October 1991

The air was thick as Alycia Sanchez sat in her seat at Reeves High. Her protruding stomach made it hard to sit comfortably, so she usually just sat sideways, facing her boyfriend and baby daddy, Renaldo Ramos.

"Aren't we supposed to getting some new teacher?" Alycia questioned.

"You mean, after the one we had before, broke down?" Renaldo chuckled, his headphones laying on his neck.

"Yeah." Alycia grinned, her fingers running absentmindedly over her bump. "You know, we should be thinking about names for our little girl. I'm eight months along."

"I know, baby." Renaldo leaned across, pressing his calloused hand to Alycia's clothed stomach. "I'm sure she's going to be just as beautiful as you."

"Stop." Alycia giggled, her dainty hand resting above his.

Because she was pregnant, Alycia wasn't approached for any bad situations that happened in the school. She was immune to the fights and the disagreements. She was mostly verbal in her attacks, but other students weren't able to do anything because they didn't want to hurt a pregnant girl.

Alycia's ears perked up and she turned around to see Mrs Trudlow speaking to a woman who only looked like she was in her early 20s. Her eyes showed obvious fear and Alycia could see the lady's knees tremble as she surveyed the classroom.

"Heads up." Alycia turned back to her boyfriend. "New teacher is in the building."

"She won't be here for long." Renaldo smirked. "I give it two weeks before she breaks down and quits."

"Don't be so mean, Renny." Alycia playfully slapped his shoulder, a smile adorning her lips. "She looks pretty."

"Hi, class." The teacher's voice was barely heard over the loud music and incessant chatter from the students. "My name is Miss McKinney. Can you turn that down, please?"

The teacher's calm words were interrupted when one of Alycia's friends suddenly stormed over and slapped another girl in the face. It wasn't long before they were on the floor, scratching and pulling at each other's hair.

"Jesus Christ." Alycia sighed, pushing herself up from her seat and backing away from the circle of rowdy onlookers. She met the teacher's gaze, who seemed surprised to see the bump that had formed from Alycia.

"Hi, I'm Miss McKinney." The teacher skirted around the circle, leaving the students to their own endeavours. "And you are?"

"Alycia Sanchez." The girl said kindly. "I'm one of the students here who don't matter."

"Why do you think that?" Miss McKinney's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Because I'm knocked up at seventeen and the baby daddy is ignored by teachers." Alycia shrugged, her hands once again resting on her bump. "But I love her. I want her to be smart when she's older. I want her to make good life choices and not end up in a dump like this."

"I'm sure if you work hard, you can get her there." Miss McKinney smiled at the teen.

"Hey, baby." Renaldo walked over, slinging his arm around Alycia's shoulders and pressed a loving kiss to her cheek.

"Hey." Alycia whispered, smiling at the gesture. "Renaldo, this is Miss McKinney, the new teacher. Miss McKinney, this is Renaldo, my baby daddy."

"It's nice to meet you, Renaldo." Miss McKinney smiled politely.

"Yeah, whatever." Renaldo rolled his eyes, used to his girlfriend's kindess towards teachers. "This place will break you, McKinney."

"We'll see about that." Miss McKinney coyly smirked before strolling back to the front of the classroom.

- True Calling -

There's a tense silence around the street as a body lays crooked on the sidewalk. A young, baby-faced brunette woman is positioned on her back, blood dripping from her nose and pooling underneath her. Her eyes are still open, her body still warm. Her name is Laura McKinney and she was just gunned down.

- True Calling -

Okay, because I love Cold Case so much, I just had to slip an OC into an episode, and True Calling just spoke to me. The way that Renaldo is, I think someone other than Laura could motivate him. So, I am introducing, Alycia Sanchez! She is played by Naya Rivera for the younger self, and Michelle Rodriguez for the older self. I'm still deciding whether to include everyone's point of view such as Darnell's and Mrs Trudlow's interviews and flashbacks, but I'll probably just do interviews and flashbacks that only include Renaldo and slip Alycia into those too. Thanks for reading!