natsukashii
(adj.) suddenly, euphoric nostalgic, triggered by experiencing something for the first time in years
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Eden's POV:

For the past five minutes, I've been standing idly in front of my house's front door. I was relieved that my parents couldn't see my shadow through the door; they would surely find it unsettling.

My hand hovered over the doorknob, but I was too nervous to turn it.

No, more than nervous - I was terrified. I've grown accustomed to my parents' anger from the numerous scoldings I've received over minor things.

But this situation was unlike anything I had faced before. I dreaded their reaction.

The sound of a lawnmower interrupted my thoughts. My next-door neighbor was mowing their lawn.

They gave me a strange, judgmental look when I glanced their way. I couldn't blame them; they had watched me stand motionless for what must have seemed like an eternity.

This reality check was what I needed. Taking a deep breath, I turned the doorknob and opened the door.

The pleasant smell of spaghetti welcomed me. My mother was at the stove, her back to me, her dark hair tied up in a bun.

I assumed she was stirring the spaghetti in a pot. If there's one thing to admire about my mother, it's her cooking skills. As much as I hate to admit it, she's an incredible cook.

I enjoy food and sometimes think I'm blessed to have her as my mother, despite her.. other less admirable traits.

I quietly closed the front door and tiptoed towards the stairs, hoping to reach my room unnoticed.

I had reached the staircase without making a sound and was about to take the first step when her voice stopped me.

"Eden" she said sternly.

My eyes widened.

I took a deep breath before responding, "Yeah?"

At this point, her back was still turned to me, so I couldn't gauge her reaction.

Her voice remained eerily stoic, which only heightened my panic.

"Care to tell me why you've come home during the middle of the day?" she asked.

Her voice was devoid of emotion. Either she knew, or I was being paranoid.

"I j-just came back to pick up an assignment," I stammered.

I mentally cursed myself for stuttering. Why the hell was I stuttering now? I almost never did. If she wasn't suspicious before, she surely was now.

"Alright then, hurry along and get back to school." she said.

That's it? She usually scolded me for being forgetful or missing class. Maybe it was just one of her very rare "good days"

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. As I started to go up the stairs, her voice stopped me once again.

"When were you planning on telling me you got suspended?" she asked.

Her voice was a mix of fury and annoyance. I turned to face her. She was leaning against the kitchen counter, arms crossed.

My response was silence. What could I say that would change her mind or make anything better?

"Go to your room," she ordered.

This typically meant I was grounded for an undetermined period of time . I nodded, expecting her to scold me further.

"What are you waiting for? Go. Now."she said, her voice slightly raised.

Was she really gonna let me off that easily?

I glanced towards the living room where three people were chatting animatedly . It clicked. She had guests over.

I felt gratitude for their presence, sparing me from a lecture. I could only hope she'd be as lenient once they left. With that, I went to my room.

...

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The Next Day
Kiara's POV:

It was late last night when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Eden. As I picked up the call, she broke the news to me.

She had gotten into a fight at school, which led to her suspension. As if getting suspended wasn't bad enough, her parents were furious and decided to ground her indefinitely.

This news left me feeling extremely worried. We were in the midst of an investigation and I knew there would be obstacles, but I hadn't anticipated losing a crucial member of our team.

I never thought that in addition to balancing school and homework, we would also have to navigate the repercussions of our personal lives. Why the hell would she get into a fight? It was uncharacteristic of her.

Eden couldn't give me a timeline for when she would be ungrounded, which meant that for the foreseeable future, I was on my own with this investigation.

Of course,
I wasn't completely alone—I had Layla. But the problem with Layla was that she wasn't privy to all the details. She only knew so much and there was a lot I couldn't share with her.

The only saving grace was that Layla happened to know Emma, which certainly made things a bit easier. But I was aware that I needed to act fast before the killer struck again.

Our investigation had been inconsistent at best, which is why I decided to look into the files I had taken from my father's room later that night. I had to look into them quickly anyways.

It was only a natter of time until my father realized some of the case files were missing.But before that, I had to get through this car ride and interrogation.I was now sitting in Layla's car as she drove us down the highway.

Her cousin lived quite far from here, practically a town away. I found my attention drifting to the road, the music blasting through the car speakers was Snooze by SZA.

I didn't mind the song, in fact, I quite liked the artist. But the loud volume of the music combined with Layla's off-key singing was far from pleasant.

Leaning my forearm on the windowsill, I rested my chin on it. We were moving at a good speed, cars were passing us as quickly as we were passing them.

A fleeting, ridiculous thought crossed my mind - what if I jumped out of the car? I quickly dismissed it.

In an attempt to keep my sanity intact, I accepted a drink that Layla offered me. She said she didn't want it and I was not one to turn down a free drink.

It tasted good, but I couldn't quite place the flavour or what it even was. As I took another sip, I started feeling drowsy. I had already taken a long nap before the drive, so why was I feeling tired again?

My surroundings started to blur and everything in the car started to merge together. I tried to blink my eyes and look around the car to regain my bearings, but to no avail.

Layla glanced at me, a small grin playing on her lips. "You good?" she asked, looking at me through the mirror. That grin felt almost taunting.

It was so small and discreet that it seemed like I wasn't meant to see it.

I furrowed my eyes brows and go back to trying to focus on something;or anything. My head felt heavy, so heavy.

My hands felt numb, everything felt numb. I tried to nod in response, but even that felt like a Herculean task.

I was losing sense of where I was, the surroundings felt strangely light and blissful. Layla's voice was a faint echo in the background, I could barely comprehend what she was saying.

Yet I made no effort to sense whatever she said was nothing but a low murmur.

In that moment, my head lolled back against the headrest and my eyes drifted closed. They remained shut for a few seconds, before everything went still.
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20 minutes later...

I woke up feeling unusually drowsy, despite having supposedly slept.

In other words after I passed the fuck out.

A throbbing headache made me wince in pain. We were still on the road, and I frowned at the sight of the now-empty bottle in the cup holder, the culprit of my current state.

My movements caught Layla's attention.

"Thank God you're awake. You passed out out of nowhere, and I didn't know what to do," she exclaimed, relief evident in her tone.

Before I could respond, she bombarded me with questions.

"Are you feeling better? Why'd you pass out like that? You were foaming at the mouth and everything..."

I frowned.

Okay, the last detail was totally unexpected and unnecessary . She looked me over, concern etched on her face. She then returned her gaze to the road, waiting for my response.

Still nursing my headache, I said, "I'm good—I think. Maybe it was just exhaustion?"

She nodded, humming along to the song on the speakers.

But I knew better. I had been exhausted countless times before but had never fainted due to it. I wasn't even tired, to begin with.

The drink I had consumed was the likely cause. It didn't look sketchy, but I didn't know its contents. To anyone it just looked like an energy drink made with an assortment of fruits. Except it didn't give me energy and in-fact left me exhausted.

Did Layla intentionally give me that drink?

Or was that drink meant for her to consume?

Honestly, who knows? I decided not to confront her, but to be more cautious around her.

The investigation I had embarked on had eroded the trust between my friends and me. It had torn us apart if anything.

Especially since I had found out that Imani ratted me out. We've been distant ever since.

I try to keep in touch with her so she doesn't think i'm upset with her but I need to be wary of her.

Our friendship was really falling apart. Perhaps that wasn't necessarily a bad thing
...

If you havent read the announcement chapter please do check it out as this will be the last chapter from eyes around us that I will be publishing for the time being.