standing there, killing time
can't commit to anything but a crime
peter's on vacation, an open invitation
animals, evidence
suspect one - maia cortez
4 weeks before Ambrose Kensington's murder
Ambrose Kensington had once again insulted me, publicly. The last time he'd done that, he'd ended up at the academy's emergency room with a black eye and bruised ribs.
If he wasn't the Principal's son, he'd have it worse. But, he never learned from his mistakes, did he?
I don't know what sense of joy he received while showing everyone pictures of me, back in middle school, when I still had braces and stuttered over my words. He'd even dared to write 'nerd' over that picture. Safe to say, I wasn't that girl anymore. I'd changed, and I didn't seem to understand why he couldn't get that fixed in his pea-sized brain. He just adored poking his nose in everyone's business, I knew it.
I suspected that he ran the academy gossip page, 'The Elites of The West'. Much to my dismay, I didn't have any solid evidence against him. But I knew that Ambrose Kensington was the only person who loved humiliating people to this extent. Loved spilling their secrets, and writing them down in his silly journal for the rest of the world to see.
The worst part was, he knew things no one did. He knew things about me, and I wouldn't want them to come out to the public eye.
I wanted to get a hold of his journal, the one he carried around everywhere. I wanted to expose his secrets to the world. I wanted him to cry the way he made everyone else weep.
"Maia, you're doing it again, you're zoning out," Ish's voice brought me back to the present. Away from my thoughts of strangling Ambrose to death.
She appeared disinterested, as she skimmed through her Cosmology guidebook. Ishita was a prodigy, she had an answer to every question I asked. She was also, unarguably, the only person I knew who was as smart as my brother. They both were extremely similar, I never seemed to understand why they disliked the other with such a burning passion, but their interactions were entertaining enough to watch.
"Ish, did you see the poster? The one shitface Kensington plastered on my locker," I clicked my tongue, tapping my heels against the hardwood floor, covered with the cherry-colored rug.
According to the principal, red gave a regal look to the academy halls. It made them look more royal. I wondered if it went against our academy's theme, Westview was known for its serenity, not its sacrifices. Perhaps, blue rugs would have been better.
"I don't know what his problem is, but you're letting it bother you too much, Mai. That's what Ambrose wants, attention. He doesn't deserve even a fraction of your attention," Ish said, patting my head affectionately, as I spun my chair.
"It's more than that. This is the second time he's done this. I don't know what he has against me but I'm not letting him walk away, just like that," I said, looking down at my nails.
Ishita looked up at me, she was much shorter than I was, and it was humorous. "We have to be the bigger people, Mai-" she was about to give me one of her pep talks again, before I got up, dusting down my leather skirt.
"We can be the bigger people after breaking his front teeth, Ish," I shot her a smile, as I got up, tossing her a candy bar. She shot me an exasperated glare, before getting up from her chair and clicking her Mary Janes. I could feel every person in the common room's eyes on the two of us.
"You owe me for this, Maia," she said, curtly, and I gave out a snicker in exchange. Ambrose Kensington was going to pay for this.
Frankly, Ambrose and I had a pretty bad history in middle school. I wondered if he was still stuck on it. I wondered if that was the reason he constantly tried to make everyone hate me.
Back in middle school, there was a time when Ambrose and I were friends. We used to sit together during literature class and laugh at each other's jokes. I thought we'd started liking each other. On Valentine's Day, he'd asked me out, and I'd said yes.
We even went out. The next day, Ambrose strolled into class with a new girl on his arm, saying it was all a stupid dare. Saying that he never actually liked me. I'd dumped a glass of iced coffee on him. We stopped talking after that. I didn't understand why he was still so bothered by something he started.
I walked past the common room doors, Ish following after me. Unfortunately, Ambrose belonged to a different house, he belonged to Armani, while both Ish and I belonged to Prada. The houses at Westview were named after luxury fashion brands, every student was given a uniform designed by the brand they were given.
Westview was a school made by the elites, for the elites. Every person who ever attended was either extremely smart or extremely rich.
"He'll be around in the halls," Ish said, reassuringly. As if he'd be strolling around after plastering that ugly picture of me.
I knew Ambrose, Ambrose knew me. He knew I'd come after him. "We'll get into the Armani dorms, don't worry," I shot her a wink.
The two of us rushed down the staircase, the Armani dorms were on the eighth floor, two floors below our dorms.
Madelyn Winchester stood at the entrance, animatedly talking to someone. She was a year younger than I was, and she was Armani's prefect. She rarely opened her mouth, unless she was asked to.
I watched as she scanned the IDs of the Armani students, cocking her eyebrow as she noticed the two of us. Madelyn was smart, I knew she'd figure out why exactly we were here. I prayed she wouldn't be a prick about it.
"Maia, Ishita," she said, politely. She slightly shrunk back, and I swore I saw her bite the inside of her cheek. "These are...the Armani dorms?" she said, questioningly, as if she didn't know why we were here.
I noticed Ish opened her mouth to string together some formal, authoritative words she often tossed around, but I gave her a small glance.
"Madelyn, you do know about the whole poster thing, don't you? Girls support girls, don't they? You wouldn't want to let a liar and hating loser like Ambrose get away with insulting a girl, would you?" I said, smiling.
That got Madelyn, who anxiously fiddled with her fingers, contemplating whether to let us in or not. She seemed close to terrified.
"Don't blame me, okay?" She said, as she scanned her ID, the door to the common room opened the minute she scanned it. Ish and I gave her a polite smile, as we got in.
The Armani dorms were colder than ours, the walls painted a dull shade of gray. The chatter was still lively in the common room, as the two passages separated the girls' dormitories from the boys'.
I stole a glance at Ish, her chocolate-colored eyes glancing around, I could see the faint pink blush she'd applied, now that she was standing right below the golden lights.
"Are you sure we should be doing this, Maia?" she asked. She was the school's co-captain for a reason. Ishita hated breaking the rules.
"I won't let you get any of the blame, promise," I muttered, as I walked into boys' dormitories. I knew which room belonged to Ambrose.
The one at the edge of the hall. I rushed over, banging on the door to his room, I felt an awful lot like Maddie from Euphoria.
"Fucking hell, Kensington, are you that much of a pussy to not even open up the door?" I snarled, nails clicking against the mahogany door.
I noticed there's a crowd gathered around, curious boys wondering why there's a girl in their hall. "Where is Kensington?" I said, shooting them a questioning glare.
"Hiding in his dorm. Speaking of that, you should be in yours, Maia," I heard Ares Alistair's gorgeous voice. I loved how he spoke, the way words flew off his tongue is positively charming.
"Don't tell me what to do, Ares," I said, calmly. Ares is off-limits, and I hate it. He's my brother, Nate's, best friend, they've been best friends since they were in their diapers and Nate would die if he ever let Ares come even slightly close to me.
I knocked against the door again, and I was met with a groggy Spencer Sinclair. Spencer didn't talk, literally. If we didn't have English Literature together, I wouldn't know of his existence. He looked at me, then at Ish, then turned around to who I assumed must be Ambrose.
"It's Maia...Cortez," he mumbled, to Ambrose, and I heard heavy footsteps before I was met with Ambrose's annoying face. He had a smug smile plastered on his face as if he thinks I won't do anything.
"Look who it is, the nerd. No more braces but still the same, pathetic personality," he drawled, as he looked at me. Ambrose is only an inch taller than me, he's about five foot nine.
I shot him a glare, my fists clenched. I should be calm, I really should, but I simply cannot stay calm around him.
"Shut up, what is your problem with me?" I said, cracking my knuckles.
"Maybe how much of an absolute loser you are. I just want everyone to see you for the real bitch you are," he said, and before I could hold it, I slapped him across the face. I simply didn't care.
I could hear cheers of 'fight!' 'fight!' 'fight!' and I gave in. I slapped him once more before he grabbed me by the wrist.
"You wouldn't want everyone knowing about how much of a desperate loser you are, would you, Maia? You wouldn't want them knowing about how-" he was cut off by an aggressive punch from Ares.
I've never seen Ares mad. That guy is calmer than anyone I know. "Stop stirring drama, Ambrose," he said, dryly, as Ambrose grunted.
"Bullying is prohibited, Ambrose, if I hear one more complaint against you, I'll send your files to the principal," Ish said, clearly. Despite the principal being Ambrose's mom, you can tell she doesn't care a lot about him.
She rarely ever acknowledged his existence, and when she did, it was mostly half-hearted, like it's some duty she's forced to maintain.
"I hope you burn to death, Maia," Ambrose yelled out, as I froze in my tracks.
"I hope you die. And trust me, no one will be upset," I said, as Ish held my hand and dragged me out of the dormitory hall, ignoring the hushed whispers from the rest of the boys.
The Night of Ambrose Kensington's murder
The annual Westview Midnight Masquerade was the biggest party of the year. It was the only official party that the school hosted, at the Kensington mansion.
Every person from every clique was invited. Plus, the food was awesome. I strolled across the halls, wearing a black lace dress. I'd only just bought it a week ago.
Ish had disappeared on me. She'd said something about losing her mask, but I hadn't been able to spot her for the last ten minutes.
I scanned the area for some familiar faces. The teachers were present, roaming around, I swore I saw Ms. Anderson checking out Mr. Rossi. I'm pretty sure those two were going around, they were young, and Ms. Anderson always fumbled over her words around him.
I saw Ares, looking just as handsome as ever. I wondered how anyone could look as good as he did. I hated how he looked at me as just Nate's twin sister. I wish he looked at me the way I looked at him.
Pushing my unrequited feelings aside, I gave him a wave. "Ares, have you seen Ishita around anywhere?" I asked him.
The Kensington mansion hadn't been lit up a lot, that's what added to its crypticness. It was huge, designed like a goddamn maze. I wondered how people lived here.
"I think I saw her near one of the bathrooms, with Nate and some other girl," he shrugged, as he led the way.
I saw a door, with the word bathroom scrawled on it with neat cursive, the letters decorated with white paint, and tiny hearts drawn around.
"I doubt they'll be in the bathroom together," I muttered, as I opened the handle to the door. It was all dark. No Ish, no Nate.
"This isn't a bathroom," Ares frowned, as he walked over to what looked like a bed, almost about to sit on it, before a high-pitched squeal left my lips.
There was a goddamn body, right on the place Ares was going to sit. "Someone's there," I said, to Ares, who hastily turned on the lights.
Right in front of us, lay Ambrose Kensington, dead. Blood was all around him, his eyes shut. No possible murder weapon laid around, however it seemed like he'd been stabbed.
He'd been killed. "Ares, Ares, he's dead," I whispered, eyes wide as I took a step backward. There was no possible way someone had just died. There was no possible way Ambrose Kensington had died.
And before all this could even register in my mind, my phone's screen lit up, a text message on the top.
"He's dead now. Be careful before making wishes. Wouldn't want everyone to know what you did two summers ago," the text read.
There was no way this was happening.
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iris speaks <3
Do not ask how long this took, because I am a very slow writer, like I simply could not finish writing, and I kept changing up the styles.
Also, I am aware how sappy this is, I'll do more...detailed chapters, please tolerate me for now.
Maia was the first, because she seemed the easiest to write ahah. Who's your favorite so far, and what do you think of Maia?
Mwah, love you guys 1000.
Word Count : 2290