Hundred and One: The interview

DEVIN.I arrive at the small café almost thirty minutes early because I cannot stop thinking about the message he sent me the night before. He had agreed after I had assured him I would come alone and after he had made me promise not to record the conversation. The café sits just outside the city beside an old highway where almost nobody from school ever comes. I choose a table near the window and keep checking the entrance every few seconds, afraid they might change their mind before they even walk through the door. My notebook lies open in front of me, but my hands shake so badly that I cannot even hold my pen steady.A few minutes later, the café door opens, and Ben steps inside. He looks older than the graduation pictures Whitney found online, but I recognize him immediately. His eyes search every corner of the room before he slowly walks toward me. Instead of sitting down right away, he glances behind him one last time as if expecting someone to follow."You came alone?" he asks

Hundred and Two: Focus

WHITNEY.I arrive at the library holding my notebook so tightly against my chest. Ever since Devin called us after meeting the former volunteer, I cannot stop thinking about the same sentence repeating inside my head. The real mystery is not the assault. It is the week before it. I walk into the quiet study room to find Devin already waiting for me. He informs me that Carlos had informed him of an important engagement, and that he had apologized for his absence.The table is covered with papers again, just like every other time, but today everything feels different because we are no longer trying to prove someone guilty. We are trying to understand exactly how the truth was buried.“What did he tell you?” I ask as I sit down. “Spare no detail, please.”Devin lets out a slow breath and rubs his tired eyes."He confirmed something we already suspected," he says. "Carlos and Jayden knew each other well. They worked together for months before everything fell apart between them."He looks

Hundred and three: new perception

CARLOS.As I left my meeting, I cannot stop thinking about the new discoveries Devin informed me had made me. The missing week no longer feels like a mystery hidden behind locked doors. It feels alive again, as though every memory I tried to bury has started following me wherever I go. When Whitney sends me a message asking if I was done with my meeting so we could take a walk before going home, I agree almost immediately. The evening air is cool, and the streets around the park are quiet, giving us the privacy we both need. We walk side by side without speaking at first, and somehow the silence between us no longer feels like the silence of two enemies.Whitney finally breaks it.“I hope I didn't disturb your schedule or something,” she begins.“Nope,” I answer. “I was thinking of coming over to join you guys if I could.”She nods."Well, I've been thinking about everything we found today.""So have I.""I keep wondering why you never defended yourself."I let out a small laugh that

Hundred and four: The photograph

WHITNEY.I spread Carlos's wooden box across my bedroom floor for the second time, even though I almost know every photograph and paper inside it almost by heart. The room is quiet except for the soft sound of rain tapping against my window, but my mind is anything but quiet. I keep thinking about the missing week, the private meetings, the arguments, and the fourth volunteer who seems to have been standing close to everything that happened. Something tells me we are still missing one small piece, and I cannot explain why I feel that way. I carefully lift each photograph, checking the backs and corners before placing them into neat piles."Come on," I whisper. "There has to be something."I reach the bottom of the box and find a small stack of photographs I have already seen. I almost put them aside without looking, but one picture feels slightly different from the others. It is among one of the stack of pictures from an old charity program, and its edge is bent as though someone shov

All Chapters of IN BED WITH THE RUTHLESS HOCKEY CAPTAIN: Chapter 101 - Chapter 104

Hundred and One: The interview

Hundred and Two: Focus

Hundred and three: new perception

Hundred and four: The photograph