The Ghosts of Melbrew [1/12]

Chapter 4) Murder at a Mansion

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       What was up with that blonde girl? I couldn't shake it from my head as I made my way to the closest exit. Why did she care so much about reputation? I could understand it if it was her own reputation in jeopardy, typical "peaked in highschool" popular kid stuff. But this? She was concerned about the town and theories, not herself. Maybe she was more than some random mean girl, I wasn't sure, though I didn't really care at the moment.

       I walked out the same double doors that I did the day before. It was raining pretty hard, but luckily for me, I stood safely sheltered underneath a little roof. I was thinking about calling my mom to come and pick me up instead of walking home, but my focus was pulled elsewhere when I heard the doors click open behind me.

      "Hey Emmy!" Cameron said, quite loudly, as it was hard to hear over the pouring rain.

      "Oh, uh, hey." I said, a little confused, "How did you know I was out here?"

     He shrugged, "I was down one of these halls and Veronica's monster heels can be heard from a mile away, no pounding rain on a roof can change that. I looked down the hall and saw you go outside, so I was curious... I also leave out these doors anyway, so, I guess that's an explanation that makes more sense." He looked up at the sky, "Are you really gonna walk home in this?"

      "Well, I was thinking about calling my mom. Don't get me wrong I love the rain, but I'm not crazy." I said as I looked to the pavement of a parking lot, water splashing aggressively against it.

      "Hm. How about you come and hangout with Dominik and me?" He suggested, "My mom should be here any minute, and she wouldn't care, she's super chill, we just gotta wait for–"

      The sound of the door opened loudly, "I'm late! Don't leave without me!"

      "Dominik!" Cameron said, finishing his sentence. “Do I have perfect timing or what?” He said while nudging me with his elbow.

      "Hey Cam, what's Emmy doing here?"

      “I’m here because I’m trying to go home, but a deadly downpour is preventing me from doing so.”

      "Oh, can we take her home with us? Please?" Cameron asked, joking.

      "I'm not a dog," I said with a slight roll to my eyes. "And sure, if my parents allow me to. I mean, I just met you guys yesterday." I began dialing her number, then the phone rang.

      We had a short conversation, and then I hung up. “I’m good to go,” I said. "Or at least I think," I joked. "It's kinda hard to understand someone on the phone, especially when the weather is trying to get revenge on mother nature."

      "Hm, well then!" Cameron said, putting his hands on both of our shoulders the best he could, as he was a bit shorter than us, "An adventure awaits!"

       "Adventure?" I said, "I wouldn't say going down a few streets is an adventure."

       "Well, the start of an adventure, anyway!" He said, and spoke with confident assurance, "We're all gonna figure this out by the time Junior year is over. I'm sure of it. That is the adventure!"

      Cameron’s mom arrived shortly after I hung up the phone for my my own. She texted Cameron that she arrived, and us three ran around the building to the parking lot, where we jumped into the car. Despite our rush, we still got soaked in the downpour.

      "Hey mom!" Cameron said as he shut the car after hopping in after Dominik, "This is Emmy, she's coming with us!"

      "Hi!" I said, as I shut my door, quite suprised that he can just invite a random girl into his mom's car before even letting her know. "Hope I'm allowed to come along!"