Lucas needs to leave me alone. I put my phone on silent and momentarily considered blocking him. I get that he's trying to be supportive but this is a bit much. I dragged my feet outside the school, not wanting to remember the memories that Riley and I made here. Resting my back against the brick wall, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Rumours spread fast and no matter how I much I try, I can't seem to remember to forget her.

"-this was a bad idea. I should've never agreed to your offer." A nervous voice spoke lowly from around the corner.

Probably another drug deal. I thought to myself. The voice sounded familiar but it could've been anyone. I sat down against the side of the wall, knowing that the two people involved in the drug deal probably couldn't see me from around the corner.

Fresh air was nice. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind as best I could with two people yelling to my side. it.

"I need to tell someone, this ain't right." That same voice muttered again, fear dripping in his voice. First time stoner guilty conscience, I guess.

As I began to relax, the voices slowly tuned themselves out and it was just me and mother nature.

My eyes shot open when I heard it. It was a different voice this time, but the same uncertainty and hushed anger came through. "You tell anyone, and I'll kill you the same way I killed him."

Oh my god. I need to leave.

My legs felt like noodles when I got up but I ignored the feeling and ran. Looking back, running was the stupidest option given that it was the loudest and most attention drawing but it's all behind me now I guess.

"Is anyone there?" I heard her voice call after me when she heard the rapid footsteps. The voice was unmistakable for anyone else's.

I caught my breath against the wall on the inside of the school and continued to listen to Danielle's hushed whispers. "Farkle we need to leave, someone's here."

~

When Lucas opened his front door, relief rushed through his body. "Maya! I was so worried about you. You haven't been answering any of my calls or texts."

I rolled my eyes jokingly and let myself in. "Stop being so clingy, I'm gay." I teased.

He chuckled slightly (as much as you could when one of your childhood best friends has been charged with the murder of your other childhood best friend). "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Yes, something is very very wrong." I frowned

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Well are you going to tell me, or.."

"I want to, but please wait until I'm finished before you say something okay?"

Lucas nodded obediently.

"Riley is innocent," I started off, causing Lucas to wince.

"You need to let it go Maya it's not-"

I cut him off by shooting him a death glare. "Let me finish, you promised."

"Okay."

Inhaling sharply, I started off "I heard something that I shouldn't have outside of the school today. I know it sounds insane but you have to believe me. Danielle is the culprit I heard her say it with my own two ears. And I don't- I don't know how but Farkle is involved somehow too."

Lucas offered me a glass of water and gestured for me to sit down. "Are you listening to yourself Maya? We both don't want it to be true but you're accusing those two of something major right now. I hope you understand the consequences if you're wrong."

I drank the water and set the glass back down on the table roughly, causing him to jump back slightly. "I can't make these things up, you have to trust me. Okay?"

Lucas frowned and briefly thought over what he was about to agree to. "Are you sure you heard everything correctly?"

I nodded eagerly. "Positive."

The corners of his lips twitched up into a smile. "Okay."

~

As soon as school ended, I ran straight to the police department. "I know who did it! I know who killed Mason." I declared as I swung the doors open. Immediately, all eyes were on me. The secretaries looked up from typing to glare at me, the interns stopped in their tracks, even the whispering amongst the visitors disappeared.

"I know who did it." I repeated again, slower, more carefully.

Detective Larsen and two other police officers I didn't recognize pushed their way to the front. "We already have the culprit. Your little girlfriend won't be going anyone no matter what you say." The detective laughed.

I glared at him straight in his eyes and clenched my fists. This was the same man that ruined everything between Riley and I. "Go along now," he offered placing two hands on my shoulders and firmly leading me towards the door. "Kids like you shouldn't get involved in things you don't understand. Stick to painting your nails and-"

I turned around quickly, flinging his hands off my shoulders. "It was your daughter." I growled. "Danielle is a dirty, lying murderer." I said confidently, without breaking eye contact with him. I briefly thought back to how Shawn used to be involved in Danielle's life. It's kind of a sad downgrade from how she went from having Shawn to him as a stepfather.

The man laughed sarcastically and pretended my words had no impact on him. But from the way his eyes widened and his throat gulped, I could tell. He was nervous. He knew the truth.

I've never been one to make claims without having evidence but this one was different. A certain tug in my gut confirmed that Danielle really was the murderer. Detective Larsen knew, and that's why he's been trying so hard to convict Riley. He wanted to protect his stepdaughter.

"Her and Farkle plotted something together, I overheard at school." I stated, breaking the silence.

Immediately, the detective shook out of his trance and pushed away any signs of nervousness. "Farkle Minkus? As in the son of one of the most trusted men in New York City? Now you're just speaking nonsense." He said, looking to the audience around us for approval.

A few hums and nods made their way through the crowd but nothing too significant. "Maya, if you don't stop making these false accusations, you could be charged with slander." He threatened. What a typical move for a shady, greasy detective.

Before I could response, Farkle barged into the police station, with Lucas following slowly behind him. Just in time. I thought to myself. Looks like Farkle needed a lot less persuasion then I thought.

The tall, scrawny boy caught his breath for a moment before uttering the words that would completely change this case.  He inhaled sharply and closed his eyes, withdrawing all the possible bravery he could from his body. "Danielle Larsen is the culprit. She approached me to help frame Riley and I agreed. All of the evidence you have is fake and planted by that man." He pointed a finger at detective Larsen.  "I have real proof about what happened that night."

~

I sat in the back corner of the interrogation room with my arms crossed and my face expressionless. Riley was still in custody and probably will continue to be held until Farkle proves that he's telling the truth. I'm trying my best to appear unamused and uninterested but secretly I'm holding onto every word that came out of Farkle's mouth.

He is Riley's only hope.

He's my only hope.

Farkle chewed on his bottom lip as he explained himself. It was clear he knew that what he did was wrong. He wasn't expecting anything for himself, he just wanted to make up for his mistakes.

"It all started the day that Riley outed Mason in front of the whole school. I was so, so mad. Looking back, I was stupid and just trying to look for an outlet to put my anger that nothing had been done about his murder yet. I held a grudge on Riley and Danielle noticed that." The boy gulped nervously and looked everywhere around the room to avoid my glare.

"One day I was on the subway home when she sat beside me and told me about her plan to frame Riley. I was hesitant at first but she was so manipulative, I couldn't say no."

Farkle's voice began to crack and he turned to look at me for the first time in this interrogation. "I'm sorry Maya."

I kept my voice clear and emotionless. "I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to, and you know that."

He nodded shamefully in response and turned back to the detective. Thankfully, detective Larson was in interrogation in the room next door so we didn't have to deal with a lunatic today. "I was the mastermind behind the entire plan to frame Riley. The details in planting the actual evidence was hard though. But Danielle somehow got her father involved and he used his position to gather her fingerprints and transfer them onto a random gun that had no connection to the murder. I should've known something was wrong as soon as I saw how quickly detective Larsen jumped on board."

The detective nodded thoughtfully and scribbled on her notebook. "What do you mean by that?"

Farkle cocked an eyebrow at her in confusion. "When you said you should've known something was up- did you ever find out what that was?"

"I said it earlier. I don't want to say it again." He said.

"Why not?"

His jaw tightened. "I don't want to acknowledge the girl who killed my boyfriend and then manipulated me into framing my best friend for it. I just don't."

The detective nodded understandingly.
"Do you have any idea where the actual murder weapon is? Or how the crime was executed?" She asked.

The boy shook his head no in response. "She only admitted to me after we had done all the dirty work together. Danielle knew that here was no way I could expose her without hurting my own image as well. It was manipulative, but smart. Too bad I've been through too much lately and I could care less about my image at this point."

"We appreciate that you told us about this Mr. Minkus." She said formally, "Thankfully, Riley's trial hasn't started yet so we'll reevaluate the information tonight in the department and I'll see what I can do about releasing her."

"Thank you." He replied, almost whispering before leaving the interrogation room.

She glanced over to me and smiled softly, "You can wait outside with Farkle if you'd like. If we're lucky then she might even be released tonight with nothing on her record. It's a shame an innocent girl has had her life turned upside down for something that she had no control over." The detective wondered aloud.

"Yeah." I agreed. "A real shame."

I nodded politely and walked out of the interrogation room and then out of the police station. Riley doesn't deserve someone who lost faith in her the way I did. If I didn't happen to be there at that exact moment in time, then I wouldn't have overheard the truth. I wouldn't have told Lucas what happened and Lucas wouldn't have pressured Farkle into coming forward. If it wasn't for that coincidence, Riley would still be in sitting all alone in that jail cell with no one who still had faith her innocence.