•3118 words•

Omg. Crofley's then. How does that sound, Brooke? I honestly can't believe that Ash and I have done this. We've actually come this far. Next week we're going to Crofley's. The biggest crime academy in the UK. Third biggest in the world. If that's not some achievement, then what is?

It's Monday night and Ash and I meet up again after school. The both of us talk about all this Crofley's stuff. We are literally one step away from travelling over 11,000 miles away to the other side of the world. Woah. That is pretty cool. Well, very cool. I am worried to death about tomorrow. I'm not sure what's up with Ashlyn, she seems extremely excited whilst I'm over here nearly crying of worry. It almost seems like she doesn't care. That's just her personality though. And that's what I love her for. It's not easy when you fall in love with your best friend, and I still don't know if I should try try and find out if she's bi.

"Brooke, do you think we'll do good tomorrow? I defo do! To be honest I don't really care. No, wait. Of course I care. We could be living on the other side of the world! I don't know why I said I don't care, you know what I m-"
I stop her.
"Hey, Ash. Stop worrying, you seem really excited but I can just tell that you're nervous because you can't stop talking. It's okay, it's a coping mechanism. I do it sometimes Ash. We're going to do great, okay? And yes I know what you m-"
I stop myself on purpose to mimic where Ash got up to in her sentence. We both burst out laughing. Whether it was nervous laughter or not, I don't know.

We run up to each other and give each other a huge hug. I say I love you, she says it back and we walk separate directions. I do actually love, LOVE her though. I just don't know how she feels about me. Being real, I think we are better off as just friends. I love her though. I don't know. I don't have anything figured out at the minute, really. All I need to focus on now though, is that that I could be moving to New Zealand in a few weeks time. That is just- mental.

I can't sleep. I sit on my bed glaring at the moon. Tomorrow is probably the biggest day of my life. I've been alive for just over 15 years and tomorrow is the biggest day of those 15 years. Wow. If you want to do the maths, that's over 5500 days. Now that's a lot when you think tomorrow gonna be the scariest, most nerve-wracking day of it. I pull my favourite oversized hoodie over my knees, pull out my journal and a pen, and start to write about all my worries and thoughts with New Zealand and Crofley's. I am definitely more worried than Ashlyn. I could see in the excitement in those gorgeous eyes. Maybe I should take something from Ashlyn. Maybe I should be excited. Throwing down my journal, I quickly pull my hood over my head, pull the covers over me and shut my eyes. Amazingly, I manage to fall asleep.

Oh damn.
Today's Tuesday. Yep it's Tuesday again. The day of horror. But I'm not scared this week. I jump out of my bed, cross my arms and grab the bottom of my hoodie. I pull it over my head, throw my school uniform on quicker than I ever have, run into the bathroom to brush my teeth, run downstairs to get my bag ready, fix my hair and get breakfast. Then I run out the door without shouting 'bye' to my foster carers. I ring Ash immediately and she says she's ready. We both run to school and give each other a massive hug (I think it's become a tradition to hug each other when we see each other). I tell her I love her, she says it back and I start to think she wants to be more than just friends, but despite my love for Ashlyn, I'm just not sure we could pull it off as lovers. This is making me more nervous. I need to figure out what my love for Ashlyn actually means. I don't know if it is more than just being friends anymore. I have slight suspicions that she could be bi so without even thinking, it just comes out. I ask "Hey, Ash, I was just wondering something. It's been on my mind for so long now, I'm losing track of when it all started. Probably when we met but I really hope you're not listening to a word I'm saying."
Brooke just get to the point, will you?

"Right, never-mind all that. I was just wondering your sexuality because I think that guy over there's really hot and um I was wondering if we could look around school and see about the hot guys, or girls if you're bi or lesbian. By the way, I don't judge. In fact I'm bisexual myself so-"
I stop myself. I get carried away when I get into something. I can't believe that just came out my mouth though!!! It's been on my mind for weeks and then it all just...suddenly came out?
Maybe I shouldn't have done that.

"It's okay, Brooke. Well done for coming out to me. I always thought I was straight but when I met you... I'm not too sure anymore so um yeah... I kinda wanted to tell you but I wasn't really sure how to tell you because I thought we were better off as friends. Best friends. I love you though. Thanks for mentioning this, Brooke. It's been on my mind for a while too. I'm not saying I like you in that way, and I'm definitely not asking you out. I'm just not too sure yet to make a clear decision on it. I'm sorry. I'm 15 and it's not something to make a judgement on straight away. You know, it takes time."

Oh m-
I burst down into tears. When I finally get the courage to speak again, I say:

"Look, Ash. It took me years to make sure of it myself so I understand what you mean. What I don't know though, is what you mean by 'when I met you.' That- have I turned your view on things or...?"
"Yeah, I think- I don't know. I'm just not sure of things yet. Maybe we should just pretend this conversation never happened and we can just be best friends, what'd ya think?"
"Yeah of course, I'm sorry Ashlyn. It's just, it's just that when I met you, I thought that I'd never seen a prettier girl in my entire life. And even though I'm bi, I do tend to be into guys more. You don't have to tell me when you're comfortable with who you like and who you don't like, but we could maybe gossip about pretty girls and hot guys. Haha. If you know for sure that you like guys though, we can talk about that!"
"Don't worry, Brooke. It's fine. I love you! Now let's do this. I'm so excited for tonight!"

I lean into kiss her and then think, 'Shoot. What are you doing? She doesn't even know if she likes girls, you idiot! You've even said that before. You were right. She doesn't know her sexuality yet, Brooke so, also like you said, don't pressure her or make her do anything she doesn't want to.'
I lean back and just smile at her. I start blushing and she smiles back at me. We both stand up and walk to music.

That did not just happen-

When I tell you I've never done anything like that before, I mean it. It's halfway through 3rd period and the coach is waiting at the school gates. Omg. Crofley's!! Ash and I go to the changing rooms, get changed into our typical type of outfits, (black for Ashlyn, purple for me) and run outside. This is just pure excitement at this point. We step up onto the coach and a Crofley's worker is stood there to greet us. She tells us what's going to happen and asks us are we nervous or excited, etc. Ashlyn bursts out with, "I don't really know, but I'm excited that I get to miss about 3 hours of school!" Haha. That's just the type of person she is. That's why I love Ashlyn Evanston.

We finally arrive at Crofley's. It's in Koolsbelle, Bridgewood. Ash and I both live in Bridgewood, but in opposite sides of the city. It's quite a big town to be honest, so Koolsbelle is quite far away from my house, quite close to Ash's. Our school is in Huddigton, a small town, also inside Bridgewood. We live in North East England, so we aren't very posh and Bridgewood is quite rough. Koolsbelle is probably the poshest part of Bridgewood, and that's where Crofley's is. I suppose it needs to be posh to be the third biggest crime academy in the world and the biggest in the whole of the UK.

The woman who greeted us on the coach would now be our director. She would be mine and Ash's commander, basically. She shows us where the audition room is and I am extremely nervous. There are 15 other teams here! From all around the country! Ash and I got lucky, really. We didn't have to come that far to get here unlike some that came from London. Our director's name is Lisha and she seems very nice. She talks us through everything so that we fully understand. I get the hang of things extremely quickly and so does Ash. She takes us to the practice room where Ashlyn and I can talk about our tactics, how we want to show off our skills, and more. Eventually, we come up with a plan and then we hear our team name on a loudspeaker, similar to the one at our school, Rigford's. There's no one from school here. No teachers came with us on the coach or anything. I look around and all I can see are other teenagers (most of them are boys) putting their heads down and planning so well, Ash and I look like we've got no experience in criminology but surprisingly, between the both of us, we have quite a lot.

"LYNLYN TEAM FROM RIGFORD'S HIGH SCHOOL, YOUR AUDITION WILL START SHORTLY. PLEASE PRACTICE YOUR ROUTINE ONE LAST TIME AND THEN YOU MAY PROCEED TO THE AUDITION ROOM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION."

Shoot. It all feels so real now. Not even a month ago I was a normal girl, well, I was a foster child living a somewhat normal life and now today's the day I find out if I'm moving to New Zealand with my best friend aka my crush! This is crazy.

This is it. The pair of us enter the room. It's a large room with a judging panel that looks a bit like the X-Factor. There's a stage and there are lights on the ceiling that are remote controlled. They look like spotlights. There are two grand speakers to the side of the stage's curtains and the stage is made of wood. There are tables, chairs, prop knives and guns, and dummies you can use as dead bodies. There are a few other props too. There are fake handcuffs, smashed window props, videotapes where you can record your own sound and videotapes with pre-recorded sounds of what people were doing at the time of different crimes. These were a bit like the suspects task we did last Tuesday at school. The thing that got us here. We're allowed to set things up and decide what props we want to use. Ash and I set up a scene and then we're finally ready to go.

This is it. Possibly the biggest moment of my life. We do this right, we're living in New Zealand, doing what we love. We do this wrong, we're both heartbroken, we go back to school and life stays the same. I know what I want to happen, obviously, but I need to not panic. We need to calm down. Okay, Brooklyn? Just breathe.

Here goes.

We set up all out props and we tell the judges the background story of the crime. We make it a mass murder and we put fake fingerprints down, fake blood, fake guns, everything. We make it so OTT because we just want to win this thing, of course. We carry on with our crime scene and make sure to make it as dramatic as possible, but also as real as we can. I don't want to walk out of here and say I'm living in foster care for the next 3 years of my life. Neither does Ash. We both want to go. We both need to go, really.

We finally finish our scene and, phew. I thank God that's over with, that's for sure. The judges all had their mouths wide open, they looked strikingly interested in us. Ash and I steadily walk out the room, and then jump into each other's arms as soon as no one can see us. I lean in to kiss her again, but no, Brooke, no. Don't do it. I managed to stop myself and we both let go. We go back into the waiting room and we're both so nervous but so proud of ourselves that we finally did it. This was all we've been waiting for for the past month! This time I could tell Ash was nervous. Her face told me. She smiled and those little dimples said it all. She tucked her baby hairs behind her ear and tightened her ponytail again. It sounds terrible but I can't stop looking at her.

The loudspeaker turns on again and my heart starts pounding in my chest, I can barely breathe. I'm sat on a chair in a mild-temperature room, but yet I'm sweating and it's feels like I've been running for days. I feel like either my lungs are gonna collapse or every one of my ribs are going to break inside of me. I'm sweating, but at the same time I'm shaking.  I can't keep still. My legs are twitching, my arms are shuddering, I feel like I'm about to die. Before wasn't the biggest moment if my life, this is.

"WE ARE NOW GOING TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER OF THIS YEAR'S CROFLEY'S AUDITION FOR TEENAGERS. YOU HAVE ALL PARTICIPATED EXTREMELY WELL IN THIS COMPETITION, BUT ONLY ONE OF YOU CAN JOIN CROFLEY'S AND MOVE TO NEW ZEALAND TO SOLVE MORE CRIMES! YOU WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH BERKLEY'S WHILST YOU ARE STILL HERE IN THE UK, AND THEN ONCE YOU MOVE TO NEW ZEALAND, YOU WILL STILL WORK CLOSELY WITH CROFLEY'S.  MAY WE HAVE A DRUMROLL, PLEASE."

*drumroll*

I physically can't breathe at this point. I think Ashlyn is about to die too. She has her head on the table, her elbows on the table too and her fingers crossed in the air. I can't look. I put my head on the table and decide not to make a drumroll. Ash decides not to make one either.

There is a long pause before they read the winner out. The best teen detectives in the country. The two people moving to New Zealand. This is unreal. I feel like this should be on TV or something, because it feels more tense than when they read the winner of Britain's Got Talent out to millions of people.
I shut my eyes.

"THE WINNER IS...THE LYNLYN TEAM FROM OUR HOMETOWN- BRIDGEWOOD! CONGRATULATIONS GIRLS! YOU MAY GO TO RECEPTION TO GRAB YOUR PLANE TICKETS, CERTIFICATES AND TROPHY. THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING, ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR DAY."

I-
I'm sorry what? That must be rigged. Ash looks at me and slowly pushes her chair backwards with her legs as she gradually and deliberately rose from it. She's starting at me and her jaw is almost touching her toes. She looks like she's just seen a ghost. She turns towards the speakers that read our names out, looks around the room at everyone clapping then looks at me again. I break into tears and then I feel a shadow's presence above my head. Ashlyn is stood on the table above me. She steps back, starts crying herself and asks me to stand on the table with her. I'm so confused but I do it anyway, she is my best friend (and my crush) after all. I step up onto the table and jump on top of her as I'm slightly lighter and she is much stronger than me.  We have a bit of one-on-one connection for a minute or two and then were told to get down and our moment away from reality suddenly came to an end. We get down off the table but neither of us can stop crying. We go over to Reception to grab our prizes and on our way out, one of the judges comes up to us along with Lisha, our director. They both come over and congratulate us. Even some other competitors come to us and shake our hands. Lisha says, "Well done girls! I'm so proud of you!! I can't wait to get to know you two better and to work with you. You seem like incredible crime-solvers and I'm sure we'll do absolutely great in New Zealand! I'm coming with you."
We smile at Lisha, thank her and give her a hug. One of the judges, whose name we just found out is Brittany, comes and says that we just did the best detective work she has ever seen and she has been a judge at Crofley's for over 20 years. Wow.
That is something.

We shake everyone's hand on the way out, take our prizes and our belongings and the coach is outside waiting for us. Lisha comes back with us and takes us home. It's dark now. Woah, we must have been there a while.

What a day that was. It really was the biggest day of my life and when they announced us as the winners, that was the biggest moment of my life. It also felt like the last moment of my life, I felt like I was gonna die! Well, looks like New Zealand, here we come!

Brooke x