Roselle found herself walking along the beach. The sound of crashing waves and the gentle breeze provided a soothing sound to try and clear her thoughts. She had repyed the versation with Sarah and her family in her mind over and ain. The anger she felt still stinged her knowing someone possibly imitated her. Tomorrow was her first day back at school after the i, a she was uo clear her mind of that sihought. She had to figure out who was behind this and why.

  She soon noticed a young man not too far away. He seemed to be watg her with a friendly looking demeanor. Roselle asked herself why he aying so much attention to her but she didn’t feel threatened by his presence.

  Curiosity got the better of her and Roselle decided to approach the strange boy. As she drew nearer she wondered about the Sarah i and how it had affected her reputation. When she finally reached the boy she decided to strike up a versation.

  “Hi there,” she began by a friendly smile. “I couldn’t help but notice you watg me. Is there something on your mind?”

  The boy grinned in response, ” Oh, hey there! You must be Roselle, right? I’ve heard a lot about you, especially after that whole Sarah i. I’m Harty, by the way. o meet you!”

  Roselle listened as the boy introduced himself. He mentiohe Sarah i which made her curious. She replied, “o meet you too, Harty. Yeah, that Sarah i... It’s been quite a shoe as well. Attag Sarah like that... that’s not something I would ever do and I’m still trying to my head around it. How do you know me though? We haven’t really talked before.”

  Harty’s smile remained as he responded, “Well, we’re actually in the same css, Roselle. I’ve seen you around and you’re known for being a kind and friendly person. That’s why it surprised me when I heard about the i. It just didn’t sound like the Roselle I’ve heard about.”

  Roselle gave a somewhat relieved smile at Harty’s kind words. Harty’s cheeks flushed slightly.

  “Oh, uh, I hope I didn’t e off as too nosy or anything,” Harty stammered with his eyes briefly darting away. “I just...err... I wao say that I believe in giving people a d not jumping to clusions. If you ever need someoo talk to or just hang out with i’m here but, uh, no pressure of course! Is that cool?”

  He fidgeted with his hands as he awaited Roselle’s response.

  As Harty spoke, Roselle found his earness endearing. His kindness warmed her heart. She also couldn’t deny that he had a certain charm about him.

  Inwardly, she thought, “He’s so cute,” with a small, amused smile.

  “Harty, I appreciate that a lot. It’s been a tough time and having someone like you offer support means a great deal to me. I’d love to hang out sometime, maybe get to know you better.”

  Harty’s face lit up with a bright smile, his eyes shining with genuine happiness.

  “That sounds awesome, Roselle! I’m really looking forward to it. We do whatever you fancy, whether it’s a beach stroll like this or something else entirely. Just let me know when you’re free!”

  Roselle chuckled at Harty’s suggestion. “Harty, are you some kind of detective in disguise or something?”

  Harty let out a soft ugh, his cheeks still flushed. “Well, not quite a detective yet, but I’m definitely into mysteries and solving puzzles. I mean, someday, I hope to bee a detective. But for now, I guess I py detective-in-training.”

  Roselle nodded, intrigued by Harty’s enthusiasm. “That’s pretty cool, Harty, and I like the idea of getting to the bottom of things and finding the truth. Maybe together, we figure out what really happened with Sarah and put this whole mess behind us.”

  Harty’s face lit up with excitement, and he nodded eagerly. “I’d love that, Roselle! Let’s team up and crack this case wide open!”

  Roselle was transported back to that fateful day wheuro school after the i with Sarah, she found herself standing in front of the imposing school building. The memories of that moment flooded back, and sh felt a knot of ay iomach.

  After a sigh, she ehe school building. Roselle was met with an eerie sight. Students, both girls and boys, were going about their business, opening their lockers and chatting with friends. However, as soon as Roselle stepped inside, a hushed tension filled the air. Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing and turo gre at her.

  The hostile gazes bore into her, making Roselle feel like an unwele intruder in her own school. It was as if a dark cloud hung over her, casting a shadow on every face she entered.

  With each step she took, the atmosphere grew more oppressive. Teachers passing by wore the same disapproving gre, and the sense of isotion and judgment was felt by her. Roselle’s heart sank as she walked past those acg eyes. She tried to quickly move to reach her own locker despite the unfortable scrutiny.

  Roselle’s friends approached her as she stood at her locker, and she mustered a faint smile, eager to reect with them after what felt like ay. However, their icy reception caught her off guard. They didn’t return her greeting, and instead, they simply looked at her with stern and judgmental faces.

  fusion and nervousness welled up inside Roselle as she tried to break the unfortable silence. “Hey, guys, is everything okay? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

  Her friends exged gnces but tio maintain their uling silence. Slowly, they began to close in around her, f a tight circle that made Roselle feel trapped. Roselle’s nerves were on edge while she was surrounded by the closest people to her. Why was Roselle being ered?

  She repeated her question, “Seriously, what’s going on? Why are you all ag like this?”

  As Roselle’s friends maintaiheir ominous silehe school principal, approached the group. Her authoritative presence was enough to make the tension in the air even more deadly. She spoke with an unwavering tone, her eyes fixed on the group.

  “Break it up, all of you,” the principal anded,“You have csses to attend, and l around lockers won’t get you there.”

  Roselle breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the principal’s intervention would disperse the eerie atmosphere. However, her relief was short-lived when the principal’s gaze shifted towards her.

  “Roselle, I mean you too,” the principal added, her stern gaze unging. “Get to css immediately.”

  Roselle’s heart sank as she realized that she was not exempt from the principal’s order. She nodded in aowledgment, speaking above a whisper. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  With a final, searg look at her friends, Roselle relutly turned and headed towards her first css.

  Roselle settled into css.The homeroom teacher, a man with yellow spiky hair eared somewhat out of shape and had a not-s attitude, shuffled into the afterwards with a stack of papers in hand. He let out a loud, exaggerated yawn and stretched his arms as he made his way to the front of the css, which was in loud versations amoung themselves.

  “Alright, alright, settle down, everyone,” he mumbled, his tone g enthusiasm. “Uh, let’s see... I fet what chapter we were on st time. It doesn’t really matter, right?”

  Some of the students exged gnces among themselves while others opeheir textbook. The teacher attempted to muster some excitement, he suddenly remembered the reason for his supposed enthusiasm.

  “ht!” he excimed with forced enthusiasm. “We have a special guest today! Sarah is ba css, everyone! Let’s all give her a warm wele!”

  The students, however, responded with a small appuse at best.

  The teacher began his lesson. Roselle gnced over at Sarah, eared visibly saddened by the ckluster wele. The felt tense and she didn’t seem to see any other friends among them.

  However, when she looked around, she spotted Harty, who raised one hand briefly to wave at her. His friendly gesture brought a smile to Roselle’s face, providing a small glimmer of positivity amid the otherwise grim atmosphere.

  The lunch break bell rang, signaling the much-awaited respite from csses, students began to gather their belongings and stream out of the . Amid the group of studeing, the teacher cleared his throat loudly to get the students’ attention.

  “Attention, everyone,” he announced in a tohat cked enthusiasm. “Just a quick remihere’s going to be a test on Friday. Pass or fail, I don’t really care. But if you have any i in passing, you should have been listening to my lesson. So, yeah, good luck with that.”

  The teacher’s words were met with a collective groan from the students as they filed out of the , the weight of impendis hanging over their heads.

  Roselle made her way towards the door. Once she reached outside, she heard Sarah’s calling out to her. She turo see Sarah approag.

  “Roselle, wait up,” Sarah said. “Hey Roselle! Do you want to join me for lunch? We catch up and it’s been so long since we hung out together. You know? How about it?”

  Roselle hesitated for a moment. She khat things had ged sihe i and she wasn’t sure how Sarah would react.

  “Well, Sarah...Actually, I kind of have some pns for lunch today. They’re a bit... unusual, but I promise I’ll tell you all about it ter. You’re still my best friend and I’ll always be here for you. Just nht now.”

  Sarah’s curiosity iqued leadio lean in closer to Roselle with a pyful look in her eyes. “Unusual pns, huh?” she teased, a mischievous smile pying on her lips. “Now you’ve got me really curious, Roselle. e on, spill the beans! What’s this mysterious lun of yours?”

  “All right, all right,” Roselle replied with a grin. “I’ll give you a hint. It involves a new friend I made yesterday, someone named Harty. We’re pnning to do a little detective work together during lunch.”

  Sarah’s curiosity grew as she heard about Roselle’s luns with Harty.“A new friend named Harty aive work?” Sarah said with a grin. “Roselle, you’ve got to let me in on this! It sounds like a bst. ’t I join you? Pretty please?”

  Roselle chuckled at Sarah’s enthusiasm.

  “Well,” Roselle begaending to think it over, “I suppose we could use ara pair of eyes and brains. You’re in, but be warned, Sarah, Detective work is not as easy as it sounds, you know? Are you really up for it?”

  Sarah’s eyes sparkled as she said, “Oh, Roselle, I’m in and I’ve got a feeling that with Harty around this detective work might just turn into a thrilling adventure. Plus, I didn’t ask you before but...Is Harty as much of a looker as he sounds?”

  Roselle was uo do anything but ugh “Sarah, you and your curiosity! Well, I guess you’ll have to meet him and judge for yourself. But remember, we’re here to solve a mystery, not go on a dating show.”

  Sarah responded with a pyful wink. “Let’s see if Harty hahe bined iigative powers of Team Roselle and Team Sarah!”

  Roselle nodded in agreement and added, “That’s right, Sarah. It’s going to be my seeeting with Harty, and he’s already been quite the iing character. Let’s see how he fits into our little detective adventure.”

  Sarah and Roselle walked away, their ughter and chatter filled the hallway. They were oblivious to the watchful gaze of the girl who bore an uny resembo Roselle. Hidden in the shadows, she observed them with a mysterious iy.