SO EXPLANATION: the time skip is a cheap cop-out. Not gonna lie, I had issues with like a timeline for this story if that wasn't GLARINGLY obvious. I also feel like to avoid this story being like 100000 chapters, it was easier to have this time skip. Nothing of major importance happened during this skip - nobody kissed besides the now establish IceThai pair, and nobody got pregnant, so you know that's pretty nifty.
I didn't like how the original chapter flowed, so it's in two parts now. Because why not.
I also had to divide the BIG CHAPTER into two parts and then i added a follow-up because it would've been super long if i had those three parts all in one chapter, so now it's like ending up 44 chapters so that's WILD again. EVERYTHING IS WILD FRIENDS.
super fucking duper important note: so I had earlier fallen asleep with the laptop on my bed and knocked it off. While untangling cords and picking it up, my charging cord ripped like in half. It was already frayed anyway, so it was only a matter of time. But now I am unable to charge my laptop.
This isn't a major issue or a huge setback. I am currently at home for Christmas and my mother also has the same laptop as me, so during the day while she's working, I'll be able to borrow hers. However, as of late, she's been working from home, so there may be days I won't be able to upload due to a dead laptop and no access to a charger.
With Christmas next week / the fact I do kinda need my laptop, I should be able to get a charger between now and after the 28th of December. Thanks for being patient.
(when the authoress notes are this long someone needs to stop me).
The Five Fabulous Suspects
Turning Points, Part I
Two weeks. It was two weeks later that the group realized that they had yet to accomplish anything in their search. Yao had been elusive, and anytime they tried to catch him by himself, but he always seemed to be one step ahead. Whenever Svea would catch him, Anya would be by his side, and Svea felt her judging gaze, so she often times left it be.
To be fair, their personal affairs had kind of gotten in the way of everything, too. Lukas all but exclusively hung around the group now, without giving his old friends so much as a second glance. More specifically, he hung around Mathilde. Svea and Timo continued afternoon sessions at the nursing home and hung out together a lot, while Erikur also split his time between the group, his sophomore friends, and his new boyfriend.
However, the group suddenly realized it was crunch time.
"It's been over a month. And nobody wants to come clean."
"Gee, I wonder why," Mathilde shot back as Mr. Willie rolled his eyes. "It's almost like we had nothing to do with it."
"No prom. For any of you."
"I'm a sophomore."
Erikur smirked but Mr. Willie returned it. "You're banned from homecoming and prom next year, then."
Erikur rolled his eyes as Mr. Willie left the library. The group exchanged worried glances.
"We need to act. Now. No more fucking around…"
x x x
"Yao!"
Svea and Timo collapsed across from him as he closed his tablet, looking around the library as he cleared his throat. "Quite the duo. What can I do for you?" Yao asked. Svea frowned.
"Your car was at the school two weeks ago, and you were destroying the gym."
Yao rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, that was a fun little joke…"
"It's not a joke." Timo pulled out a picture of the car, the license plate clear as day and the time stamp on the photo further proving they were serious. "Is this your car, at the school, at this time?"
Yao's eyes widened. "That is my car… but… I wasn't at the school." Yao frowned as Svea groaned.
"We don't have time to play games, Yao!" Svea shouted. "What do you have against us? What's going on? What did we ever do to you?"
"Calm down," Timo hissed. "And lower your voice… but Svea is right… you expect us to believe your car somehow drove itself to the school?"
Yao blinked. "I'm not an only child, so it's likely that…"
Svea and Timo blinked. "What?"
"I have half-siblings." Yao quirked an eyebrow. "Didn't you two know?"
x x x
"Erikur."
Erikur looked up from the textbook on his desk as Leon poked his arm. "What's up?" he asked. Leon looked around the classroom and Erikur's stomach began to quiver as Leon huffed. "Uh, Leon?"
"What's really going on with you and Kiet Sripuy?"
"We study and hang out." Erikur shrugged in response, trying to play it off. "He's alright." Erikur felt the words turn sour in his mouth, because he hated not being able to gush.
"Liar."
Erikur's heart stopped and his stomach dropped. "What?"
"You two were on a date two weeks ago. Feli and I saw you both. You two have been dating. And it's really fucked up you didn't tell your best friend."
"How did you find out?"
"How could you sit here and lie to us? And to Elise?"
Erikur huffed. "I didn't lie about having a date. But anyway, how did you find out? I haven't told anyone in our group of friends who I'm dating. There's no way…"
"So you are together?" Leon snorted. "Wow, you sure changed."
"For the fucking better!" Erikur hissed. "You know, you're being an asshole about this. Sorry I didn't tell you, but I have my reasons. But what are you going to do about? Are you going to stop being my friend because I like boys?"
"No! You know me better than that! My own brother is gay!" Leon sputtered. "I just wish you would've told me. But… why him?"
Erikur narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "You don't even fucking know him."
"I'm just asking!"
"And I'm asking how you found out!"
"Steilsson! Wang! Is there a problem?" Their history teacher shouted.
"No sir," the two replied, looking down at their desks as the teacher huffed, picking up his lecture where he left off. After the class, Erikur stood up and Leon glared.
"Make smart choices," Leon warned.
"Trust me, I've been making them."
x x x
"Svea."
Alfred glared at Svea as he slammed her locker shut in front of her. "I have detention. I don't have time for this…"
"You've been ignoring me!" Alfred shouted. Svea chuckled, rolling her eyes as he glared.
"Very observant," Svea sneered. "Anything else?"
"Are we going to prom together?"
"No," she deadpanned. She smirked when he looked on in shock. "Someone else asked me two weeks ago." Alfred grabbed her arm and she hissed. "What?"
"Who was it?"
"None of your fucking business."
Svea shrugged as Alfred's eyes narrowed. "It's Väinämöinen, isn't it?" When Svea said nothing, Alfred chuckled darkly. "Oh, honey, do you really think he's going to want to go with a slut like you? Does he even know where you were last Sunday?"
Svea growled, balling her fists. "Not with you. And you stay out of my business."
"You said we'd be exclusive!"
"But right after I said that, you, once again, went around running your mouth to your friends again and you went off with two other girls, so how the hell are we suppose to be exclusively fucking?" Svea rolled her eyes. "Besides, being exclusive implies I'm dating you, and I don't want to make that mistake again."
"Oh, and you want to date that loser?"
Svea frowned. "Is it any of your business if I do?" she snapped.
"Say goodbye to your social status, then," Alfred growled. "You know, crossing me isn't your smartest move."
Svea narrowed her eyes. "Go to hell, Jones."
x x x
"Yao Wang has siblings."
Erikur quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah, you didn't know?" he said, looking over at Timo as the blond gnawed on a pen. "Manual and Leon are his half-brothers. They've got some super dramatic family shit, his dad is a serial dater or something…"
"Erikur…" Svea's voice was gentle, her hands folded in her lap. "Yao Wang didn't drive to school that night."
Mathilde watched Erikur's eyes widened. Lukas' eyes narrowed as his fists balled up. "What the hell? We already know it's not Manual… so…"
"It can't be…" Erikur gripped the table, his brows knitting together as his knuckles turned white. "Hell no. He wouldn't do that. It can't be…"
"Well, that's not all…"
Lukas inhaled, pulling out a list of names, with a few highlighted in bright green. "You see… anyone who just turned sixteen wouldn't have their car on school record. Leon's too young to drive, but it makes sense he would steal Yao's car."
"So, what are you saying?" Svea asked.
"Mathilde and I had tried to figure out who the owner of the other car was," Lukas explained. "It didn't work out quite right, but I pulled out the birthday list from the school records."
"Because anyone who turned sixteen recently wouldn't have turned in a form about their car," Erikur mumbled. "Good thinking, Lu."
"Well, we have a few options, but…" Mathilde look down at the list. "We think it's Feliciano Vargas."
"Feliciano?" Svea started laughing, shaking her head as Timo smirked at the two. "He's… I mean, he's too nice. There is no way."
"Yeah, what proof do you have that it's him?" Timo asked.
"Well, considering the person who spray painted the gym is not only artistically talented, but the handwriting is eerily similar…" Lukas retorted, narrowing his eyes as Timo and Svea began to laugh.
"There is no fucking way."
Erikur mumbled, "Dammit." The group turned to Erikur who shook his head. "It has to be Feli. He was with Leon that night… when Alfred came up to me… and Alfred… he said he was meeting people."
"So for sure it's that douchebag?" Mathilde wondered. "Like, it makes sense. Didn't Raya say that Alfred was paying her?" Lukas nodded, crossing his arms as he closed his eyes and sighed loudly. "So… everything is pointing back to Alfred. But why?"
"We can't just go on assumptions," Svea protested. "We do need a motive, but we also need evidence. It's all circumstantial evidence right now. And… well, we need to confirm it's Leon and Feli… although, it seems for certain that Leon is behind this, seeing as Manual…"
"We get it." Clenching his fists, Erikur inhaled sharply. "I got Leon. One of you get Feliciano. Besides, Leon is getting on my nerves after our little confrontation from earlier today."
Mathilde frowned.
