Alexis tapped her spoon on her bowl of cereal. She didn't know if she could stomach it. Tellie sat next to her, shaking. It was early morning, and none of them could sleep very well. "So..."

"So what?" Lypsie asked, uncertain. "Penny is...she's, well, uhm..."

She glanced at Tellie, treading on thin ice. Lypsie just decided to shut up, finishing her apple as her breakfast. Odetta suddenly came from the garage, holding a bottle of vinegar. She looked like she came out of a horror movie.

"Morning," Alexis said as Odetta went straight to the sink, washing her hands. Alexis didn't know what to say. "Where were you? Actually, n-nevermind, it doesn't matter."

"I was cleaning off Penny's b-body." Odetta's voice shook as she sat down at the table. Lypsie handed her an apple, but she declined. "The smell and her enlarged pupils...it was too much to stare at. I got a bottle of vinegar and doused her corpse."

Alexis was shocked at how blunt Odetta was. "Oh..."

"I covered her body with a tarp too," she whispered, stuffing her head in her hands, breaking down. "I-I couldn't sleep, the smell and scent was too much. I was across from her room, it's too much."

"That's rich coming from you," Tellie muttered under her breath.

"What the hell did you say?" she demanded. Oh dear God, Alexis thought.

"I'm just saying, you and Penny were acting pretty fishy," Tellie retorted, standing up from her table. "In fact, you guys acted pretty friendly. In the hottub together, flirting. Yeah, I was drunk, but I don't forget that kind of crap."

Odetta also stood up, squaring her shoulders. "Shut up, Tellie.

Lypsie clenched her fists, gritting her teeth. "Everyone, just stop—"

"Penny tells me everything!" Tellie screeched, tears falling down her cheeks. Alexis wanted to disappear, being forgotten in this argument. "I should have known if you two had a secret affair—"

"Affair?" Alexis gasped, clutching her spoon for dear life.

"You guys are so difficult!" Odetta shouted furiously. "This is why everyone hates you, Alexis! You too, Tellie!"

Tellie pressed on. "Were you both dating?! Tell me, God, Odetta—"

"EVERYONE, JUST STOP AND SHUT UP!" Lypsie yelled, startling everyone. Alexis panted heavily, breathless. She let the spoon drop, standing up, heading to the Cage Pool. "Lexis, where are you going?!"

"Don't call me Lexis for the last time!" she said, already outside. She wandered to a lounging chair, sitting on it. She didn't do anything other than laying on it, drowning out the loud voices. Alexis closed her eyes, hoping it was just a nightmare. A very realistic one.

Sobs were choked out of her throat, cries pouring on. She used to hate crying, that's what happened when she died. The girl at the bloody pool, and Alexis killed her. That's what she convinced herself.

She hated crying so much because it was a sign you were weak. But no one could judge her now, not even her friends, because she was in denial. Or grief, or whatever you call it.

"Penny..." Alexis shook her head. "Why did you..."

"Alexis?" Lypsie's voice rang from the patio. She came over, also sitting down on the lounge chair next to hers. She shaded her eyes from the sun, sighing. "You're thinking about her, aren't you?"

"How can't I?" Alexis said, wiping away her tears. "She died last night, or the night before last night. Whatever it is, P-Penny's dead. I feel like I should care more, and I do, but I just..."

"You're in shock."

I sighed heavily. "Can you be in shock for so long and still can't come to terms with your friend's death?"

Lypsie shrugged. "I felt the same when my dad went to prison."

"Oh." Alexis didn't really know how to reply. "Uhm, sorry, I guess."

"It's fine," Lypsie said, brushing her black hair out of her eyes. "My dad wasn't a very good man, he committed crimes, that's it. My mother wasn't here in my childhood, running off without me, so Dad took me in. I still love him, so that's why I took after his last name."

"That's...uh, nice."

"What about your parents?" Lypsie asked, blinking lightly.

Alexis rubbed her hands together, feeling unnerved. "They...they're busy with work a lot. Probably not as bad as your father, no offense, but God, I-I wish they could care. At least fake up a bit of emotion for my sake, I mean—what's even at stake if they don't? Sorry to spring that on you."

"Whatever," Lypsie shrugged. "I mean, it's just whatever, huh? We're not our parents, right?"

"Right."

The four girls were all gathered at the living room on the grand and large sofa. Tellie was wiping away tears, sniffling slowly. Odetta crossed her arms, looking lost, shooting Lypsie looks of uncertainty.

Alexis' legs kept going up and down, shaking.

"Don't do that," Lypsie said suddenly. "It shakes off good luck and fortune."

"A Chinese superstition?" Alexis asked curiously, and she nodded. So she stopped, but it didn't help with her jittery nerves. "What are we here for again, Odetta?"

"Look, remember what Penny told us on the flight from Canada to Greece?" she questioned, looking exhausted. "She said that there were no cell towers, and this is an island, so we can't contact anyone. She said we'd survive without the online world for at least a week."

So that's why I couldn't download any more offline songs after I got on Omfori, Alexis thought. "But what do we do? We need to alert the police! Lukas is coming back in one week, right? Penny's dead and someone killed her—"

She paused, glancing at the three.

Tellie stifled back a tear. "You truly think one of us caused harm to her?"

Alexis stared at her lap, shaking. "We're the only ones on the island."

"Penny probably died on her own, drinking too much," Odetta insisted. Alexis narrowed her eyes, knowing Odetta wasn't telling the whole truth. It was fishy, and it made her even more unsure to trust them. "What, you don't believe us?!"

"I just..." Alexis gulped. "I saw a teacup, I think Penny was poisoned. There are ashes of tea leaves, and plenty of toxic plants. It would explain Penny's enlarged eyes, she probably died in her sleep."

"Is that supposed to be blissful?!" Tellie cried out.

"No, no, I-I—"

"Guys, we're turning against each other," Lypsie said, groaning loudly in frustration. "Let's just try to survive, hm? We don't need to cut each others' throats with our words, 'kay?"

They mumbled in agreement. Alexis sighed, flexing her fingers. "Tell me everything about Monday night, tell me about the whole ordeal about drinking and what happened. No details left out of the story."

"Fine." Odetta curled up on the sofa, peering at the window, shading her eyes with her hands. "I think it started with us drinking in the pool. You left and Penny kind of complained about it."

Alexis' cheeks reddened, cringing. "Oh o-okay."

"Then we got a bit too woozy," Tellie admitted. "Penny suggested we hop out of the pool in case we drown to death. Lypsie and I sat on the lounging chairs while Penny and Odetta were in the hot tub. The tub was pretty shallow too."

"What else happened?" Alexis questioned, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Then someone recommended to play truth or dare in the House of Riches," Lypsie explained, sighing. "But I don't remember who, though I think it was Penny herself."

"Then we played a few rounds of the game," Tellie added. "I think I remember Lypsie dared me to sit in the garage for half an hour like Odetta. She forced me to do that because I didn't answer one of her questions."

"That sounds brutal," I said, glancing at the East Asian girl.

"Not as harsh when Penny asked me if I ever helped my dad go to prison," she barked back, making us jump. "She basically asked if I helped my father commit crimes and he took the fall for me. That's screwed up and I would have screwed up Penelope's face if I could."

Alexis widened her eyes. "Whoa...that does sound harsh."

"I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but whatever." Lypsie remained calmer after seemingly getting that off her chest. "That's all I remember, but we did take a few more swigs after that by the kitchen."

"Did you guys see her drink out of a teacup at any point?" Alexis asked, eyeing all three girls.

"If you're asking if we poisoned her, then the simple answer is no," Odetta said tiredly, rubbing her temples with exhaustion. "We took drinks of wine and stuff, but no teacups. Well, not that we remember."

The girls didn't speak for a bit, Alexis knew why. One of them must have had a part in Penny's death. Or Penny's murder or killing, Alexis thought. It was still hard to grasp the idea of one of her friends hurting Penelope Goode.

What reason did they have? "So...now what?"

Odetta shrugged lightly. "We just wait for Lukas to arrive, go get questioned by the cops, help mourn with the Goode family, and get off this stinking island. I'm pretty sure I skipped some steps, but it's the truth."

Tellie slumped on the sofa. "I can't believe she's gone, it's so...wrong."

"We've never been led astray by Penny," Alexis added. "Who's going to lead now...?"

"We'll worry about that after this whole mess is sorted out," Lypsie assured the others. "I'm sure that Penny died of something out of our control. Let's try to control ourselves, it's what she would have wanted."

Odetta looked out at the window, sighing loudly. "But...what if the police turn on us? It's pretty fishy if you ask me. Maybe we should...well, maybe we shouldn't tell the cops all of the details."

Alexis was shocked. "What?"

"You can't be serious." Tellie's cheeks were wet with tears. "Penny deserves j-justice!"

"What kind of justice is there for her?" Odetta asked, standing up. She paced around the living room, muttering and growling every once and then. "She died and I-I'm a mess right now! I had to clean her body, I had to bring the tarp to cover her head. I had to do it all while you slept peacefully."

"No one could sleep well," Alexis protested, feeling defenceless.

"I had to do it all!" Odetta cried aloud. "I can't get the picture of her body out of my mind, it haunts me! This whole death is driving me mad, I feel as if I-I'm going to explode. But if I'm a suspected killer...God, this will ruin my record."

"No one thinks you're a killer," Lypsie said sharply. Very sharply.

"Oh right, but that's what everyone is thinking!" she snapped back, glaring at Alexis. Alexis shrunk back, her eyes wide with anxiety. "Especially you, Alexis! You keep looking at me like I'm the perfect kind of bait!"

"Questioning if we're murderers is breaking our friendship!" Lypsie said, trying to de-escalate the situation. "Odetta, sit down and calm down. You're getting too angry."

Odetta snarled. "We can fix everything if we don't tell the cops—"

"Fix e-everything, huh?" Tellie asked mournfully. "Den chreiázetai na me ftiáxoun, isn't that what Penny would say? 'I do not need to be fixed' means we can't fix everything. O-Odetta, we can't do this."

"But it would ruin us!" she hissed back. "It would ruin your chance of that track scholarship, no one would want a suspected killer in their university, much less to run for them."

That made Tellie shut up. I guess track is more important to Tellie, Alexis thought wearily. "Odetta, this is too much. You can't expect us to try a-and hide Penny's death, it's inhuman."

"I never said anything about hiding her death!" she argued, throwing up her hands in the air. "I'm just saying—we can just bend the truth, just a little! We can save ourselves—"

"Penny didn't have anyone to save her."

Alexis didn't mean to say that, it just blurted out of her mouth before she could stop it. The girls stared at her, as if she was a psycho. I mean, it was pretty psycho to say it like that... "I didn't mean to say th-that we're guilty, it's just wrong to lie to the officials about her."

"I agree." Tellie nodded slightly.

"We'll think about it," Lypsie said to Odetta, offering a small smile.

She didn't return it.