He watches Anna and her tall friend part ways at a fork in the path ahead. Seeing the opportunity to speak with her alone, he jogs up to her as she ambles along the path. “Hey, Anna,” he says as he falls in step beside her.

She turns to him, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. “Oh, hey… Josh, right?”

Josh can’t help but grin at the fact that she remembers his name. “Yup, that’s me.”

After a brief pause, she asks, “So… did you need something?”

Josh blushes. “Oh, r-right, sorry,” he stammers. “I um… missed something important toward the end of the lecture. One of my friends just wouldn’t shut up. Guys, am I right… haha… anyway, did you happen to catch that last equation? The parallel circuits one?”

Anna laughs apologetically. “Sorry, but I’m the last person to ask about that stuff. I just draw the diagrams. But I’m sure Wally caught it, so I could ask him and get back to you next lecture.”

“That’d be great, thanks,” Josh replies with a smile that belies his disappointment that their conversation is already coming to an end.

She nods and says, “Talk to you then,” before picking up her pace to reach her next class. Just as she leaves earshot, Josh hears pounding footsteps behind him, followed by a vigorous slap on the back that sends him stumbling forward.

“Yo, Josh,” Austin shouts, completely unapologetic for almost knocking him over. He’s broad-shouldered and muscular, standing several inches above him. Boisterous and more than a bit dense, he’s not the sort of person Josh would typically associate with, but being on the swim team together had made them into circumstantial friends.

Josh sighs. “Hey man, take it easy would ya?”

Austin laughs at him. “Sure buddy. Anyway, do you know that chick?” He points at Anna’s receding figure in the distance.

Josh tenses and narrows his eyes. “She’s just a classmate. Why?”

Austin shrugs. “Just wanna know her name, that’s all.”

Josh elbows him in the ribs, a bit harder than intended. “Why, so you can get in her pants?” he asks, only half joking.

“Woah dude, chill,” Austin winces, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “Trust me, she’s totally not my type. Like, you couldn’t even pay me to—”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Josh interrupts, not wanting to hear whatever vulgar ending Austin had planned for that sentence. “What do you want her name for, then?”

“Damn, what is this, 20 questions? I just saw her at a party the other day and her uh… friends were smokin’ hot. So I wanted to ask her for her friends’ numbers. That okay, your majesty?”

Josh shoots him an annoyed look, but the tension eases from his shoulders. “Yeah, whatever. You really do have a one track mind. Anyway, her name’s Anna. Annalise Tran. Happy?”

Austin replies with a smug grin, “Very.” Josh doesn’t see why Austin would need Anna’s name to ask for her friends’ numbers, but most of the things Austin does make little sense to him, so he decides not to dwell on the matter. Instead, he revisits what Austin said about seeing Anna at a party. Anna didn’t really strike Josh as the partying sort, nor the type to have a “smokin’ hot” gaggle of friends to party with. From what he’d seen of her, she was fairly introverted and withdrawn. In fact, he’d only ever seen her hang out with one other person, a guy. Did she have a secret night life he wasn’t aware of?

Josh shakes his head, scolding himself for being too quick to make assumptions. Preoccupied with his own thoughts, he doesn’t notice the dark look passing over Austin’s face.

***

When the first rays of daylight began to peek through the blinds, I was finally able to fall asleep, though it wasn’t long before I was awoken by Anna’s 9 AM alarm. I groaned, wrested from the sleep I had fought so hard for. After getting ready, I left the dorm and headed for physics. When I arrived at the lecture hall, I found Wally sitting in one of the middle rows, off to the side. “Hey,” I said, taking a seat next to him.

“Oh, hey,” he replied.

“You didn’t want a front-row seat?” I asked, knowing Wally liked to be an active participant.

“Nah, I figured this would be better so we could discuss things. Besides, I can still see the board just fine from here.”

“Oh, okay. I—” I was cut off by a shrill, nasal voice behind me.

“Oh. My. God. Austin did what?!” Wally and I both turned around. Behind us, a girl with blond hair tied up in a tight bun was whispering something to her friend, whose mouth was agape.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The blond girl winced. “Keep it down,” she hissed, then noticed us staring.

“Mind if we ask what that was about?” Wally asked.

The blond girl sighed. “Yeah, but try not to spread it around,” she said, giving her friend a pointed look before turning back to us. “Were you guys at that big frat party in February? They called it something dumb… ‘Triple Twos’, I think? Something like that.”

Wally seemed to recognize the name. “On the 22nd, right? Yeah, we were there,” he replied.

“Did you happen to see anything fishy with Austin McGregor? He’s this big, buff white dude. Acts like a classic frat boy douchebag. Red-head, spiky hair, loud as hell. He’s pretty hard to miss.”

Wally shook his head, and I followed his lead.

“Well,” the girl continued, “my friend said she got super wasted at that party and he…” she looked around before leaning in. “Let’s just say he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Anyway, someone overheard them and interrupted before things went too far. My friend finally reported the incident two weeks ago, so now we’re trying to find the chick who helped her out. She’s the only witness we know of, so she’d be huge for making the case. Problem is, my friend never got her name.”

Wally frowned. “Sorry to hear that happened to your friend. Do you think she would recognize the person who helped her?”

“Probably,” she replied. “And one of our other friends saw her, too. She’s been looking around campus, but no luck so far. There’s just too many people, and her memory from that night is pretty fuzzy.”

“Sounds rough. We’ll let you know if we hear anything,” Wally said.

“Yeah, thanks. I’m Lauren, by the way.” We introduced ourselves, then turned back around.

I opened my mouth, about to speak, but Wally shook his head to quiet me. After class, he scribbled on his notebook. I nodded in agreement.

Once lecture ended, we left together. After making sure Lauren wasn’t nearby, Wally said to me, “Anna and I were at that party. Actually, that’s the only party we ever went to. Anna seemed really out of it when we left, but I thought it was just from the alcohol…”

Things started falling into place. ‘A’, Austin McGregor, party, keep your mouth shut. Anna really had witnessed a crime.

Coming to the same conclusion as I did, Wally ran a hand through his hair. “Shit,” he muttered.

“Do you really think it was him?” I asked, wanting to confirm we were on the same page.

“I mean, it all adds up. The investigation started two weeks ago, around the same time Anna received that threat. Then, someone kills her two days later. And you heard what Lauren said, Austin’s a buff guy. He could’ve easily overpowered her. So he had the means and the motive, and he clearly isn’t against hurting women. But I just don’t understand…” he turned to me with a pained look. “Why didn’t Anna ever tell me about all this? I mean, we were best friends. At least, I thought we were…”

Unsure of what to say or how to comfort him, I tried to pat him on the back, but he shrugged me off. “Look, I have to get to class, and so do you. We can discuss this more at lunch.” He picked up the pace, refusing to look at me. I let him go, knowing he needed space.

Calculus lecture was uneventful, but I found it difficult to concentrate with so many thoughts and worries swirling around in my head. Nessa seemed to pick up on it, asking if I was okay, but I just told her I hadn’t slept well that night. Which, to be fair, I hadn’t.

As soon as lecture ended, I raced to the dining hall, eager to talk to Wally about the bombshell we’d received. I chose a booth near the entrance and took a seat. Not long after, Wally found me and set his things in the seat across from me. He wordlessly pulled out his wallet and handed me a $10 bill.

“Oh, um, you don’t have to…” I said, pleasantly surprised by his offer.

He rolled his eyes. “Did you manage to get some money, then?”

I looked down at the table, fidgeting with my hands. “Well, no but—”

“Then take it.” He placed the bill on the table and left to get food. I reluctantly took the bill and used it to buy a black bean burger, with a few dollars left over. I would have ordered a real burger, but I knew Nessa would be done with her classes around this time and didn’t want to that risk.

Wally was just setting down his tray when I returned to our table. I tried to hand him what was left of his money, but he shook his head. “You need it more than I do,” he said. “Besides, you said you’d pay me back someday, right? So let’s just call it a loan.”

“Okay,” I replied, taking a bite from my burger to hide my smile.

“Anyway,” he continued, “I did some digging on Austin. Turns out, he and Josh are on the swim team together.”

“Josh as in the guy who found me in the forest? The one in our physics lecture?” I asked.

Wally nodded. “And luckily for us, he’s also in our physics section.” Which was in less than an hour.

We agreed to find out more about Austin from Josh after section, then tried to quickly finish our meals. When we were almost finished eating, a tall girl with brown hair in a long, intricately woven braid walked up to our table. “Hey, sorry to disturb you but were you guys at that big party last February? It was on—” she stopped abruptly, looking directly at me. “Wait, do I know you?”

Before I could respond, Wally answered in my place. “Probably not. We don’t party.”

The girl shot him a glare. “I wasn’t talking to you,” she huffed before looking back at me expectantly.

I knew Wally was lying, but realized it would be best to play along. “N-no, I don’t think I’ve ever met you before,” I replied, nervous despite technically telling the truth. She squinted, looking me up and down, as I shoved the remainder of my burger into my mouth. I hoped that, between my puffed out cheeks and the lack of Anna’s distinctive hairpin, she wouldn’t make the connection.

Time seemed to stretch as she studied my face closely, until finally she ended her scrutiny. “Hmm, okay. Well, sorry to bother you,” she said before walking to another table. Once she was out of earshot, I breathed a sigh of relief and sank into my seat.

“That was close,” Wally exhaled, his voice shaking slightly.

“Yeah… I feel so bad for them though. Anna can't testify so... what will happen to the case? Do... do you think I should come forward as the witness?”

“No way,” he responded firmly. “You aren’t Anna, and you didn’t witness anything. One wrong move and your cover would be blown. Besides, that bastard has a bigger crime to answer for. He killed Anna, remember?”

“Yeah…” I sighed, crossing my arms and pursing my lips. It was frustrating, but I knew Wally was right. If I tried to come forward as Anna, everything would fall apart when they pressed me for details. So, as much as I wanted to help Austin’s victim win her case, I couldn’t. But I would make certain that both she and Anna got justice. No one else would have to suffer at the hands of Austin McGregor ever again.