Enemies Don't Solve Murders Together

"Don't get lost," she said. "And don't let the chaos scare you. You'll handle it." I laughed and jumped out of the car, feeling the morning sun on my face.

Little did she know the kind of chaos I was in.

I adjusted the straps of my backpack, taking a deep breath. Today wasn't just any day-I still had that nagging thought in the back of my mind: the murder case.

I spotted Anne waiting near the lockers by our classroom, her backpack slung over one shoulder. She gave me a small wave, and I hurried over.

"Mornin', Emmi," she said softly. "You ready for... you know, detective work?"

I forced a smile. "As ready as I'll ever be." blurting out a lie.

We walked together, dodging clusters of students, when the familiar scowl appeared across the hallway. Evan. He leaned against a locker, arms crossed, looking exactly as infuriating as yesterday.

"Looks like the nerd decided to show up again," he said, smirking.
I rolled my eyes.

Then we saw Marcus approaching us from behind, then came up to us, his laptop bag slung casually over his shoulder.

"Sup," he said, giving us a nod. "Ms. Cristen wants us after the first period. She says it's important. Y'all seen Iris anywhere?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Haven't seen her," I said, glancing down the hall. Iris Vale always seemed to appear exactly when she wanted, and vanished just as quickly.

Marcus shrugged. "Figures. She's... unpredictable. Never know when she'll show up."

Anne nodded. "I've seen her a couple times, but she doesn't really... talk to anyone. Kind of keeps to herself."

Evan let out a scoff. "Perfect. A mysterious loner. Just what a detective team needs."

I adjusted my glasses, forcing myself to focus. "We need to take this seriously," I said. "Someone died, and Ms. Cristen trusts us to help. That's not something to joke about."

Evan smirked, clearly amused. "Yeah, yeah. The tragedy of it all. I'm trembling."