❝ everyone has secrets. the only thing that matters is how deep you're willing to dig to find them. ❞
Westview Academy was known for many things, murder was not supposed to be on that list. When Ambrose Kensington is found dead at the biggest party...
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standing there, killing time can't commit to anything but a crime peter's on vacation, an open invitation animals, evidence
suspect one - maia cortez
4 weeks before Ambrose Kensington's murder
Ambrose Kensington had once again insulted me, publicly. The last time he'd done that, he'd ended up at the academy's emergency room with a black eye and bruised ribs.
If he wasn't the Principal's son, he'd have it worse. But, he never learned from his mistakes, did he?
I don't know what sense of joy he received while showing everyone pictures of me, back in middle school, when I still had braces and stuttered over my words. He'd even dared to write 'nerd' over that picture. Safe to say, I wasn't that girl anymore. I'd changed, and I didn't seem to understand why he couldn't get that fixed in his pea-sized brain. He just adored poking his nose in everyone's business, I knew it.
I suspected that he ran the academy gossip page, 'The Elites of The West'. Much to my dismay, I didn't have any solid evidence against him. But I knew that Ambrose Kensington was the only person who loved humiliating people to this extent. Loved spilling their secrets, and writing them down in his silly journal for the rest of the world to see.
The worst part was, he knew things no one did. He knew things about me, and I wouldn't want them to come out to the public eye.
I wanted to get a hold of his journal, the one he carried around everywhere. I wanted to expose his secrets to the world. I wanted him to cry the way he made everyone else weep.
"Maia, you're doing it again, you're zoning out," Ish's voice brought me back to the present. Away from my thoughts of strangling Ambrose to death.
She appeared disinterested, as she skimmed through her Cosmology guidebook. Ishita was a prodigy, she had an answer to every question I asked. She was also, unarguably, the only person I knew who was as smart as my brother. They both were extremely similar, I never seemed to understand why they disliked the other with such a burning passion, but their interactions were entertaining enough to watch.
"Ish, did you see the poster? The one shitface Kensington plastered on my locker," I clicked my tongue, tapping my heels against the hardwood floor, covered with the cherry-colored rug.
According to the principal, red gave a regal look to the academy halls. It made them look more royal. I wondered if it went against our academy's theme, Westview was known for its serenity, not its sacrifices. Perhaps, blue rugs would have been better.
"I don't know what his problem is, but you're letting it bother you too much, Mai. That's what Ambrose wants, attention. He doesn't deserve even a fraction of your attention," Ish said, patting my head affectionately, as I spun my chair.
"It's more than that. This is the second time he's done this. I don't know what he has against me but I'm not letting him walk away, just like that," I said, looking down at my nails.
