This was the HEIGHT of dagginess. There was no way in the world that this barbecue could get any worse. Juu shifted her weight and shot a death glare at some Hawaiian-shirted fool who was heading towards her. He turned tail mighty quick.

There was nothing newsworthy going on at this barbecue. Although, she'd spent the previous afternoon reading backdated reports of the annual barbecue and it seemed that the less newsworthy your story was, the better.

Unfortunately, that meant she'd have to… mingle. She sauntered over to where people were collecting burnt sausages and limp, slightly soggy bread. Ew. She stood over the picnic table, staring at the sausage sandwich she'd been handed. She was expected to put that in her mouth. It had sand on it. Well, she hoped it was sand.

"Are you going to eat that?" She looked up into an inanely grinning face. The owner of this grin clearly wanted her sausage, and she gave him the go-ahead. As if she was going to eat it anyway. Just as he raised it to his mouth, however, a small whirlwind bustled over and tore it from his grasp.

"Oh dear. I'm so sorry about Goku. He just can't contain his appetite, you know? I'm Chichi. Well, actually it's Chelsea, but I don't think anyone's ever called me Chelsea in my entire life. I'm just not a Chelsea sort of a girl, you know?" Juu nodded. She seemed to be mingling. It wasn't hurting as much as she'd expected.

------

And so she found herself lazing about on a plastic chaise beside the pool, sipping a particularly good mango daiquiri and listening to the inane chatter that seemed to be the staple of youths her age.

"Oh Juu, and you so just wouldn't believe – oh, Bulma! Hi!" Julia turned around to see a pale girl walking towards them. Her face was drawn, and going a little bit blue around the edges of her lips. Matched her hair and eyes. She sat down, stiffly, on the end of 18's chaise. "What's up, Bulma? Are you feeling ok? You don't look so good? Did you spot Yamcha and Claire? She's such a hussy, you know?" The girl (apparently, Bulma?) gave a weak, forced smile.

"Chi… I think you'd better come with me." She stood up on shaking legs and began walking back the way she'd come. Chichi stood up, frowning, and indicated for Juu to follow. Whatever. This could be a good story.

They found themselves way up around the science block, and Julia wished she'd put on her thongs before following the girls. There was a toilet block just below the chemistry labs, and Bulma explained in a soft, stuttering voice that she'd just been going to go to the toilet and… her voice trailed off before she finished her story.

"Bulma, why were you going to the loo all the way up here? It's way away from the party." She did her best to act concerned. The poor dumb girl probably just found some graffiti saying she was an easy lay or something. It was probably true, too.

"I'm a science and engineering student. I'd been working on some stuff in the labs before going down to the party. I got changed in the labs, because no one goes there on a Saturday, and then I came down to go to the toilet and… oh for God's sake, Vegeta. Considering the circumstances, I think you can go in the girls' toilets without us considering you a pervert. Moron." Her tone changed quickly, and Julia blinked owlishly. Now she didn't seem like the ditzy little girl traumatised by a piece of graffiti, and she watched a boy she hadn't even noticed hovering around the doorway go in. "That's Vegeta," Bulma explained. "He does forensic medicine, and he's going to be a CSI, like on TV."

The three girls waited for him to come out of the toilets for a few minutes before Julia lost her patience and went storming in, Chichi in hot pursuit.

She stopped dead when they got there.

In a shower stall lay the crumpled figure of a young girl. She looked as though she'd slid down the wall; her t-shirt was crumpled up around her armpits, exposing her lacy bra. She had an urge to pull down the shirt, preserve the girl's modesty, but this was clearly a crime scene.

Her face was a pale, blue colour. It was a young face. Round cheeks, too much lip-gloss on, a ski-jump nose. There were dark purple bruises spreading over her shoulders and upper arms, and she could hear Chichi vomiting to her left.

"She drowned."

"How can you tell?" Her voice was strained; even she could hear it.

"See the pinkish-white foam at her nose and mouth?" He waved a finger around the girl's face. "That's a telltale sign of drowning. Besides, her hair's all wet." Clearly, she was dealing with a know-it-all dickwad. Just what she needed at this point. He rocked back on his heels and stared at the corpse. Easier to think of it as a corpse, than as a girl. "I knew her." He sounded unconcerned. She assumed it was an act. "Her name's Alicia. She's here on a scholarship. Finished school early, she's only 16. She's in some of my med classes." Juu got out her cell phone, and dialled quickly. They needed the police. The kid had green eyes. She was staring at her, with those lifeless, glazed-over eyes. It was creepy.