My name is Julia Martinez.

It all started a long time ago. When I stepped foot in the detention room for the very first time in my life. 

Before we continue, I want to make one thing very clear. I am a good student. I’ve always had top grades, tried to be the kindest I could be to everyone, and was the notorious “teacher's pet” that would immediately tell the nearest faculty member that Josh Simmons from 4th period had cursed again.

But I suppose even the mighty can fall.

I had been babysitting my 3 younger siblings the night before. Santiago, his twin Marla, and my baby brother Pedro. Adorable lot, but awfully energetic. 

Our parents had been out on their wedding anniversary date, and they returned very late, as they had bumped into a few college friends.

Which meant that I, Julia Martinez, was late for school. I had slept through my alarm, and had to brush my teeth while dressing myself and tie my hair up all at the same time.

And even more unfortunate for me, I had Mrs. Carterson as my first period.

Up until that point, I rather liked Mrs. Carterson— even though she was strict and uptight and constantly looked like someone had placed rotting roadkill underneath her whenever she addressed the class.

Well, not anymore.

I had rushed into the classroom, and could feel the stares of all 25 of my classmates boring into me.

“Ah, Ms. Martinez.” Mrs. Carterson’s voice sliced through the invisible tension in the room. She lifted an eyebrow. “Finally decided to join us, hm?”.

“Yes Mrs. Carterson I-“

“I don’t recall permitting you to speak, Ms. Martinez.”

My face flushed pink. How embarrassing.

“Apologies.”

“Yes yes.” Mrs. Carterson turned back to the whiteboard and wrote my name under the detention list.

A silent gasp echoed through the classroom.

She snapped back towards me.

“I hope this will teach you to not barge into my class so loudly, then cut off an adult while they are speaking.” Her eyes narrowed. “Now take a seat.”.

————

I silently sat down at the lunch table, my friend Bernard placed his lunchbox next to mine.

I couldn’t greet him. 

I was in shock.

I was a good student.

I always got As.   

I was a good student.

Never been in detention.

I now understood why everyone looked at me weird when I had defended Mrs. Carterson a few months ago.

This would be on my record.

I was a good student.

I wouldn’t be able to enter the college I wanted to.

I was a good student.

They were known for not accepting students with even the slightest blemish on their records.

Even though I was a good student.

————

I slowly walked down the hall. I had called my parents to inform them I would be sitting in detention until 3:45 PM.

I tuned out their furious yells and tried to hold back my tears.

I was a worthless daughter.

I opened the door to a mostly empty classroom, except for four other people.

The usuals, Josh Simmons and Simon Joshson.

Despite their similar names, the two absolutely despised each other. If you saw one of them in the halls, it was almost guaranteed the other was somewhere close, glaring at his adversary.

For this reason, people started calling them the “Secret Lovers of Heatherside High” much to their chagrin.

I looked around the room and saw Andrea Becker-Chase. She was well-known throughout the school for spreading mostly nonsense and harmless rumors that made everyone crack a smile. 

But after her massive falling out with her ex-girlfriend, she spread a much more malicious rumor that almost ended up getting the ex-girlfriend expelled.

Personally, I thought it was extremely impressive that Andrea had somehow managed to convince the entire school of the rumor. 

Anger is a powerful motive.

“Yooooo, class prez!” 

I turned to see Jamie Chen grinning at me from across the prison-like room, their wide smile reminded me of Cheshire Cat. 

“Ah, Jamie.” I walked over and sat down next to them. “How did you get in this time?”

They laughed.

Jamie Chen. Formerly known as Jamie Warner, they adopted their step-father’s last name after he officially adopted them and their younger sister. They used to be one of the top students at the school, so the two of us held a friendly rivalry.

However, once their parents divorced, Jamie drastically changed. While their grades were as pristine as ever, their behavior became less meek and friendly, more outgoing and troublesome.

“The usual, talked back to Mr. Thomson. He gets all sensitive, sends me here.” They leaned back dangerously on their chair and yawned luxuriously.

“I see, well-“

“Oh! Look who’s here, Simon, my boy.” A loud snicker echoed through the room.

The Secret Lovers of Heatherside High were sitting at the same table, which really didn’t help combat the fact that everyone thought they were dating.

“Yes, yes.” Simon waved Josh off as he scrolled through his phone, uninterested in what his boyfriend thought. 

“Oh c’mon! This is a sight that only happens once in a million years!” He gestured towards me like I was a zoo animal. “Julia Martinez of the Class of XXXX in detention? A true masterpiece!” 

Over the course of the next half hour, Josh proceeded to make fun of me. For no other reason than to entertain that pea-brain of his. No one said a word. We all tried to ignore him, but then-

“It seems like Ms. Martinez isn’t enrolling into Ravenwood anytime soon~”

“Hey!” I spat out. 

“Ah, is Ms. Martinez finally letting herself go? Don’t be shy, now that your chances of getting into that dream college of yours is gone, let loose sweetheart! No need to hold back!”

He didn’t know how true his words would become.

He laughed boisterously, Simon glared at him over his phone. Jamie bristled next to me. I felt humiliation and rage creeping through my bones.

“How about you shut your mouth Josh,” Andrea drawled as she toyed with her pocket knife. “Pick on someone your own size. Julia did nothing wrong. You on the other hand….” She wrinkled her nose. 

It was clear what had landed Josh in detention. A bruise on his collarbone, flakes of blood on his nose, messed up hair. Coupled with the fact that Simon’s clothes were slightly torn and he sported a black eye all pointed to the signs of them having one of their lover’s spats again.

“Hah! This piece of -“ I cringed at his vulgar words. “-deserved it.”

“Watch your mouth Simmons,” Simon snapped. 

“No, I don’t think I will-“ Josh’s smug sentence was cut off by Simon leaping over the table and punching him square in the nose, effectively knocking Josh out.

And like magic, the lights stopped working.

————

I couldn’t really explain what happened next. There were surprised shouts from Simon and Andrea, and I could feel Jamie whipping their head around.

I tripped over the unconscious body of Josh. My previous anger welled up. I tried to suppress it.

It didn’t work.

Darkness.

The distant yelling of the students who had stayed for rehearsals, tutoring, whatever.

It was chaos.

I felt my way across the floor, narrowly avoiding Simon’s feet. I couldn’t get knocked out now.

I was searching.

Searching for….something.

Searching….

Searching….

Aha.

————-

I felt crowded against the wall, I had Jamie’s jacket gripped tight in my hands. I wasn’t sure how it ended up there, but it served as a way to anchor myself. 

And as soon as it began, the chaos ended.

The lights flashed on.

We all (well, the conscious ones) exited the classroom. I looked back at the prone form of Josh. 

“C’mon,” Simon said. “Don’t worry about him.”

[Attention to all students and faculty, please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion, thank you.]

“I don’t think I can.” I muttered.

————

“Hello Julia! What are you doing here so late?” asked Felix Newgrooves. 

Vice President of the student council, Felix took his job rather seriously. He always showed up to all the meetings, never had a sick day, and like me, had never been in detention.

Until now. 

I looked to the side. While yes, we were quite close and entrusted our secrets to each other, I felt embarrassed to tell my closest confidante about my ridiculous blunder and the more foolish consequence that followed it.

And it didn't help that this persistent, nagging, quite guilty feeling kept rising up inside of me.

Felix smiled, “It’s alright if you don’t want to tell me,” he patted my back and walked away. He looked upbeat, which was a miracle considering that he had been in the middle of tutoring the 6th graders from the middle school 5 blocks away.

Ah yes, good old Felix. Intuitive as always. 

I felt bad for not telling him what had made me so down in the dumps. I silently promised myself to tell him the next day, maybe have one of our heart-to-hearts….

My train of thought was stopped as I heard the principal ask one of the newly exited students from the school building if anyone was still in there.

“Yes actually,” she responded, “At least, I think.”

She gestured towards the detention room’s windows. 

“They were in there.”

————

Click

[BREAKING NEWS: LOCAL BOY FOUND DEAD DUE TO STAB WOUND IN NECK. CHIEF SUSPECT NAMED AS ONE ANDREA BECKER-CHASE, NOW IN POLICE CUSTODY. STAY TUNED FOR MORE-]

Click

————

The next week, the school was abuzz with rumor and gossip.

How strange that something Andrea had enjoyed so much would be used in such a terribly malicious way against her.

I wouldn’t be able to enjoy such frivolities however, as I was busy being interrogated by the police.

————

I met the frosty grey eyes of Detective Govan. He looked determined. For what, I wasn’t too sure. 

I stared back at him.

“Ms. Martinez, what was your relation to the victim?”

The questioning had begun.

“He was a classmate of mine. 4th period, if I recall correctly.”

Tick 

Tock

Tick….

“And did you hear anything that could have indicated his death?”

“Honestly, I couldn’t hear anything at all, Simon and Andrea were yelling, and there were some other noises outside as well.”

“I see, then,” he shifted in his seat. I could tell he was new at this. Being able to read people like a book truly was an interesting trait to have sometimes.

He cleared his throat.

“Do you think Ms. Becker-Chase was the one who did it?”

I averted my eyes. 

On one hand, Andrea was generally a nice girl despite her extremely petty streak. She was funny, quick to defend anyone who was being harassed, and never turned down anyone who needed to copy her homework.

On the other hand….

Well, it was her fingerprints on the murder weapon.

Detective Govan looked at me with curiosity. 

It hurt my heart, but-

“Yes. I do think so.”

————

“And that,” said Mrs. Julia Newgrooves, “was how it all ended.”

She gazed across the table at the stunned police officers.

“Until now, that is.”

Julia smiled serenely at the duo.

“But Mrs. Newgrooves I don’t understand!” One of them burst out.

“Why in the world would you confess now? 40 years after all that took place?” 

“I must admit, back then I was so afraid. I had killed the poor boy in a fit of rage, and since Ravenwood had decided to give me a second chance, I very well couldn’t give myself up.”

She continued on.

“I felt guilty for the longest time, before realizing that remorse wouldn’t bring the dead back.”

Julia’s eyes seem to be in a faraway place, a place with buried memories and old regrets. 

“After I graduated, I married Felix. He and I were going through a similar situation at the time,” She smiled bitterly. “He’d caught his girlfriend cheating on him, and I’d just come out of a terribly toxic relationship.”

“It was a mutual agreement between the two of us. We were tired of the whirlwind nature of romance. We wanted someone safe to marry. Someone reliable,” Julia seemed to come out of her trance. “Despite all appearances, the two of us never truly loved one another. We were just two friends who ended up stuck in the same boat.”

The officers sat in shock. The Newgrooves were the couple. The one the Smithsons got divorced over. The one that was almost too wholesome. They were what every family decor magazines modeled after. So to learn that all of it hadn’t come from a place of love was extremely unnerving to hear.

“But Mrs. Newgrooves, why did you subjugate yourself into a loveless marriage?” One of them asked.

“I never said I didn’t enjoy Felix’s company. I greatly appreciated the time we spent together.” Julia stared at the two. “We didn’t have a child together for nothing.”

She frowned.

“Ah Sarah, I hope she’ll do well for herself. She was so distraught over Felix’s death.”

Julia then fondly smiled.

“I’m sure Sarah will pull through. She was so excited about going abroad to her college. I have full confidence in my girl. She’s become a tough young lady. She’s smart, charming, compassionate.”

Julia then closed her eyes, slowly.

“Unlike me.”

The three sat quietly in the same room where Julia had sealed the fate of an unlucky Andrea Becker-Chase some 40 years ago.

“Well.”

The two officers snapped out of their stupor as Julia smiled at them, like she hadn’t just confessed to killing a person.

“What do you say we get this whole thing over and done with, hm?”

Julia turned her head slightly away. 

“I'm sure you two are just dying to know how I murdered Josh, correct?”

The duo noises mutely.

Julia sighed as she shifted in her seat.

————

I felt around the floor of the classroom, Simon and Andrea had started arguing about what could’ve possibly happened. Jamie was trying to get between the two, attempting to separate them. 

Josh was still unconscious.

My fingers found the soft cotton of Jamie’s jacket. I clenched onto it. There would be only one chance for this.

I turned my attention to Andrea’s discarded pocket knife. It had nearly slashed my calf when I fell.

The pounding in my ears grew louder and louder. 

The darkness surrounding me grew deafening. More intense than all the ruckus kicked up by my peers and faculty members.

But not louder than the anger roaring through me. 

I could hear Josh’s faint breathing. But it felt so distant. So, so distant….

.

.

.

.

I slowly wrapped my hand around in Jamie’s jacket. 

Picked up the knife.

And went for the throat.

————

And so, Julia Newgrooves was led out of the interrogation room in handcuffs

Yet,

Julia Martinez couldn’t help but feel free.

The End