A Certain Romance (Reimagined)

The Interrogations

Calum Hood Found Dead. I saw written across the front page of The Seattle Times. Attached to the article written was a school photo Calum had taken earlier in the year for yearbook purposes. The article went on to quote Senator Hood, "Calum had no reason to kill himself. He had everything. This had to be foul play. Someone wanted everything he had." Not necessarily. Evelyn just wanted Calum to herself and for their baby, but with Elizabeth in the picture that would never happen. The picture-perfect couple would always be around to rub it in Evelyn's face. I could see why Evelyn did what she did. But why did she drag Luke into it? Luke was far too innocent for this. I wanted to tap into his brain and understand what he was feeling right now because I hadn't heard him speak a word since he first confessed to me.

As of 24 hours, we had all practiced our alibis, making sure everyone's matched. We were all going to be safe. I had no doubt.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

Nothing could prepare for me this moment as I sat in the monochrome, cold cement room. A lamp hanging from the ceiling shined above the table, offering the only source of lighting. Ahead, I could see a mirror, though I automatically knew it was a two-way mirror. On the other side, they were waiting for me to breakdown and confess. They waited for me to make one wrong move with my body language, so they could then accuse me. Was I guilty? Yes, I was guilty for many bad things I had done wrong in my small amount of lifetime. I regretted many things I had done, but perhaps those things shaped me into the person I am today as I sat here twiddling my thumbs. Was I guilty for the disappearance of Calum Hood? No. I never expected myself to sit in a room like this with a lady holding no emotion. This was out of character for me. For anyone that was in my circle of friends. We never messed with situations we weren't supposed to. We tried our best, but I somehow landed here.

"Where were you the night of December 31st, at 11:30pm?" The lady across from me looked as if she belonged in a morgue herself. Her skin was so pale, it almost appeared gray in the lighting. Her eyes so blue, they looked like the water in one of the most private and expensive islands earth had to offer. Nearly transparent, they were. I could virtually see behind the cold, hard façade she held. She was used to this setting and something in the way that she spoke told me that she had done this thousands of times before. She had a notepad and a pen, ready to jot down anything and everything I was going to say.

"Am I your person of interest?" I asked her. She didn't blink. She didn't stutter. She clasped her hands together, waiting, again, to see if I would snap.

"We're talking to everyone that was there the night it happened. Protocol."

Protocol. This woman knew just what to say in these moments. I didn't like it.

I took a sip of water, the coolness of it woke me up momentarily. Twenty-four hours without sleep could mess a person up. I knew the dark circles under my eyes and the way I appeared messy and unbothered likely made me look suspicious to the investigator. I was truly innocent — or so, I had convinced myself I was.

"Do you know if anyone hated your friend?" She asked another question, making me glad she detoured from the first one because I had already answered that question three times before. She was dedicated to catching me in a lie. "Calum..."

I chuckled lightly at her question. I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning back into my chair. "He wasn't my friend."

"Your classmate."

I nodded. "My classmate wasn't loved and praised by everyone. Only a select few. It was a well-known fact that he wasn't the easiest person to be around. I stayed out of his way if he stayed out of mine. I've never had any violent feelings towards him. At worst, I wanted him to shut up sometimes."