9 Chapter 8

"Mr. Calloway, did you, perhaps, see or hear anything in the woods Friday night?" Detective Bassi asked Isaac.

Isaac shook his head, "No, sorry."

"Well, how about you tell me what you were doing in the woods in the first place?" Bassi asked, leaning her hands on the table.

"I was with Scarlett. We fought after you called us in. I took her to the lake and we went canoeing," Isaac said, smiling, "We talked and we kissed. Then, we went back."

Bassi nodded, "That's it?"

"That's it."

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"Monique, the party planner said that the invitations will be sent out tomorrow," Zach informed, sitting down on the dinner table.

Moniqua nodded her head, "Great. Did you guys get your tuxes?"

Marcel nodded eagerly, "Yeah, but I have trouble deciding if I should wear my black Dior, my navy blue Burberry, or my tailor-fitted, white EZQUESADA."

Moniqua smiled at the brand, "My mom would be so happy to see you wear an EZQUESADA fitted suit. Plus, you look really good in white."

"There we go," Marcel nodded his head, happy of her choice. "Thank you, Monique."

"Hey, I want an EZQUESADA suit," Dominique said, wriggling his eyebrows at Moniqua.

Moniqua laughed. "Great. So all of our attire will be designed by my mom, personally. I'll go tell her," She announced, standing up to make a phone call before turning back, "Any color preferences?"

The boys looked at each other before shaking their heads.

"Suprise us," Dominique said.

Moniqua nodded, before turning around and calling her mother.

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"Okay, Angelique asked me to perform a song on her birthday," Kaiden started. The guys are all gathered around his room after dinner. "And what better way to do it than with you guys?" He laughed nervously.

Isaac shrugged, "Alright."

"Now I know that y'all aren't musicians and all but," He reasoned before realizing what Isaac had said, "Wait, what? Did you just agree with me?"

"We get it, you and Angel are close. You probably want to surprise her with a special song on her birthday," Zach said, smiling.

"And we'll help you. I think it's great," Lucifer agreed, no emotion on his face but Kaiden knew they meant well.

"Great, yeah, thank you," Kaiden said, turning around to grab his laptop and pulling out his Spotify. "I was thinking I can do a solo performance for the ball with this song and a piano, and this song for the after-party with you guys."

"That's perfect," Dominique spoke up.

Kaiden looked at him with wide eyes, "Really? Do you think she'll like it?"

Dominique nodded, "Yeah. But you won't be able to win her heart with that."

Kaiden was caught by surprise, and started coughing. "Win her heart?" He said after he calmed down.

Dominique nodded slowly, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I-I don't like her like that," He stuttered.

The guys simultaneously raised their eyebrow.

"You chose a sweet song for a girl like Angelique and you don't like her like that?" Isaac asked, amused

Kaiden looked nervous. "Uh, um, I, uh-"

"Look, I like you, Kaiden. I do, you're a good guy. But my sister deserves better than someone who can't admit his feelings to himself," Dominique said, standing up and leaving.

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Monday morning, rain was falling. It felt comforting for a while until Lucifer realized that it's Monday.

With a groan, he picked himself out of bed and got ready. Putting on his tie, he opened the door and walked out. Lucifer walked up the stairs to the dining room, the smell of breakfast filling his nose.

"Good morning," Caroline greeted as he sat down.

Lucifer smiled, "Good morning."

They made small talk while waiting for the others to come up and start eating. When they were all gathered around the table, Detective Bassi came inside and to their table.

"Good morning everyone," She said with a nod. "So, today, we will be looking for any evidence in your dorm rooms.

"Do you have a warrant?" Isaac asked.

Detective Bassi nodded, "We just got it this morning. I hope we don't find anything though."

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows, "Why's that?"

"So that none of you get arrested, of course," She said slowly before muttering to herself, "And so I can get home quicker."

Scarlett raised her eyebrow, hearing what she said, but covering it up with a smile. "Yes, of course," She agreed.

"Detective Bassi, what will you be looking for in there, anyway?" Zach asked with a hand raised.

"We're looking for any kind of evidence. Maybe something that belonged to Ms. Collins, or a possible murder weapon, maybe?" She answered, watching her words carefully.

Everyone nodded slowly, thinking of everything that could be found as evidence, and luckily, no one thought of anything. But just as Detective Bassi thought her job was getting easier, her forensic scientist called her name and rushed her to the dorm rooms.

"I'll keep you informed," Bassi nodded briefly.

They waved her off awkwardly before turning to each other in hushed whispers.

"There's no evidence to hide, is there?" Scarlett whispered to Caroline.

Lucifer scoffed, "Of course not. They won't find anything, Scar."

"Yeah, of course. Don't worry, Moonlight. They won't find anything," Isaac assured, putting an arm around her, comforting her easily.

And nothing happened all day. Just lessons and interactions. Lunch was filled with silenced tension, almost unseeable, but there nonetheless.

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Kaiden was practicing the song he's going to perform for Angelique, alone. He didn't think he needed anyone yet.

"Which one should I practice first?" He muttered to himself, glancing between the two songs he picked out. Finally, he decided to go with the song he'll perform with his classmates, so they can study it faster.

He pressed play and listened to it, getting a hang of the tune and memorizing the lyrics.

As he wrote down the chords of the song on his sheet of paper, he couldn't help but think about what Dominique had said.

"Win her heart?" He whispered herself with a chuckle as he picked up his electric guitar and started playing along with the song.

The intro was bouncy and fun, making him nod his head with it.

"Have you got color in your cheeks?

Do you ever get that fear that you can't shift the type that sticks around like summat in your teeth?" He sang, having genuine fun as he played.

Though in the middle of the second chorus, the guys all barged inside his room, Dominique still not there. He assumed he just needed some time and probably went to talk to Angelique.

Kaiden quickly turned down the song and put down his guitar. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Zach answered, taking a seat on his bed.

Kaiden nodded in response. "Well, since you're here, we can start practicing, yeah?"

Isaac nodded, looking at him as if he's asking permission to hold his bass that laid in the corner of Kaiden's room.

He nodded, granting him and the others permission to take an instrument of their choice. Zach went back to his room and took his guitar as Marcel sat behind the drums. Lucifer took a position behind the keyboard.

"Alright, you ready?" Kaiden asked, getting ready to teach Marcel how to play the drums.

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Everyone left, after only getting through the intro of the songs. Sure, it's not easy playing the song, but the fact that Kaiden made it seem so effortless had made the group easily frustrated that they're not getting it, so they called it off early. Not so early, as 10 PM.

But when Detective Bassi called for a meeting in the main hall, everyone was trying to come up with a personal lie in their heads. Alas, bad things were meant to happen eventually.

"We found something," Detective Bassi started. "While my crew and I were searching in your dorms, a coworker went back to the woods and found...a body."

Their eyes went wide with shock. And even though Detective Bassi thought nothing of it, it was certainly something.

"So we will be questioning you again tomorrow. Ms. Jones had permitted us to let you off lessons. But for now, get some rest. You have a lot of explaining to do."

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Midnight air was supposedly clear as Lucifer took heavy inhales of nicotine in his lungs, the toxic chemical helped him breathe, somehow. No one understood why and when Lucifer started smoking, but Scarlett did. They were each other's first friends after all. What she didn't understand was why he started distancing himself from her and everyone else.

"Luca, you okay?" Scarlett asked, seeing him in the middle of the garden.

Lucifer nodded his head, not looking at her as he took in yet another heavy breathe from his cigar.

Scarlett sat down on the bench behind him, watching him inhale the toxin that will eventually kill him.

Knowing she's not going to leave, Lucifer sat down beside her, stomping on the cigarette.

Lucifer sighed. "I'm tired, Scar," He said with a smile.

His smile seemed almost real, like he was genuinely happy. But she knew he wasn't. And it ached her heart to know that he was hurting and nobody cared enough to ask about it.

"I know," She whispered with a sad smile.

Lucifer slouched more into his seat as he leaned onto Scarlett, his head resting on her shoulder as he looked up at the starless sky.

To him, it was unusual that the night sky was without stars. It was like a sign that something was about to go wrong. And it made him feel uneasy that the darkest part of his mind is telling him that this will be everyone's downfall.

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