Chapter Text
Thursday Morning
“I want you to tell me what happened last night. From the beginning . Can you do that?”
Kate squinted from the bright light in her face. They didn’t know what time it was, how long they’d been at the police station, but she was tired and wanted to get whatever the hell this was over with. “Sure,” the junior nodded as she spoke her first words.
“I- we were the first ones there. Chess and I. It was…” Kate hesitated. “I don’t remember the time exactly.” They were looking at their hands. She was cuffed to the table like some kind of criminal . There was a man sitting across from them, but with the bright light it was hard to make out a face. His voice was firm, but it had an eerie kindness to it.
“Try to remember,” he said. “Just try. ”
“If I knew what the time was I would tell you. But I don’t .” Kate knew she needed to stick to her ground. “It didn’t seem important at the time. Riley told us to be there between the times of 4:30 and 5; so around then? I didn’t even want to go.”
“What made you?”
“Chess. She made me. I begged her to leave. I said… I-”
“What did you say?” The man’s irritating questions were starting to get on Kate’s nerves. He was treating them like a toddler, asking the most basic questions and wanting a long, drawn out answer.
“I cracked a stupid joke about how going to a funeral home would be more fun,” they said flatly. She heard the man clear his throat, probably shocked at the ill-fated response. “She didn’t care and made me go in anyways.”
“What were you and Chess doing before you arrived?”
“We’re neighbors so I walked to her house so she could drive me to Riley’s. She had to babysit all day before that, and I just sat around home all day avoiding my parents.”
“Why were you avoiding your parents, Kate?”
Rolling their eyes enough to purposefully make it noticeable, she responded, “Is that information really going to help you?” After a few seconds of silence, Kate realized he wasn’t going to say anything, so she continued. “Because they hate me? Every conversation with them is the same. They point out my flaws, tell me I’m worth jack-shit, and ruin my day. I guess I didn’t want that, ‘cause who would?”
“Okay, that’s fair. Back to the matter. What was the order of girls arriving?”
“I don’t know. Me and Chess, then Reese maybe? Or was it Mattie? I- I don’t remember because it was another thing that seemed ridiculous. Who cares about the order?”
“I do,” Mr. Detective dude said flatly. (Without a name or a face Kate didn’t have much to make a stupid nickname out of.)
“Okay, well sorry I can’t give it to you.” Kate rolled their eyes. This was taking way too long. She’d been talking about the same minute for about ten. “Cairo greeted us, so I guess she was already there to hangout with her bestie . And Annleigh and Farrah were late.”
“What was the reason they were late?”
“Farrah was… She was drunk.”
“I’m aware of that.” The man placed a file in front of them. “Toxicology reports came in last night. Want a look?”
“No,” Kate said, shaking her head. “But if you knew Farrah was drunk, does that mean-”
“We know Chess was high?” Mr. Detective dude said, interrupting her. They nodded. “Yeah. And you’re not the first person we’ve talked to.” Oh shit , Kate thought. Please tell me it wasn’t who I think it is… “Cairo told us you got into a fight with both Chess and Farrah.” Shit . “What exactly was your relationship with those two girls?”
Trying to conceal all emotions, Kate just said what she practiced in her mind all day and night. “I didn’t know Farrah that well. I knew that she hated Chess and I hated her for that. She tried picking a fight with Chess, but got me heated instead… I assume you already know the failed stunt?”
“I did my research.”
“Well Farrah was still mad about that, and the , and the two of us went at it. Riley kicked me out before it got physical, and looking back I’m actually… grateful? So I went outside and Chess followed me.”
“And your relationship with Chess? You two were obviously close friends, but from what I’ve already heard...”
Sitting up as straight as they dared, Kate raised her eyebrows and asked, “How many girls have you already talked to already?”
“Only one besides you…” Mr. Detective dude shifted in his seat.
“And it was Cairo,” Kate was visibly getting pissed at this point, for she kind of already knew the answer to the next question she was about to ask. “What did Cairo say about Chess and I?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you-”
“Then let me take an educated guess. She told you that we were together? Like together together.” He shifted again, giving Kate the only answer they needed. “Of course she fucking would.” The junior could feel her hand curl up into fists, and when she looked down at them, they were a white-ish color.
“Well were you? Were you a couple?” Another dumbass question that Kate wanted to gag at.
“I- We- It’s-”
“Complicated?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s complicated. Or it was before some asshole…” Wanting to scream, Kate squeezed their eyes shut. “God, why is she so obsessed with Chess and me? Ugh . Here’s something I bet Cai didn’t tell you: She didn’t want to go to the cops. She wanted to frame the god-damn freshman.” And just to add to her small victory, she smirked and said, “Will that information help you?”
Clearing his throat, the man just looked behind him. It was a mirror, but Kate had seen enough crime shows to know there was probably someone behind it. “I did not know that, and yes it is helpful.”
“I didn’t kill my best friend. If anyone did, my money’s on the girl who lied to the cops.” Kate’s voice was flat but firm as she spoke. “And can you please stop doing that thing where you finish my sentences? And, let me know if I’m going to far,” they put in sarcastically, “but could you turn the fucking light down and maybe tell me your damn name? I don’t mean to sound rude,” yes she did, “but you’re giving me a headache while trying to get me to remember shit.”
A moment later the light was off. As their eyes adjusted to the more dark room, Kate leaned back and looked around. There was a microphone a couple feet ahead of her, and they wondered how they didn’t notice it before. The mirror was definitely one sided, and there was a camera just above where it started on the wall.
They moved their gaze to the man who was sitting in front of her. He wasn’t young, but not too old either. About her dad’s age. He had ginger hair and his eyes were a deepish blue. The stature of the detective was poised as he sat up straight in the chair. His smile was warm but all too familiar…
Glancing down at the name tag it read: Det. Williams.
Holy fucking shit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday night
Cairo’s whole body shook. She knew they couldn’t go to the police, but was at a loss for words why. Something in her mind was repulsed at the idea of landing in a police station as a suspect to a crime she didn’t commit. She was glad she was still breathing, but Cairo knew that there was a good chance she was upon a killer and she needed to act fast.
“Riley, wait!” Cairo yelped as she followed her best friend out of the bloodied bathroom.
“For what? For the rest of us to get killed?!”
“Do you really want the police here when we’re surrounded by dead bodies and covered in blood?!” Cairo took a step closer, and Riley took one back.
“Yes,” she replied. “That’s when you do that.” The redhead’s face was full of confusion. Before Cairo even knew it, she was practically begging Riley not to call the cops.
“It’s just defense,” she told her best friend. And with wide-eyes, Riley shook her head and walked away. Almost chasing her back into the basement, she continued to promote the idea of lying to the police.
“You’re on a team with every girl here. You know we wouldn’t kill anyone!”
“What I know is that Kate and Chess were fighting all night!” Cairo knew she had to go right for the gut. If she made Kate feel guilty, maybe she could trip her on board. “And you were the last one to see her before she turned up dead! You basically tried to kill Farrah in front of all of us!”
“Oh hell no!” Kate piped up. The same way she did at the beginning of the night when Annleigh brought in a drunken Farrah. The drunken Farrah who was now lifeless in Riley’s shower. The shower Clark was now laying next to, also lifeless. Cairo’s head was spinning. She’d never seen a dead body before tonight, and she wasn’t mentally ready for it to be someone she’d been fighting with and making fun off only an hour or two before. Cairo needed to sit down.
Kate was still talking, probably defending herself to the group, but the senior didn’t hear it. The only things she could hear was the ringing in her ears and the beat of her heart. Looking around, everything became blurry.
Fear struck her, but she couldn’t let the others know. Cairo was supposed to be the tough one. The girl who was always standing her ground with fast comebacks. She spoke her mind. Not in the obnoxious, unfiltered way Annleigh did. Not in the peppy and disgustingly cheery way Riley and Reese did. Or even the way Kate did with her snarky remarks or her- her stupid face. Jesus her head hurt .
“Just do it,” Cairo sighed, out of breath from her exhausting thoughts. “Call the damned police.”
Riley appeared next to her, “We- We already established that. Were you not… Cairo, are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” was the only thing Cairo was able to say. In another world she didn’t freak out. In another world she was able to convince them to frame the younger girl in the bathroom. But in another world they were singing and dancing together, and that was about as unrealistic as it gets.
As the police sirens neared, Cairo readied herself to be boarded into a small cop car with one of the other girls. She didn’t care who at this point, because they all were the same amount of innocent and guilty. All except the unknown one that is.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday Afternoon
“So to cover everything you just said: Clark, your boyfriend, wasn’t supposed to be there that night?”
“Right. He was just supposed to drop Farrah and I off, then leave,” Annleigh found herself repeating the same sentence over and over again, and thought that she was going crazy.
“And he came back to give you… your night guard?” This man was treating her like a child, and she didn’t care for it.
“Yes. I thought he left! But then we found him…” She couldn’t make out the words. Annleigh’s whole world had shattered beneath her, and now she was slicing her fingers open trying to put it back together. She didn’t know how anyone was supposed to remember everything that happened. All she wanted to do was to go home to her mom, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t because they wouldn’t let her.
“So besides you, Clark, and the other cheerleaders, there was no one else at that house that night? No one you remember seeing even for a second?”
“I don’t- No. I can’t think of-” And then it hit her. “Eva Sanchez.”
“Who?” The detective leaned forward onto the table, as if he was hearing this for the first time.
“Eva Sanchez. She’s the highest ranked flyer in the state. She also happened to be the pizza-delivery-person that night. I only know her name because Riley is obsessed with her for some reason.” Annleigh hesitated before adding, “I’m kind of surprised you didn’t recognize the name because of Riley…”
Detective Williams stroked his beard. Well the beard that was shaved, but it was still a stubble beard no matter. “Did you interact with her at all? And how long was she there for?”
“She was only there for about two minutes,” The junior took a moment to think of the conversation they had that night. “She recognized Cairo and I as the Tigers and told us that she was rooting for us. She acted kind of weird, but it was more of a socially awkward weird than sociopathic weird.”
“Even so,” Detective Williams said. He stood up and faced the mirror that was behind him. “Someone pull up the tabs of Eva Sanchez. We should bring her in to question her.” Now turning back to Annleigh, he smiled and asked, “Now, where were we?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday (Late) Afternoon
“Eva Sanchez? You need to come with me.”
Eva hated her job. Sure there were worse things, but she’d been working there since she was fifteen. She moved up the ranks quickly to become a delivery-person when she got her license about six months later. Her dad took the bus to work and gave Eva the car on the days she needed to work.
But she specifically hated her job now that she was a suspect in a real life murder mystery she didn’t sign up for.
It was about midnight when Eva got home from work Wednesday night. There was a bunch of traffic and the ride home wasn’t short to begin with. She’d been really confused on why there was traffic in the middle of the night, but now she knew.
She always made sure she was quiet when she got home from night shifts. Her parents always got mad at her if she woke up her younger siblings, but who could blame them?
As she passed the living room to head upstairs, Eva noticed her mother sleeping on the couch with the television still playing. Chuckling to herself, Eva set down her bag and headed over to where she assumed the remote controller would be.
Looking down at her mom so peaceful, Eva couldn’t help but smile. It would be the last real smile she had for a while because when she looked up at the tv, she noticed that the news was on. The local news. She wasn’t surprised though because her mom always liked watching it after a long day. The reason for it was beyond the teenager though.
As she was about to click off the tv, something set her brain into alert mode. The screen featured a group of girls standing outside of a house. A group of girls standing outside of a house she recognized. And when she got closer to the television, she started to recognize some of the faces of the girls.
The headline said, “BREAKING NEWS: Three Teenagers Found Dead After “Killer” Sleepover”.
Eva practically flew to her bag for her receipts. Please no 16 Hartcourt. Please no 16 Hartcourt. Please no 16 Hartcourt. Please- shit.
The next few hours flew by. Eva didn’t sleep a wink, but it was morning before she knew it. She had had a morning shift, but she called in sick because she knew she had to have a bit of time to process it all.
She couldn’t tell her family she was skipping work though, because then they’d start asking questions. And what was she supposed to say? I might have talked to a killer last night and I am not okay? She didn’t think so.
So instead she told her parents that she simply didn’t have to work because they called her out. Eva also told them that she had to do summer work, which was a lie. West High didn’t give out any summer work besides a book to read because they didn’t care about their students very much. Others would disagree, but Eva was always fascinated with knowledge, and never found a lack of it.
But instead of doing the non-existent project, Eva spent all morning and most of her afternoon reading a book, scrolling through her phone, or anything to keep her mind occupied off of cheerleaders and murder.
It was late afternoon when Eva heard her dad call her downstairs. His voice was gentle and not tough like it usually was, which caught the flyer off guard. The second thing to catch her off guard was to see her mother and father holding hands at the end of the stairwell. It was one of those curvy ones, so Eva was unable to see beyond her parents, but as she got closer she noticed her mother tearing up.
The last thing to catch Eva Sanchez off guard was to see a police officer standing in her living room. Looking around, she turned to her parents and whispered, “What’s going on?”
Before either of them could respond, the officer said, “Eva Sanchez? You need to come with me.”
“Am I being arrested?” Was probably not the best response to give, but it was her first reaction.
“No, you are being escorted to the police station.” That sounds a lot like arrested Eva thought. Just minus the handcuffs.
“You aren’t handcuffing me… are you?” Eva knows that she talks too much when she gets nervous, so she was doing her best in the moment, but it was hard .
“Not unless necessary,” he responded stiffly. “And I’m sure it won’t be, right?”
“Right,” Eva chuckled humorlessly. Turning to her parents once again, Eva tried to keep a brave face. Her father looked concerned while her mother was clutching his arm, tears running down her face.
“Your brother and sisters aren’t here by the way,” her dad said just as she was about to ask. “They won’t see you.” With a sigh of relief, Eva told her parents to just tell them she was at a friend’s house, no matter how unrealistic it was. How was she supposed to explain to her younger siblings that look up to her that she was getting in a cop car.
“Did they already tell you what for?” The junior asked her parents.
“You were a potential witness to…”
“I actually saw on the news last night… I’m so sorry.”
“I hate to break this up, but we have to go,” said the cop, already standing at the door. After a moment's hesitation, Eva wiped a tear from her own cheek, and headed towards the police car in the driveway.