Writers Note: This is the first chapter of 2018. It's sort of hard to believe it because in a couple of months it's going to be a year since I ever came up with the idea of this story. If it wasn't for my decision to rewrite the entire series then I don't know where we would be in this. I hope you guys enjoyed the holidays and spent them close with your families. This story is no where near close to ending but I have been writing and mapping out the next, future chapters. I hope you guys enjoy and let me know what you guys think.

...

Sophomore Year

Creak! Creak! Creak!

A noise coming from downstairs woke Anthony right up. One eye opened staring straight at the door to his room. He caught sight of something that had just walked passed it. He preferred to sleep with the door open ever since the day Nina died.

Silently, he sat upright and removed the covers that were keeping him warm. He quietly stepped on the carpet and left his room, looking both ways in the hallway before he fully stepped out.

"Mom?" he called out.

There was no response.

"Dad?"

It only took a noise coming from the kitchen to help him realize that his parents wouldn't be coming home tonight. They were out visiting their friends because they were the godparents to their child who was recently being baptized this weekend.

His hand went straight to the glass sculpture his mom kept on the stand right next to him. He needed something to defend himself with him just in case someone was actually in the house.

His wooden stairs were squeaky and old and noisy. He figured it was a good thing because that meant that the person had a chance to realize he wasn't alone.

He was wrong. As soon as he reached the end of the stairs he came face to face with someone. He was sure it was a someone because he saw them freeze in their steps. All he could see was their silhouette but it was enough to know it was a guy.

His hands gripped the object in his hand. He was prepared to defend himself if anything happened. But before he could act on anything, the person quickly ran out of his house knocking down the things on the counter.

At times he struggled to know what was a dream or not.

He knew for sure this wasn't.

–

"I am telling you someone was there," he said absolutely positive that what he saw was real. He couldn't believe his friends thought he was making this all up. "Why would I lie about this?"

"We're not saying you did," Kayla informed him but from the looks of it, it didn't help.

"Anthony, you used to have nightmares all the time. What if this is one of them?" Matias questioned as he waited for the first bell to ring. It had become a daily thing for them to meet in the student's lounge before school started.

"No," he nearly yelled. He was trying to convince them but every time they spoke against him it made him question if it really did happen. "I...I wasn't having a nightmare. It was real."

There was a minutes silence, "Nina's house was broken into and the day I tell you, it happens to you. I mean...c'mon, this was just your mind playing tricks with you."

He ran both hands through his hair, something he did when he was frustrated. "I can't believe my own friends don't believe me."

The bell rang and he walked out with complete anger written all over him. Matias wanted to talk to him but maybe he needed the exact opposite.

Sometimes it was better to do nothing.

–

During their second to last period, both Maya and Riley help restore books in their proper place inside the library. While doing so, something was off between them.

They weren't talking as much as they normally did. They would occasionally speak but then there was a silence to wash over it.

Riley hated to admit it, but she was starting to realize that their friendship was drifting apart.

As Maya placed the book on a shelf, Riley felt a sudden coup of words escape her tongue. "Geb and I went on date."

This surely grasped Maya's attention. She was caught in between placing a book on the shelf but as soon as her eyes met Riley's, they widened. "You what?"

"We went on a date," she clarified.

"When was this?" she found herself asking, dropping everything and paying attention to her instead of what she was supposed to be doing.

"Over the weekend. We went to his house and yeah, that's basically it."

"That's it?" Maya asked. Something was missing and she was absolutely positive about it.

Riley shook her head no and told her the full truth. "We kissed."

This came as a surprise to her. "Was that the first time?"

Riley nodded. It was the first time they kissed. The more she thought about it the happier it made her. She genuinely liked him despite the midst of things.

Riley knew it was better to trust with your heart than your judgments.

Maya didn't exactly hate nor love the idea. She was fine with her friend dating someone like Geb because if Riley liked him, he must've been doing something right. But then why weren't they together at school just like when they were outside of it?

"It's best if we keep our distance when we are surrounded by people who are convinced he killed Nina," Riley answered and Maya stared at her with a judging look. The look was directed at Geb and she could tell.

"It was my idea," she informed and Maya sighed.

She was clearly disappointed. "Riles..."

"You can't possibly think I'm wrong about this?"

"I do. And you wanna know why?"

"Why?" Riley asked. She really wanted to hear Maya's opinion.

"Because it's not the right point in time to be dating him..."

It was silent between them.

Maybe their friendship was meant to drift apart.

"I'm sorry you think that," Riley said. She tried to hold back her tongue, but there was something she needed to say. "It also wasn't the right point in time to not want Shawn to marry your mom..."

Maya was caught off guard. She never expected Riley to say that, especially with that tone to her words and at this moment.

"That's - "

"That's what?" she interrupted her and focused on the books she was in charge of. "Different?"

Was it different?

Here stood Riley wanting to date someone who had just lost their girlfriend, but then there was Maya who was willing to stand in the way of her mom marrying Shawn.

"I guess not."

...

Junior Year

Lucas watched as Harper's reaction sunk in. The picture of both their mom's rested in her hands and the look of confusion was written across her face. It took a few seconds for her to finally let a word out.

"Wow," she said like she was disappointed.

Lucas didn't know what to say or what to do. He just knew that he finally told her everything he knew about their parents.

"She lied to me," Harper told him. "I guess she did have a sister after all."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Did you know?"

"I've seen your mom before," she informed and he was surprised. "...not - not in person but in a picture. Whenever I would ask my mom about it she would change the subject or dodge the question but...when she started saying that she was a family friend and then a stranger I knew something was wrong."

He played with the mug in his hands as they sat on a table at Poet's. He looked around the cafe and he was grateful there weren't many people around.

"I don't get it," she told him after a few seconds pause. "If you just wanted to prove that we are cousin's or something you could've just sent me a picture or..."

"No," he interrupted her. She hadn't known the rest of the story. "No, you don't understand. There's more to this."

Harper was nervous about his reaction when she said that. He gave her the impression that there was something their moms did back then or something that might've happened that could change her opinion on her mom. "What is there?"

"That girl in the picture is dead," he informed her. "My parents are dead."

Her eyes widened, "Lucas - "

"It was a car crash," he looked her in the eyes when he said this and part of him was surprised that it was easy to do so. When he told Riley he didn't really know what to do. "They were on their way to see your parents."

Harper's mind couldn't grasp the fact that her mom would lie to her for so long. She wasn't really mad, she was just stunned that her mom never spoke about it.

Neither did her dad which made her question if he knew too.

"Something happened between our families," he informed her. "There must've been a reason why my parents would tell me you're dead." His eyes went to hers and as soon as he saw her, he could tell that she felt like she was going to cry.

It was a feeling he was trying to avoid and it was something he knew was hard to overcome.

"Hey," he placed his hand on top of hers. "It's okay."

As soon as he did this gesture, the door swung opened and in walked Riley. She looked around the cafe and sighed in relief after seeing that there weren't many people. That wave soon passed after she saw Lucas.

His eyes went to hers and he let out a faint smile. She smiled back but that changed once her eyes trailed down to the hand he was grabbing.

He removed it in a quick but not lightning quick motion. She still saw what she saw and she didn't like it.

In fact, she hated it even more once he retracted his hand. It only made her sadder.

His movement matched the movement a cheating boyfriend would make as soon as they've been caught. But he wasn't her boyfriend and she had no right to be mad at him.

She did, however, have the right to be mad at him for ignoring her.

Riley walked passed them and not once did she turn to look at him or even stop to say hi to him. She wasn't going to let this get to her.

As soon as she passed by, Lucas was quick to see that something wasn't right with them. He had an idea about what it could have been.

There was a silence between him and Harper and it was still lingering. He decided that he needed to do something different and something that could finally get him the answers he needs. Quickly forming a sentence in his mind, Lucas spoke, "I want to talk to your parents."

–

"I've never done this," Maya said as she stepped out of the car and joined Seth. They stood in a parking lot up in the mountains at ten in the afternoon just so they could overlook the city below. "I never realized how peaceful this town looks from up here, will all the lights, there's hardly any cars..."

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, his eyes on hers with his smile that sends chills up and down her back.

"Yeah. Yeah, it really is."

"Are you cold?"

"What?" she asked him. "It's like a hundred degrees out here."

He raised his hands up in defense, "Girls get cold easily."

"And guys just feel the need to lend us their coats...?" she questioned him as she crossed her hands.

"Hey, we're gentleman, what can we do about it?"

She laughed and stared at him, but as soon as he stared at her, her eyes went elsewhere.

"What was that?" he laughed.

"What was what?" she asked half a second later.

"Are you afraid to look me in the eye?"

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"Then look at me," he challenged.

She didn't move her head but as soon as he took a step closer to her she looked at him. "There. Are you happy?"

He nodded. "I heard you're starting a newspaper."

"I'm helping," she stated. "Riley's the one who came up with the idea."

He nodded. Everybody who didn't know Riley certainly knew she was brilliant minded and creative. Only some of the traits he wished he had. "So what job did she assign you?"

"I am the co-writer. I'm also doing interviews and I think I might be the photographer as well."

He turned to her as soon as she said that. "Oh. So you're working with Josh?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I want to say no, but I am joining the yearbook committee for a reason."

"Ah," he nodded but Maya could tell there was something bugging him. She studied him, there was something bugging him that she was sure of.

"Is something wrong?"

"No," he shook his head. "It's stupid, don't worry."

"What if I told you," she began as she turned to him. "...that nothing you say is stupid?"

He smiled and hesitated. As soon as he turned to her, he came clean with the truth. "I don't know how I'll feel about you and Josh being together."

She looked away from him unsure of what to tell him. Her stomach danced with butterflies as soon as he said that.

"And I know, it's not fair to be jealous or anything - "

"It's fine."

His eyes focused on her, "I know you're doing it because you're interested in that stuff." He stared at her before he returned his gaze towards the town below them.

The silence was almost enough for Maya to ask him something she had been wanting him to ask. It was the first thing that came to mind when he parked his car there. She hadn't seen any other car for miles. "Seth, I need you to be honest," Maya told him. She could tell he was confused because of the expression on his face, "How many girls have you brought out here to have sex with them in your car?"

"What?" he adverted himself to face her completely. He was a little hurt that she would ask him that which sort of confused him.

"I know you asked me out on a date because of your friends," she confessed and stopped when he sighed. It was the type of sigh you release when you get caught for doing something you wanted no one to know about. "And it's okay, really. I just need to know."

"Maya..."

"And I got to admit. This," she gestured towards the view next to them and all around them, "This is genius! It's something that's only been done in movies."

He chuckled, "Maya, I don't think you - "

"So I just want to know. That's it and I'll get out of your hairs -"

"Maya," his voice was firm. He placed his hands on her shoulders and licked his lips before smiling. "My friends didn't think I was man enough to ask you out on a date..."

She didn't say anything merely because she didn't understand.

"They've known I liked you even before you started dating my brother and when I finally asked you out, I proved them wrong. I didn't know they bet on it till after."

"Oh," was all she could say. She looked down in embarrassment. The only reason she said yes was that even although he managed to somehow win her over, she still wanted to prove to herself that she could go through with it without feeling anything for him. That Maya Hart, once again, couldn't fall for someone so quickly. And now, now that he said that, she wasn't so sure.

"And this," he followed her gestures from before. "This was the first time I've ever done this. And I'm glad I got to do this with you."

"I," she pressed her hand against her forehead to hide her embarrassment but he quickly removed it.

"And I know," he smiled at her, "I know you don't like me because I ask a lot of girls out. But the one thing that's certain is that I want to be here with you."

Maya smiled.

"I know that might not make any sense, I'm not the best when it comes to expressing myself - "

She chuckled, "You're doing great."

As soon as she finished saying that she felt his lips press up against hers. His hands cupped her cheek as he slowly led their kiss back into his car and eventually the back seat.

Maya didn't know how far she was willing to go. He was so careful and gentle she wished it could never stop, but her mom did establish a curfew and she couldn't afford to break it.

She pulled away from him but he didn't let her. And for the first time in a long time, she let someone take her mind off the many things she feared and the many things she had experienced already. He kissed her neck and her collarbones until eventually, he slid off his shirt. Maya traced his features with her hands before he engulfed her in another kiss.

The moment was perfect, the time was perfect, but the day wasn't. She pulled back from the kiss and smiled. "We cant."

"We can," he said. "C'mon we were doing great."

She laughed at the way he said it, "And maybe we can pick this up again some other time. But if you really want to go out on another date, I suggest you take me home before ten-thirty."

He sighed and slid his shirt back on. He wasn't disappointed but he was sad their time was coming to an end. "We're going on another date soon, Hart."

–

The next day in between periods, Matías sat on a chair with his feet on a table in the library and a book in his hands. While flipping through the pages he noticed a figure standing in front of him. He looked up from his book and saw James, an old friend of his. When they were younger their moms would work together which meant that he'd get dropped off at his house in the early morning. That changed when his mom found a new job. "Hey."

"Hey," he said to him. It had been a long time since they've talked.

"What's up?" he asked as he took off his backpack and sat down on the chair in front of him. "I knew I'd find you here."

"You were looking for me?" asked Matías as he sat upright.

"I was," he paused before he began to speak again. "Mrs. Mc'Call told me if I didn't get my grades up by the end of the semester, I wouldn't be able to graduate."

He mentally groaned, wasn't tutoring one student already enough?

Taking note of the look on his face, James tried to defend himself, "I wanted to talk her out of it but I really need this. It's just a couple of weeks, that's all."

He really wanted to say no but he would soon have a lot of time on his hands. He nodded, "Is tomorrow fine?"

"That's perfect. Tomorrow's great," he pressed his hands against each other like a prayer, "Thank you."

Once he left Matías returned to his book, but just before he could read the first word of the new chapter a paper had blocked it out. At the top right corner, he could see a giant B+ circled in a red pen. He quickly turned around to see Anthony with a giant grin.

"You passed," he said hardly believing it. He took the paper from him to get a clearer view.

Anthony sat down in the same seat James sat on. He turned around to see that he was gone, "Hey Matías, who was that? The guy you were talking to?"

"He's the next student I'm tutoring," he informed.

"Does that mean you aren't tutoring me anymore?" he asked as Matías handed him the paper.

He handed back the test to him, "Of course not. Don't be ridiculous. You need help in every subject, he doesn't."

Anthony took back the test from him but something was off with the way he said that. It made him worry.

–

As soon as class was dismissed, Riley and Matías walked out of class together. While they walked he could tell something was off with her, she wasn't talking as much and she would hardly look at him when they talked. When he asked her what was wrong, it was as if everything she had been holding in escaped.

From what she had said, Lucas went on a date with another girl and then pretended they weren't when he saw Riley. She continued to speak only expressing how mad she was at him and how she wishes she could talk to him.

Just then, the entire subject changed and Riley was talking about how people think that she and Lucas have broken up.

They never dated in the first place.

She was told that Lucas was asked the same thing by a couple of guys and he never answered.

Matías couldn't help but think that he had made a mistake. He shouldn't have asked her.

"I mean we talk a lot, but that doesn't necessarily mean we like each other," Riley finished off as they rounded the corner. There was a silence but that didn't last because she continued to speak again. "And why does everyone assume I like him? Why isn't it the other way around? Is it because he's better looking?"

Matías stared at Riley and shook his head no, "You know why. This is a girl thing. They're the ones who spread rumors quicker."

She sighed. He's right. Riley never got along with some of the girls at her school and unfortunately, those girls had a higher status than her. Besides Maya and Isadora, Riley didn't really talk to any other girl. "Can you believe he turned down Melissa?"

"The senior?"

"Yeah," Riley nodded.

They continued to walk for a few seconds before he finally brought up something they could talk about, "I heard he tried to be friends with you again."

She turned to look at him like a deer caught in headlights, "I didn't know what to do?"

"It's fine..." he nodded. He was the understanding friend, he's always been.

"If it makes you feel better, it didn't work." She said in hopes that it would lighten his mood a little.

It did make him feel better to hear that.

"I'm glad you understood," she began and they stopped walking.

He nodded, "I'm over it. And with the whole Lucas thing, just give it time. You don't have all this patience for a reason. Plus, on top of that, you need to help set up the festival tomorrow."

Riley took note of his advice and watched as he walked away. She furrowed her brows because she wasn't sure how affected he was by the news. Some part of her believed he didn't mind it but why wouldn't he mind it? He could've lost his life because of Geb.

...

Sophomore Year

The soft melodies that Acacia's fingers created echoed all over the house. She spent hours rehearsing the exact same piece trying to do her best to get it right. It sounded fine to Matías and to everyone else but to her, it sounded horrible. She always felt like she could do better. And ever since she heard about this prestigious academy that was holding auditions a couple weeks from now, she has been practicing non-stop. She had Adriel drive her there, which by the way was an hour away, just so she could sign up.

The soft stream of music stopped and Matías was grateful it did so. He loved it when she played the piano but he hated it when she didn't let him study.

As soon as she resumed her daily activities, he stood up and walked to the only room that wasn't busy in the house; his dad's office. As soon as he approached the room he could hear voices. Familiar ones.

He placed his ear on the door and listened.

"Do you by any chance happen to know who this "he" is?"

There was a long seconds pause.

This was the recording of the investigation.

"I don't know who he is."

He opened the door pretending he hadn't heard anything but Adriel paused it just in time so we wouldn't hear anymore. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know you were in here."

"It's fine."

He nodded but he didn't want to leave just yet. "Is that the recording?"

"Yeah," he said and leaned back on the chair.

"Is something wrong?" he noticed his brothers agitation.

"No," he assured. "I'm just convinced that one of them knows something about her death."

His eyes widened, "What do you mean?"

"Well, look at this," he played all three recordings of Geb, Seth, and Anthony. In the recordings, he asks them the same question and they all hesitate before answering. "Doesn't it seem a little sketchy to you?

He faintly shook his head no but Adriel didn't see it.

"It can't be a coincidence that all three of them brought up this 'him' all of the sudden."

He set his things down.

"They boys made it seem like this 'him' could've been her boyfriend or someone she was interested in and vice versa. I asked Kayla if Nina was seeing someone other than Geb and she doubted it. Since she was Nina's best friend and the only one willing to talk, I took her word for it. The boys are lying."

"What are you saying?" Matías asked as he rounded the desk to get closer to him.

"That they made up this him, just so they could cover up their tracks. I mean the kid Anthony seemed like he felt compelled to tell this story."

He sighed and turned his back on his brother so he could get his stuff and leave the room.

"What?" he asked. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"That," he gestured to him. "Why'd you do that?"

"What do you mean?"

He stayed silent for a couple seconds before he capped his pen and turned his attention to him, "Do you know something I don't?"

"Don't be ridiculous," he responded.

"You know you make unnecessary gestures with your head when you're lying?" asked Adriel. "It's called a tale. Everybody has one."

"I know you're trained to tell when someone is lying, but this isn't one of them. I'm not lying."

"It's a felony to obtain information from a detective," he informed but was interrupted not long after.

"And what exactly will you do?" Matías questioned. He did know something he didn't and that was that he was helping Anthony lie to him. He was willing to not say anything but as soon as Adriel used his job as a threat, he couldn't bite back his tongue.

"Need I remind you, this can result in a criminal conviction."

"You're threatening me," he added in. "Your own brother."

"I'm warning you," he clarified and stood up. "Matías I want to believe you. This isn't like you, but I will not let this kind of deception interfere with my work. So when I ask you, "do you know something that I don't?". I want you to tell me the truth." He looked him in the eye and waited for him to do the same. "Do you know something that I don't?"

He kept his gaze, his posture to make himself look like he didn't know a thing. The more he did this, the more he realized that he couldn't play this part anymore. He had gotten away with lying so many times when he was younger but that had to change. He was a different person, a more mature person. He had to own up to the truth. "They were telling most of the truth," he confessed and his brother furrowed his brows.

Matías had never seen him so surprised before.

"I'm not even sure if there was a 'him' but I'm sure they just added that in so they can complicate the investigation and so that you will be distracted and not look into them."

"How do you know this?"

He sighed even louder than expected, "Anthony."

Adriel was disappointed in his brother but he didn't show it. He knew from the very beginning that his job could potentially turn against his family. He just didn't know that moment would come so soon.

"When he found out I was related to you, he told me everything. He said he didn't kill her but he doesn't know if his friends did."

Adriel believed his younger brother.

"Please, don't get him in trouble," Matías begged. "Out of the three, he's the honest one, he didn't mean for this to happen."

Adriel nodded and turned his back on his brother before he walked towards the opposite side of the desk. He reached for his phone and handed it to him, "Call him. I want him here. Now."

Matías looked at his brother. He had just told him that he didn't want him to get in trouble. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to change his brother's mind, he pulled out his own phone, "He'll answer if he knows it's me calling."

–

It didn't take long for Matías to drive to Anthony's home and back. On their way there he hardly spoke, he didn't even look at him. He constantly reassured him that everything was okay, but he didn't listen to him. He was too nervous to even pay attention to him.

"Most of the things we said were true," Anthony defended as soon as he entered the room.

"Take a seat," Adriel said before he looked up at him and gestured towards the seat in front of him.

Anthony did as told and when he sat down he confessed everything in one breath. From Geb leaving her there to Seth giving her the alcohol, and to keeping her phone and planting it back in her room. He didn't know if he committed a numerous amount of crimes on doing so but Adriel seemed to take the news well. He didn't seem surprised one bit.

"And when I was in her room," he began as he reached into his jacket. "I found this."

He pulled out what seemed to be a prescription bottle and handed it to Adriel.

"Phentermine?" he questioned. "This is a weight loss pill."

"Nina used to be chubby when she was younger," Matías stated. "It makes sense."

"This doesn't say these pills were prescribed to her. How do we know if these really are phentermine? This could be some drug-related murder."

"No, she wouldn't," Anthony defended. "That's not even the only thing I found."

"What'd you find," Matías asked.

He sighed and gulped before he brought out his phone, "A suicide note."

"What?" he asked.

"I took a picture of it. Here," he handed his phone to Adriel and stared at Matías. He looked worried but also confused.

"Do you think she typed this?"

He didn't know.

"I mean think about it. No one types a suicide note, it's normally written by hand."

He was right.

"What if her killer wrote it," Adriel informed. "I mean her suicide was staged, what if this was too?"

"I'm gonna need to get the actual letter, did you say you found it in her room?"

He nodded, "I found it in one of her drawers hidden underneath her clothes."

"I can have forensics perform a linguistic test. They can confirm if Nina really did write the letter. And if she didn't we will know this was her killers doing."

"How will you get the letter? Don't you need a warrant to check her things?"

"Not in a homicide investigation. I'll go first thing tomorrow morning. You can go home now," he said to Anthony.

When he walked out of the room, Anthony sighed and leaned his head down. He didn't know if he was going to get in trouble later on for it.

"What's wrong?" Matías asked.

"N-nothing. Just take me home."

Writers Note: Looks like Detective Adriel knows somethings because of Anthony. Thank you guys for reading and let me know what you guys think. New story coming soon.

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