Welcome to the final chapter.

And for one last time, this is our weekly check-in. Who's here? :)

Beautiful poster made by @Silverstarrx.  And thank you @anniemagus111 and @alessandra.oropeza for the PNM tiktoks. 

The ice cube scene caused a meltdown in the last chapter ;) Pun intended.

Chapter 103: Mildred

The pill bottle was hollow. It fit in the palm of my hand and left me wondering how much damage something so small could cause. What were the pills for? The medication on the label read like kryptonese to me.

I turned the bottle slowly, re-reading the black printed letters, hoping I had mis-read who it was prescribed to. Luke stood quietly in front of me and waited for me to process the sad information. He wasn't usually patient, but this was an exception.

He was standing like a model for a jeans campaign: muscular, shirtless and wearing nothing but his jeans with the button open that showed the black band of his boxers. Waiting for me to react.

"Austin, Texas maybe?" I asked, refusing to accept the words on the bottle.

Luke usually has a comeback for my comments, but this time he didn't have the heart to make fun of me. It was heart breaking enough to see his best friend's name on the pill bottle.

A u s t i n    T a y l o r

I hope Austin is ok. Forget the blackmailer situation. If this medication is real, the boy is probably suffering.

"Maybe there's a clue in the fine print," I said, reading the tiny disclaimers at the bottom.

Only part of my brain was making sense of the medical language I was reading. The rest of me was trying to piece together the how, the why, the where...

It just wasn't adding up.

"Luke," I asked, looking at my boyfriend for his input, "Is this real?"

"You're not dreaming-"

"No, I meant the bottle," I said and rephrased the sentence, "Does Austin need to take medication in real life? Maybe the bottle is fake."

It must be easy to buy an orange tube and glue a fake label on it if the blackmailer wanted to frame Austin.

I wish Oma was here. She's head of the chemistry club and I bet she'd know what this medication was for.

Luke has never told me much about Austin's history before and now he said the words I dreaded to hear, "It's real. That's Austin's medication."

He's always protected his best friend's privacy and, even now, he wouldn't reveal more. I knew Luke well enough to understand that he would not tell me Austin's story. Austin is his best friend and the dark thought lay like a gulf between us:

Was Austin the blackmailer?

I stretched my arm out to give Luke back the bottle. I didn't want it anymore.

Austin had been the first of Luke's friends to ever accept me. He was our ombudsman. He's supported us as a couple long before we were ever even a couple. What would his motive even be?

I remember Austin's cheeky smile as he ate bowls of my fruit loops in apple cabin this summer. Or the first time I ever saw him, emerging out of the ocean with a surfboard under his arm. He lights up every place he walks into.

Luke took the medication from my hand and walked to the kitchen's island counter. He dropped the pill bottle onto the wooden surface and gripped the countertop, leaning against it like it could carry the weight of our problems.

I approached him slowly, knowing how conflicted he must be feeling: Torn between his relationship with me and his friendship with his best friend. If I hadn't found the bottle, I don't think he would've told me.

Luke took a seat. He leaned forward and rested his elbow on the counter. He ran his hand through his messy hair and stayed there, staring down.

I pulled out the bar stool beside him and sat down. I placed my hand gently on Luke's back, feeling his shoulder muscle tense under my touch. I gently rubbed his back, softly touching his smooth skin. I wanted him to know I was here.

Luke turned to me, and his eyes were so emotive they drew me in. He was hurting.

"I refuse to believe it's him," Luke said, "Austin wouldn't do this. I don't know how the blackmailer knows about his history but they're exploiting it."

I looked away from Luke to the pill bottle on the counter between us. "It's hard to believe Austin is behind it. The blackmailer's been smart until now. It feels stupid to leave a prescription bottle with their own name on it."

Unless they're trying to hide in plain sight. Make us believe it was a set up to steer us away from the right track.

"They're making us suspect our friends," Luke said, getting angry, "But it has to be someone close to us. The blackmailer knows us too well."

"I wouldn't call Julia a friend," I commented, thinking about how she was framed for the jersey incident.

If we believe her story, that is. I still haven't ruled her out as a suspect.

"Whoever this is, knows you, Minnie. They know you and Julia's relationship history, your home layout-"

"They know you too," I interrupted, not wanting all this doom-and-gloom put on me, "Austin's medication is private knowledge, right?"

"Right," he said, "but I know a lot of people. It'll be easier for us to narrow it down if we start with your circle and where it overlaps with mine."

Was he really calling me out for having so few friends right now?

Luke leaned forward suddenly and extended his arm over the counter, pulling a drawer open on the other side. He glanced at me, and I pretended like I wasn't staring at his upper body. I liked watching him stretch. It calms me down. Sue me.

He reached over and grabbed a notebook and pen from the drawer he'd just opened. I watched him sit back and crack the book open, flipping past his mom's grocery lists to start writing on a blank page.

After scribbling over it, he put the pen down and passed the notebook to me.

I read the first words:

"Sweeper lift? Sweet list?" I gave it a couple attempts.

He glared at me.

"Come on Luke," I sighed at his attitude, "We both know your handwriting is not your strong point."

"At least try to read it properly," he huffed and read the title out for me, "Suspect list."

"Ohhh, well that makes more sense, doesn't it?" I said and scanned the list of names he'd written under it.

It felt cold-hearted to see the names of our friends and family on the list as 'suspects'. But it's what we needed to do.

"Why is there a cross next to Tamara and Stacey?" I asked.

"This whole thing began at camp, didn't it? The first letter you ever received talked about the photo they took of you," he said, "I think we should look at the beginning. Stacey's been snooping around ever since camp. She was even at the bar today."

Our knees knocked gently against each other as we bent over the notepad, trying to put this complicated story together. It's hard to know what events are coincidences, unrelated or actual clues.

"You're missing someone," I said, and picked up the pen to add her name to the list.

He leaned over my shoulder and watched what I wrote, "Lara? You barely know her."

"Yeah, but isn't it a coincidence that she randomly appeared in Dubai?" I asked, "I saw her yesterday with Chris Hayes and she was acting like she lived in the same building in Alpine, when Chad said she lived in a mansion somewhere."

Luke leaned back as he considered it, "Her sister dated Austin so there may be more to that back story."

"Maybe her sister dated Austin and she wanted to date you?" I asked, guessing randomly. "She also called me yesterday to ask if I could be her tutor."

Luke frowned, "Did she? Then let's use it to our advantage. Spy on her. Something's odd there, I agree."

He put a cross on her name and said, "I'll focus on Stacey."

I stopped for a moment.

"Luke," I said quietly, not wanting to bring it up again, but feeling like I had to, "Maybe you should put a cross on Austin. We need to know how that pill bottle got to where it did."

Luke clenched his fingers around the pen, and I almost thought it would break. He didn't want to doubt Austin for a second, but we had to. Austin's name was literally on evidence.

"No," Luke refused, "It's not Austin."

"Ok," I backed off, not wanting to upset Luke more.

But in my mind, I had a star next to Austin's name. I've only known these boys less than a year, so I couldn't be too sure. I've had family betray me. Why wouldn't friends?

I didn't like the guarded person I felt myself becoming. But this time last year, I was too trusting and too quiet when people tormented me. I've become a bit stronger since then, a bit colder.

"Wait. Can we agree on the terms of our detective work first?" I asked, recognizing the determined look on his face. I knew he was willing to go to any length to catch the blackmailer and that worried me.

"No physical violence," he guessed right off the bat, giving me a look that begged me to be less predictable.

"That's a good one," I agreed, happy he volunteered it. I ticked the others off, "And no lying to each other. Or doing things that could make each other jealous."

I didn't like the idea of Luke getting close to Stacey, even if it was just to get evidence. I knew Stacey liked Luke. I remember hiding in the bathroom stall at the summer camp party and overhearing how vocal she was about it.

Luke listened to my list, looking like a disappointed schoolboy being stripped of his toys.

"Anything else? Want to handcuff me right here just in case?" he mocked me.

"Well, can we agree on those terms?" I replied, holding onto his wrists playfully.

He leaned forward, letting me trap his hands, and kissed my lips. "We can agree."

Let the games begin.

We were going to come after everyone on that list. One by one, we were going to smoke the blackmailer out.

"You know something, Mildred," Luke whispered, while our lips were still touching, "I like this badass version of you."

"You're corrupting me, Luke," I replied, my eyelids fluttering open to gaze at the boy I loved.

"Reminds me of the time you came riding on a motorbike to save me," Luke twisted his wrists and wrapped his arms over mine, pulling me closer towards him for a deeper kiss, "My heroine."

The blackmailer tried to break us, but our hunt to break them will bring us even closer together. Through the struggle, we needed to rely on each other. The blackmailer exposed our weaknesses but tackling them gave us the opportunity to grow.

**

The embers were dying in the fireplace and burnt wood was all that was left. Cans of coke were left open on the coffee table. 

The sun was beginning to rise over the lake and the most magnificent colors shone in through the window.

We hadn't slept. After arriving in the middle of the night, fooling around on the carpet and going through the suspect list in the kitchen... we had missed the night.

"I can't believe it's 6am," I said, staring at my phone.

The adrenaline of the evening had kept me wide awake.

"Want to go for a run?" Luke asked, standing up from the chair and cracking his back.

"Are you crazy?!"

"We're here for a week. We might as well enjoy nature and the time we have together," he shrugged, as if it was the most casual thing ever.

Run? Does he have no idea who he's dating?

"We need coffee and food," I muttered, thinking about the necessities, in that order, "There's nothing here."

No one had been to the jake house in months. The fridge only had drinks and a couple condiments.

"We have breakfast," Luke answered, pulling open the cabinets. He lifted out a bag of protein powder and box of protein bars from the bottom shelf.

That's breakfast?

"Great," I said with zero enthusiasm.

"I'm not used to you being the moody one," he joked and intentionally waited a second before adding, "We have toaster waffles in the freezer."

I jumped out of the bar stool and bounced straight to the freezer, like a zombie come to life. While Luke poured two scoops of protein powder into a shaker and added water, I was head deep in the freezer, rummaging loudly.

"There's also coffee in the cabinet," he mused, sending me running for the coffee instead.

My zombie mind was so focused on coffee and food that I took a while to realize how Luke was entertaining himself by watching me run around in circles.

He was in a good mood. I glanced over at him while he drank his protein shake, looking out of the window at the forest surrounding the cabin.

I realized how free Luke felt out here. When he's away from the pressures of school and basketball, he becomes a playful version of himself.

"Should we go for a walk after breakfast?" I offered.

Luke looked away from the window and at me like I was a substitute version of myself. "Are you messing with me?"

"We don't get moments like these often, so we might as well make the most of them," I said, knowing that by summer, he will be going to college in a different state, "Besides, if we sleep now, we'll mess up our whole sleep schedule."

He raised his eyebrows at me and nodded. He downed the rest of his protein shake.

When he lowered the drink, I saw the glimmer in his eyes and a smirk on his face, "Can't back out now."

~15 minutes later~

I was in a happy place, cradling my cup of black coffee in one hand and stabbing waffles with another. Luke had already drunk his entire shake before the waffles even popped out of the toaster.

He was upstairs taking a shower.

I was slathering some more maple syrup on my waffles. I wasn't exactly looking forward to our forest walk, since I didn't have the greatest track record for these nature experiences... but I had to try. My phone rang.

"Hello?" I asked, popping a forkful of waffle into my mouth, "Joff?"

"Millie, I've been trying to reach you since yesterday," Joe's worried voice replied.

"Om agh ge hake house," I chewed, trying to speak at the same time.

"What's the hake house? Is that a club? Do you need to be picked up?"

I swallowed the waffle, "Sorry, no, I'm fine. Luke and I took a trip last night and we'll be out of town for a few days."

"Out of town?!" Joe exclaimed. It's the first time I've ever heard him get worked up, "You know you have your competition tomorrow. You worked so hard for this."

Why does Joe sound like my mom right now?

"Joe," I sighed, telling him the truth, "I was suspended from school this week. They forbid me from participating in any school activities, including the math competition."

It was another blow that came with the whole Kaden-Luke-basketball incident. They took away my right to participate in the mathlete competition after I had qualified for the round last winter.

"I know," he replied, "I spoke to Kaden yesterday who told me what happened. He's suspended too and won't join. Looks like you'll both have to try again next year."

I spoke with Joe for a couple more minutes and wished him luck at the mathlete competition. I guess he would be playing for all of us. After Joe and I hung up, I picked up my fork again. But then I thought twice.

I traded my fork for the pen and added another name to the suspects' list: Joe.

Maybe.

It's not impossible.

Suddenly, the surround sound speakers started to crackle. I spun round on the kitchen stool, wondering who else was in the house aside from Luke and me. Luke was in the shower, wasn't he?

"Luke?" I called out in the empty room.

Music started to play. I got up and walked to the dining area, making sure none of the doors were open. The view now made me feel so alone in a huge landscape.

The music got louder on the speakers:

How you look so perfect on your worst days?
Double C your purses, you deserve it

It was A Boogie's song: the first song Luke and I listened to together. Back at the campsite, I played the song after he came to sit beside me. We had our first, genuine heart-to-heart that night. And he ate my turkey mayo sandwiches.

I turned to the staircase and saw him.

Luke slid across the smooth wooden surface, like he was Tom Cruise in that risky business scene. He had a white towel wrapped around his waist and his chest was still wet from the shower. I watched his skin sparkle as he moved towards me, getting ready for the chorus.

Curvy little body, love your surface
Yeah, I'm all on your body, make you nervous

He came over and swept me up in his arms. I squealed from the feeling of his wet arms on my back as he spun me round.

Swervin'
How you look so perfect on your worst days?

He kissed me, but I was smiling so he ended up kissing my teeth. His hand swept through my hair, messing it up as he left a trail of kisses down my neck, but I didn't mind. I squeezed his hard shoulders as he lowered me, letting my body slide down his. I was so sure his towel was about to fall off, but he gripped it with his left hand before it did.

It felt incredible being out here, just the two of us.

**

"Shoes! Phone! And I'm coming!" I called out, putting on one shoe as I hopped to the front door.

Luke had been waiting for me for a while now. He leaned calmly against the door frame, now fully dressed after his shower.

"You got a text from Jake," he said in a bored tone, holding my phone for me while he waited.

"Can you tell him we're at the lake house for a few days?" I asked, digging into my backpack for a pair of gloves.

I yanked the gloves on and walked over to Luke, finally ready. He handed me my phone and I looked at the text he'd sent Jake from my phone:

We're at the lake house. He added a watermelon emoji.

Why the random emoji? I thought that was a weird touch, but didn't mention it.

Luke held the door open for me and I stepped outside. The sky was clear, but the air was cold. We walked across the hard ground. The rain from last night had frozen into a thin layer of ice so we had to be careful not to slip.

My phone buzzed with Jake's response:

F*ck you Luke

I looked up at Luke, expecting him to explain himself.

Luke peered down at the text and whistled, "He's so aggressive, isn't he?"

**

I can see why Luke likes this whole nature thing. The air smells so fresh and the sounds are even better in real life than the nature playlists I listen to. I felt at one with the world. Like the birds were conversing with us and-

"My sister has a bunch of hiking shoes. We have extra for guests as well," Luke said, punching in the code to the shed.

"What do you mean shoes?" I asked, looking down at my sneakers, "What's wrong with these?"

"They have no grip," he replied, pushing the door open.

"So this doesn't count as part of our forest walk?" I asked, referring to the eternity we just spent walking.

"You mean the five minutes from the house to the shed?" Luke asked, staring at me like I was crazy, "No, that doesn't count as our forest walk."

I kept quiet, regretting my decision to suggest this