The atmosphere was tense for Elena as the pen she held vibrated speedily with her shaky hand.
She was sweating profusely while trying to write down on the book which laid on her desk.
She was trying to remember the assignment questions but she couldn't figure it out.
Raising her head, Miss Rose was already a desk away from her.
Tears filled her eyes and her breathing increased.
Miss Rose noticed her uneasiness and skipped the next student instead.
"Elena Gomez" She called out and she rose her head slowly.
"Are you alright?"
She took few steps forward and picked the book that was soaked in sweat.
"What's happening here?, By the way where's your assignment?"
"Um.. I... I.." She stammered and shut her eyes.
She could see flashes of images of Sarah kicking her repeatedly against a wall with students watching in their numbers.
"You didn't do it?"
Elena nodded gently and she gasped.
"You've been a little acting strange before summer break, are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine"
"The Elena Gomez I know does her assignment"
"You know the consequence Miss Elena, Detention" She added and walked away.
Elena turned to Sarah and could see her wearing an evil smile.
She knew the consequences of telling the teacher the truth.
All Sarah would go through was Detention because her Family were one of the founders of the school.
She would definitely revenge by beating the pulp out of any student who dared.
..
..
..
"We can't close the case yet, Lieutenant " Detective Gomez announced as he followed after Captain Duke to a Aston Martin Valkyrie that was parked across the street.
"What's left Detective?, we found the killer, an animal on the loose" He halts and turned to him.
"There's still a mystery, The Bartender and The Bouncers talk about a girl and you had the other witness we could get our hands on today, they saw the victim go into the restroom after a girl did, we have more than ten witnesses, moreover no one saw the girl leave "
" I know you never let go of a case until you're sure it's properly closed but you got other cases to attend to, I can assign someone else to handle this "
" I have passion for mystery cases and I believe this is something big "
" You never cease to surprise me, Detective, alright, you got the case but be quick with it, we can't lean on an animal attack case forever "
" Sure "
" I'll see contacting the zoos, reserves and whatever, whatever in the city for a missing animal "
" That's right, it might still be moving around, someone could be it's next victim, Lieutenant "
" I know, I'll be off now "
Detective Gomez watched the vehicle drive off and turned to Inspector Kim who was moving toward him.
" We both know an animal can't illustrate such wonderful murder, taking a body into the ceiling and intentional dropping at a designated point, something isn't right, Inspector"
"I know, I know, Lieutenant Duke is a man who wants things to be done and closed quickly but you never close a case without proper check"
"I spoke with him, the case will remain opened"
"Man, Lieutenant got a soft spot for you"
Detective Gomez smiled and shook his head.
"And I'll gladly pick you as my partner on this, you got another case to handle?"
"Of course no, I'm in this with you Man but you gotta speak to Lieutenant about it"
"Yep, so what did you get?"
"The store owner was quite stubborn, requesting for a warrant but I scaled through" Inspector Kim said and gazed and the small building opposite Ken's Club.
"Okay"
"They gave access to their footage, I was able to retrieve last night's, the bouncers story checks in, they seem to have a little disagreement with a girl, her outfit fits the description given by the witnesses"
"So the girl is somehow involved in this?" Detective Gomez inquired.
"Possibly, I got the time of death from the forensic team too, it's at the same hour the girl came to the place "
"And they all testify she's new"
"Who?"
"The Witnesses, Inspector, the bouncers didn't see her face well because she had shades on, same with the bartender"
"But they can give a description, we get an artist and we could probably get a sketch, Inspector Kim, the camera at the store did caught her face, right? "
"About that Detective, I don't know if it's mere coincidence or she's truly a professional murderer, the girl didn't look to the direction of the store at all, the way she moved and took herself, she was too careful to"
"We need to find the girl, she's involved in this somehow except that the animal got..
..
..
"And that's the end of today's class". Miss Rose announced as she turned away from the board.
She dropped the marker and raised her head.
"If you're part of the detention squad, follow me immediately"
Elena who had her head down the entirely time rose it and her eyes were red.
She watched Miss Rose walk out of the classroom and a few students followed her including Jackson and Darwin.
Broken, she got up and dragged her after them but paused at the door when she had noise behind.
She turned and behold Sarah was pouring out all that was in her bag.
The Candies and Biscuits she had gotten from a store the day before, the ice cream her father had gotten for her, to mention but a few of what were in her bag.
"C'mon guys, Elena Gomez got goodies for us"Sarah announced.
With tears in her eyes, she fist her hands tightly and marched away.
A particular blonde in the classroom could be seen gazing at Elena with tears in her eyes.
She parked her books hurriedly and exist the class.
Johnson could be seen pushing a trolley with bucket in a hallway and Darwin following from behind with a mop on his shoulder when Elena appeared from a crowd and knocked on the door of room 21.
"There goes the nerd"Johnson chuckled loudly.
She pushed open the door to see Miss Rose who was arranging books on her desk.
"You're late, Miss Gomez"
"Yeah, I um, I'm sorry"
"It's alright, have your seat"
"Hmm"
"Have your seat, Elena"
Miss Rose sat and watched her do as well.
"So tell me Elena Gomez, what's going on with you?"
"Me?, um, nothing, I'm absolutely fine"
"I don't think so, I'm not some evil teacher who derives joy in punishing students who were once good"
Elena dropped her head and shut her eyes.
"Since I know you, you haven't missed an assignment before, you're acting strange which proves you ain't alright, you can confide in me if you have problems"
"I'm fine Miss Rose, I promise to do the assignment before tomorrow"
"I'm more interested in your state than your assignment, Elena Gomez, if you say you are fine, then okay, you can return to your classroom "
"Huh?"
"I'm not going to punish you Elena Gomez, I know you're hiding something and it will be better letting it out than allowing it to eat you up, I've seen students suffer from severe depression"
"You're not fine, I won't buy that lie, I can help you but not if you spill your problems" She added and held her hand.
"It's Sarah" Elena spilled without thinking.
She broke down in tears and Miss Rose stood to her feet.
"Go on, Elena"
"I did the assignment, she took my book, my book is with her".
"What?".
She nodded slowly and sniffed.
"Come with me"
Miss Rose left the office angrily and Elena followed after her with tears flowing down her cheek.
They walked past Johnson and Darwin who were moping the floor and they stared at each other.
The class was noisy as candies and biscuits danced in the air, from a certain angle to other when the door pushed open and she stepped in with Elena was behind.
Silence ensured immediately her presence was noticed, the students scurried to seats and she exhaled.
Miss Rose marched straight to Sarah's place and looked her in the eyes.
"Where's the book you took from her?".
"Um, I don't understand you Miss Rose, what book?"
"Elena Gomez's"
"I don't know what you're talking about?".
"Can I see your assignment again?".
Sarah quickly brought out a hardcover and Elena noticed that it wasn't hers.
That was Sarah's book.
She flipped a certain page and raised her head to Miss Rose.
More tears flowed down Elena's cheek discovering that Sarah had quickly copied the assignment during her absence.
"This is my book Miss Rose, my handwriting" Sarah said almost all screaming as she flopped through pages.
Elena made to tell Miss Rose but since Sarah was smart to do this, who knew what she was capable of.
"Miss Rose, I... I..."
Sarah stared dagger at Elena who looked down immediately.
"I lied, she didn't take my book".
There was shock written all over Miss Rose's face, she couldn't understand what was going on.
"Elena Gomez"
"I lied, okay?, I'll serve my detention"
"I was right about you Miss Gomez, you're not close to being fine, detention wouldn't solve nothing, figure out your life and get back on track"
She tapped Elena's shoulder and left the classroom immediately.
Like a wounded lion, Sarah sprang and grabbed Elena's shirt tightly.
"How dare you?, you piece of sh*t"
"I'm sorry" She sobbed.
The door of the classroom pushed open and a tall dark skinned man stepped in.
She quickly let go of Elena and exhaled.
"You're dead" She whispered into her ear and walked away.