Fourty Eight

Chapter 48

Golden High School's main hall.

"W-why was I brought to this place?"

Julia Wane, the girl who was considered close to the victim (Jake) looked nervous as she sat in front of Nicholas and Noel.

Responding to Jake's death, which was considered as one of the continued terrors carried out by the same perpetrator, made Nicholas finally make a significant decision. Also based on the permission of Wilson Blake and Paul Scoots (New York City's police chief), the dormitory's security was tightened by adding additional personnel at the main entrance and two other officers in the dormitory's auxiliary building.

The girl with shoulder-length blonde hair gave the detective a worried look. Her lips and body were trembling. The color of her face was full of secrets that she could not reveal. "So, your name is Julia Wane?" Nicholas began.

Julia herself was rumored to be in a special relationship with Jake so she was considered one of the people who might know the cause of the victim's death. "Look Julia, there are a few questions we need to ask you about Jake's death," Nicholas said slowly, not wanting to be aggressive and rushed. "And we really hope that you will help us with this investigation. Can you understand that?"

Julia gasped. "Jake?" her tone of voice registered at the mention of the name. "But--but I don't know anything about him, I--I even, oh my--" She hung her sentence in the air and suddenly burst into tears.

Nicholas turned to Noel; asking for an explanation-before finally returning his gaze to Julia. "Julia, are you okay?" Nicholas asked to make sure.

Julia seemed to be trying to keep nodding her head amidst her tears. "I just... gosh, I just feel like he deserves to die," she added in a deep tone; sounding so sad.

The sobs that began to subside from Julia made Noel finally dare to express the curiosity that had been bothering his mind. "Miss Wane, aren't you the victim's lover?"

Julia began to wipe her cheeks, which were already very wet from crying earlier. With a sob, she said, "All the rumors circulating in this dormitory are not true. I'm not really her lover," she said slowly. Julia then looked at Nicholas with a tearful gaze and began to catch her breath. "She... she forced me to sleep with her, detective."

"What?!" said Nicholas and Noel almost simultaneously.

"Jake forced me repeatedly and we did it in this dormitory." Julia burst into tears again;unable to bear the bitter experience that had happened to her. "He threatened to kill me if I told anyone else."

Nicholas shook his head in disbelief. "This is crazy! Can what you just said be accounted for under the law, Julia?!" His tone of voice rose, unable to bear Julia's shocking testimony.

Julia shook her head weakly. "I don't have any physical evidence to prove Jake's guilt other than a post mortem. But...," she trailed off, as if remembering something. "Someone saw me when Jake did that to me." Her eyes twinkled hopefully. "Yes, I believe he saw me and he can be a witness for me, detective," she continued.

"A witness?" asked Nicholas cautiously. Interesting. Perhaps that witness would also lead Nicholas to the perpetrator and the case would be solved.

Juliapun nodded confidently. Her eyes met the young detective's without hesitation. "She is the girl who spoke to you yesterday, detective," she informed him. "The girl you were with in front of Jake's room, she... she was there, I'm pretty sure she saw everything!"

Nicholas furrowed his brow as he looked at Noel.  "You mean, the black-haired girl with the gray eyes?"

And the girl named Julia nodded her head quickly without removing the detective's gaze from her brown eyes.

***

The atmosphere in the art room was suddenly bustling with the voices of girls overlapping each other. Selena had just managed to get all the girls' attention by saying that she would soon announce the winner of the popular girl election and asked them to gather there.

Amanda and Selena stood in front of the classroom;looking at the whole room with a haughty gaze.

"I'm sure you're all very curious and looking forward to the final results of this election," Selena said, causing the girls' overlapping chatter to stop and their attention to focus on her. She smiled gently as she continued her speech, "Amanda and I have decided that the winner of the popular girl vote is..." She hung her sentence in the air so that the girls were struck with curiosity.

Brittany immediately whispered into the ear of Alicia who was sitting next to her. "I'm pretty sure that it's you, Alicia. What do you think?"

And the girl wearing the gray softlens whispered back, "Let's see them play." in a light but emphatic tone.

"ALICIA!" shrieked Selena, accompanied by loud applause from the girls in the room.

All pairs of eyes turned to Alicia who was sitting in the back row. The center of attention, meanwhile, was silent and flat;seemingly uninterested in the final result.

As Selena and Amanda approached, a few sneers and swear words from the opposing camp began to trickle into Alicia's ears. Yes, in fact, Jennie's supporters were considered the majority when compared to Alicia's camp (which seemed to only have Brittany as a supporter).

Jennie herself just put on a sour face and glared sarcastically at Alicia, knowing that she was defeated by a new kid whose background was unclear.

"Alicia, congratulations on your victory," Selena praised.

Alicia looked at Selena and then at Amanda in turn. "I don't know what to say," she said flatly. She then glanced at Brittany who seemed to be just shrugging her shoulders out of the tail of her own eyes.

Amanda grinned faintly and chuckled. "From now on, you'll have to join the events we're participating in," she said. "You understand, right?"

Alicia let out a short breath. "I'm not even interested in joining. Can I give the position to Jennie? She keeps looking at me unhappily," she said lightly. That immediately made Jennie (who had been paying attention anyway) feel insinuated and immediately look away in the other direction.

"Everyone wants your position, Alicia," Selena told her. The girl wearing violet nail polish played with her hair flirtatiously. "You can't give that position to someone else that easily."

Alicia only exhaled once and looked Amanda straight in the eye. "Is this your way of creating an alibi? I don't know what your plan is, but you know very well that the two of us are not good friends, right?" Alicia asked rhetorically. "You even dueled me to get Ace." Alicia managed to make Amanda bend her forehead deeply as she chuckled scornfully. "You've got to be kidding, hm?"

Selenapun did not remain silent. She scowled in annoyance and rolled her eyes lazily. "Oh my. What's your problem, Alicia?!" She crossed her arms over her chest and glared sarcastically at Brittany. "Do you think you'll survive in this dorm just because you're friends with a cop kid?"

Brittany got up and interjected. "Hey! What's your problem?!" and looked at the two popular girls in turn. "Alicia already said she doesn't want to. Why are you guys forcin' her?"

No one dared to open their voice after that. Most of the girls just watched the argument between them with uncomfortable looks mixed with confusion. Nor did any of them dare to intervene;given Amanda and Selena's status in the dormitory.

"I think we should also think about Alicia's involvement with all the deaths of our friends in this dormitory, Selena," Amanda said suddenly. The cold tone of voice was clearly aimed at Alicia. "You should be thanking us for hiding the fact that you were involved in all those cases. But look, you're treating us with disrespect, Alicia."

"What do you mean?" Alicia asked curtly.

Amanda flashed a triumphant smile as she said, "I know that you're on the drug trafficking list and are into banned sites. Is that why you've been approaching Ace all this time?" The brunette girl leaned her face toward Alicia. "Hoping that he'll shut his mouth tight and bury all your secrets in his cozy bed? Well then, too bad, because you trusted the wrong person, Alicia."

Alicia looked around and realized the whole room was looking at her curiously. Some of them were also whispering and making assumptions of their own. Finally, holding back her own emotions, Alicia reacted,

.

.

.

"So, you purposely gathered all these people so that they would know the secret? You wanted me to be here so that you could twist all the facts, right? Isn't your goal very clear, Amanda?" []