Last night was such a shock to Emma. She never thought it would actually work, but it did. She felt like she could have a full-on conversation with the bunny doll as Amelia. Granted, Amelia was mostly confused about what was going on, but hey, Emma got a good night's rest, so that's all that matters, right? As Emma woke up, wearing a black shirt and brown jeans, she stopped real quick and noticed the police cars in front of the “accident” that she had caused last night and her friend groups all standing there, completely worried, scared, or straight-up crying. Emma’s face frowned, and her heart started to beat fast. She didn't know what to say, but she knew she had to act like nothing was wrong with her and immediately ran up to them.

  “Hey guys, what’s going on?” Emma said, faking worriness until she looked at the body bag. It held Amelia's lifeless corpse in it. Emma didn't know what to say. She knew what she did; she saw the body, but it didn't look as bad as it looks now. Grace ran up to her and hugged Emma, crying in her chest. She and Amelia were close, so she knew it hurt her badly. Emma hugged Grace and caressed her head to soothe her. Nate and Valentina looked really upset; Max was indifferent to it. He never knew Amelia like that, but he had enough respect to stay quiet. Flare was struggling to keep up his usual asshole smile, so it was bothering him some too. He didn't say anything and just stood beside Max for moral support. Miles walked over and hugged Emma quietly.

  “I’m sorry Amelia died. I know how much she meant to you, Grace and Valentina,” he said softly. That’s when the guilt hit Emma a lot. She did just kill someone she was close to. Now nobody was going to see her again. It was all her fault, but she couldn't let anyone know that. Either way, that didn't stop her from starting to shed tears of guilt. Her heart hurt, and she cried along with Grace. She wanted to stay strong; she felt like she didn't deserve to cry, but man, all these emotions were hitting her like a freight train. Valentina growled to herself and mumbled,

  “When I find who did this, they will pay for hurting my friend.” She looked very serious about this.

  “She was such a nice person. A promising future ahead of her. Almost made me envious of her. Now, I feel nothing but pain. I miss her.” Nate said sadly. Flare patted Nate’s back.

  “Well, at least her drawings will be worth millions.” Flare lightly said, half kidding, but the other part mourning. Max didn't notice that and slapped the back of his head.

  “Wrong time, dummy.” Flare rubbed his head, slightly angry at the slap on the head. The police walked over to the group.

  “Hey Max… His friends… I’m guessing you're this girl's friend?” he asked, to which everyone nodded too.

  “I understand. Given your closeness to her, perhaps you could assist us in gathering some information. Was this girl, by any chance, exhibiting suicidal tendencies?” The group looked at each other, and Grace was the first to speak.

  “No, she's never had that to our knowledge. She always found a way to vent out her struggles through her art and was always open about her feelings.” The policeman nodded in understanding.

  “I see, so none of that.” He looked towards his partner and mumbled,

  “This was a setup, most likely.” He looked once more at the group and asked, more softly this time,

  "Are you aware of anyone who had a falling out with Amelia? That might provide us with a lead on potential suspects," he inquired. Everyone was silent; it didn't feel right to put the blame on someone who didn't like Amelia. Besides, who would be crazy enough to do that?

  “I think I have someone in mind.” Emma said her tears were gone, and she was now fully focused. She planned this. She can't mess this up now. The police officer perked up and took out his notepad.

  “Go on…” Emma sighed, and with determined eyes, she spoke.

  “Not too long ago, Amelia got into a fight with a guy named Gregory. As far as I know, he’s a bully and picks on girls.” she said, calmly. Too calm.

  “Alright, do you mind—” Flare immediately stopped the policeman and the conversation.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Woah, woah, woah. You can't just blame Gregory for something like this. All they did was argue; why would he kill Amelia?” Emma looked at Flare with challenging eyes, hiding her current nervousness at being called out.

  “You don’t know what he’s capable of. If anything, if he's willing to pick on a girl like Hazel, you don’t know what he’d do to a girl who is basically defenseless,” she said. Max spoke up, feeling slightly disgusted.

  “I don’t think we should be blaming someone who had a simple argument for this. What happens if he’s not? We’re blaming someone who's innocent!” Valentina, the voice of reason, spoke up.

  “We are here to give the police as much help as possible for the murder of our friend. We’re not here to argue about who we think is innocent or not; what matters is we find who did this to our friend, and right now, Gregory sounds like a plausible suspect for this.”

  “Gregory is mentally messed up in the head from what I’ve been told. For all we know, he could have done this.” Miles said, still holding onto Emma and Grace. The police nodded, and Emma eventually gave out what she knew about the guy's appearance with the help of her boyfriend. As the police left the scene, everyone walked to the college campus. Everyone was quiet. Emma was only quiet because she let tension get off her shoulder as she got a target off of her back. She got someone else to take the blame, which helped her look more innocent. Just then, the silence was soon cut off by the sound of Flare eating chips, which had them turn to him with furrowed eyebrows.

  “What? Can’t I just eat chips in peace?” He asked, which earned him an eye roll from everyone at his inability to read the room.

  “I can’t believe that she’s gone.” Grace said mournfully.

  “What do we tell, Hazel? She was very close to Amelia. More than any of us.” Valentina sighed and put her hand on Grace.

  “It’s probably better we don’t tell her what happened just yet. It still feels too early, you know. We would want her to know the person who killed Amelia was brought to justice. So no one tells her,” she said, demandingly. Everyone agreed to it. As they made it towards the college, everyone had split off in different directions. Till it was just Emma, Miles, Grace, and Nathaniel. They sat on the benches outside the college; Grace needed some time to calm down after losing one of her closest friends. Miles and Emma tried their best to comfort her as much as they could. Whether it be making days for hanging out or a dinner night, whatever it took to make Grace feel better. Meanwhile, Nate was in his own little world. He wanted to make Grace feel better; however, he also had a lot on his mind.

  “You good over there, Natey?” Miles said teasingly, which Nate huffed in annoyance.

  “I’m fine, just thinking.” Emma tilted her head in curiosity.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked, which prompted Nate to get off his seat and stand in front of them, crossing his arms, which complemented his big confident grin.

  “I will not let Amelia’s death go unknown. These cops aren't going to be searching for long, knowing those lazy bastards. So I’ve decided that I will help in their investigation in finding this killer!” he said confidently. Emma squinted at his words and crossed her arms.

  “They are already investigating George, and I have safe bets that it’s him. Why should you interfere with police work?” Nate frowned at that.

  “That’s one person! And how do we even know for sure that it’s him? We need more people. It’s not fair to blame one person when everyone can be just as guilty as him.” he said, trying to be as reasonable as he could. Emma wanted to speak up, but Grace placed a hand on her shoulder and said with a shaky voice,

  “He’s right, Emma. We need to be completely sure that whoever this murderer is doesn't get away. I also believe it is likely Gregory, but if it’s not him, then Amelia’s death will go in vain.” Emma felt her heart race again as she gripped her shirt in nervousness. What if they find out it was her?

  “How do you plan on helping anyways, Nate?” Miles asked curiously. Nate pulled out a magnifying glass from his bag and said,

  “I look at the crime scene and determine what had happened to her. Once I do, I’ll try to find any fingerprints, and if I don’t find any, I can look through cameras to find who did it. There has got to be one around here that saw what happened.” Emma mumbled to herself,

  “That sounds foolishly hopeful.” She was very nervous, and for some reason she felt like throwing up with how much Nate looked so determined to find the killer. Nate turned around.

  “I’m going to go check that crime scene real quick. Maybe I could find some evidence for this murder. See you guys around!” he said, running off to the crime scene.

  “Bro is going to be the knockoff version of Sherlock Holmes.” Miles said, chuckling to himself. Grace joined in on the teasing.

  “Well, whatever makes it easier to cope for him, I guess.” Miles and Grace laughed about it, but Emma was getting stressed. She knows Nate is really smart and can usually put pieces together very easily. He was so good at it that in his room, he had multiple puzzles that were up on his wall that were one hundred percent completed. They usually ranged around 1000 to 3,000. She was very worried, and she needed to figure out how to make sure Nate doesn't find anything incriminating on her. Then she heard the voice in the back of her head say something that made her teeth clench.

  “Nate will be our second subject…”