CHAPTER 2

Gabriella wore a light pair of sneakers while at the door and waited for her Nana to get downstairs.

"Nana, hurry," She said loud enough for her Nana to hear her.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

As soon as she got down, Gabriella opened the door for her, so they could both step out. They both got into the car and Gabriella drove them to a supermarket, so they could get groceries.

Rosalind, whom Gabriella called Nana, wasn't her actually grandmother. She was a nanny who took care of Gabriella since her parents were rarely around, so she grew to love her as her grandma since she was old enough to be.

They finally arrived at the supermarket and hurriedly entered. Gabriella went ahead to grab two trolleys, one for herself and one for Rosalind

"Are you ready?" Rosalind asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be, Nana," she said, determination written all over her face as she took out her phone from her pocket

"Go!" She said and the both of them hurried went to their separate was.

It was a normal practice for the both of them ever since Gabriella became a teenager. The grocery list would be divided into two and each of them would have a part, the first to complete the task would be the winner and the loser would have to do the house chores for a week. Nana won most of the time, but Gabriella was really determined to win.

She hurriedly walked towards the shelves, grabbing everything she saw on the list.

She was almost finished with her list when she saw someone struggling to choose between Peanut butter and Nutella. She wanted to walk off because, obviously, it had nothing to do with her, but apart from the other things she could do, another specialty of hers was helping with food choices.

"Peanut butter is multipurpose, buy that instead," she said and the person turned. When Gabriella saw him, her countenance changed, it was him.

After Nicole's death, an investigation was held, but based on Gabriella's hunch and the fact that it hadn't been announced, she figured the culprit hadn't been caught.

During her funeral, one of the detectives who seemed new attended. He went around asking the people who knew Nicole some questions. These people included Nancy, Nicole's best friend since they were kids, and Renee. No one, including Sasha, knew that Nicole and Renee were cousins until the day of the funeral.

Gabriella had no idea who the new detective was or what had gotten into her that day, but she walked up to him with so much confidence and tapped him on the shoulder.

As he turned to face her, Gabriella saw that he looked oddly familiar and couldn't stop staring at him until he cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Oh, right. I'm Gabriella," she said, extending her hand. The detective reluctantly took her hand and shook it repeatedly before letting go.

"What can I do for you, Gabriella?" He asked in a stern and masculine voice. Gabriella took a while to admire his features, both facial and 'Bodily'.

"Uhm well, I'm Nicole's classmate," she started clearing her throat.

"Is there anything you have to say that can help?" He asked again.

"Hmm, not really. I wasn't at the party that night, neither had I seen her before then,"

"So then, how can I help you?"

'Deep breath Gabby, deep breath…'

"Okay uhm, I'm actually a rookie detective and I want to help," she volunteered. That was the only thing she thought to say. She had absolutely no idea how it came out of her mouth, but it just did.

"If you give me a chance, I can…"

"Don't," He said

"Huh?"

"Don't get yourself involved, you're just a kid," He said and attempted to walk away, but Gabriella tugged his shirt.

"Can you at least tell me the cause of her death?" She asked. He took one look at her and sighed.

"That information is classified, go home kid," He said, walking away.

"The culprit hasn't been caught, right?" She asked aloud, causing the guy to stop again. He sighed, and then lowered his head before he continued to walk.

Gabriella felt embarrassed because it seemed like her body acted on its own. Plus the fact that he made emphasis on 'kid'

'Who's he calling a kid? He just seems to be a bit older than me.' she thought, rolling her eyes. 'Real smooth, Gabby, real smooth…'

There they were standing facing each other. Gabriella had forgotten about her task because she kept thinking of how she made a fool of herself that day.

"Are you stalking me?" He asked, and although she still felt embarrassed from the last time, that question really pissed her off.

She was about to reply when she realized that time was running out. She left without giving him an answer to grab some other things. As she rushed towards the counter, she noticed her Nana waltz there. Before she arrived, her Nana had gotten there, she lost.

Rosalind smiled at her, which looked like a proud smirk to Gabriella. She had won again and Gabby had lost, again.

'It was all that detective's fault,' Gabriella thought, although she knew that wasn't true.

Finally, they had gotten all that they needed and prepared to head home. Gabriella could only think about the amount of house chores she had to do for a week. She drove them home and then when they finally arrived home, Gabriella was shocked to see who was waiting for them.

"Keith?"

"Hey Gabby," He said, seeing Gabriella. He stood outside leaning on his car.

"How about we take this inside," Rosalind said, and Gabriella drove into their garage.

"Hey Nana," Keith greeted, seeing Rosalind.

"Hey hottie," she responded, winking at him while Gabriella rolled her eyes, hitting her forehead with her palm. Keith and Gabriella were friends and although she had feelings for him, she had no courage to tell him. Keith also liked Gabriella, but neither of them had the courage to confess.

"By the way, what are you doing here?" There was a brief pause and this made Gabriella feel uneasy until he finally spoke.

"Uhm, I know this may be a bit too sudden, but could you come over for dinner tomorrow at my place?"

Although that sounded exciting, Gabriella was a bit skeptical because, like he said, I was a sudden.

"Okay, can I at least know what the dinner is being hosted for?" She asked and once again, the uneasy silence.

"Not what, who is the party being hosted, and it's for my brother. He's back home…"