The night went by swiftly, and morning arrived.
The school's hallway was noisy. Some people talked about Scarlett's birthday while others just played around in the hallway.
Ivy walked into the hallway and stopped for a few seconds. Her eyes scanned the hallway in just a few seconds before she marched on anxiously.
She entered Grade 10 and looked around the class. Then she saw Ted surrounded by his classmates.
"Ted, where is Scarlett?" Ivy questioned. They all looked at her.
"Oh, Ivy, good morning. That was what I was telling them about…" he was saying, but then he noticed Ivy's impatient look.
"So the thing is, Scarlett can't come to school today because of the reason which I am sure you know about. But she will be present at her birthday party tonight," Ted assured Ivy.
Ivy exhaled out of relief. She should have told me at least, Ivy thought to herself and slowly walked away.
"So Scarlett was robbed. And even worse, she was beaten up?," Robin, one of Ted's classmates, asked sympathetically.
So that was the lie she made up, Leo told himself after he overheard what his classmates talked about.
The time for Scarlett's birthday came. The night was filled with students, loud music, and ox-blood red, which was apparently Scarlett's favourite colour. Students filled the lower floor of the mansion.
Scarlett arrived at her parents' mansion in a burgundy 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder that matched her ox-blood dress. She stood at the door at first and stared at it.
I should get a grip of myself. I didn't kill him. It's impossible for him to die with just a slight slit in the neck. He was even still breathing when I rushed back to take my things, so it's not possible for me to have murdered him, right? She questioned herself nervously.
I mean, if he had died, everyone should have heard the news of his death by now. Scarlett convinced herself as her hands trembled.
"Shouldn't you go inside?" a voice spoke from behind.
She looked back and saw Leo dressed in a casual T-shirt and baggy trousers.
"Oh, it's you," she said, plastering a smile on her face. "What are you doing here?"
"Our homeroom teacher forced me to come here," Leo replied and entered.
Scarlett followed. As she entered the mansion, she was met with the smiling faces that were there.
"Oh my, Scarlett!" Sharon, one of Scarlett's friends, exclaimed.
"Those bruises are bad. Are you okay?" she asked.
"Of course," Scarlett said, faking a smile to show that she was okay.
Scarlett rocked the ox-blood colored dress she wore as she walked to the main place where her cake was placed. She looked around and saw the whole interior made of ox-blood colour. She smiled as she saw her cake made with ox-blood icing.
Ivy ran towards Scarlett and hugged her.
"Oh, my baby girl!" she exclaimed as she stared at the bruises on Scarlett's face.
"Don't worry about me," Scarlett said, giving Ivy a sincere smile. "So where's Mom and Dad?"
"They are upstairs," Ivy replied.
"Okay, I'll go meet them." Scarlett walked away and went up the stairs.
When Scarlett got to her parents' room, the door was slightly ajar. She walked towards the door. As she stretched her hand to open it further, she heard what she didn't want to hear.
"I can't believe that could happen to Mr Sheldon," Mrs Joseph uttered sadly as she sat down on the bed.
Scarlett slowly withdrew her hand and started trembling as she waited for those horrifying words.
"Mr Sheldon was such a nice man. Who could he have offended that had to murder him?" Mr Joseph wondered.
On hearing this, Scarlett started suffocating and became nauseous. She wearily ran to her room. When she got there, she closed the door behind her and ran to the bathroom to vomit.
After vomiting, she held the toilet seat. She opened her mouth and breathed through it. She stood up and went to the sink. She turned on the tap, washed her hands, then turned the tap off.
She looked into the mirror. All of a sudden she started hallucinating. She saw blood on her face and Sheldon's voice started to ring in her ears. She looked down and saw blood on her hands too. Then she noticed her dress was covered in blood.
She started panicking. She tore her dress and began to wash her face and hands.
She washed her face, but when she couldn't take it anymore, she ran out of the bathroom into her bedroom. Her bedroom interior was ox-blood red colour.
She screamed because all she could see was blood all over her bedroom.
She covered her ears as she sat on the ground. What brought her back to reality was the bang she heard on her door.
"Scarlett? Are you okay?" Mrs Joseph asked from the other side.
Scarlett stopped screaming, then looked around. She looked at her hands and body. There was no blood on her hands and her dress was already torn apart.
"I'm okay. Something flew in through my room's window and went into my dress, so I had to tear it apart because I couldn't zip it down."
"Oh my God," Mrs Joseph exclaimed. "What are you gonna wear now?"
"Don't worry, I have many dresses in my wardrobe so I will try one on," Scarlett said, calming her mother down.
"Okay, do it quick. The time to cut your cake is near," Mrs Joseph instructed and left.
Scarlett burst into tears as she felt like she wasn't okay. She sobbed uncontrollably on the ground.
Soon, Scarlett came downstairs with another gorgeous dress on. Her eyes were red and puffy but it was hidden under make-up. She smiled as everywhere was now silent and everyone's eyes were now on her as she walked gracefully downstairs.
As she walked downstairs, they kept on clapping for her. Meanwhile Ivy, Ted, Leo, and her parents knew something was wrong.
"Are you okay?" Ted and Ivy asked in unison.
"Nothing, just cramps," Scarlett answered and walked straight to her birthday cake.
"Cramps? Is that why you look like you just finished crying?" Ivy pressed on the matter.
"Yes, cramps. And I mistakenly opened one of the bruises and it hurts so much like crazy," Scarlett lied to cover up what exactly happened.
"Are you sure?" Ivy inquired. Scarlett nodded.
"Why did you change your dress?" Ted probed.
"I already told my mother the reason so you can ask her."
"So it's time for the celebrant to cut her cake," the MC announced.
Scarlett held the knife. As she held the knife, she remembered how she held the broken vase to slit Sheldon's neck. She dropped the knife abruptly and everyone looked at her to see why she did that.
Scarlett smiled apologetically. "I am so sorry." She cut the cake and turned to her sister.
"The period cramps hurt a lot. I have to go to my room," Scarlett informed Ivy.
"Since when did your period start to hurt you that you can't even celebrate your birthday party well?" Ivy probed.
"I think it started today," Scarlett said and quickly left.
"What's wrong with Scarlett, Ivy?" Mr Joseph questioned Ivy, who was still standing beside Ted.
"I don't know but I feel like she is hiding something from me," Ivy said in a suspecting tone.
The next day at school, the news of Sheldon's death had already spread throughout Las Vegas. That was the news the students kept talking about early in the morning at school.
"Scarlett, can you believe someone murdered Mr Sheldon the day before your birthday?" Charlotte asked Scarlett. She started twitching due to the uncomfortability of where she was seated even though it was still her normal seat.
"That person needs to be killed mercilessly. Like why would that person murder that nice man?" Sharon commented.
Scarlett's hearing was blurred and all she could hear were the punishments and criticism her classmates made about the killer.
"Why hasn't the police arrested that murderer?"
"The murderer doesn't deserve happiness in this life."
"That person's life should be destroyed."
Things like these were the only things Scarlett could hear. Suddenly, she screamed and stood up. She carried her bag and ran out.
Everyone was confused as to why she acted that way.
A few minutes later, Leo stood up too and ran out of the class.
Leo ran outside the school and couldn't find Scarlett. He quickly went to his bike then hopped on it and rode off.
Leo was riding his bike when he spotted Scarlett standing nervously at the front of a police station not that far from the school.
Scarlett was pacing around, biting her finger anxiously. This made Leo park somewhere near her to observe her.
A few seconds later, Scarlett made her way into the police station. Then suddenly a hand grabbed her arm from behind and Scarlett froze with her eyes wide open in shock.
-Will Scarlett tell the police she killed Sheldon?.
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