It all started with a game

Chapter 31

There is no real ending. It's just the place where you stop the story.
~Frank Herbert

A/N
Okay so I lied when I said there were only two chapters left...this is the last chapter.

Thank you to the person that reminded me that Sonny has a boyfriend because ngl I totally forgot.

Chapter 31
Ryder's POV
"What if we try a more unexpected approach? Maybe that'll get us more points," Mateo suggested.

We'd been trying all day to figure out what to do for our project in Criminal Justice class. The two of us needed to score well on this if we wanted any shot of passing the class. We happened to completely have bombed our last project, leaving our grades in the gutter. "But what if we get it wrong and then it makes our grade worse?"

The two of us knew the basic facts of the justice system and were perfect on paper but when it came to actually applying our knowledge to real life cases, we could use some work. "True, true. If we want to save our grade—" Mateo paused in the midst of his sentence to tell our order to the barista.

I inhaled sharply, memories of Beatrice waving over me. She used to always get straight black coffee and I'd get some sugary drink loaded with everything humanly possible to mask the taste of coffee—I needed the energy boost but hated the actual coffee flavor. The baristas would always switch our cups, giving me the black coffee, and Beatrice wouldn't want to embarrass me so she would wait until we were in the car to switch our drinks.

It's been a month since we broke up and I still think about her.

"Back to what I was saying," Mateo continued after placing the order, "if we want to save our grade, we have to get a perfect score on the project."

"I know." It was the reason we were starting this project so early, it was only assigned just yesterday.

The barista handed us our drinks. She smiled at Mateo, pointing down at his drink. "That's a good choice, it's my favorite."

Mateo refuses to drink coffee because he doesn't want to get addicted. His favorite drink happened to be hot pink which tends to get him a lot of attention. I'd seen a number of boys laugh at him for his choice in refreshment, but it did usually earn him a couple phone numbers from some of the ladies, and a couple men, because apparently they like a guy who's masculinity isn't threatened by a magenta drink with sparkles and strawberries in it. "Mine too." Mateo was oblivious to the girl's attempts at flirting and continued on his way without a second thought.

Idiot.

"We have to win this case and make a solid, unbreakable argument." We took our seats, grabbing the material and dividing it between the two of us.

"I'll sort through the evidence and you listen to the testimony," Mateo sorted the work by what the two of us knew best.

I stuck in my headphones, playing the video of the witness's testimony. Our major project of the semester was to solve an actual court case, the murder of a Leah Wilson. So far, Mateo and I have come up with nothing.

I took notes on the witness's statement, outlining even the simplest facts. A sharp pain shot up my leg as Mateo kicked me under the table. "What?" I spat, shooting him a glare. What was that for? I rubbed my throbbing leg.

Mateo widened his eyes, silently directing me to my left. I crinkled my brow, hesitantly turning my head. My breath hitched in my throat. "Beatrice," I croaked.

Mateo stuck his headphones in, trying to give us as much privacy as possible and silently telling me that if I didn't talk to her, he would for me.