It was currently 7:30 in the morning, and Minji told us to meet at the clubhouse at et exactly 8.
Darren invited me earlier for a cup of coffee near the school dorms. I could've used that opportunity to gain an early information about the investigations, but I've chosen to decline him instead.
The reason being, I wanted to find Nicole as soon as possible and talk to her.
Jacquilyn was the popular girl that was liked by everyone around her. Not only was she beautiful, smart, friendly, and kind. She was also idolized by many of her fans.
Being in the Vocals club had given her the chance to rise to fame early on, so it wouldn't be surprising if her death causes many broken hearts upon publication.
That goes especially for her known best friend, Nicole.
Upon walking inside the clubroom of the Vocals club, there and then I saw the depressed faces of Ji Lan, Francheska, and Felicity, who were all trying to comfort a depressed Nicole.
They were all trying their bests to cheer her up by saying stuffs like;
"I'm really sorry for your loss Nicole... Jackie would be sad if she sees you like that. And you're making us feel like crying too."
"Jackie loved you so much baby girl, she would feel really guilty if she sees you right now."
"I'll ask my personal chef to bake you your fave cake later, so..."
They were doing things the wrong way.
I slowly approached them and looked at Nicole.
"Hey Ocho! not now, can't you read the atmosphere? You slimy rat."
Ji Lan said. But I just ignored her and asked
"May I have some of your time, Nicole?"
"You fucking ra-"
"Its alright Ji Lan. Thank you for cheering me up, I really appreciate it."
The 3 girls looked hesitant to leave Nicole, but they still respected her and left us alone.
Now it was only me and Nicole. Inside a dimly lit clubroom where the only light source is the sunlight streaks from the curtained windows.
She was sitting on a beatbox and is hanging her head low. Not intending to look at me in the eyes.
She looked so fragile.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
"....Sure."
And now she feels seriously alone. All because her friends failed to properly uplift her emotions.
"Do you have something to say? Ocho?"
"No. Nothing. I just wanted to comfort you."
The word sadness had become so overrated, that people tends to handle it properly this days.
There's a big difference between cheering up someone to comforting someone. And most of the time, people misunderstands the situation and fails to properly grasp the correct approach when handling someone's emotions.
An example of this is how the earlier girls mistook 'cheering Nicole up' by saying nice and positive things, to 'comforting her', this actions only made her feel misunderstood and alone. It was far from the desired results.
The first sign of someone in need of comfort is "denial".
"I have dozens of friends. I've already received countless comforting words from a lot of people. What makes you think you're different."
She said in a very sarcastic tone. Making it clear for me to stop messing around already.
"Because none of them listened to you."
You comfort someone by making him or her feel comfortable. Simple.
And the easiest way to do that, is not by saying nice things but by listening to the subject and thus making her feel understood and gives her a sense of support.
I continued.
"What you're feeling is normal. But if you keep bottling everything up for yourself, then nothing good will come out of it."
"How can you understand what I feel?! Is it because you're from the damn wretched slums? Seriously just go away if you don't have anything useful to say. Your concern had been received."
I leaned closer to her and started answering in a slow tone and weakened manner.
"Nicole. Not because we experienced the same thing, does not mean I understand you. You see, the reason why I love cats is because they were the only ones who listened to me when I grieved the death of my mother. I never had any friends when I was a kid. But I promised myself that I will be a great friend someday....So how about it Nics? You can start with your regrets."
Nicole slowly raised her head and looked at me in the eyes. What I told her was an absolute bullshit, but my feelings as I said those things were the real deal.
I loved my mother. She was my only saving grace, and back then. I felt so miserable when I realized that I'm talking to a cat and telling it my regrets, because I had no other choice. My father only saw me as the most valuable resource. While the other agents are prohibited to stay in the same room with the others.
I felt a single tear come out of my left eye and saw it drop on Nicole's hand.
I sat in front of her and took her hands, then I looked at her directly in the eyes.
I thought she was going to decline me some more and was already planning ahead on my future interactions with her, but instead she started to tear up once again.
"Nics? What a stupid nickname....I just wanted to have one last conversation with her....tell her how much I appreciated her..."
But this time, it was calmer and more relaxed than earlier.
She then proceeded to tell me everything about her relationship with Jackie.
How they met, how they got close, how they often fought sometimes. She even told me that they kissed one time because of a party dare.
Needless to say, Nicole started opening up. And for every experiences she shared, the weight in her heart and emotions slowly decreased.
We talked for half an hour until her sorrowful tears turned to a relieved smile. She talked and talked and I only listened to her the whole time while keeping an interested and attentive look on my face.
----------
"Thank you. I feel much more better now. I'm now confident that I could look at her in the face later."
"Yeah. Wish you luck then. And don't hesitate to call me whenever you want someone to talk to."
"Sure hahahaha. Now I understand how you must've felt when you ranted everything to your cat. Hahaha because in my case, it was a dog! Hahaha crikey."
"Ohh acting so clever now eh? Well Your right eye looked busted earlier. You damn piggy looks like Fetty Wap when you cry."
We argued each other as we walked out the M & P club building. But it was more lively and had a friendlier vibe now compared to last time.
After walking together towards the club intersection, Nicole said she wanted to go home alone for the day and I agreed with her, so after I separated with her in the intersection I went straight to the clubhouse.
It was already 8:15, and that means that I'm already late.
I started walking faster and with larger strides, and quickly arrived in front of the garden. I heard noises nearby and saw the club members in the gazebo outside.
As I walked towards them, I immediately felt a thick oppressing atmosphere.
I then looked at everyone in the gazebo. All the members of the Gardening club are present along with a tall and muscular white guy with a buzzcut and glasses.
I expected Minji to snap at me, but she simply told me to take a seat.
"Now that everyone's already here. I'll go straight to the point."
The buzzcut guy handed Minji a profile and continued.
"My name is Tyron and I am the acting secretary of the Student Council."
I heard Darren whisper in an surprised tone beside me. "Secretary?!"
"The one on that profile is the girl that had been found murdered earlier. All of you had probably known by now the standing of Jacquilyn in this school. So I do not need to explain what the results will be if it becomes public for the whole school to know."
Tyron paused for a moment and nudged his glasses up before continuing.
"The school is doing its best to suppress the media for the time being, and the only ones who are aware of her death are some of her close friends and her family. The family too agreed for a quiet time. But Jacquilyn's fame is nothing to scoff at, because sooner or later the media will caught on things which will cause disturbances around the school."
"I thought you'll get straight to the point? Just tell us what we need to do. We are already aware that this murder was committed inside the school and that the leads could be found inside too."
Minji intervened.
"Right. The Student Coucil was ordered to make a separate investigation from the police and find the culprit before anyone could. And its not because the school wants to hide this issue, but to prevent further casualties. I take it that you two had already opened to your members the events of last year?"
"Yep we did. So basically you want us to find the killer before the police and the students could, to prevent another Fraternity War from happening."
"Precisely."
Minji looked at all of us before making a desicion. We all nodded our heads signifying that we agree with this request.
"Then. We accept. On one condition."
"As long as it is in our power then we would grant it."
"Nothing extravagant. The Gardening club will conduct our investigation but we will not conduct it with the student council. We will use our own ways and methods and will make a separate investigation from the police and the whole school."