A Mystery Novel

~ČĤÁPŤĔŔ 8~

Paige

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The mood in the living room is sad and gloomy. Xander's just lying on the couch and staring at the ceiling, Jacob is hanging upside down from the couch. Tyler is staring at a picture of Xandra and Jacqueline is standing by the window, watching the cars go by, she suddenly remembers something.

"Xan-" she turns around but is hijacked by Miley and Savannah. They drag her out to the porch.

"Wait, don't kill me, I have to tell Xander something," she says quickly, her heart racing.

"What do we look like? Murderers?" Miley asks.

"We just want to ask you something," Savannah says.

"Get comfortable cause we're not leaving this place until you tell us everything," Miley says.

"I don't know what you mean," Jacqueline says.

"Do you think we're stupid? Why are you hanging around Xander? Why are you acting all innocent and trying to help us? Are you the one that staked that piece of paper to the counter?" Miley asks.

"No! Of course not"

"Then what's your deal?"

Jacqueline is silent for a seconds but sighs and starts to explain. "When I transferred to Eastwood four years ago, I was so lonely. No one talked to me, it was like I was invisible and my life pretty much sucked but one day, when I was going to the cafeteria, Xander held the door open for me. He even smiled at me, he was the first person to acknowledge my presence. His eyes were so warm and his smile was so friendly," she got a dreamy look on her face as she reminisced.

"I couldn't stop staring at him, even when he went to sit with you guys. I started walking towards your table because I was going to ask if I could sit. I was so focused on Xander that I tripped on someone's backpack and accidentally dumped my tray on Xandra. She ran to the restroom to clean herself up and I followed her because I wanted to apologize. She was really cool about it and she accepted my apology."

"Do you really expect us to believe that? If you and Xandra ended on good terms, why did you continue bullying her?" Miley asks.

"I was getting to that," Jacqueline sighs, "after Xandra left, Paige came in, she made me think that Xandra was a terrible person and that she would make my life miserable if I didn't show her who's boss. I shouldn't have listened to her, but I did, I didn't even know Xandra was Xander's sister. When I found out, it was already too late, Xander hated me, he looked at me like he wanted me to drop dead. It was terrible, I should have stopped but something told me that somehow, Xander would fall for me and I just realized that that sounds extremely stupid," Jacqueline says abnormally fast and finally inhales when she's done then continues.

"Paige was just using me to get revenge on Xandra, I didn't see it until after Xandra died, she just....dumped me. I feel pretty bad about what happened, I really think she killed herself because of me but if we can find out who actually killed her, maybe I'll finally have peace of mind."

She notices that Miley and Savannah are looking behind her and she turns around to see Xander and behind him are Jacob and Tyler.

"Xander! How long have you been standing there?" Jacqueline asks, her face turning red from embarrassment.

"I heard everything but I don't blame you. High school is a battlefield, not everyone gets out alive," Xander got a distant look in his eyes and they all knew he was thinking of Xandra.

"Know what? I think I'm ready to let go," Miley says, "I understand why you did the things you did, I was once a new student."

Relief flooded through Jacqueline, if Miley didn't hate her anymore, she had nothing to worry about.

"That doesn't mean Xandra didn't kill herself because of you and until I have been convinced otherwise, I'll always hate you," Miley continues.

"What was it you wanted to tell Xander?" Savannah asks.

"Oh, right. I remember seeing a car, it used to come pick up Xandra at night."

"And you're just telling us now?" Jacob asks.

"I forgot."

"How long was this going on?" Xander asks.

"About two years. I also saw it the night she disappeared."

"What's the brand of the car?" Xander asks, hopeful that they're not at a dead end.

"Uh.......black?" Jacqueline says, they all stare at her.

"Er...and how did the car look like?"

"It was old, that's all I remember but if I see it again, I'll definitely recognize it."

They're phones vibrate, signifying that there's a message. Jacqueline's phone didn't vibrate so she figured it was from their group chat. She looks over Xander's shoulder to see the message.

Its a picture of a really old house

"Hey, isn't this that haunted house in the woods?" Tyler asks.

"Its not haunted, just abandoned. Alex and I went there on our last Halloween together, nothing happened," Xander said.

"Xandra said you were terrified," Miley says.

"Are we just gonna stand here and talk about how brave I am or are we going to search for clues in an abandoned house?"

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