Chapter 1-A Sleuth Named Cher
Cher Locke paced the length of her dorm room. It was exactly 12 steps from the south wall of her dorm to the north wall. She held her Hamlet script in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. She didn't look up from her script when she addressed her roommate. "Joanna, this play has some serious inconsistencies in Hamlet's plot to prove his father's murderer. The mouse trap no more proved his uncle's guilt than his inane ramblings did." Cher took a drag from her cigarette, and a look of calm crossed her face.
Joanna Waters' nose wrinkled at the smell of smoke as she typed her biology paper at her desk. She brushed the red bangs out of her eyes, and turned to raise her eyebrow at Cher. "What have I told you about smoking in the room?"
Cher stopped her pacing to look at Joanna. "I wasn't listening. Besides, I've been dying to find a good mystery to solve. I've read all the Nancy Drew books in the library. I found Mrs. Lester's cat, Sniffles. He was hiding in the tool shed again. It was obvious by the oil spots on her carpet that he had been sleeping by the lawn mower. I just need a problem to solve." Cigarette still in hand, she launched herself onto the lower bunk of the bunk bed. She blew smoke towards the springs on Joanna's bed above her.
Joanna sighed. She saved her essay and went to sit beside Cher on the bed. "Cheer up. You could help me on my biology essay."
Cher scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, Joanna. The functioning of the respiratory system is hardly a mystery." Cher took another drag off her cigarette as black ash fell on her white button-up shirt.
Joanna took the cigarette from Cher's fingers and put it out on the wall. "It will be a mystery to see how your lungs work when they're full of ash."
Cher sat up in the bed and smiled. "Waters, you do care."
From beyond their door, they could hear a piercing scream echoing in the halls.
Cher grabbed her notebook and her fedora. "Come, Joanna. These dreary halls have just gotten more interesting."
Joanna grabbed her cardigan and her pocket knife. She put the pocket knife in her pocket. "Life with you always is."