“...Ava, is she really doing that bad?” Maddy asks, her affect flat. Shaula listens carefully for Ava’s words. She finds little difficulty listening in, since her hearing has always been slightly better than her peers. Ava sighs, as if waiting for the originally depressing atmosphere to dissipate.

“Well… I do think she is, but I really just wanted them to go find her and talk to her so that you and I could talk alone.”

“Huh… That’s kinda fucked up.”

“What are you talking about, Mads? I didn’t lie, I just used the truth to my own benefit. Plus, now they’re all going to run around looking for Samantha to try and get her mind out of that headspace. That’s a win-win for everyone, you know?”

Shaula listens carefully to Ava’s words. There was something… souring about them. She didn’t think that Ava should have brought up Samantha’s suicidal thoughts in that manner. It was so callously, meaninglessly manipulative and Ava doesn’t even seem to care. It was unsettling how easily Ava brushed off her previous mood and became more at ease all of a sudden.

Shaula looks over at Ajax and finds that he is already zoned out of his surroundings, listening to music, and taking notes on his phone about the English final. She decides to continue eavesdropping while pretending to look on her phone.

She wonders what would be so important that Ava brought up Samantha’s suicidal thoughts to be alone with Maddy from the rest of their friends? Maddy herself merely snorts at Ava’s justification.

“Whatever… Alright, what did you want to talk to me about?” Maddy asks, her face staring at her phone in apathy.

“Maddy, you gotta help me! I’m trying to convince Samantha to let me into her family home and she’s still really reluctant…”

“You’re still trying to go to her house?”

“I-I am. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what she’s been thinking, especially concerning her grief, but there’s only so much that I can glean just by her words alone. I need to know how her parents lived, how she lived with them, and their home could be just the clue that I need!”

This makes Shaula pause. Ava’s words were not the words of someone concerned about their friend. They were the words of someone… who was trying to solve a puzzle. What was the puzzle that Ava was trying to solve? Samantha’s parents? Samantha in general? Her… grief?

“Did you at least ask her if she would let you come visit?”

“No, no, are you stupid? I can’t just come out and ask her yet. I have to slowly coax her into letting me past the threshold.”

“Are you a vampire or something?”

“Shut up… I can tell whenever I bring up her family home that she doesn’t want to talk about it at all. I don’t think she would let me visit and I don’t know how to get her to loosen her trauma so I at least have a shot of her saying yes.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“...”

“Don’t give me that look, my reasons are perfectly reasonable. I just have to know how her parents lived. I can’t stop thinking about it. I have to figure out exactly what they meant to Samantha, otherwise I won’t be able to comprehend her loss.”

Suddenly, Ava starts to look around. She realizes she has been speaking a bit too loudly, though it seems that no one was paying attention to her. As a result, she starts to speak more softly, too softly for Shaula to hear at that point.

Yet, Shaula has to know more. She is seeing some serious warnings around Ava’s behavior. She can’t see the full picture yet, but from Ava’s words, she couldn’t believe that she was really concerned about Samantha’s wellbeing even in the slightest.

The first thing she considers is that Samantha’s life was like a puzzle to Ava. The loss of the poor girl’s parents was like the full picture being turned into several puzzle pieces that had to be reassembled through various means, such as going into Samantha’s family home. Though, even she couldn’t see what full picture Ava was looking for.

Would she eventually be satisfied in digging up the past or would she just continue scrutinizing every detail of Samantha’s life? Shaula can’t tell right now.

The second thing she thinks about is the possibility that Ava views Samantha like a person might view a true crime case. If that were the case then Ava would be attempting to sensationalize Samantha’s tragedy, maybe not even for social media but purely for herself.

Although, hasn’t she been posting openly about Samantha’s life both to garner sympathy for Samantha but… probably also for her own clout…

Then came the third possibility that Ava had some twisted obsession with Samantha. Did she find some sick thrill in going through Samantha’s entire life with a fine-toothed comb—

No, no, I can’t just assume things like this, no more assumptions… I need to hear more!

While Ava and Maddy keep talking too quietly for Shaula to hear, she discreetly takes out a device from her purse. She connects it to her phone and spends a minute adjusting it properly. This time Ajax took notice of what she was doing. His expression turns slightly frantic.

“Shaula, wh-what are you doing!? Put that away!” He whispers.

“Shut up, Ajax. I’ll explain it all later. I just need to hear something.”

Ajax tries to reach out for the device but Shaula bats his hand away without even glancing at him. She still has to appear discreet enough so that Ava and Maddy wouldn’t move their discussion elsewhere or suspect her of trying to eavesdrop.

The device in Shaula’s hand is a simple eavesdropping tool, one that cost thirty dollars and was available for purchase at any tech store. It wasn’t specifically used for listening in on conversations, but was marketed for parents who wanted to hear their playing kids while sitting at a distance. Still, its uses were perfect for the current situation.

However, Ajax knew that if someone saw the device they might be able to recognize it and figure out that Shaula was trying to eavesdrop on someone’s conversation. That kind of thing could result in reprimanding from the school which started to explicitly prohibit recording people on school grounds starting earlier this semester.

Hmph. It was mostly because of that sleazy fucking prick who was fired after he was seen walking and flirting with high school students, the school just wanted to protect creeps like that, just because some of the rich parents liked the guy.

Still, the consequences be damned, Shaula couldn’t keep herself from listening in. She adjusted the direction of the ultrasensitive microphone and fixed the volume and equalizer settings on her phone. After a few seconds, she was able to clearly hear Ava and Maddy speaking.