Milan curled his hand over her mouth and crossed his other arm horizontally above her chest. Her arms dangled, and her gray eyes were soft. Her warm breaths came out quick, damp against his skin. Wasn’t she going to resist? Scream? Wasn’t she even going to try?

“Who are you?” Milan asked. “Why are you following us?”

Her eyes shifted between Milan and his hand on her mouth. He lifted his hand, and she exhaled.

“You don’t know who I am?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

She folded her arms behind her back and cast her eyes downward, kicking a pebble by her feet. “Never mind. I won’t bother you anymore.”

She didn’t get to take a step before Milan shoved her against the wall.

“You’re not going anywhere. You’ll answer my questions. Who are you, and why are you following us?”

Her eyes gleamed as if brimming with tears. She opened her mouth, but only a tiny sound came out, before she closed it again. Milan glared at her and tightened his grip on her. He wouldn’t let her go, if that was what she was thinking.

“You — you really don’t remember me?” she finally said, as if she’d realized he wasn’t lying. “We go to the same high school. I’m a senior, a year above you.”

Milan pushed his head close to her, examining every detail of her face, but his memory of her was blank.

“Prove it. Where’s your student card?” he asked.

She probably didn’t even have one. She was lying. At least, that was what he thought until she dug up her student card from her wallet. ‘Pine Hill High School’ was written on it with capital letters. The same high school as Milan. Underneath it, the words formed into the name ‘Amica Summers’ along with a picture of her smiling awkwardly.

Milan pulled his head back. “Fine. But that doesn’t explain why you were following us.”

“I want to apologize.” She wrung her hands together. Droplets of sweat glistened on her forehead. “Firstly, for ruining your salad. But mostly for bumping into you that day at school.”

Milan squeezed his hands into fists. How could anyone lie so casually? Running all this way after them to apologize? What a joke.

“I know what you might be thinking,” Amica continued, and Milan wondered how his facial expression looked like for her to know. “What I did was unforgivable. I’m sorry.”

Eli laughed and slapped her hand on her thigh. “Bumpin’ into someone’s unforgivable?” She burst into another fit of laughter.

“He seemed to be in a hurry. And mad.”

“He always seems mad.”

“That never happened,” Milan said, before they had a chance to dive into a conversation of how mad he was or seemed. “I know you’re after me for another reason. Now, spill it.” He tilted his upper body downward, eyes locked into hers. “You’re after me to rat me out to the police, right?”

“W-what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.”

She looked down, and her lips narrowed into a line. Milan could feel her body stiffen, shaking, and her breathing came out jagged. And that was when he realized he’d hit the nail on the head.

But instead, she shook her head. “I don’t believe you did it.”

“Wait, what?” Eli switched her glance from a random place back to Amica. “You know ‘bout it?”

“I guess,” Amica said. “The rumor that he killed his parents is all everyone talks about at school.”

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Milan felt a sudden dizziness take over him. Of course, the rumor had reached the school. Why wouldn’t it?

He’d never be able to return there. Even if he did, his life would never go back to the way it was. If there was a tiny chance his trial would result in his acquittal, people would still wonder about him. They’d still think he did it. They’d whisper about him in the hallways, sending glares his way but avoid him like the plague. He needed to find the real culprit. If he could get him to admit it, most suspicion about him would be erased.

“But don’t worry.” Amica lifted her lips halfway up, probably in an attempt to smile. “Not everyone believes it. Including me.”

Their eyes met for a second. Her facial features were gentle, and Milan realized that his reaction to her last statement had made his mouth fall open. He closed it again.

“And why is that?” Milan asked.

“Because even though you called me klutz, you’re actually a nice person deep inside. I trust you.”

Milan had to take a mental break. What on earth? He didn’t understand a thing.

“Why do you act like you know me?” was the only question he managed to ask.

“I do know you. We’re friends.”

Milan adjusted his posture, stepping back. If she wasn’t lying before, she had to be lying now. Milan had no clue who she was. But she looked at him with a strict gaze, and her brows knitted together. Her black, wavy hair framed her face. Hadn’t he seen this hair before? Wait, he had.

She did bump into him on that day when he was late for his exam. And he probably did call her a klutz, but Milan’s memory was hazy. But all of that aside, something still didn’t add up.

“You ran all this way after me to apologize because you bumped into me? Even after I called you a klutz?”

Amica nodded, her hair fluttering around her face. “I also needed to tell you something else…”

Milan’s stomach rumbled. Loudly. He felt the heat rising, and he didn’t need a mirror to know the color of his face.

“All this talking’s made me hungry, I suppose,” he mumbled and scratched the back of his neck. He pointed at the takeaway paper bag dropped on the ground. “Who does this belong to?”

“You guys.” Amica’s glance shifted between Milan and Eli.

Milan’s hands acted on their own, stuffing the burger in his mouth. He ate at such a speed, he could barely breathe, but it didn’t matter. His stomach felt like an endless pit of hunger.

“I thought a healthy body’s a healthy mind,” Eli said.

“Burgers are healthy. Isn’t that so?” Milan threw the other burger to Eli.

Eli threw it back. “You eat it. I ate already.”

“Thanks.” He pointed the burger at Amica. “And, uh, thank you too. For bringing it.”

He opened his mouth to take a bite, but his hand froze. It wasn’t poisoned, was it? He couldn’t trust this girl. But then what? His stomach tightened. It was the pain of going too long without eating. And he’d already eaten the other one without thinking. Being hungry really clouded his rationality.

“What’s wrong?” Amica asked. “Don’t you like it?”

Milan looked at the burger. The grease slipped out of the patty as if drenched in fat, and the vegetables were limp and dry. But the worst was…

“The pickles,” Milan blurted out. “I hate pickles.”

Eli let out her typical har-har-har laugh and smacked her fist against Milan’s back. “Better than prison food, right?”

Whatever. The first burger was already deep inside Milan’s stomach, and he didn’t feel anything odd yet. He took the chance and bit into the second burger.

“I should leave now,” Amica said. “I must study for the finals. I still haven’t opened a book, so-”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Milan said. He stood, wiping away the grease around his mouth. “You’re coming with us.”

“Why?” Amica and Eli said at the same time.

“I don’t trust you. The moment we let you go, who knows what you’re going to do? Notify the police? Reveal our location?” Milan snorted. “I’m not letting that happen. You’ll be under my supervision until I find the shithead who killed my parents.”

“You’re gonna kidnap her?” Eli said. Milan half-expected she’d follow up with ‘how fun!’, but the only thing filling his ears was the silence between the three of them.

Deep inside, Milan knew he was screwed. It wasn’t like he could force her to come along. He didn’t need additional crimes added to his criminal record. Not that it mattered. He was screwed either way.

“It won’t be abducting if I agree to go, right?” Amica broke the silence. “I don’t feel like taking that math exam. I’m not so good at it.”

Milan glared at her, attempting to process her words. Agreeing to be abducted to avoid an exam? In her final year of high school? That was a new kind of lazy. A stupid kind.

He straightened his shirt. Maybe he wasn’t as screwed as he thought. “Now that it’s settled, it’s time to go back.”

“Back where? Prison?” Eli said.

“Home.”