Chapter 2

"Miss. Steele, do you know this person?" Detective Bray asked with an intimidating look while he slid a large picture over to me.

Without taking my eyes off him, I held the picture in my hand then averted my eyes to study it.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the face of the guy that tormented me since the first day at high school. Tommy Ford.

He was standing next to a beat-up truck with his hands in his pocket in a big pair of jeans pants, a grey t-shirt, and white shoes. His blonde hair was messy and his fat face was round with freckles all over it and had on its signature scowl. I hated him so much.

The big fat bully.

Gee not even in the pictures he smiled.

"Yes," I briefly replied sliding the picture back over to him not wanting to look at it any longer.

"Have you associated with him before?" He asked.

"A lot," I scoffed.

"Like how? Good friends?" 

"Anything but. That guy has been tormenting me since the day he saw me," I confessed.

"Hmm, So you chopped him into pieces and dumped him into Crystal Lake?" The man aggressively accused slamming his hand down on the table making me jerk in shock.

"Excuse me?" I backfired in surprise.

"Come on Bray, you're scaring the poor girl," Detective Mia, his partner, angrily pushed him away from before me.

They started arguing and I zoned out.

Tommy's dead? And they thought I killed him. This is very strange. Just a few weeks ago Anna Jenkins was found dead hanging from a tree in the back of the school the day after she posted a pic of me covered in the sauce she dropped on me. Bruises and cuts all over her body and a message that says, 'do not bully' written in blood on her stomach clearly showing she was murdered.

For days, my schoolmates were giving me weird stares and I know they thought I killed her but the police said the hand marks were of a man so they forgot thinking it was me and I was grateful.

And now Tommy's dead right after he shoved me in the same Crystal Lake at a bonfire last night. What are people going to think now?! That I'm the leader of some mafia sending my men out to do my dirty work?

"Debbie, hi. Can I ask you a few questions?" Mia asked and I nodded slowly. "Did you and Tommy have any form of history? Or background?"

I never told anyone that I was being bullied by anyone. And right now I was fully set on blurting out everything to these two because I would love to be excluded from this case ASAP.

"When I first came into town when I was five, I met Tommy at the park. I was sitting in with my parents and he was with his dad, he saw how we were and immediately hated me. I never knew why but then I found out that his mother died and he was jealous.

"We coincidentally attended the same high school and he started to bully me ever since. Hurting me, calling me names, destroying my things, basically anything that would result in pain to me," I finished with tears welling up in my eyes. I looked up in the white ceiling of the police station hoping gravity will push back my tears. Seconds later I looked back down at Detective Mia.

"So you were really a victim of his bullying?" She asked and I nodded. "Yeah, some kids clarified that they saw him picking on you multiple times. So tell me, when was the last time this happened?"

"Last night. At the bonfire. I didn't plan on running into him but when he saw me, he ordered me to get a bottle of water for him. I refused to because I wasn't anyone's maid and he said even though I refused to give him water, he's going to give me a lifetime supply of water or something like that. Then he threw me in the water.

"A couldn't swim so a guy from my school jumped in and helped me back to shore. He offered to bring me home after and I never left the house again until this morning to go to school," I told the complete truth but there was something I purposely left out.

The fact that Aaron Green, the guy who saved me also told me he had feelings for me and kissed me.

I almost blushed at the memory but the case at hand was way too horrific for me to blush right now.

"And you spoke to no one? No one reached out to you after?" She asked in a sweet motherly voice.

"My best friend Cora and I texted about the incident after. But I only talked to her and my parents weren't even home when I got there," I explained.

"And where were they?"

"At work. My mom's an accountant and my Dad's a Cardiologist," I replied.

"Ok, do you know anyone else Tommy may have tormented? Maybe your friend Cora?"

"Oh no. They were friends once but when she saw him bullying me, she stood up for me and told him to stop. He refused to so she stopped being his friend and started being mine. His bullying only got worse from there," I informed them remembering that day 3 years ago.

"Ok, thank you for your time. You may now leave," she smiled and with a small farewell, I left.

Outside was cool due to the nice January weather at 5 pm. The weather was friendly and my attire matched it perfectly. I was in short jeans shorts, a blue t-shirt and a white converse. My red hair was in a low ponytail and I decided to wear my bright blue glasses today.

I spotted my dad a few cars down in the parking lot texting on his phone. I think it's safe to say my dad was a very attractive man. He was well built, he had chestnut brown hair and I got his electric blue eyes. He simply would fit close to a supermodel and my classmates always drool over him and ask to come over.

I trust none of them. 

When my dad looked up and saw me, his focused face slowly faded to a look of concern. I ran the rest of the distance to him and threw my arms around his muscular frame.

"Hey Debear, is everything okay?" he cooed hugging me back and I smiled at my family nickname.

My dad and I had the best relationship. He spends a lot of time with me and he spoils me and my mom. He's the best dad of the year every year and I love him to the moon and back.

"I'm traumatized. They thought I killed a schoolmate of mine," I told him looking at his face.

His sharp jawline clenched. "What?! They accused you or murder just like that?!"

"Dad, it's okay. They found nothing on me. And I promise you that I'm 100 percent innocent," I assured him and he calmed down a bit.

"That’s my girl," he smiled then kissed my forehead. "Come on, we need to go pick up mommy," he said assuring me into his sleek, new, black, Mercedes Benz.

******

A few hours later, after picking up mom, stopping at a pastry store to get cake, we pulled up at the house. Some people may say it's a mansion but it’s not very big.

It's average with a pool, baseball, tennis and netball court, and a large garden at the back, a water fountain at the front. Five balconies, eight-bed rooms, five bathrooms, two kitchens, the largest living room I've ever seen, and a few other rooms I can't bother to mention right now.

On the way, I explained everything to my parents about the bullying and they were furious at first that I didn't tell them, but they got a little sympathetic hearing about his passing.

"Who would do such a heartless and sickening thing?" Mom argued angrily slightly turning pink as we enter the living room.

"Honey, your face is slowly taking the color of your hair," Dad remarked causing me to laugh.

"And your balls are gonna be the color of your eyes when-"

"Okay, I'm taking my leave now," I cut off whatever my mother was going to say and walked away as quick as I could to my room.

My parents are lovesick. I mean, I can't complain because if they were constantly arguing or got divorced it would be a nightmare, but I can see that they truly loved each other.

I hope to find a love like that one day.