Beyond the Wisteria Tree

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Getting the assignment

"Alright class it's time to get our final projects before you all graduate." Mr. Evans said. He looked amongst the students in the room. A few of us were falling asleep, some were on their phone, but only three students were actually paying attention. "I know it's Friday, but you may want to get started on this project right away." I smiled at my dear teacher as he sighed. It was clear that he did not like this class that much. "Okay, so for your final project I talked to the Greensburg Police Department and was able to get some cold cases from the 1950's to the 2000's. Now don't all start cheering at once, but for this project you work with two other people of your choosing. No groups of two and no groups of four or more."

Ping!! It was the sound of a text. It was from my group chat with my two best friends, Caroline Dean and Marcus Finch. Caroline had sent a text. It was two girl emojis and one boy emoji. Sometimes I never understood that girl. My guess would be that Caroline is asking if we all wanted to be partners. Marcus texted back. He said 'As if you even needed to ask'.

"Ok so I know that this case is a popular subject between teens in this town, but-" I didn't hear the rest of what Mr. Evans said. I looked at Caroline who kicked the back of Marcus's chair. I mouthed to the two "We have to get that case". Both nodded and went back to listening.

Mr. Evans was talking about the most popular cold-case in the history of Greensburg. The Disappearance of Amber Robinson. Amber Robinson was a girl that lived in Greensburg since she was born, but she went missing in 1999. There were no leads and no evidence. It was like she just disappeared.

"Once you get your group come up here to chose your case." This was the sentence that made me, Caroline, and Marcus all stand up and rush to Mr.Evans desk. "Let me guess. The disappearance of Amber Robinson for you three." We nodded quickly. Groans flew out from behind us. "Of course those three would get the best case in the bunch. They don't work with anyone else and are always first to pick." Said Becky.

Becky was almost like Sharpay from High School Musical. She was mean and she ruled the school, but unlike Sharpay. Becky never gets a redemption arc. "I'm sorry that you have to work with the quote unquote losers in this class Becky. Maybe next time pick a class that actually has some value to you," Caroline fired back.

Caroline was a quick fire. She knew how to throw out comeback after comeback. Especially towards Becky. Caroline has blonde hair, and brown eyes. She has been my best friend since well forever. Marcus was a quiet boy, and only became friends with me and Caroline in Sophomore year. He had transferred to our school because his dad got offered a job here. He has brown hair and had these lovely blue eyes.

"Both of you settle down. Becky its first come first serve basis," Mr. Evans spoke calmly with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Caroline stuck her tongue out towards Becky before walking back to her seat with Marcus. Class ended not long after that and finally the school day was over.

"So my house for the project?" Caroline asked. Marcus lived next door to Caroline and I only lived two blocks away on Mahogany Street. I quickly agreed with her. This case was something we needed to get started on right away. We are starting from scratch with this. With only two and a half months until we graduate, time was getting tight.

The walk to Caroline's was peaceful. Caroline was complaining about Becky like usual and Marcus would pop in about Becky's jock boyfriend, Brad. I just listened to both of them. Sometimes it's better to listen than talk.

After arriving at Caroline's, we were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Dean. Caroline's parents are wonderful people and often had our families over for dinner. We all had lasagna that her parents had made before heading upstairs to get right to business.

"Alright ladies lets get this case started. We have about two months to get this case solved." Marcus said. If someone was to walk in that room at that moment, they would see three teenagers with faces of pure determination.

That night we spent three hours scrolling through the internet to see if we could find anything about Amber Robinson's case. We found many theories about the purple rain, and a few about The Ghost of Wilhelm Street.

To us, Amber was a mystery, and we were not willing to give up. Marcus went home sometime around 11:30 P.M and I stayed the night at Caroline's. The case was laid out on Caroline's desk. In bright moonlight that came through her window landed on Amber's picture. The picture seemingly changed into a girl screaming and crying for help with silent tears. The moonlight disappears behind a cloud, and the picture of the young woman that the trio of teens are searching for changed back into Amber's smiling face.

Across town an old man was seen walking into the woods behind the Robinson residence. With a quick look over his shoulder he disappeared into the forest. He walked and walked until he gets to a cave. Looking behind him again he walked in. An origami crane falls out of his pocket and onto the ground.

Was this the first clue to what really happened to Amber Robinson.