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The rain beat mercilessly at the roof sheet, the sky weeping at the loss of a beautiful soul.
Kareem, Antonio, Lily and Sophia gathered round staring at the roses on the top.
Everyone had the same question on their mind?
How did it happen? Two days earlier, the day was filled with laughter, each of them talking excitedly about the start of a new journey, College.
"Guys", Lily sniffled, "We are all going to get sick if we don't get out of the rain".
"She was here, she was just here. How is she not anymore?". Sophia burst into tears.
The group stared at the coffin that now housed the body of their best friend.
Kareem dropped the last rose and then they left.
Gathered around the fire in Antonio's backyard, no one said a single word.
Quietly, Lily went inside then returned with a box. She placed it in the middle away from the fire.
"What's this?", asked Antonio.
"It's Chloe's last box of chocolates. Aunty Melissa said she found it beside her-", Lily choked up.
Kareem smiled sadly, "She really did love her chocolate. I still can't believe she's gone".
Lily opened the box, "At exactly midnight we will each take a piece and then we will talk about how much we loved her".
Everyone nodded in agreement. The silence returned as they all continued staring at the burning flame.
Antonio checked his phone, "It's 11:5-". He was interrupted by Lily's phone.
"I'm sorry it's Aunty Melissa. I have to take it".
Lily rushed off with her phone into the house.
"It's 12:00". They all raised the chocolate to their mouth and then Lily came back panting, "Poisoned. She was poisoned. The chocolate was the last thing she ate. Someone poisoned Chloe".
They all dropped the chocolate quicker than the speed of light and then turned to Sophia who continued, "Aunty Melissa just called to say they got her autopsy report. Guys someone murdered Chloe", Lily said leaving everyone in shock.
The next few days were chaotic. The police got the chocolate box from the group and an investigation started. A week later, they still hadn't found nothing.
"There's no soul to the case. We knew Chloe best. If anyone is going to find out who is responsible, it's going to be us. We knew who she knew and whoever sent that chocolate box will be someone we know", Antonio said.
"I didn't want to say anything but two months ago, Chloe started receiving notes and chocolates from a secret admirer and I know who it is. One morning I went to school really early for practice and I saw Jacob slipping the note into her locker", Sophia told the group.
No one wasted any time. In the next few minutes they were at Jacob's door.
An old woman opened the door with a smile.
"Hi, we are here to see Jacob". Her frown dropped.
"My Jacky got into an accident two weeks ago. He has been in a coma since then".
"Well I feel horrible now".
"Me too", everyone else replied.
"So what now?", Lily asked.
"Natasha and Chloe got into a really big fight three days ago, you guys think?", Sophia asked.
Natasha slammed her locker shut angrily, "I'll tell you the same thing I told the police. I didn't do it. They showed me the box and it came from Zera's.
Zera's operates only on walk-ins so there was no way I could have ordered because I'm heavily allergic to chocolates. I already showed that police a medical report".
She turned away, "And if one more person asks me if I'm responsible. I might actually poison the person".
She walked away.
"Well that was a total burst just like the other five leads", Kareem ran a hand through his hair.
"Who else could have done it Sophia?"
Sophia paused, "Why are you asking me?"
"You've just been the one naming people all day so I just thought-".
"Well you thought wrong Lily. You know what guys, I'm tired and I'm going home".
Sophia walked away angrily.
"What's her deal?", Lily asked, puzzled.
"I don't know but I'm actually tired too. Maybe we should just pick up from where we left tomorrow", Kareem said and they all agreed.
Sophia flung her door open, "Kareem what are you doing here?"
"Can I come in?"
"Is this the first time you are coming to my house? Of course you can".
Kareem stepped in. For the first few minutes there was silence before he eventually broke it.
"It wasn't until you got all defensive with Lily that it started to click. I went to Zera's. The cashier told me a girl came to buy the exact box of chocolate just a day before and unfortunately they didn't have CCTV footage. She couldn't describe the girl because it could have been anyone but she had a vivid memory of the jacket she wore and it's weird because she described my jacket. The one you stole from me".
"Kareem", Sophia tried.
"Let me finish. So I went back to see Natasha and she told me she had gone to see Chloe in the night the next day to apologize because the fight was her fault and when she got into her car, she saw you go into the house".
"Still I thought there's no way. It just can't be", Kareem said as the first set of tears escaped his eyes.
"Then finally I went back to the house and Aunty Melissa confirmed that you did visit that night. Where is your orange charm bracelet Soph?"
Sophia looked down at her hand as Kareem raised the bracelet up.
"You didn't notice when it fell off your wrist in your haste to get out of her room right? You were the first to point a finger. I just have one question. Why did you do it? Why did you poison our best friend?"
Sophia's lips quivered, "I got a wait-listed while Chloe got admitted into my dream school. I just thought. No, I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to get into CalU so bad. With Chloe gone, I would get the spot".
"So you poisoned her? With chocolates. The thing she loved most in the world. If Aunty Melissa hadn't called, would you have let us eat the chocolate too?
"No!!. Kareem. I promise. I was just desperate", she stepped towards him.
"Don't touch me. Don't you ever touch me again. She's gone Soph", he shouted, "Do you understand? She's gone Soph. We won't ever see her again", he broke down into tears.
He recovered quickly, "The police are on their way. I hope it was worth it".
"No you can't do this to me. Please Kareem".
The sirens sounded outside. It all happened so fast. One minute she was a free woman and the next, she was in handcuffs.
She looked at the faces of her best friends as she was led away who all wore mirrored looks of shock. She met Aunty Melissa's eyes and the woman stared back at her daughter's murderer with so much pain.
Just then a recorded message played loudly on her phone.
"I am really sorry to inform Miss Sophia but your admission to CalU was denied".
A tear escaped Sophia's eyes.
Was it worth it in the end? Definitely not.