#covtask

sometimes it annoyed ella, how obviously threadbare she looked. she knew she was a mess, willowy and pale, like a strong breeze could blow her over. when she was a little girl, all silent and trembling and wide grey eyes, people treated her like she might be sickly, asked her if she was cold or hungry or needed anything. she looked like someone you should take care of, even now. and it annoyed her, especially because she knew it wasn’t out of genuine care for her, but out of pity. 

somehow, though, she didn’t think detective watson pitied her, and when he offered her a blanket, ella took it without question, wrapping it around her shoulders, clutching her old, plastic crows water bottle she got during frosh week in her skeletal hands. besides, she kind of needed the comfort right now; ever since melanie- well, a pit had opened in her stomach that was impossible to fill. she’d thought being turned down made her feel e m p t y, but now… on the best of days, ella always felt in the back of her head, but now it was like she’d fully pulled away. she could barely feel the cold of her water bottle against the tips of her fingers. and when she returned into her body even slightly, everything hurt so thoroughly, in a way she couldn’t describe. 

she managed to shoot the nice old man a smile as he settled himself down, getting himself ready to ask her a few questions. the hemlock police chief stood stoically behind him, and ella tried to forget he was there. the detective twirled the pen in his fingers, and shot her a smile in turn. “let’s begin.” 

“ can you tell me, to the best of your memory, what happened on the night of december 13, 2019? ” 

ella swallowed, blinking down to her feet, before looking back up at the detective. “well, um… my, my roommate, rosemary. rosemary keegan, i mean. she, uh, she told me that the debate team was having a party that night and… and i don’t usually go to parties so i didn’t think anything of it. she was going, so i decided i was gonna read wuthering heights that night- i read it every christmas, it helps me get into the holiday spirit.” 

“but,” ella said with a sigh, “i’d barely gotten started before my friend eden, um, lennox-montgomery, texted me at about…” she bit her lip, “hold on, could i please check the timestamp on my phone?” she didn’t know why she felt the need to ask, but she did. this was a detective, after all. when detective watson gave her the go-ahead, ella said, “thank you,” and pulled her phone out of the purse at her feet, scrolling through the texts. “um, at six-seventeen pm. she texted me asking if i was going to the debate team party at the estate, and she…” ella trailed off, sliding her phone under her thigh, and one hand with it. “eden is my friend, and she wants me to, like… get out more.” she manages a weak smile. “she’s way cooler than me. anyways, she… she offered to do my makeup and stuff so i went to her place. we had dinner and… and went to the party together.” 

“i spent most of my time ghosting eden, and sat on the couch when she danced. i mean, she made me dance a couple times, but…” she trailed off, biting her lip. she could feel the hurt stabbing at her stomach, and it was stupid that this still hurt, even with melanie… being gone. “something, uh, something upset her after a little while, and we left the main area at like… ten thirty-ish? but, um…” she swallowed, looking away, remembering how eden had asked her to leave, the way her gut twisted, the hurt plain on her face, “she asked me to go, and i,” she laughed, “i went back to the party, trying not to cry, though i… i did, eventually. i cried in the bathroom for, like, forty-five minutes, and, um, one of melanie’s roommates gave me a handkerchief, it was really nice of her. uh, michal… something. her name’s michal.” 

she shrugged, “and by the time i left the bathroom… or, like, a few minutes later, apparently something was on fire, and everyone was leaving. i was back home by twelve-thirty.” in finishing, she nodded, watching detective watson make his notes with some nerves, sucking at her teeth. she’d sucked her thumb until she was four years old. 

“ did you see anything unusual that night? was anyone acting out of the ordinary? ”

“um.” it niggled at the back of her brain, what she’d left out, but she… she still didn’t have a good feeling about it. still… melanie was- gone. no, dead. melanie was dead, she might have been murdered, and… tears pooled in ella’s eyes, and she brought the heel of her hand up to wipe at them. “sorry, i… i did see something. when, when eden…” she took a deep breath, “when i followed eden out the house, um,” when her friend was ranting about melanie, melanie, melanie, “aurelia choi came out after her and… and eden asked me to leave, so i left.” ella shrugged, wiping at her eyes again, the color rising in her cheeks. “i didn’t know… why. i still don’t, but… yeah.” 

she looked down at her lap, and realized she’d been opening and closing the water bottle spout the entire time she’s been speaking. she shut it one final time, before sliding her other hand under her thigh, both of them pinned under her legs, ella curled in over herself. “i didn’t… i didn’t see eden for the rest of the night, but i saw aurelia again at… i don’t know, i went to the bathroom to cry right after i talked to her. it was less than an hour later, probably half an hour after i left eden. anyways, i- when i saw her, i had to ask where eden was, if she’d gone home or something but aurelia didn’t… didn’t answer me.” aurelia was an expert at brushing ella off. she paused for a moment, adding, “and then, of course, the fire happened, but. i didn’t really see it. everyone just ran out of the estate and i was trying not to get trampled, y’know?” 

ella reached for the tissues, patting under her eyes and wiping at her nose. melanie was dead, and she was too scared to ask eden about that night, and… and ella just felt useless, useless. what more could she do with for the detective? 

“ can you tell me more about your relationship with melanie? ”

she laughed wetly, “i… i think you know too much about my relationship with melanie, detective watson.” she blew her nose into the tissue, before primly folding it up, looking around the room for a moment before she stood up a little bit, just to reach the waste paper basket. 

“well, um… we took, uh, phil 101 together. and she sat next to me and… and asked me for notes and stuff.” looking back on it, it seemed silly, that ella would ever think that was flirting. but nobody talked to ella, especially not in first year. especially not bright, beautiful girls like melanie. 

“and i… i saw her more and more and i… i had, or, um,” she cleared her throat, face bright red at the confession but… well, the detective already knew, didn’t he? “still have a massive crush on her. i… i’m-,” obsessed with her, “i guess infatuated with her, is the best term.” ella didn’t even dare say l o v e, because then that… felt too much. she couldn’t call something so silly, so pointless, so greedy love. “even today, i...” her voice shook, her throat tightening, “i still have those feelings for her.” 

she grabbed at her water bottle, snapping it open and taking a few long sips, just to calm herself. just to have a point of focus so she didn’t feel like she was spiraling out of control like an unspooling sweater. “i’m sorry, i’m fine, i just…” the look in detectie watson’s eyes killed her, and finally, a sob burst out. “it’s just… she’s gone, and she…” she shook her head, burying her face in her hands. her water bottle fell to the floor, and she scrambled for it with trembling hands as it spilled upon the ground. “i’m sorry, i’m sorry, i’m-.” she snapped it shut, putting it back on the table between them. “i’m just… i don’t know what to do. i feel so empty and like…” 

ella took a gasping breath. “she had… she had so much- she was gonna do so much.” melanie was going to save the world, ella had been sure of it. “she was so much, everyone- everyone loved her and i…” she gasped and whimpered, and she realized how close she was to hyperventilating. what use could she possibly be? “i just want to help, but i don’t know how, but i… whoever did this, if someone did this,” because it didn’t make sense to her, melanie being murdered. “i just… i want to know why. if there is a why.” 

for a long while, the room was just filled with the sound of ella’s sobs. 

“ do you have any reason to believe that someone would want to hurt melanie? ”

ella shook her head, feeling worn out, rung out, an old dish towel where her brain should be. “i… i don’t think so.” even eden wouldn’t have it in her, ella thought. she didn’t think she knew anyone capable of murder. “everyone loves her, she’s…” the sun of the solar system, the light at the end of the tunnel, brilliant and beautiful and unreachable and life-giving and every pretty metaphor you could ever imagine. almost calmly, so quiet, ella admitted with eyes faraway, “she’s everything.” 

“ do you have any questions about how the case will proceed? ”

police  stations    always  made  her  nervous  .  the  last  time  she  visited  the  unfamiliar  building  was  when  her  older  sister  ,  acacia  ,  ran  away  when  rosemary  was  five  .  she  only  vaguely  remembers  the  experience  ,  a  nice  police  officer  gave  her  cookies  and  a  teddy  bear  .  she  had  a  gut  feeling  she  wouldn't  be  getting  either  of  the  two  this  time  around.  as  she  sat  on  the  metal  chair  in  the  small  interrogation  room  her  nerves  only  increased  .  last  time  she  just  sat  with  her  mom  at  some  police  officer's  desk  .  "  do  you  know  where  she  is  ?  "  rosemary  asked  straight  away,  she  was  suffering  without  her  best  friend  by  her  side  .  

"  we  will  not  be  disclosing  that  information  at  this  time  .  miss  keegan  ,  we  just  have  a  few  questions  .  "

rosemary  nodded  as  she  picked  at  the  styrofoam  cup  of  water  in  front  of  her  .  she  wasn't  sure  she  was  ready  to  talk  about  the  disappearance  of  her  best  friend  just  yet  .  but  she'd  seem  guilty  if  she  didn't  answer  .  so  she  would  try  her  hardest  not  to  cry  (  not  likely  ,  she  was  already  on  the  brink  of  tears  )  and  answer  all  the  questions  .  “  anything  to  help  find  her  ,  “  she  said  with  a  smile  that  didn’t  want  to  be  there  .  

“  can  you  tell  me,  to  the  best  of  your  memory,  what  happened  on  the  night  of  december  13,  2019  ?  “

rosemary  had  to  think  for  a  moment  .  “  i  got  drunk  ,  my  memory  isn’t  great  .  “  rosemary  wasn’t  a  frequent  party  person  but  now  she  felt  like  she  had  been  stamped  with  a  ‘  wild  child  ‘  label  sitting  in  front  of  these  police  .  she  was  the  opposite  of  a  wild  a  child  .  “  but  i  went  to  the  debate  party  ,  mostly  to  support  to  melanie  .  i  think  i  ran  into  a  few  friends  before  hanging  out  with  melanie  ,  i  talked  to  griffin  ,  uh  ,  beck  .  we  didn’t  talk  for  long  but  we  talked  long  enough  .  i  had  invited  my  roommate  ella  ,  well  ,  eloise  .  eloise  morris  ,  she’s  an  angel  .  i  know  i  saw  her  for  a  just  a  moment  while  i  was  actually  there  .  i  mostly  just  partied  and  tried  to  hang  out  with  my  friends  as  much  as  i  could  .  “

“  did  you  see  anything  unusual  that  night  ?  was  anyone  acting  out  of  the  ordinary  ?  “

rosemary’s  breath  hitched  for  a  moment  .  surely  she  couldn’t  lie  to  the  police  but  was  she  willing  to  sell  someone  she  cared  about  out  to  make  herself  look  better  ?  what  made  her  any  better  than  lot  ?  she  looked  down  at  the  styrofoam  cup  ,  the  water  inside  of  it  calmer  than  rosemary  could  have  ever  been  .  “  if  i  say  something  about  someone  will  they  get  in  trouble  ?  “  she  asked,  her  voice  small  .  “  he’s  a  good  person  .  i  don’t  think  he  did  anything  .  “

“  who  ,  miss  keegan  ?  “

“  his  name  is  lot  .  lancelot  kang  .  “  she  felt  a  sense  of  guilt  nestle  into  her  stomach  .  that  feeling  wouldn’t  leave  her  for  a  while  .  she  knew  in  her  heart  that  lot  didn’t  do  anything  wrong  but  she  still  had  to  tell  the  police  .  it  was  the  only  right  thing  to  do  .  especially  for  melanie  .  “  melanie  left  at  some  point  .  i  think  it  was  around  eleven  .  after  she  ran  out  lot  came  up  to  me  ,  asking  where  she  went  .  i  didn’t  think  about  it  at  the  time  so  i  just  told  him  that  she  went  outside  .  i  don’t  think  ,  or  even  know  ,  if  he  ever  found  her  .  but  if  he  did  ,  i  don’t  know  what  they  did  .  “

“  can  you  tell  me  more  about  your  relationship  with  melanie  ? “

rosemary  smiled  for  the  first  time  since  being  in  the  police  station  .  melanie  ,  even  the  mere  thought  of  her  ,  had  a  way  of  making  rosemary  happy  .  “  melanie  is  my  better  half  .  we  met  when  we  were  in  kindergarten  .  our  first  day  ,  actually  .  we  made  a  pinky  promise  that  we’d  be  best  friends  forever  ,  and  we  have  been  ever  since  .  “  her  hand  instinctively  went  to  the  locket  around  her  neck  ,  a  remembrance  of  the  friendship  between  the  two  girls  .  “  she  was  my  best  friend  .  melanie  and  i  have  been  together  our  whole  lives  .  she  went  on  my  family  vacations  and  i  went  on  hers  .  if  i’m  being  honest  ,  it’s  been  hard  not  having  her  text  me  good  morning  every  day  .  she  always  made  me  feel  better  and  i  could  really  use  her  right  now  .  “

“  do  you  have  any  reason  to  believe  that  someone  would  want  to  hurt  melanie  ?  “

rosemary’s  head  shook  .  “no  one  would  ever  hurt  melanie  .  she  doesn’t  have  enemies  .  i  mean  ,  maybe  the  opposing  debate  team  ?  but  i  don’t  think  they  would  do  anything  to  hurt  her  .  i  don’t  know  .  i  just  miss  my  best  friend  .  i  want  her  to  come  back  .  it’s  already  felt  like  too  long  without  her  .  “

“  do  you  have  any  questions  about  how  the  case  will  proceed  ?  “

can you tell me, to the best of your memory, what happened on the night of december 13, 2019?

darcy snaps her gum loudly, fingers already itching for a cigarette. she purses her lips for a moment, then leans forward and answers.

“ got there at 10 or so. shotgunned a beer to celebrate my entrance. did a couple lines. ” she stares at one of the officers, as if daring him to say something. she hadn’t even done any cocaine; she’d tried it once, hated the comedown, and hadn’t touched it since. “ bickered with dick after that. mingled for a while... i don’t fucking know, do you remember anything you did at a college party ? ”

after another moment, she continues. “ i saw donatella-chanel-whoever-the-fuck doing some shady shit sometime before quarter of 11. ” buying cocaine, which was amusing based entirely on donnie’s reaction to her stumbling upon the scene. darcy wondered, idly, if donnie had been in yet. she’d be in for some fun if she hadn’t. “ that’s all i got.” she shrugs. “ i was wasted. what do you want from me ? ”

did you see anything unusual that night? was anyone acting out of the ordinary?

she hums under her breath slightly, an annoying tune she’d picked up from a radio commercial on the way over. her mind tumbles over the building blocks of the night, haphazardly tossed across her memory bank as if strewn about by a child. between the amount of drinks she’d had that night and the excitement of a roaring fire, her memories were a bit hectic.

“ nah, ” she answers. “ next question. i have a shift at bean me up in 20. ” they didn’t need to know she was late most days anyway; ella usually covered for her in that time. unwillingly so, but she did.

can you tell me more about your relationship with melanie?

“ melanie rivera: GOD’S GIFT to hemlock, illinois, ” darcy drawls, eyes rolling skyward. “ she’s my stepsister. which i’m sure you know, if you took two fucking seconds to look into her family. ” the detectives, of course, have done so. she sighs, dragging a hand through knotted hair. “ she’s annoying. what do you want me to say ? she’s not as great as everyone seems to think. they’re probably too far up her ass to see that. ” 

she crosses her arms over her chest, realizing she hasn’t technically answered the question. “ you could say we don’t get along. ”

do you have any reason to believe that someone would want to hurt melanie?

darcy narrows her eyes, glancing between the cops. she’s long since forgotten their names; she definitely wasn’t even listening when they said them in the first place. “ what, you think she’s dead or somethin’ ? ” she asks, then lets out a snort. “ i dunno. like i said, she’s a pain in the ass. not enough to get killed over, but maybe someone else feels differently. who’s to say ? ”

one thing, though, stands out. she plucks it deftly from the pile of memories she’d consulted earlier, dangling it in front of the cops. 

“ actually... penelope, my stepsister — melanie’s blood sister, ” she clarifies. “ seemed to be pretty jealous of melanie’s relationship with... ” she snaps her fingers a few times, trying to recall the name. “ the one with the camera. fuck. oh ! toni. toni... something. doesn’t matter, penelope rivera’s the suspicious one. ” she points at the officer across from her. “ worth lookin’ into. ”

do you have any questions about how the case will proceed?

can you tell me, to the best of your memory, what happened on the night of december 13, 2019?

an exaggerated impatient sigh exhales from the blonde after having taken her seat in such an uncomfortable little chair. this was her first time in an interrogation room and she noticed the air of unease that settled in immediately. it must’ve come with the space. the moment the door closed behind her the room felt like an air lock chamber and everything stilled except her heart beat. and that’s never something she likes to be reminded of. annoyance eventually etches itself into her expression after she’s asked to remove her sunglasses and begin. “I would like to think you know  there was a party because you were called there later for the fire so that’s a stupid fucking question.” language.  “sorry...” she’s not sorry. “anyways..the debate team won, no shocker there, and there was a party. It was supposed to start at like nine I think? a party is a party I don’t care who’s there. I hit up my baby ella, eloise, because I wanted her to come with me. she doesn’t go out to many parties and I didn’t think this one would get too wild for her so I thought it would be fun. I did her make up and everything. she looked so good. I’m actually very proud of her.” and for the first time since arrival, she smiles. ella truly held a special place in eden’s heart. not many ever get there, but she really cared for the girl and at least within the first hour of the night she was sure they had a great time. 

“I was supposed to meet with donny, donatella, at 9:30 I think we agreed on, but the stupid bitch was late. like she’s the one who confirmed 9:30 and everything and she couldn’t even show up on time. I don’t remember what time she actually got there and honestly she’s lucky I was in a good mood with ella because I could’ve just ignored her ass all night..” eden shifts in her seat some, physically annoyed with donatella’s delay even after the fact. “but anyways we talked for a while and danced and then she said she had to go to the bathroom but she never fucking came back. I don’t know where she went I couldn’t find her after that.” 

her jaw clenches at the next thought as it’s easily just as upsetting now as it was then. “at like ten or so something really annoying happened and I took myself outside to calm down. a little while later ella came out. I think she might’ve been lurking around because she found me pretty quickly. we talked for a little and then aurelia came outside too. we started talking to her too but..” plush pink lower lips finds itself trapped between pearly whites. she doesn’t want to hesitate nor does she want to put either of her friends on blast but one must fall. “I told ella to go away because I wanted to talk to lia instead because she understands where I’m coming from. we’ve been friends since we were kids and she was there and...sometimes ,,, I get the feeling that ella doesn’t like it when I’m ranting about something melanie’s done. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, but honestly that was a huge mistake. ella was actually trying to be there for me and lia was just being a fucking bitch. after that I decided I just wanted to be alone because she just pissed me off even more and I already told ella to go away. It was pretty late, past eleven by then I stole a bottle of tequila to keep me warm and just gave myself a walk around out the house to calm down.” her shoulders then rise and fall with a shrug.

 “I don’t know there wasn’t much after that. I got pretty fucked up. practically drank the whole thing. for a second I couldn’t even fucking find my way back inside but I came back in through the back or..the side. I don’t know the place is fucking huge. I’m pretty sure I was in the backyard so it would’ve been the back entrance and I met up with donny again there. it was probably around 11:30 when I saw her. she wanted to go outside again to take pictures with someone or something but I was fucking cold and tired so I just waited for her by the back door on my phone. It was 11:45.. I think that’s what I remember on my phone when I got tired of fucking standing there. I sat in the kitchen instead. the bitch took forever outside so I went to pee and when I came back to yell at her she was talking about some fire. we left after that.”

did you see anything unusual that night? was anyone acting out of the ordinary?

eden huffs through her nose, already having grown so impatient after retelling her night’s events only for them to have even more bullshit questions. “I don’t know the FIRE sounds like one.” she shakes her head at them, eyes widening as if to ask what more do you want? “I thought I heard a firework go off but I didn’t see anything. It was just really loud. if it was a firework that’s what I’m guessing started that stupid fire.”

can you tell me more about your relationship with melanie?

“no.” she responds simply though the sound it creates is sharp. “I already told you. we didn’t like each other. we try to stay away from each other. I knew her when I was younger and she was a bitch back then.” there truly was nothing more for her to say on that matter. most of their interactions occurred years ago and none of that was pertinent to the case. 

do you have any reason to believe that someone would want to hurt melanie?

this earns an ugly snort from the blonde. she could definitely recall the amount of times she wanted to bitch slap the girl, but they resulted in anything. perhaps a part of her was still scared of the 7th grade melanie she knew. and she certainly could name plenty others who probably felt the same “I mean..yeah. but not like seriously...I.” her voice trails and her gaze lingers a moment too long when the thought pops into her head. no. it’s silly and she couldn’t possibly say such a thing about one of her friends. the thought alone makes her heart ache. “I don’t know..” she shakes her head and allows herself another moment of deliberation. it’s information that could prove useful and she’s not currently forced to name names so she spills. “I know that...some people might be a little um..obsessive I guess..over melanie, but I don’t think they’d do anything to her..I...don’t know.”

do you have any questions about how the case will proceed?

can you tell me, to the best of your memory, what happened on the night of december 13, 2019?

Fucking classic. The sweat in his palms had swelled from both anger and nerves; neither of which he particularly wanted to deal with right now—his very own heart will still torn, trying to make a split-second decision on whether he should lie, or tell the truth, knowing that his parents wouldn’t particularly appreciate the detective telling his parents about what pills he had swallowed, or what mixture of alcohol had tickled the back of his throat that night. But then again, would they even care?

“December 13? The night of the debate party?” A nod confirms his question.

Maverick clears his throat as leans forward in the armchair, taking a surprisingly long breath—one not interrupted by a smoker’s cough—before he is expected to begin. “I dunno, sir.” Damned manners; engrained into his brain since he was four years old. He supposes making enemies with the detective isn’t the best move, even if he’s seething that he’s been called in in the first place. He is prompted to say more with a glaring stare.

“I guess I heard about the through the grapevine. Covington isn’t all that big; and the debate team winning isn’t news either. We were all kind of expecting it, planning for having a fun night out. I headed over with my friend Aurelia — Aurelia Choi. We always kind of head out to these things; she and I kind of have a good time together—not like … never mind. We drove over in my car, headed inside … and I guess I made my rounds, like I always do. Say hi to my buddies, friends from school, you know—congratulate the debate team, I guess. I don’t know a lot of them—I know some of them. But anyway, uh … I guess I hung out with Lia for a good portion of the night … Griffin too, we caught up a bit and drank. I saw my siblings—D … I mean, Richard and Austin. Um …”

His breath hitches, unsure of how to continue; luckily, he’s skirted over the fact that he and Griffin inhaled a couple of pills during the night, but he isn’t quite keen on revealing the entirety of his love life to the detective in front of him. “I remember talking to my ex, too. Donatella … yeah. We kind of got into an argument—we never really, um … made amends since we broke up. It’s … uh … it’s kind of hard to see her still. I know that’s fucking pathetic, but, yeah. I kind of didn’t really feel like chatting to anyone after that. The party wasn’t all that fun, so I dipped after.” 

did you see anything unusual that night? was anyone acting out of the ordinary?

“Unusual? I mean … Covington parties are always kind of weird. People are so high-strung at this school … anyway. I mean … there was drama. It feels like there always is; this place is too small for gossip to be unheard. It kind of sucks, to be honest: it’s like we’re all in this tiny little fishbowl, where everyone can see everything.” It’s fucking exhausting, for Maverick, who has already been placed under a microscope his entire life—he skips over the fact that there might have been a drink thrown in his name. “Lemme see … I mean. I don’t really know. I guess if you count Maisie coming up to me urgently asking where my brother was—but then again, that’s not even unusual. People are always looking for my brother.” He tries to say it without rolling his eyes to the back of his head—he really does.

can you tell me more about your relationship with melanie?

“Sure, sure. I mean … we were friends, I guess. We hung out in high school, because … um, yeah … Donnie and I were dating at the time, and she was with one of our other … friends Cordelia. So I kind of got to know her a little before Covington, I guess. She was always pretty cool, much less high-strung than a lot of the other people around Hemlock. She dated my brother for a while, so she was around the house sometimes. My parents really liked her, and so did my brother, so I tried to get to know her in that context, too.”

do you have any reason to believe that someone would want to hurt melanie?

“Melanie? Jeez—hurt her? No, god no.” It occurs to him that she’s really missing; and the heavy thought of her not returning really sinks into his skin, and causes a pit to fall in his stomach. “She’s the kind of girl who was headstrong, but in a good way, you know? She was one of the few people this place really needed. I mean, I won’t say this about many people, but she is one of the few people I can tolerate here right now. Maybe it’s because she knows be from before college, knows about my home life. I dunno. She was one of the good ones. And that’s coming from me.”

do you have any questions about how the case will proceed?

michal looked down at her lap, where a small rectangular tank sat. on top, sat a black cover with a handle, and inside sat an off-white colored catfish with light brown spots, no bigger than three or four inches. “this is dog, he’s my emotional support fish. i can show you his certification if you need to see it, i have it right here in my-.”

“that won’t be necessary, ms. glickman. we can go ahead and just begin the questions.”

she nodded, placing her hands gently on either side of the tank.

can you tell me, to the best of your memory, what happened on the night of december 13, 2019?

"well, you know, i woke up in the morning and got out of bed, i checked my phone, went to the bathr-”

“the night of december 13, ms.glickman, not the entire day.”

“oh, right, sorry, yes. well,” she said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and swallowing the spit that was collecting in her mouth before looking up at the man sitting across from her. eye contact, her mom had told her, if you want to show that you’re telling the truth, you need to maintain eye contact. “melanie left our apartment to go set up at the estate at like 8:00? 8:15? maybe somewhere in the middle, i can’t remember exactly, but i know that she was gone by 8:23 because that’s when i left my room to go get some leftover queso from the fridge. anyway, i ate the queso, then went to go get ready, got dressed, and left my apartment to go pick up cordelia.” she stopped for a moment, as dog hit his tail against the plastic. she looked down at the tank with a small smile, as if to say thanks for the encouragement, before looking up at the detective and continuing.

“so anyway, what was i saying? oh, yes, right, cordelia. cordelia underhill, she’s really cool, sometimes i wonder why she’s friends with me. anyway, i show up at her place, she gets in my car, and we get super stoned, like ridiculously bake-. oh, wait, can you get me in trouble for that? never mind. but we got to the party at about 9:15ish. i mostly hung out with my friend miles, honestly. he was wasted, it was hilarious, but then again, maybe i just found it funny because i was hi-.”

she coughed, the investigator didn’t look amused.

“right, so, anything else that happened that night, um...sometime later on, cordelia told me she was leaving to go hook up with our friend, maverick, and our ex-friend, donatella, was not happy about that. i think she was eavesdropping or something. anyway, her and maverick used to date in high school, and so it was like this whole thing and she threw a drink on cordelia blah blah blah. anyway, i just, like, had to remove myself from that situation. so i went to go talk to victoria, who i’m not dating, but like sometimes we act like we’re dating? it’s really confusing, i’m not entirely sure what’s going on there, but we talked for a bit and we kissed a bit and then she got weird about everything and left. she told me the other day that she didn’t really like melanie that much, so that might be why she didn’t want to talk about her. and yeah, that’s pretty much it. can i have a glass of water?”

did you see anything unusual that night? was anyone acting out of the ordinary?

she took a sip from her newly acquired glass of water before responding. “well, hemlock’s not exactly an ordinary place. and, for that matter, covington isn’t really an ordinary school. like, you’re talking to me and i’m holding a catfish, that’s weird, let’s not deny that.”

she paused for a moment to let her words bounce off the walls of the room and into the investigator’s ears. the police chief was there too, but she refused to acknowledge him. she didn’t trust police.

after what she deemed to be an appropriate amount of time, she spoke again. “but, as far as things that you may consider to be ‘unusual,’ my friend wolfgang seemed a bit weird. i don’t think they like parties, though, so that can be easily explained. my roommate, griffin, didn’t spend much of the day at home, but her and melanie aren’t on the best of terms right now ever since melanie revealed one of griffin’s biggest secrets to me, that’s why i’m upset at melanie, by the way, so that’s not that weird either. oh! i did go to the bathroom at one point and there was a girl in there crying. el...el...ella, i think her name is. weird girl, i see her outside of my apartment sometimes. i gave her my handkerchief so that she didn’t have to waste paper tissues anymore, and we kind of talked for a bit? i don’t know, i don’t think it was a conversation, it was more just words that were coming out of my mouth. but anyway, she still has my handkerchief. i hope she gives it back.”

can you tell me more about your relationship with melanie?

“i’ve been friends with cordelia since diapers. i’ve just always known her, you know? we shared basically everything with each other and our friend groups centered around whoever else we were vibing with at the time. so, in high school, i dated this boy, richard braxton. we started dating in junior year-”

“ms. glickman, what does this have to do with melanie?”

“hold, please, i’m getting there. so anyway, dick and i were dating, donatella, the drink thrower from earlier, i’m still not over that, was dating dick’s brother, maverick, the one that cordelia hooked up with on friday, and cordelia was dating melanie. that’s how i really got to know her, through cordelia. we were all a squad of some sorts. but mel and cordy and dick and i broke up at the end of senior year, so things were sort of weird, but melanie and i decided to live together freshman year. and it just sort of worked. and so we’ve lived together every year since. and now we live with griffin too, and we had a fourth roommate who dropped out in the middle of the semester. and yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

do you have any reason to believe that someone would want to hurt melanie?

“no,” she said plainly, before taking another sip of water.

the investigator waited a moment before speaking again. “care to elaborate?”

she shook her head. the detective and police chief made eye contact with each other before michal spoke again.

“well, melanie’s just, like, melanie, you know? sometimes, you get mad at her, but it’s never for long and things always come around eventually. or at least, they used to. but now she won’t come home and she won’t answer my texts and i’m really worried about her. you know, the last thing i said to her before the party that night was ‘i don’t like the person you’ve become, melanie, i don’t even recognize her,’ and then i slammed my door shut. that’s not how i want to leave things with her, it’s just not.”

do you have any questions about how the case will proceed?

‘ can you tell me, to the best of your memory, what happened on the night of december 13, 2019? ’

aurelia nods once as a show of collaboration before she starts speaking. calmly, slowly. ‘ my friend griffin beck invited me to the party over text, and i agreed to go. usually, i’m not the most fun at parties, but griffin seemed eager for me to go. so i did. ’

‘ i arrived at the estate at nine, with my friend mav -- maverick braxton, that is. it was a college party, so as you would expect, things were a bit ... ’ she hesitates for a moment, mulling over her phrasing. ‘ hedonistic, if you will. i shared a couple of drinks with griffin, talked to maverick. still, i have a good tolerance for alcohol, so i felt mostly clearheaded. i cannot same the same for everyone -- peyton underhill, for one, seemed a bit tipsy when she spoke to me. ’

for once, aurelia’s hands betray her as her fingers tap against the surface of the table in front of her, betraying her discomfort. she recalls peyton’s flirty tone cutting through the music, calling her by a nickname reserved only for her closest friends. she remembers blushing, and masking it with a snide, passive aggressive comment before fleeing the situation before her racing thoughts spiraled into unwelcome conclusions.

‘ i remember looking at my phone to check the time and see if it was too early to leave -- which it was. it was barely 10:45. ’ she pauses, smirks to herself at her low tolerance for messy college parties, and continues. ‘ so i just went outside for a cigarette, and there, i had a chat with a couple of classmates -- eloise morris and eden lennox-montgomery. eloise left after a couple of minutes, though, because eden was upset and wanted to talk to me in private. also, because she knows that eloise and i don’t get along at all, so i was thankful for her brushing ella off. ’

aurelia’s demeanor visibly shifts as she’s forced to recount her first run-in with ella. not getting along is an understatement, but an interrogation is not the place to seek advice on conflict resolution. so she clears her throat, and continues.

‘ we barely spoke for ten minutes before eden went to get drinks, and i had initially planned on going back to the party and getting more drinks. but i felt guilty about being so dismissive, so i tried to find eden again and apologize. instead, i ran into eloise. again, the conversation was brief and thoroughly unpleasant. ’

aurelia doesn’t go in depth about the venom in her words every time they are directed at ella, or about the fact that they’ve hated each other since freshman year. her feelings towards ella are unrelated to the case, and also, probably detrimental to her character. she knows that in an interrogation room of all places, she has a reputation and a family name to uphold.

‘ i couldn’t really find my friend afterwards. i guess she was probably drinking her troubles away. i don’t know what time it was by then, and the next thing that comes to mind is the fire. but i’m certain that you already know about that. ’

‘ did you see anything unusual that night? was anyone acting out of the ordinary? ’

aurelia stills. she tries to hide it, and masks her unease with a sardonic roll of her eyes. she recalls the sight of a red-haired girl carrying a container of the same hue, and as the tension slowly starts getting to her, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and traces the watch on her wrist.

‘ it was a covington college party, detective watson. i’m afraid i am not sure what you mean with the ordinary. ’

she can tell that her answer is not amusing to the men present in the room. as they momentarily make eye contact, she forces herself to regain control of her breathing. so far, she’s been her usual icy self. she knows she cannot let them see the cracks beginning to form. that if they realize that her posture has gone from regal to stiff, and that the pattern of her breathing has changed, they might asking questions.

and she would have to come up with a believable lie to keep her secret -- that she saw her best friend, darcy kovac, at the time of the fire. running in the opposite direction from everyone else. carrying a red container, one that looked like it could’ve carried gasoline. loyalty is a foreign concept to aurelia, yet she finds repulsion towards the thought of incriminating darcy. so she feigns disinterest, looks back at the detective, and makes eye contact as a lie spills from rosy lips.

‘ no. i saw nothing unusual. ’

‘ can you tell me more about your relationship with melanie ? ’

‘ this question is pointless. ’

the statement is succint, and again, unamusing. before the detective can scold her, aurelia speaks again, begrudgingly. but honestly.

‘ however, for the sake of cooperation, i suppose i have to. we met in freshman year, due to mutual friends. even then, everyone seemed to think of melanie as some kind of goddess, and i’m afraid i disagreed. the two of us never got along, but that was the extent of our relationship. ’

it’s concise enough. she feels no need to go into detail of the two weeks wasted in vague attempts to please her friends at the time, when she clung to her prejudice firmly. stubborn, proud, she cared far more about her initial assumption being right than about being melanie rivera’s friend.

‘ do you have any reason to believe that someone would want to hurt melanie ? ’

‘ i do, ’ she replies, and by the detective and the chief’s expressions, aurelia can immediately tell that they are taken aback.

‘ i wasn’t the only person who disliked melanie. many others did, some far more ... passionately than me. i am not going to throw serious allegations around -- that would be unreasonable, ’ she clarifies, ‘ and i don’t know if anyone would be capable of physical harm. actually, i sincerely doubt it. however, i know that melanie rivera wasn’t as universally adored as you have probably been led to believe. ’

she is urged to give a name, and recalls the many times she’s heard some of her closest friends rant about their distaste of melanie. again, aurelia chooses to reveal less than she knows.

‘ i already told you i’d rather not make these allegations -- they’d lack solid foundation and i’m not willing to incriminate any of my classmates based on gossip. ’

‘ do you have any questions about how the case will proceed ? ’

just about everything got on lot’s nerves . everyone who knew him knew that there was only a few things here and there that truly brought him happiness . and to be honest , sticking around hemlock for the holidays to be investigated was not one of those things . as lot sat in the lobby of the hemlock police station , he picked at scabs that adorned his knuckles and twirled his ratty hair in his fingertips . his gaze snapped from the clerk at the front desk to the barren christmas tree that someone had haphazardly thrown up to liven up the place . in fact , when lot listened close enough , there was even instrumental holiday tunes playing over an invisible , static infused sound system . the combination of the click clacking of keyboards , the yellowy lights adorning the small tree , and the familiarity of the music should have calmed him . however , it was really hard for all of those things to drown out the steady , quick thumping in lot’s chest , the florescent lighting overhead , and the clerk’s narrowed gaze whenever she caught him looking at her . 

eventually , someone had stepped out into the lobby to retrieve him . judging by the obnoxious badge , it was likely the chief of police . lot eyed the badge for just a moment before cocking his brow and following behind the large man back into the belly of the beast . the further lot descended into the police station , the further he felt from the entire world of hemlock outside . part of him liked the disconnect , never fitting in quite right in the strange town . but the majority of him hated it , knowing that he would have to talk about the girl that he cared a whole lot about in front of a couple strangers . lot had never been very good at containing his tears when pressed about something or someone close to his heart . that fact worried him more than anything ; the potential of crying in front of people he barely knew . 

upon entering the investigation room , the private investigator was both everything and nothing like what lot had expected . he almost looked too fitting for the job , like a private investigator in some kid’s movie . whatever the case , lot half smiled , introduced himself , and shook hands with victor watson , private investigator . “ now , your name is actually lancelot kang, correct ? ” the police chief’s voice cut through the air, grabbing the boy’s attention . his dark eyes shot up to the officer , his brows furrowing just slightly before a nod caused his head to dip slowly . “ yeah , lancelot kang . nobody calls me that , though . i prefer lot , ” he explained , settling into the seat across from the two men . victor watson nodded to himself , scribbling something on the page in front of him . “ well , lot … let’s get started , shall we ? ”

“ can you tell me , to the best of your memory , what happened on the night of december 13 , 2019 ? ” 

lot nodded with a determined look on his visage , but his fingers continued to pick at his knuckles beneath the table . “ yeah , so … i don’t have a car , so i got to the covington estate on my skateboard around 9:30 that night . i have a couple friends on the debate team , so i figured i would go and congratulate them on the win . i was supposed to meet up with my best friend , griffin beck , as soon as i got there . which i did ! and i actually spent most of the night with her . i slipped away from griffin at one point to go congratulate peyton underhill on the win . i talked to her for a little bit and i talked to a couple of the other debate team members before i went to go find griffin again . she and i aren’t exactly known for our charisma , so we kind of kept to ourselves most of the night . ”

“ i spent a few hours at the party , but i was over it and i just wanted to go home . i’m ... not exactly the social type . griffin seemed cool with it , so i went to go grab my skateboard where i left it , but i couldn’t find it . i think some drunk kid moved it . i looked around for a while by myself , but eventually griffin came to help . that was pretty late , though . maybe 11 o’clock ? i was gone before the fire thing even happened . that was real , right ? i heard about it , but it sounded crazy . ” lot looked between the private investigator and and the chief of police for answers , which neither seemed to want to give . with a short huff and shrug of his broad shoulders , the boy dropped the subject . 

“ did you see anything unusual that night ? was anyone acting out of the ordinary ? ” 

lot tried to swallow that lump in his throat before he continued on . his nimble fingers tugged at a string hanging from the end of his sweater . lot didn’t exactly frequent covington parties , but he had been to a handful ; enough to know how they typically functioned and enough to know that they were not really his scene . the debate team victory party had pulled him into the mix solely because of his connections to debate team members . but he had no idea at the time that he would be pulled this far into the mix . “ i … well , yeah . she and her friend , rosemary keegan , seemed to be in the middle of an argument when i saw them . i couldn’t really tell what it was about , so i just decided to look for my skateboard and head home . melanie and rosemary are pretty good friends as far as i know , so that was really the only thing that seemed odd . other than that , it just seemed like a regular college party to me . ” the boy felt pretty bad bringing rosemary up like that . she had always been so kind to him and he loved when she was his tour guide at the hemlock history museum . in fact , as much as he didn’t want to admit it , he basically only went to that history museum to see her . 

“ now , lot … can you tell me more about your relationship with melanie ? ” 

and just like that , that fucking lump in lot’s throat came back . with full force , not to mention . but now the burn at the edges of his almond eyes accompanied it . “ sure .” the single word came out strained already . fuck , fuck , fuck , fuck ! this is exactly what lot wanted to avoid ! the last thing he wanted to do was turn into some bitch baby right in front of two of the most intimidating men in hemlock . the boy inhaled a deep , calming breath before continuing . “ melanie and i met at some school event my first year . we pretty much clicked right away . she was just easy to talk to , you know ? ” there he goes . the tell tale crack in his voice followed immediately by a burning hot tear down the side of his cheek . there was no going back now . “ sorry , i … i’m good . talking about her is just really hard . um , we were basically attached at the hip after that day . we recently had a disagreement and i was … i was kind of hoping to make up with her at the party . but like i said , i never really got the chance to talk to her again .” tears were rolling freely down lot’s cheeks at that point . just knowing that he would never get to make it up to melanie caused the boy’s stomach to turn . none of it felt fair . 

somewhat awkwardly , the private investigator offered up a box of tissues for lot . with a small scowl , the weepy boy took a couple and wiped his eyes almost bashfully . this weird tension is exactly what he wanted to avoid , but it was here so he may as well take some of the police department’s tissues . 

“ do you have any reason to believe that someone would want to hurt melanie ? ” 

almost instantly , lot shook his head . “ god , no . melanie was so bright and so interesting . she was so good at talking to people and just talking in general . we don’t really focus on sports at covington so she was like our star football player . but without the football . our star debate team captain . ” for the first time in a while , lot released a short , almost humorous chuckle . it was weak , but it was something . 

“ i think that just about wraps things up for you today , mr . kang . do you have any questions about how the case will proceed ? ”