((( Warning! Strongly implied noncon in this chapter!
"But, Mr. Boddy wouldn't have gone on if we weren't all here?" Ms. Peacock reasoned, shaking her head.
"I don't know, he seemed pretty crazy to me." Connor shrugged. "Maybe this Green dude is around the house somewhere."
"So what, are we supposed to go looking for him?" Mustard demanded, crossing her arms. "Why can't we just pack it up and leave? We no longer have to worry about our secrets getting out, we can all just never speak of this again."
"But what if something links us to the body?" Mr. White set his noose onto the table. "We'll all get arrested then."
"How about we find a phone and call the police, and just maybe we'll find Mr. Green along the way." Jared suggested, shrugging.
"This house is so big, how do you expect us to find anything, it'll take us forever to go through the whole house." Ms. Peacock fanned herself as she leaned against the table.
"Simple, we split up." Connor suggested, making his way back to Jared.
"No!" Mustard nearly knocked a chair over in her outburst. "Then one of us is stuck with the murderer!"
"Well then we'll know who the murderer is." Connor replied simply.
"But then the other one will be dead!" Mr. White looked like he was going to cry again.
"It makes sense though, the murderer would never kill their partner, it would completely reveal them." Ms. Peacock agreed. "Who wants to pair with who?"
"Well, there's three stories to the house, so let's split into three groups." Jared moved over to the table and gathered up some items.
"There's five of us, that means one person will have to be by themself." Mustard pointed out.
"That person will go to attic, it's the smallest space and the least likely to have a phone." Jared held his hand up to reveal straws. "If you have the same length straw as somebody else, you're paired with them, the tallest straw is the attic, and the smallest straws are the first floor, and so on."
Mr. White stepped forward and drew the first straw, revealing he had one of the small straws, he seemed relieved knowing he didn't have to be alone. Ms. Peacock stepped up next, taking a medium length straw and comparing it to Mr. White's, but it was not a match. Connor drew the longest straw and smiled sheepishly at Jared.
"I'll be fine." He promised quietly.
Mustard took the second to last straw and found herself paired up with Ms. Peacock.
That meant Jared was with Mr. White.
The group headed upstairs and began to split up, before Connor left though, Jared pulled him aside to talk.
"Before you go, just promise me this." Jared took a deep breath. "You didn't kill Mr. Boddy, did you?"
Connor's face hardened, "Of course not."
Jared nodded for a second. "Of course, sorry, of course." He leaned up and pressed their lips together. "Stay safe."
With that, Jared returned to Mr. White, who had already managed to find a flashlight.
"Man, this place must be ancient." Mr. White ran his hand along an antique couch. "How old do you think some of this stuff is, Mr. Scarlett?"
Jared snorted, peeking into what appeared to be a kitchen. "Just call me Jared."
"Oh, okay, Jared. I'm Evan."
Jared stepped into a 1950's kitchen. It almost would've been cool if everything hadn't been long rusted over. Evan stepped in behind him.
"I once went to a diner that looked just like this, I got a free milkshake with my meal because the waitress liked me." Evan opened the refrigerator, a foul odor of rotting food caused him to immediately shut it.
Jared chuckled, "You know, I can't imagine you as the murderer."
"That's because I'm not the murder-" Evan stopped as he found an old fashioned phone, but quickly realized it was a fake.
"Okay, so you're not the murderer, and I'm not the murderer, then who is?" Jared smiled, lightly teasing the boy. The two stepped back into the dark hall and made their way down.
"Well, I don't think that it's Ms. Peacock." Evan admitted.
"So, you think it's Mustard?" Jared nodded, pausing as the two passed a large painting of a crying child.
"No, I never said that." Evan shook his head. "Professor Plum makes me a bit nervous too."
"It's not him." All humor had dropped from Jared's voice now, making Evan flinch away.
"Why do you say that?" Evan asked in a low voice.
"I came here with him, I know he would never do that." Jared kept his eyes trained forward.
"Well, do you know his secret?" Evan stared at him.
"That has nothing to do with it." Jared huffed.
Evan shrugged, "I don't know, someone in there was willing to kill someone over some secret."
"And you weren't?" Jared chuckled, eyeing at Evan from the side. "What's your secret anyhow?"
Evan turned pink, "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell, I mean you're in the same boat I am. But you have to tell me yours too."
"Deal. One exception, you can't tell anyone, especially Co- er, I mean Professor Plum."
"Alright." Evan's eyes stared off as if looking at something Jared couldn't see. "Well, it was last year-"
~~~
Evan made his way into the bathroom stall, sitting nervously as he waited for... him.
He had promised Evan a scholarship, a full ride to college, and all he had to do was one small favor, and it would go by quick as can be.
The bathroom door opened again, making Evan's heart speed up. He fiddled with the strap on his backpack as the footsteps sounded closer.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
They stopped suddenly, and Evan shut his eyes tightly, when three knocks sounded on the stall door.
Evan opened his eyes and scrambled to open the door. His fingers slipped once, then twice.
"Are you gonna open the door or what?" The gruff voice sounded from outside the door.
"Y-yes, sorry." Evan managed to finally unlock it. He dared not make eye contact, and opted for staring at the floor. Still, the shadow of the other boy loomed over him as he heard the stall door click shut once again.
"Get down."
~~~
"I gave someone a blowjob for a scholarship." Evan said quietly. "If that got out, not only would my life be ruined, I'd lose the scholarship."
Jared was silent for a second. "I'm sorry, Evan-"
Evan gained his composure again and gave Jared a small smile, "Your turn."
Jared chuckled quietly, "Well-"
There was a scream from upstairs.
