Emmie and Ramsay spent the whole next week by sneaking out at nights, hanging out every free moment, and making out.It wasn’t anything new to BT that Ramsay didn’t spend his nights at home, and when he did, he was a night hawk, constantly making fresh black coffee and reading (also writing, but that was something his father didn’t know about). Emmie’s parents, though, had no idea the girl could even get out of her room. She sneaked out of her window and down the ladder Ramsay had left there, not really regretting her choices, considering the fact that her parents were literally screaming their heads off every, single, night.On Friday, the Davises went away for another work conference, this time to New York City, meaning they would be out of town until Monday. For Emmie, that meant three whole days of peace and silence. And perhaps, a certain beanie-wearing boy.The first night the girl spent downstair

Beast tapped his foot against the cold granite floor, inhaling the contents of his cigarette with a deep snarl on his face. His left hand that was rested on his knee was fisted, knuckles barely having any color to them as he anxiously anticipated the men’s arrival.The two trotted into the lounge with sneers on their faces just a couple of minutes later. Wordlessly, the tiny man stood, accepting the expensive phone one of them was holding out. Exchanging a few glances with his most loyal workers, he concentrated back on the screen.A yellow folder stood there with the name EMILIE DAVIS (JONES).Snorting at the name, he double-tapped on it, shocked by the number of pictures and Word documents it contained.An hour later, his lips were curled upward in an unkind way. Maybe this would get the younger Jones killed if he came alone. Because, after all, nobody would ever support his relationship with that girl.They had just hit a jackpot.#

The next days that followed, Emmie mostly spent babysitting kids around town, which left Ramsay a lot of time with his friends, and alone. So there he was, sitting on his old shattered couch with a few takeout boxes around him, typing away on his laptop. His usual murder mysteries that had always included mostly only victims, police, different investigators, and murderers, of course, earned now a few new characters. Typically, in his books, the investigators or police officers would have a few affairs, with both men and women, and victims would have family and lovers they left behind, but in the new one he was currently writing, a perky blonde woman appeared in many scenes. Her eyes were green as emeralds, but hair cut short with seemingly a piece of sharp glass. She didn’t care for her looks or hygiene much but was one hell of an investigator. The young skinny woman had earned a lot of her characteristics from Emmie, but there was so much written in that did

Emmie was nibbling on her lower lip, hands fisted while attempting not to sink her nails into her palms once again. Her breathing was accelerating with every second as she stared at the floor under her feet, trying to ignore the blue plastic chair she was sitting on that definitely didn’t compliment her ass, the material too stiff for her liking. “Miss Davis?” a voice suddenly said, and the girl took a deep breath, standing up. “Follow me. Mayor McQueen is ready for you now.” The young male assistant walked her up the stairs to the right door and opened it, nodding to the girl. “Thank you,” Emmie silently said, raising her chin up for a boost of confidence. Her mother always claimed it helped you look stronger, and she definitely didn’t want to look weak at that moment. When the door behind her closed, she was faced with Mayor McQueen, the mother of one of her classmates. “Hello, Emmie. Take a seat.” She did as told and sat herself down on the armchai

With the summer ending, the new seniors received text messages from Olivia Cooper about her annual end-of-summer pool party. The kids buzzed in anticipation, coming up with different lies to their parents as every year, mostly about spending the night at their friend’s place while the friend used the same argument, simply vice versa. This time, though, the usual classmates weren’t the only ones getting the invitations. This time, the Southsiders were invited, too. Olivia had sent the message to Ani, without adding the inviter’s name, and the pink-haired girl had shared the invitation with every senior Southsider that was going to be attending New Field high this year. Most of them were Vipers, but the group also included a few Demons and a couple of non-gang members who just happened to live in the same area. (Many kids from Southside High would attend Seaside High, or Baxter High in Greendale, depending on their location.) Ramsay was sitting on his c