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"Nina Patterson's death is a great shock. Once you've seen the grief counselor, you're free to return home. Classes will resume tomorrow."

Principal Showalter's voice came through the P.A system in the school as people sat around crying, fake crying, or just gossiping about Nina's death.

"This Wi-Fi sucks." Jake groaned, scrolling through his phone, his arm resting around Rose's shoulders, as he, Rose, Emma, Riley, Noah, and Kieran sat together outside of the counselor's room. "The cops aren't saying much. Her mom found her body. The victim of foul play. I need the gory details."

"Jake, shut up." Rose rolled her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder.

Sure Rose didn't actually like Nina, they were complete opposites, but that didn't mean that Nina deserved to die. In Rose's opinion, the only people that deserved to die were murderers and rapists, not teenagers who were rude to others because let's face it, all teenagers are like that. They are insecure and take it out on others to feel better about themselves because they were hurt by people they trusted.

Noah asking why he was there snapped Rose out of her thoughts.

"Um, that's kind of the "mandatory" part of mandatory grief counseling," Emma replied, her arms crossed over her chest.

"No, but seriously, I feel shocked, mild interest, but not grief." Noah shrugged.

"Emma, Nina made his life hell. If he, or even Audrey, feel anything right now, it should be a relief." Rose added, earning a nod from Noah.

"Guys, Nina was murdered in cold blood. Do you not even care?" Riley asked, looking around at the group.

"I mean, yeah, no one deserves to die, especially like that," Rose replied, leaning over Jake to put a hand on Riley's knee. "But she did hurt everyone she ever met."

"It just doesn't seem real." Emma shook her head.

"Here we go!" Jake cheered, causing Rose to jump as she was still leaning over him. "Sorry." He whispered. "One of Nina's neighbors tweeted that her throat was sliced ear to ear. The press is all over this. They're playing the whole "Maybe Brandon James is Back" angle."

Emma nearly growled out her response. "Brandon James is dead." She got up and stormed out.

"Wow, Jake," Rose spoke, eyes starting to water as she stood. "Maybe you should learn how to have a filter." She added before running out after Emma.

Jake quickly got up and ran out after Rose. "Rose, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring him up." He said as he caught up to her in the parking lot. "Rose?"

"Emma's getting her car. She's taking me home." Rose replied, crossing her arms.

"Rose, hey, look at me." Jake gently grabbed her cheeks, pulling her face up to get her to look him in the eyes. He pulled her into his arms upon seeing her blue eyes glistening with tears.

"Rose!" Emma called as she pulled up to the sidewalk. "Are you coming?"

"I'm gonna hang out with Jake for a while. Just... go home. Be safe." Rose replied, before walking towards Jake's truck with him.

----

"At this point, we're questioning persons of interest, and we're looking for Miss Patterson's ex-boyfriend, Tyler O'Neill. If anyone has any information on his whereabouts, please, call the hotline number below on the screen. Thank you." Sheriff Hudson spoke on the live video coming from Emma's laptop.

"So, Tyler did it? For reals?" Riley questioned in disbelief as everyone sat around in the grass the next day at school.

"Em's mom worked the scene," Will announced. "Tell them what you heard." He urged.

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