it too difficult for him to put his number into my phone? Annoying was probably his middle name. Krystian pulled out his phone and stared at the screen. "It's getting late; I have to go."

"I'll see you off,"

"No need; I bet we'll argue on our way downstairs." He gestured towards the door. "I don't want that."

"I insist," I said, and got up, disregarding his excuse. He realised there was no use in protesting, so he went with the flow. We strolled out of my room and down the stairs. As I entered the living room, I discovered Trust was watching television. When he noticed our presence, he turned to Krystian and myself. I instinctively grabbed Krystian's hand and quickened our speed to get out of the living room.

"You really don't like your uncle," he commented as we made our way to the gate. 

"Would you like someone living off of your sister's money while cheating on her?" I questioned while making sure I'd let go of his hand.  

"I'm the only child," I rolled my eyes. He could've just answered nonetheless. "But no," he surprised me by speaking further, "I won't like that."

We finally stepped out of the gate to see his driver leaning against the hood of his car. "I'll be going, new girl."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" My words stopped him from moving further. "You called me Delphine this morning when you were too shocked at that picture to act cocky."

Krystian chuckled. He looked at the driver, and the latter stepped into the driver's seat. "You want me to stop?" 

"Yes!" I answered with so much desperation, forcing him to laugh. 

"How can I stop when your reaction is so cute?" He questioned in between laughs.

"What?" I was dumbfounded.

"See you soon, new girl," he said, turning and waving as he headed towards the packed car. Still baffled by his earlier statements, I watched him get into the car. What was this? The fact that I wanted to tell him off but couldn't because the car had already hit the road infuriated me.

Accepting defeat for not having the last word, I turned and walked back into the house, mumbling incomprehensible words. When I entered the living room, I expected Trust to open his mouth and condemn me, but he was unusually silent. Good, because I would have ignored him nonetheless. I climbed up the stairs with Krystian's words still lingering in my head. He probably had a different definition of cute. My reaction wasn't cute at all; it showed annoyance. What was he on about?

I bashed my room door behind me with a loud groan before rushing onto my bed, my head buried deep into my pillow, and letting out a loud muffled scream.

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That's it for today's chapter. What do you guys think about the chapter in general? And how do you think Krystian is going to handle things in his own way?

Question: Who's at the top of your suspect list?