Another boring day.

Clara Andrews stretched out her arms in relief as the taxi pulled away, leaving her outside the bar Rousseau's. Her college friends Natalie and Amy had begged her to take the night off after a semester filled with studying at New Orleans University and worrying over internships she could take over the summer to build up her resume. However, though she wasn't much of a drinker, the girls had insisted regardless.

As Clara slipped inside, she caught sight of her two friends seated on stools by the bar sipping on two glasses of margarita. Natalie caught sight of Clara, giving a friendly wave to her as she nudged Amy to get her attention. She shook her head at the display as she made her way over to them, twisting and turning to avoid the bustle of people that had taken up residence in the bar due to the evening rush, before finally joining them.

"You made it!" Natalie grinned, kissing Clara on the cheek in greeting. Clara sat herself down on a stool, eager to catch up with the girls on what she'd missed in the past couple of days she'd been away visiting her Grandmother.

"So did you miss me?" Clara inquired, as she flagged down a bartender to get something to drink for herself. "So what's the latest gossip? Anything particularly juicy I missed?"

"Still poor Jane-Anne," Natalie sighed in sympathy, nodding her head in the direction of the woman as she handed out orders to a table. "You know she's stopped turning up to class? I mean I don't blame her after what happened, poor thing." Clara's eyed widened in surprise, as she spared a glance at the woman. Though you wouldn't guess it just from looking at her, Jane-Anne had been through the ringer. Clara had known her and her sister Sophie since her preschool days, and had still been close with her sister Sophie when Jane-Anne had had her daughter Monique in high school. Though she had drifted apart from the Deverauxs' after she had moved out to her Grandmother's home just outside the city, Clara had always sent birthday and Christmas cards to the family without fail. However only a few months earlier, Monique had died. The situation surrounding whatever had happened was kind of suspiciously murky, but all of the locals were still talking about it even now.

Three young girls, all murdered, with no suspects.

She had sent her condolences on and had considered reaching out further, but had dismissed the thought in the end after deciding they probably wouldn't want the bother. Her internal anxiety at work, another fun gift from her parents.

"It's weird though right?" Clara turned back around towards the girls, a thought firmly planted within her brain.

"What is?" Amy frowned, stirring a finger in her glass as she blinked drunkenly. And they say I'm a lightweight. Clara thought, resisting the urge to giggle at the action. Amy was the notorious drinker of the group, and had a habit of turning one drink into a dozen. Before she could answer the question a bartender finally appeared, a perky blonde who seemed completely unaffected by the long night shift she was probably pulling.

"What can I get you?" asked the blonde.

"Just a beer please." She smiled politely, catching the name Camille on her nametag as she scrambled away to the other side of the bar to get her drink. Clara scratched nervously at her hands, noting that the bar was beginning to pile up as more and more people were coming in. Deep breaths. But if it gets too much I'm going back to hide in my dorm room, with or without them. She still didn't know what she was going to do for the summer. Travel? Go to her Grandmas? For now she was content to hide under her bed covers now that exams were finished, and will the future to stay put.

"So what were you saying?"

Right. Suspicious murders.

"I just-" Clara wasn't entirely sure if she should broach the subject, as the familiar feeling of uncertainty lied at the back of her mind as it did with every uncomfortable conversation. But her curiosity was emboldening her, pushing her forward to question the matter further. She knew Natalie and Amy were still friends with Sophie's family, perhaps they could answer her questions. "It's just that the Police never seemed to investigate much into what happened, and they didn't turn up crap? Not a single suspect?"

"There's nothing that can be done." Amy shrugged. "Best leave it lie."

"But what if-"

"Clara she said not to talk about it!" Natalie snapped suddenly, frustration lining her tone. Clara jumped at the sudden rise in her voice, a sudden unwelcome reminder from her times with her parents infiltrating her mind. Clara pushed it inside, ignoring the sensation of her blood running cold. She had never seen her switch moods so suddenly.

"Sorry." Natalie recovered herself, suddenly apologetic. "It's just pretty grim to talk about. Right Ams?"

"Right." The drunk girl nodded, seemingly as uncomfortable as Clara was.

Camille chose that moment to reappear, Clara's drink in hand as she approached the three girls. Noting the clear tension that had unfolded between them, Camille held out the drink for Clara to take. "Here you go." She smiled, as she glanced warily between the three.

"Thanks." Clara smiled politely, handing over the money to pay before Camille reluctantly slipped away.

Clara went to take a sip of her drink, but was soon prevented from doing so as Amy let out a series of excited noises. "You said you finally got a new purse! Let's see it procrastinator!" Clara frowned at the odd request but complied regardless, shaking her head to herself as she reached into her bag to search for her newly purchased purse. As she did so Natalie pulled out the vial she'd been keeping in her pocket, ignoring the fretful look on Amy's face as she quickly unsealed the vial. Without wasting any time she poured with clear blue liquid into Clara's drink, slipping the vial back into her pocket as the liquid's colour faded from view.

"Here." Clara announced, popping up with her purse in hand. "You like?" She grinned, holding it out for inspection.

"I love. The pink is very you."

"Alright girls," Natalie cried, holding her drink out in the air, "bottoms up!" Clara and Amy followed suit, grasping a hold of their glasses to clink with the other girls. All three proceeded to take a sip, revelling in being free after a hard year of education.

"Here's to a great summer!"

"Hear! Hear!"