STRANGERS

TEN

I think we're all afraid of something.

They all sit in a room in the school, they wanted to question the teens about Atlas's death. "No one read anyone's secrets?" Harper questions everyone. They were all silent for the minutes they had been there, realizing your friend or someone you once knew was dead, then getting questioned for it was confusing. It was all moving too quickly.

"Harper." Persephone gives him a sad look, he nods in understanding. His secret was first, so there was no point in hiding his secret. There was no link to it where someone could choose to click on it, it was out in the open. No one had seen each other's secrets other than Harper's out of respect, but it didn't change if seven people didn't know your secret, your parents knew, the teachers, and everyone in the school.

And now the police know.

One of the officers walks into the room, sighing when they see Harper. He gestures for Harper to follow him out of the room; "Harper, the least I expected when I got the call to come here that you'd be here. You're meant to be home, your father's probably worried-"

"Nicklaus, stop it."

"You're involved in a murder Harper-"

"I wasn't."

"The officers don't know that. Everyone thinks you all in that room are involved, including you. No one cares if you're smart, if you have a reputation of 'being good', 'being bad', no one cares about that anymore. Everyone sees you seven as people who are suspects of Atlas Collin's murder. You keep digging yourself into this hole, you're only making more problems for the family."

Harper stays silent; "Kid, you know I don't mean it like that."

"They didn't tell us he was murdered."

"He was and the principal told us they think you seven are to suspect and there were many who think so too. We're only going to question you all for today, check your lockers for any proof, see if there's anything else leading to his death, that's all for today."

"Tomorrow?"

"Let us worry about tomorrow."

"Whatever happens to these people, you won't let anyone hurt them?"

Nicklaus nods; "I promise nothing bad will happen to them."

Harper smiles at him; "That's what they said to Atlas."

Harper then opens the door, sitting back down in his original place. "What happened?" Gabriel asks him.

Harper scoffs, "They think we did it."

"Did what?"

"Murder Atlas Collin."

"He was murdered?" Soleil questions, tears forming into their eyes. It was as if they had just processed everything happening. Their friend dying, the cops getting called on them, them sitting in a room waiting for something to happen, their secret getting out, their friend being the one who put their secret out.

What hurt the most is how quickly something could change in a day, it didn't matter who you were yesterday because no one pays attention to that anymore.

"And they think one of us or all of us have something to do with it."

Gabriel, upon seeing his best friend, he sits down onto the empty seat next to Soleil and holds their hand for comfort. They gently smile at him and rest their head on his shoulder. They get distracted as they play with his rings. "Adelaide, does my idea interest you now?"

"Harper, you should know if we do it, we'll be only having another reason for being suspects."

"What idea?" Jonathon questions. "Running away, for a night. It could be a full day, just a night until the morning, whatever is up to you, I don't really mind any time."

"Isn't running away just telling them we have something to run from?" Juliet asks.

"We're not suspects now, at least they haven't told all of us we are. As of now, they're just asking us questions, trying to get proof that we don't have. It'd be a problem if they found evidence and we ran away. We're not murders, we don't have anything to run away from."

"Why are you wanting to run away then?"

"I just want to get away for a while. I was planning this before we were all suspects."

"Why us?"

Harper shrugs; "Adelaide's in, so if anyone else is in, feel free to join."

They all look around at each other before nodding. "Great, tonight 8pm?"

They nod again, they look out the window of the door; "Harper, who's that police you were talking to?"

"He's my uncle, he has this rule that he has to put his job first before any personal life."

"Does he have any kids?"

"Harper, don't talk about my life." Nicklaus tells him, Harper rolls his eyes at him.

"Alright, we're just going to ask you all a few questions. When one is talking, you are all to remain silent unless it is your turn to speak, got it?" The other officer says in a firm voice.

"Yes, sir."

"Great, let us begin."