"You really broke up with him?" Michelle asked, stunned. Camilla sighed, admitting with a nod that she had. "Is he upset?"
"Of course he is," Camilla replied. "I apologized to him, but I don't think he's going to forgive me. I don't know why he wouldn't, though."
"Yeah, I mean, you're obviously sorry, he should just forgive you."
"Exactly-"
Interrupting their rambling, Meagan plopped in the seat across from them, dropping her stuff hurriedly and folding her hands on the table. Her face held a perky expression, a stark contrast to Camilla and Michelle's frowns.
"Okay, guys," she started, seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere in the room, "I have news. The Tiger Times newspaper is ready to get started! We have you-" she points to Michelle "-André, and me. Jared wanted to do it too, of course, but we all know he's not the brightest, especially when it comes to writing."
Meagan chuckled, but the other two girls didn't react. Rather than breaking the news to her, though, Camilla said, "That's great, but I still don't think there's any reason for it. The newspaper committee isn't against me, they said themselves that they're neutral for now."
"'For now' is the key word," Michelle noted.
"That's two key words, not one," Camilla retorted.
"Regardless," Meagan interjected, "we're doing this to defend you. The Edwardsville Paper newspaper committee claims to be neutral, but you need people to be completely on your side. Otherwise, everyone will just listen to Amy's false claims."
Camilla sighed. "That's the thing. I plan on doing the interview too."
"Seriously?" Michelle snapped. "I thought you'd forgotten about that by now."
"Of course not," Camilla replied. "The newspaper is available to everyone in the school, so if I can do anything to prove I'm innocent to them, I'll do it."
Michelle still looked exasperated and turned to Meagan to hear her thoughts. "I mean, you're going to get your voice heard. Remember how popular the paper with just general information about the case? I bet yours will be just as successful."
Although Camilla's best friend shook her head in frustration, Camilla completely agreed with Meagan. I suppose today would be a good day to do it, she thought. So, during the break between classes, she went to the journalism classroom, where two of the committee members were sitting-Zoey Larson and Leah Miller, according to Michelle.
Zoey had a petite figure, although she was fairly tall, with naturally black, curly hair dyed burgundy that complimented her dark skin. She sat with flawless posture-something that threw Camilla off-as she spoke with Leah, a blonde with wavy hair parted to the side. Her face was heart-shaped with occasional freckles dotted on her light skin, and her eyes were a deep shade of blue.
As Camilla approached, the pair turned her way and immediately recognized her, as was evident from their shared glance at one another. She suddenly made herself hyperaware of their body language. Leah swallowed and began fidgeting with her hands. Was she nervous? Zoey, however, seemed calm. She held up a polite smile and maintained her position.
"Camilla Green," Zoey greeted, rising to shake her hand. "I've heard about you and written about you all the time, so it's great to meet you."
Camilla grinned and shook her hand. "Zoey Larson, correct?" She nodded. "It's great to meet you too."
"What took you so long to come do the interview?" Zoey inquired, eyes scrunching in amusement.
Camilla giggled, admitting, "Well, my friends weren't so sure you guys-the newspaper committee, I mean-would be willing to believe me, so they discouraged me from showing up. But I figured you seemed to want to hear both sides of the story, so I came anyway."
"Your friends at the campaign of sorts a few weeks ago?"
"Oh, yeah, them. Well more specifically, the one with the megaphone." She laughed again.
"Yeah, she's the one who pushed us to write about everything. Well, we already planned to, but she encouraged it." Zoey paused for a moment. "Anyway, we won't be able to do the interview now because of class and because our cameraman isn't here, so when did you want to take the it?"
"I can do this afternoon."
"Perfect, we'll see you then."
As set up, all three members of the committee were together in the otherwise empty journalism classroom when Camilla arrived at the end of the school day. The cameraman-Dylan Alder she learned was his name-was completely set up, and Leah had a clipboard with a notepad that had neat ink writing down nearly each line. Zoey was sitting at the teacher's desk, elbows propped on the desk and fingers intertwined at face level. Everything seemed completely prepared for the interview, which was unexpected since Camilla only took a few minutes to get there after the last bell.
Zoey watched Camilla enter, as if studying her, and said, "You can sit in the chair across from Leah."
Camilla nodded and took a seat. Leah straightened her back, saying, "Hi, Camilla. My name is Leah Miller, and I'm the interviewer in the newspaper committee." They shook hands before she proceeded. "So, we will be asking a lot of questions about Amanda's disappearance, Tiffany's death, and Amy's testimony, as long as you're okay with that. I know they might be sensitive topics for you, so if you need to take a breather at any time, do let me know. Also, the interview is already being recorded visually and auditorially. We won't cut the cameras at any point until you leave, but you may step out if you feel uncomfortable. Any questions?"
"No," she replied, "I understand." Truthfully, the interview process seemed much more uptight than she had expected it to be. Why did they need to keep the cameras rolling? And why were they already recording?
She shoved her curiosity out of her head as Leah cleared her throat. "To start us out, could you introduce yourself?"
"Sure thing! My name is Camilla Green. I'm a junior here at Edwardsville High School, and I'm involved in cheerleading, drama, chorus, and debate, as well as being top of my class since middle school and class president." It was crucial for her to express how perfect she was to the committee and anyone that would later see this footage or read the newspaper, so the made sure to give off a great impression.
"Wow, you're quite busy! I'd like to know, since you're class president, you probably know lots of people at Edwardsville, and although she was a senior, did you know Amanda?"
"Yeah, I'd say we were acquainted, not really friends, though. I knew her because we were both in drama together, but other than that, we didn't have a ton in common, so we didn't really click. But I liked her, she was cool."
"Alright, now let's dive straight into the issue of her disappearance. That day-September 19th, to be precise-where were you after the school day ended?"
"I had a drama rehearsal. It was just a run through of the plot and everything about our upcoming musical. The cast list had just come out, so we were just going to get ideas for sets and acting and discuss the plot together."
"According to Amy, you left the room around the same time as Amanda. Is this true?"
"Yes, but I left before her. Amy keeps changing the story. In the police interrogation, she said I left after her, but now she says it's around the same time. The truth is, she just doesn't remember."
"I see. You left before the rehearsal was over, I assume. Why was that?"
"Oh, well my mom has memory problems, so normally when I tell her that I have something to do after school, she puts a reminder on her phone. She must have forgotten that day because she called me and told me to come home. My dad was back for the first time in a while, since he owns a corporate business in Chicago, so she wanted me to be over for the evening. We don't get to see each other often after all, so I decided to put family first in that moment and left, although the rehearsal wasn't crucial anyway."
"So what did you do as you were leaving?"
"I went out of the doors to the performing arts building and turned left to the student parking lot, where I got in my car and drove home."
"That's all?"
"Yes, that's all."
"Sorry, it's just that what we've heard of Amy's story really doesn't match that at all."
"I don't imagine it would. She just keeps changing her testimony."
From the corner of her eye, Camilla caught Zoey shifting in her seat. She had been watching the scene intently since the start, and Camilla suddenly became conscious of it. Even without looking directly at Zoey, Camilla sensed an intensity in her gaze that she couldn't quite shake.
"You mentioned something about a police interrogation. Could you tell me more about that?"
"Well, I had been home for a few hours when I heard a knock on the door. My mom answered it an called me downstairs, and there was a police officer. Then, my parents and I were taken to the police station, and we were interrogated about everything that had happened that day."
"What did the police conclude?"
"They didn't tell us, they just let us leave. But they must have realized there wasn't any actual evidence because, well, I'm not in prison."
"Alright, now I want to move onto questions about Tiffany if that's alright. I know this may be a difficult topic, so if you need to, you may take a breather. We ask that you answer all of our questions, though, even if you need to take a short break at any point.
"Just to start off, Tiffany was in your grade. We're you two close?"
Camilla took a slow breath for effect, fidgeting briefly with her nails. "Yes, we were very close. We were both involved in drama and honors students."
Leah nodded. "And the day Amanda went missing, before you left the school, did you see Tiffany?"
"She was in the drama room with me. Amy was with her."
"So you didn't see her at all after leaving?" Camilla shook her head, and Leah wrote something down. "Okay. Now, the day after that, did you attend school?"
"I did, and a lot of people had heard the rumors by then. Not just that Amanda was missing, but the false claim that I was responsible. I didn't want to deal with people's assumptions all day, but I also wanted to appease their doubts and prove my innocence, so I decided to go to school."
"Did you leave the campus at any point that day before school ended?"
"No, I didn't." Leah scribbled down notes, and from the corner of Camilla's eye, Zoey shifted in her seat, leaning closer. Her eyes hadn't left Camilla once.
"There have been rumors," Leah commented, "that you were responsible for not only Amanda's disappearance, but Tiffany's... passing." Camilla squeezed her eyes shut. "What do you have to say about that?"
Forcing herself to tear up, she replied, "I know that I'm innocent, whether anyone else believes me or not. If people don't think there's any credibility in my prior friendship with Tiffany or who I am as an honest, integral person, I urge them to focus on the evidence at hand. In Tiffany's case, I never left the school, and that's a fact that even the police are aware of. For Amanda, I left the school before her, and my parents have testified that I had been home for hours before I was accused of anything. I just hope everybody looks at the facts of this case, not the sporadic rumors."
Leah's eyes traced Camilla's, no longer writing down notes. Although Camilla trained herself to analyze others' emotions, she couldn't read Leah.
"Is there anything else you'd like to add?" Leah asked after a moment of staring.
Camilla considered. "If anyone wants to ask me anything about this, as long as you are respectful, understanding, and genuinely listening to what I have to say, I would be more than happy to explain what happened or clear up any doubts."
Leah leaned back in her chair, nodding. She began to speak but was interrupted.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions now," Zoey said, standing abruptly and marching to where Leah was leaving her chair. It wasn't an offer, but a statement.
Camilla straightened her posture as Zoey approached where the blonde had sat before. Each of her movements were smooth, as if thought out thoroughly before acted out. She was almost robotic. The seconds ticked by, and Camilla found her more and more unsettling. As if she couldn't confuse Camilla more, Zoey stalked around her, neglecting the empty chair.
"I'm going to start the questions now," she informed Camilla, her chocolate eyes gripping the blue of Camilla's. "You have run for student council since your freshman year, correct?"
Camilla swallowed. Zoey came across like a prosecutor during cross-examination. "I have," Camilla responded.
"Who all ran with you in student council?"
"Well, a few of my close friends do, usually."
"No, who ran with you during your freshman year?"
Camilla blinked. "I'm not... I don't really remember. Probably the same people."
Zoey paused in front of Camilla. "You don't remember one of your classmates that ran against you? You don't remember how many people predicted she would surpass you in votes? None of that rings a bell?"
Holding her breath, Camilla tilted her head to the side as she prepared herself to lie. "I really don't know who you're talking about. It's been two years."
"You don't even remember when she went missing?"
Camilla fought to keep her expressions relaxed as she responded, "Oh my god, I completely forgot Chloe Lynch ran for class president. I just remember that she went missing about two years ago."
"Yes, she did." Zoey continued pacing around Camilla. "And she conveniently went missing not even a week before voting for student council was to take place."
"I don't remember when exactly it happened. To be honest, her whereabouts were my biggest concern."
"Interesting how Chloe went missing without a trace, and she was last seen going to a bathroom with you. But she never came back out."
Camilla chose her actions carefully as she looked at Zoey. There was a pause. "I'm not sure... what you mean by that...."
Zoey finally sat in the other chair, crossing her legs and intertwining her fingers over her knees. She leaned in close, eyes never leaving Camilla's, as usual.
"You murdered Chloe Lynch," Zoey said, "and you murdered Amanda Banks. You, Miss Green, are a psychopathic murderer, and you will not get away with it. You will be exposed for your crimes. You will be arrested. You will be convicted of murder. You will be left to rot in prison."
In any other circumstance, Camilla would have considered taunting them. Even the thought of attacking them would have come to mind. But with a camera pinned on her every move, she couldn't consider those for a moment. All she could think about was how to get out of the situation.
"I really thought you, of all people, would be willing to listen to me," Camilla said.
"Not when I already know the truth about you," Zoey shot back. "And I can assure you, the truth will be exposed."