When I woke up the next morning, I heard sirens outside.
"Fuck," I whispered quietly to myself. I had probably accidentally left some fingerprints somewhere, or the parents had realised that my knife in Connor's hands wasn't one of theirs.
This was particularly frustrating, because today is my 18th birthday, and if I get caught, I will go to actual adult prison, not juvie. Shit. My mind was racing as I picked up my bag, and tried to leave. A police officer came through the door.
"Hey!" He shouted.
"Hi..." I said shyly. Usually I put up this shy, innocent act to keep people off my back.
"What's in the bag, kid?" He said, his voice angry.
"Just my clothes and other personal items," I said calmly.
"We have to take you to the station for questioning," He said roughly.
I set down the bag on my cott, and followed the officer. There was no getting out of this. If I tried to run off, there would be dire consequences.
And to think, I got caught on the one night I tried to cover my tracks.
The police did the standard procedures, "lie detectors" and DNA testing. I passed the lie detector test pretty easily. I just stayed calm. DNA... well, results would get back. And now, I was sitting in a chair, with two police officers in front of me.
"Tell me where you were last night," One asked. This one was a but skinnier and taller, while the officer was kinda short.
"Sleeping," I responded.
"Did you know the victim in any way?" They asked.
"I would give you an answer to that question, if I knew the victim's name, but I don't. You haven't told me." I said. I know they were trying to trick me into saying something incriminating, and I was going to do everything I could to make sure that didn't happen.
"An 18 year old named Connor Stroll. Do you know anything about him?"
"Yes, he's in a few of my classes. Popular, but not very nice," I responded.
"Do you know anyone who might have a grudge against him?"
"He bullies a few kids in the class. I don't know their names."
"Okay. One last thing. Do you know anyone who looks like this, other than you?"
The police officer handed me a printed out photo. It had me on it, running back to the orphanage.
"No, I don't," I said.
"In a few days we're going to check up on you," He said.
He escorted me back to the orphanage, and I assumed that everything was going to be okay. Even though I thought this, there was a little voice in the back of my head telling me to say something to Cole.
He was sitting in his cott, and when he saw me, he looked delighted.
"Hi Alex!" He said excitedly, "Happy birthday!"
I gave him a smile.
"Hey Cole,"
"Did you do superhero stuff? Is that why the police were talking to you?" He said, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
"No... I did somethin' bad Cole, and the police are mad at me," I said calmly. I sat down next to him, putting my hand on his sholder.
He looked at me with his sad puppy dog eyes.
"What did you do?" He asked. He no longer sounded exited.
"I... can't tell you. No matter what happens, no matter what people say about me, just know that I love you and nothing will change that," I said.
"Was it superhero stuff? Did you hurt someone?"
I gave him a small smile. "Just... Come visit me if I go to jail, okay?"
"I'll visit you," He said, a sad look in his eyes. Now that the hard part of the conversation was over, I talked to Cole normally.
"So, how was your day at school?" I asked. I had missed school today because of the police questioning me.
"Not good. A mean boy in my class was making me feel bad because I don't have parents," He said, a sorrow look on his face. This made me angry. Whoever was foolish enough to bully him ever again would face the consequences of me killing everyone they care about.
"You tell him that your older brother is goin' to beat him up if he bullies you again," I suggested.
"Okay!" He said excitedly, like I had actually solved the problem. The lady who ran the orphanage peeked her head through the door.
"Alex dear, some officers are here for you," She said in a condescending tone.
"Bye," I whispered to Cole, ruffling his hair.
"Bye Alex," He said, waving to me with a sorrowful expression on his face.
As soon as I stepped out of the building, the police officers put me in hand cuffs.
"You are under arrest for the murder of Connor Stroll. You have the right to remain silent."