I hope she wasn't about to throw up. "Austin Taylor," she exclaimed at something below. "Oh my god! Austin and a really old lady! Help!" ** "Austin?" I looked at Luke, scared for what that meant. He stared back at me and took my hand. We both joined my sister at the window and peered out. I braced myself for what I was about to see. Austin had been eating fries at the mall an hour ago and he wasn't wearing a jersey. This couldn't be his blood... not Austin. "Austin," Luke called out. His voice was firm. Mine had all but disappeared. I leaned against Luke, losing most of my energy. He held onto me. "Hey man!" Austin waved up at us, "How's it going? We brought Millie's car back!" Sure enough, there was my old car parked in front of our house. Gloria unbuckled herself and came out. I thought I would be happier to see them and my car. Gloria waved up at us, clutching onto her handbag. She handed Austin the keys. "Millie, catch!" he yelled and threw my keys at me. Has he forgotten all he knew about me? I can't catch! The key soared through the air towards us. ...Catching the necklace during the street fight has set expectations at a really wrong level... I tried to catch the keys, but they flew between my flailing arms and landed perfectly in Luke's outstretched hand. He slid them into my pocket and planted a kiss on my hair. Chad came out from under the awning. He'd apparently come with Austin but had stood under the shade during this whole interaction. "My sunglasses are dirty," he announced, walking across the lawn to my front door, "Mind if I clean them inside?" "NO!" the three of us yelled. Too late. The damn door was still unlocked. We heard Chad step into our home. The three of us backed away from the window and went towards the banisters. Please don't come upstairs. We watched as both Chad and Austin walked into the house, oblivious to the crime that had taken place in my bedroom. "I forgot how bare this house is," Chad muttered as he looked around, "I don't get why you don't buy art." "He's been inside our house before?" Flora gasped. "Yeah, you filmed it, remember?" I answered, remembering how I was passed out on my couch when they all strolled in. "I still find it crazy that you two live on the same street," Austin exclaimed, walking into the house after Chad, "Hey! I bet you can see Luke's bedroom from yours!" He walked towards the staircase and bounded upstairs before we could stop him. He wanted to see my view... "You can't," I told him. It's true. Luke's bedroom faces the other side. I heard the sound of the sink in the kitchen as Chad poured water over his dirty sunglasses. Who wears glasses in November? "Where's your shoe?" Austin asked me. My sister, Luke and I were standing at the head of the staircase, blocking him from walking past us. He stared at my feet, where only one sneaker was on. My orange sock was in full view. "What's going on?" Austin asked, suspiciously. He stood on his tip toes and peered over us. "WHAT IS THAT?!" Austin yelled, almost falling down the stairs. He must've seen the jersey. There was a crash in the kitchen. The sound of Austin shouting had freaked Chad out. "ARMANI!" Chad cursed. His sunglasses must have been designer. RIP. ** We crowded around my front door. It was now wide open thanks to Luke's kick, and there was no body inside. My room looked untouched, just as messy as when I had left it this morning. "You should really make your bed in the morning," Flora mumbled to me. So not the time. Chad, Austin and Luke were standing in a row, staring at the jersey. Chad asked, "Did you accidentally kill someone?" There was a silence. "It's Art's jersey." Luke said. Somehow, Luke was already a step ahead of us in solving this. I should've called him sooner. "What?!" I gasped, finding it hard to breathe. I don't know who Art is, but he sounded like a human. And the thought of a human hurt- "How do you know?" Flora was gazing up at Luke in awe. "It's his jersey number," Luke answered. I support Art was on the basketball team with Luke. "But he was with us an hour ago at the mall," Chad frowned, "So someone must have gotten to him after we left." "Who else knew we were there?" Luke asked. "All of us," Chad said, looking around. "I saw Bianca in the store with her brother," I said. "And Jake," Chad answered. "And everyone I know," Austin said, raising his phone, "I posted the french fries onto my story... and I tagged everyone and the location." "So we have a murder mystery on our hands," Flora decided. "And who are you?" Chad asked. Have they not met? "Are we sure that's blood?" I asked, "Before we jump to conclusions..." "GLORIA!" Austin called out the window, "We need a mop. Did you bring one by any chance?" "Austin, she doesn't walk around with cleaning products," Luke sighed. "But it's Gloria," Austin answered simply, "She has everything." "No sweetie," Gloria's sweet voice answered back, "Is everything alright up there? Should I make some hot chocolate?" Chad tapped my shoulder and asked, "Why don't you have a shoe?" "OK, everyone, stop." Luke told everyone off, "Let's deal with this now. I'm calling Art." "I hope he's OK." We huddled around Luke's phone as he dialed his friend, and we all waited with baited breath. I inhaled and was too scared to exhale. I was just hoping that Art was OK. The phone rang.