Alejandra's Point Of View;

When we got to the police station Presley went to the front desk and I heard him ask for a person called Chief Trust. Mitchum stood at the side of him while I was with Priya behind them. The man who was middle-aged at the front desk put his coffee mug down then sat up in his chair and gazed at Presley.

"Young man Chief Trust is a very busy person with many important duties and can't handle every case. So why don't you just tell me what the matter is and I will file the report. Please tell me the nature of the crime for example did you lose your ID cards or some sort of valuable personal belongings?" The man said while taking out some forms and a pen with paper.

"Uh no, nothing like that um," Presley said as he passed his hand through his hair and noticeably avoided eye contact with the front desk clerk.

Priya then tugged on my arm and said, "It's okay no need to pressure anyone. Maybe we can come back-"

"Look he knows the chief personally and she would to speak with him, so can't you just go and give a message to telling her it's from Presley, please," Mitchum insisted cutting Priya's sentence short. That was bold but I'm glad he did it cause she was getting cold feet again.

The man eyed Mitchum and then took up the phone on his desk and told Chief Trust that it was Presley who wanted to see her. We didn't her response but when he put the phone back down he told us to have a seat until the chief came. So Presley really did have a personal connection with the chief. There must be more to him than just the quiet guy on campus. As we walked over to some empty seats I continued to observe Priya. Since we took a cab all the way over here I could tell she was in a lot of pain because she touched the part where the bruises were frequently even though it was hidden.

I think the ones on her face looked as if just today she had just gotten them. As we got to seats instead of sitting she stopped and stared at it. I tapped her shoulder causing her to turn and face me and asked her what was wrong. She didn't answer me and I couldn't see her eyes through the dark shades she was wearing. Then I saw a tear escape down her face from the shades. Her entire demeanor showed a form of fear as she clutched her purse straps tightly.

At that moment I thought about when I first found out my sister would never be coming back home and what I needed.

"Cuelga ahí, you're doing the right thing. No renuncies, don't give up now." I pulled her in for a hug and said.

"Presley, what brings you and your friends here today?" I hear a raspy voice behind me say. I let go of Priya and looked to see a tall dark-skinned woman. She must be the Chief and I'm glad she showed up when she did because Priya seemed very fragile now. Presley said something to her and as she listened she looked over to where Priya and I were. She nodded to him and then approached us with a soft smile. She introduced herself to both of us and then asked our names before starting to talk to Priya.

"If you would like to come into my office for a while to talk," She looked over at me and I tried my best to be encouraging about it as I nodded.

Priya agreed and as they both left I said, "I'll be here for you until you get back."

So I remained with Presley and Mitchum in the waiting area as we all sat down. Presley let out a sigh of what I think was of relief as he leaned back with his eyes closed. I sat up and watched him and Mitchum who was in the seat next to him. As Mitchum and my eyes met I could see we both had questions on how Presley knew Priya was in that type of trouble. Curiosity again got the better of me first so I asked him that made him open his eyes. But he remained in the same position staring at the ceiling.

"How did you know about Priya?"

"It's like I said earlier when Mitchum and I met her at the Chemistry competition I suspected it as much because of her behavior," He answered which didn't really give much detail to what I asked him.

"Her behavior? She just seemed shy to me?" Mitchum probed further before I could.

"Yeah, you would think that," Presley mumbled back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mitchum tilted his head and playfully became offended but like me, I'm sure he was mostly confused.

"Sorry it's nothing, it means that you're normal um it's normal not to recognize it. Most people don't, but it was thanks to some digging around done by Gail that I put the pieces together. It was with her research that I found out the guy called Bertie Taksheel was her husband," Presley responded back as he sat up with his head now looking down at the floor. He was always so serious and you would think he would be more relaxed around Mitchum.

"Stop being sorry all the time dude and for the record, I knew that guy was a jerk from the beginning. But to think he'd do such a thing to his own wife never crossed my mind," Mitchum nudged his shoulder causing Presley to nod his head.

"It couldn't have since neither of us even knew he was married. But it shouldn't really be a surprise to you since you saw how he pushed Amelia out of the way. When angered someone like him can crack, which is what Amelia did when she almost made him lose his title in the competition," Presley said as I saw him rub his hands together before it formed a tight grip as if he remembered something. He didn't say more but for clarity, I just wanted to be sure of one thing.

"So this guy who's her husband and responsible for her bruises, goes to our college?" I asked to fish out more of their thoughts on this.

"Yeah, and his background check shows that even though nothing has been proven cause charges were dropped. He had been investigated for abuse against a past girlfriend of his." Presley answered getting up from his seat and going over to the vending machine searching his pocket.

"¡Dios mío! How on earth did Sandra end up getting married to someone like that," I said also following him.

"She probably didn't have much of a choice considering the traditions of her family and the community she came from in general. Have any of you seen a wallet? I remember paying the driver to get here but I can't remember what I did with it after that," He said as he continued to search his pockets.

"That's true you I did see you take it out," Mitchum said as he looked at the floor around where Presley was sitting. I still wanted to know more about how he figured all this out, so I continued the conversation.

"Just tell me what you want from the vending machine, my um treat. So she ended up in this situation with that el matón because of a tradition."

"Um well yeah, in high school, she was a Chemistry genius, and even an award she won was mentioned in the newspaper. She never stopped being that which is the one reason Bertie could get good grades in Chemistry. He saw an opportunity to take advantage of an already sad situation. Uh, just a water please," he said as I pulled out money from my money from my pocket.

"Wait so if she was the chemistry genius how did she help him cheat in front of all those people?" Mitchum said stopping momentarily from looking for Presley's wallet.

"Oh well, that part was easy to reason on since you know the relationship between the two. We were all looking at him to see what he was doing to cheat when it was her we should have been looking at. Remember that we got to sit in front when we came with Amelia because she was in the competition. Where do you think Priya sat?" Presley asked as I handed him the bottled water and he thanked me.

Mitchum thought for a while before shrugging his shoulders and saying, "Well I actually didn't see her in the audience."

"Exactly why didn't she sit where we were that day? It would have been too obvious and her goal was to attract as little attention as possible. But she didn't sit very far from us so she did have a good view of the stage. I only saw her briefly and noticed a pattern of hand gestures she did that could be mistaken for nervous ticks. It had to have been signals for the answers during the first half. After that, it was up to him to remember the answers he memorized for the structured part before the competition." Presley finished as he opened the bottle of water and sat back down.

"Really wow, you noticed all of that. I guess I was too wrapped up in the competition. I'll be back, I'm going to retrace our steps in here to see if it fell outside," Mitchum said leaving us as I drank an energy drink I bought. I just had one more question of how all of this cheating could happen and not even the teachers have a clue about it.

He told me that it was because of the process the questions go through before they reach on stage. So as long as she was always around the school it's impossible for other students to tell who really goes to it because it's so big. It wouldn't have been hard for her to have influence over the questions that were organized by the students before it was given back to the teachers for review. Last year students changed all the time so no one would really take note.

"Going through all this for a competition, Loco," was all I could say in response.

"It's like I said before, the guy is a jerk. Oh, and no wallet man, maybe it fell out in the car," Mitchum said behind us. He must have been listening the whole time.

"Wow Presley, Gail said you were good but I didn't know you were this good," I said still contemplating what he told me. He may not say much but when he does you really do have to listen.

"Yep, see I told you there's more to him. This kind of stuff was like his superpower back at home," Mitchum said beaming proudly about his friend. It's true he and Gail always talk highly of Presley but this was the first time I saw it myself.

"It's not a superpower, I-I just notice things," Presley said avoiding eye contact with either of us. But before Mitchum could say anything a familiar course voice startled all of us.

"Well, even so, your ability to notice things helped save another person's life."

"Chief Trust! Uh, I didn't see you there. Um thanks, I'm just glad everything worked out. How long were you standing there?" Presley asked as he stood up from his seat, I saw him put his hand behind his back and fiddle with the cuffs of his shirt sleeve as he spoke. Why is he so on edge?

"Long enough, you have some admirable qualities Presley, and rather modest about it also," she said going over to the vending machine and getting two bottles of water.

"Oh yeah, thanks, well I have to go ma'am so-" Presley said already walking away.

"You can't go anywhere yet, your wallet still missing. At least report it, it could have fallen out in the taxi, so if he returns it they will at least contact you," Mitchum said making him stop and turn around.

"You can at least wait till Mrs. Priya comes back. It would be better if she knew her friends were all here. It won't take very long today since this is her first time and we just want to make her comfortable. You know, it was very bold of you to go to her home, if the husband had been home you could have put not just yourself but hers as well as your friends' lives in danger also," The Chief said as her tone though coarse was somewhat soft as if cautioning a friend.

"That's why I chose a time when he wasn't home," Presley said simply.

"I see, you knew his schedule. I appreciate you getting involved as it did make my job easier but you need to know that there are some times you have to walk away. Here's my number I can't stop you but next time call me on this line if you ever encounter something like this again. You both can have one also." The Chief handed us a contact card and then walked back in the direction of her office.

Presley stared at his in hand as if he was stunned by it and without looking up he muttered softly, "I'll keep it in mind, ma'am."