it's boring how people talk

Junho glanced up from his laptop, a light chuckle escaping his lips. "Honestly - I think whoever is behind that has a little too much time in their hands." The man said with a slight shrug. It didn't make sense to him how someone would pick a time like this to mess with the others students. Must be an attention seeker and a total creep. "I can't imagine the names being random, but the real question is....what do any of us have to do with anything? It's probably to bait people and create more chaos. People who have something to hide would go to great length to make sure their secrets stay secret."

"obviously somebody who's busy and focused on graduating wouldn't set up a gossip blog to slander people and spread fear." emerson rolled his eyes but there was no malice behind the action. he could tolerate jun-ho stating the obvious. they were often on the same wavelength. "what i'm trying to find out is who would use lizzie's death for attention. i'm not ruling out the possibility that it's a team of people. but i don't have any evidence either way." emerson took a forceful sip of his drink. the endless possibilities was making him feel powerless. he needed to figure out a concrete line of inquiry soon or he was going to start screaming at a bathroom mirror. "that's an excellent question. my theory is that we're either all connected to lizzie or the person running the blog. i think it's more likely we're all connected to lizzie. she was a well know fixture on campus and that would make us easy to frame if that's what the person behind the blog intends to do." emerson perked up at the mention of people having secrets to hide. he wiggled slightly in his seat. prying into other people's business was one of his favourite hobbies. "now are you referring to the person who wrote the post or the people on their list?"

she's  seated  on  the  edge  of  a  wooden  bench  tucked  into  the  corner  of  the  brew  house,  sunglasses  perched  low  on  her  nose,  hair  tied  up  like  she  couldn't  be  bothered  this  morning—which,  to  be  fair,  she  couldn't.  she's  certainly  not  prepared  for  emerson's  approach,  but  not  surprised  by  it  either,  and  something  about  the  look  in  his  eye  tells  her  there's  no  exiting  the  impending  conversation.  nova  sighs,  flipping  her  sunglasses  up  onto  her  head  with  a  lazy  finger.  "fuck,  burlington,  it's  too  early  for  this."  she  watches,  unamused—there's  a  touch  of  fondness  there  anyway—as  he  folds  himself  into  the  chair  closest  to  her.  sharp,  manicured  nails  tap  on  the  sides  of  her  coffee  cup  as  she  is  held  hostage  to  his  speculation.  there's  something  about  his  company  that  turns  her  into  a  gossip,  though,  and  she  finds  herself  shrugging  in  response.  "if  it  is  a  revenge  thing,  someone's  reaching.  other  than  lizzie,  who  really  connects  thirty-something  random  people?  we've  got  nothing  in  common."  she  leans  forward,  elbows  resting  on  the  table  between  them,  chin  perched  on  the  backs  of  her  hands  as  they  lock  together.  "then  maybe  they  just  want  attention.  stirring  the  pot.  winding  people  up."  a  pointed  look  is  tossed  his  way.  "which,  by  the  way,  you're  playing  right  into."

emerson chuckled at nova's unenthusiastic expression. he didn't take being treated coldly personally as long as he was being paid attention. he especially didn't take frosty treatment personally from nova. being aloof was part of her charm. "it's never too early to discuss potential blackmail, navarro." , emerson singsonged before giving his cup a hard shake. he doubted that the person behind the blog knew enough factual information about everyone they listed to genuinely blackmail them but he couldn't rule it out.

To see her name on the list wasn't necessarily shocking. Nina had been at the party that night where she briefly spoke with Lizzie, even capturing a selfie with the two of them, before carrying on with the the rest of the night's festivities. What Nina was still trying to determine was the end goal of the blog and the names on it. "Someone trying to stir havoc, fear, and misinformation." It detracted from following who was accountable for what happened to the Harrington and instead had professors and students eyeing them all like they were wearing the scarlet letter.

emerson responded to nina's statement with a nod. he admired her logical approach to the situation. they weren't going to find out who was behind the blog if they started panicking. they need. they needed to calmly work to unmask the culprit. "exactly, i couldn't put it better myself." , he complimented sincerely. "what i'm trying to work out is what's motivating this mysterious blogger to spread fear and misinformation. the two most plausible motivations are revenge or attention." his third unspoken theory was that the blogger was lizzie's murderer and searching for a target to frame for her death. but he decided to keep that theory to himself. it was too conspiratorial. he couldn't say for sure what caused lizzie's death. for all emerson knew she could have died of natural causes.

dove had tried studying, but her textbook had ended up shut in lieu of pulling out a few pieces of origami paper to fill what time she had to kill before her next class. her coffee, long since gone cold, sits half-empty in the space in front of the opposite chair to prevent someone from sitting down and joining her.

emerson smirked at dove's deflection and refusal to co-operate. she responded exactly how he expected her to. dove wasn't somebody emerson had spent much time with. she was peripheral to influential people. she seemed satisfied to do her own thing while beau was the centre of attention at every party on campus. she wasn't somebody emerson had much interest in networking with. but her simultaneous proximity and distance from popularity was why he thought her opinion on the situation was insightful. it was also why her appearance on the list of names confused him and was on his list of mysteries to solve. "it seems like there's no point in trying to lie to you so i'm just going to cut to the chase." , emerson declared while throwing his legs over a chair arm. he wasn't sure how intelligent dove was but she seemed wiser than her brother. "you're not a well-known name on campus but you are well connected. that's why i think you might have an interesting take on the situation. there's a reason people say beware of the quiet ones. people who aren't the centre of attention have the opportunity to be observant. i'm curious to find out if that's why you ended up on the list of names." emerson knew that in most situations it was unwise to reveal all his cards. but it wasn't as if dove could harm him because she knew why he was asking her opinion. they had a common enemy. "is that answer satisfying enough to convince you to answer my questions?"

"that's my fault for not using the term thought provoking." emerson had always found creative types pretentious. he thought they overestimated their ability to change the world. they couldn't change minds with art. many laypeoole underestimated the talented and skill it took to create even the most seemingly effortless and simple paintings. though, he had to give artists some credit. they were able to create work that moved people emotionally. emerson had to look away from nico's painting. "but maybe i said thought provoking and you didn't hear me." emerson teased in the most affable tone he could muster. he didn't feel the need to start an argument because he was slightly irritated. but he did feel the need to turn his annoyance into small talk.

it technically wouldn't be false to say emerson enjoyed spending time at the vermeer. he didn't enjoy analysing the pieces on display. he had no interest in dedicating his time to learning what techniques or aesthetic qualities made art worthy or praise or not. but he enjoyed networking at viewings. he excelled at judging people based on their interpretations of the various works and how skilled they were at hiding their real opinions. it also didn't hurt that he got guy's numbers whenever he attended viewings.

char can tell the laugh that leaves her comes as a surprise and can't help the smile that reaches her own lips, unwillingly so. "imagine how it felt to be her sister. i think the emotional whiplash gave me permanent damage.. and her a complex," she allows a laugh of her own to fill the space between them - as rigid as it sounded coming out. she would prevent herself from thinking too long about the lizzie effect. particularly those that charlotte cared about. it would only make her want to crawl out of her skin.

"you're doing pretty ok for someone with permanent damage." amyra's reply came out with an easy smile before she proposed how her words could be perceived. she cringed immediately. this is what she got for drinking three or four pineapple passion fruit whiteclaws before leaving to go to the darty. "shit, i didn't mean that in a mean way. i meant...that you had to put up with a lot of bullshit other people couldn't put up with." she turned her attention from charlie to the road ahead, hoping she had done enough to explain herself.

amyra shouldn't have been as bothered by brooke's words as she was. she had spent her entire life around girls like brooke. girls who got one detention for bullying before an unnamed benefactor donated money for the school to buy new equipment. she should have just ignored her. but brooke's words got under her skin. other people weren't allowed to talk about lizzie like that. "you act like you're some kind of brutally honest truth teller but really you're still lashing out because your parents got you a pony that didn't like you after they missed your sixth birthday party. it's pathetic." amyra bit the inside of her cheek. at the back of her mind she was vaguely aware she the pathetic one for starting an argument in the honour of somebody who didn't fight for her but she was ignoring that thought. "that sounds like a lot like fucking projection to me. shit talking a girl who's body still isn't cold yet sounds like something a demonic parasite would do."