CHAPTER THREE

"Where is Reggie?" Fred asked

"He is busy training with the rest. What do we do?" Alice cried.

"Keep your voice down, you're attracting people's attention." Nora hushed.

"Let's go to the chemistry lab. It's the most isolated place when everyone is in class." She added.

"I'll get Reggie." Fred said before running off.

"Hurry!" Alice said as they all split up.

Fred ran off to the boy's locker room. He found Reggie with the rest of the football team.

"Hey nerd, what are you looking for? You're lost?" One of the boys said.

"No I'm here for Reggie." Fred said "Reggie can I see you for a moment?" He turned to Reggie.

"Why would you want to see the hottest jock in school, nerd?" The same boy said, advancing towards Fred.

"Back off, Thomas," Reginald said.

Thomas turned to Reggie.

"Really man?!" He said.

"I'm not gonna repeat myself again." Reggie said.

Thomas glanced at Fred one more time before retreating his steps.

"Let's get out of here," Reggie said to Fred.

"Thanks for standing up for me," Fred said as soon as they left the locker room.

"Anytime man." Reggie said.

"You know it felt good seeing my old Reggie back." Fred said with a smile.

"What do you mean by that?" Reggie asked, confused.

"Chemistry lab," Fred said with a grin on his face before walking away.

Reginald stood confused trying to figure out what Fred said. He looked up and saw Fred walking towards the chemistry lab.

"Hey! Wait up!" He shouted before running towards him.

They met the girls in the chemistry lab.

"So how do we solve this problem?" Alice said immediately she saw the boys.

"Which problem?" Reggie asked confused.

"Fred didn't tell you?" Alice asked. She turned to Fred.

"Fred, why didn't you tell him what you told us?" She asked raising her voice.

"Sorry, I forgot." He said.

"You forgot? How could you forget something so serious?" Nora yelled.

"Hey, quit yelling at him. Someone should tell me what the problem is." Reggie said.

"The cops found the wallet." Alice said.

"Which wallet?" He asked confused.

"The wallet that was close to the dead body. We all touched the wallet so it has our fingerprints." Alice said in a whisper.

"Holy shit!!" Reggie yelled.

"Keep it down dude," Nora hushed.

"So what do we do now?" Alice said.

"Everyone think fast!!" She added.

The air was charged with tension, like a thunderstorm about to break. The police announcement had sent a shockwave through the town, and everyone was talking about it. The four teenagers were huddled together in the chemistry lab, whispering in hushed tones.

"We need to figure out what to do," Alice said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Reggie shook his head. "There's nothing we can do. We're in too deep."

"We have to try," Fred insisted.

Nora sat up straight, an idea forming in her mind.

"What if we go to the police and tell them everything?" she suggested. "We can explain what happened, maybe they'll understand."

Alice bit her lip. "I don't know if that's a good idea," she said. "We could get in even more trouble. The word "maybe" sounds risky."

"But what if they don't believe us?" Fred asked. "What if they think we're covering something up?"

"Our freaking fingerprint is on the god damned wallet guys." Reggie yelled frustrated.

"We have to try!" Nora insisted. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life with this hanging over my head."

"But what if they arrest us?" Alice asked. "What if we go to jail?"

"We have to take that risk," Nora said. "It's the only way to clear our names."

The argument continued back and forth, and soon it started to escalate. Tempers were flaring, and things were getting heated. Their argument was interrupted by the sound of the bell signifying the end of lunch break. They had to return to class or they could get in trouble for loitering.

"Great. All the arguments resulted to nothing and we're still stuck in this god forsaken situation." Nora said before storming out of the lab.

"Should we just go to the police instead? I mean it sounds like the most logical idea at the moment." Fred said.

"No. No one is going to the cops." Alice said before grabbing her backpack and storming out of the room.

"Let's just get to class." Reggie said.

Fred nodded his head. They left the lab together.

.

.

.

The teacher was just about to begin a lesson when there was a loud knock on the door. Everyone turned to look, and they saw a police officer standing there.

The officer's sudden appearance took everyone by surprise. He was dressed in a black uniform, and his badge glinted in the light. He had a serious expression on his face, and his eyes swept over the students. They all sat up a little straighter in their seats, afraid of what might happen next. The teacher, Mr. Jones, looked equally surprised. He was a tall, thin man with graying hair, and he had a gentle manner that usually put the students at ease.

"Excuse me," the officer said, looking around the room. "I need to speak to Alice Smith, Reginald Martin, Nora jones, and Fred Andrews."

The four friends looked at each other in shock. They slowly got up from their desks and walked to the front of the room. The class was silent, everyone watching with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

The officer took the four of them out into the hallway and closed the door behind them.