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Legal Guardians

*****

"May the following names please proceed to make their way to the east wing offices; T Cash, Giada Nubia, Adonis Sideris, Langa Kimiko, Sarah Vanna and Teyana Luksa. Thank you."

Giada looks behind her at Teyana and they slowly stand from their seats, grabbing their bags and making their way into the hallways.

*****

Taking Their Fingerprints...

"Please present all five of your fingers to be printed." Detective bell says, presenting the scanner for the prints.

T: Stares at the small machine warily and has an urge to stall. "What's this for again?"

"In order to compare prints for this ongoing investigation, we're gonna have to put you in the system."

T: "I really don't know about this. What prints are you comparing?"

"Yours." Bell says annoyed.

T: "Yeah but with whose?" He asks, acting as though he doesn't understand when really, he's thinking of a way out of this situation.

"Mr. Cash, stalling will only make the process longer and more difficult for you. It's either you cooperate or continue to be difficult, there's consequences to both actions, but I'm pretty sure you know which would be better." Rickson snaps, growing tired of the kid's tactics.

"Now, please present all ten of you fingers, one at a time." Detective Bell repeats and T gives in.

Giada: Presents both her hands and begins scanning her fingers, not wanting to drag the process and risk trouble.

Sarah: Groans dramatically and attempts to put her fingers when her long nails stop her, she glances up at the detective.

"Put your finger on an angle." Bell says and she tries again, struggling with the placement but she slowly begins to scan.

Langa: "No." He says simply and the detectives look at him.

"Why not?"

Langa: "Because I don't have to."

"Except if you don't, you'll be put under suspicion in this investigation Mr. Kimiko."

Langa: Scoffs and folds his arms across his chest stubbornly. "I'm clearly already under suspicion." Bell and Rickson stare at the kid and have no choice but to be stern.

Adonis: "Whatever." He brings his fingers and scans his prints into the police system.

Teyana: "Did Giada do it?"

"Yes."

Teyana: "Then I'll do it with her."

*****

"Please come with us to the station, we have a few questions we wanna ask." Detective Bell says, walking out into the waiting room when all the prints come back matched.

"I'm not doing that." Langa stands, planning to leave but an officer stops him and he scoffs.

"Yeah, I'm not going either." Sarah pipes in, standing as well.

"You don't have a choice." Rickson says and T shakes his head.

"You guys have told us nothing. Do you really expect us to just cooperate without any information?" Teyana says and T backs her up while Giada simply sits there.

"You can either leave willingly, or we'll have to take you either way for refusing questioning." Bell says and Giada shakes her head and shares a look with Adonis, the other quiet one in the group.

The teenagers resist again, arguing that they don't have to do it and before they know it, Langa is pinned to the wall by an officer and taken in cuffs.

"Hey! You can't do that to him!" Sarah argues, approaching the officers when she's her arms are also pulled back behind her and an officer slaps a pair on cuffs on her wrists as well. Everyone begins to argue, defending each other for the sake of being students but not friend and the situation gets out of hand.

Adonis and Giada are also pulled up and then six officers are holding the six students up against the wall, cuffs now on all their wrists. The secretary thought quickly and fetched the vice principal who comes out, very alarmed by the sight of his students in silver handcuffs.

"You have no right to come into this school and take my students into your custody! What have they done wrong!?! Prove it! Hey! Let go of them!" The vice principal tugs at the officers holding the Thrive Academy students until Detective. Rickson restricts him away.

"Calm down, or we'll be happy to take you along with them." He hisses in the principal's ear who stops fighting, shaking the Detective off and promising to get the students freed.

Langa: "This is ridiculous." He says as they're taken out of the office and to the parking lot, filled with police squad cars.

Giada: "We haven't done anything wrong!" Giada says, trying her hardest not to struggle even though everything in her tells her to struggle.

Adonis: "This is an unnecessary mistake. None of us should be taken in. This isn't fair. This is wrong damnit." He says, looking over at his friend T with a firm shake of his head as their shoes all crunch against the graveled parking lot.

Sarah: "I didn't do anything. Let go of me!"

"Sarah, don't fight. You'll only make things worse. I'll get to the bottom of this as soon as I can. I'm getting the principal on the phone now." The vice principal says, running to keep up with his students.

"Watch your head." The seniors are pushed down gently into the cars and then the doors are slammed shut behind them. Six squad cars, six officers, all for the six students. The cars all peal out after each other and drive out of the school, making their way to the police station as the sirens wail, causing the eardrums of some of the students to ring out and reverberate.

*****

Six Thrive Academy teenagers, sitting next to each other at the police station, scowls on their faces as they glance down at their cuffs.

"Are you ready to speak?" Rickson taunts and six pairs of eyes shoot him with fierce glares.

"We want our phone calls." Teyana says and the detective looks at her. "We had a right to silence. We didn't have to talk to you or provide any information about the offence you suspect we've committed. You can't say that we're guilty because we won't do an interview. You need to prove that we've committed whatever crime you're supposedly looking to charge us with-which I doubt you can prove.

"Touché we arent under 14 and we don't have to have a parent or guardian present for police questioning, but, a parent or guardian should have given you permission to have our vice principal sit in their space. You took away our agency.

"You should have given us the option to have a comfortable questioning." Teyana finishes, standing in front of the man with a slight shrug in her shoulders and he looks at her.

"Give them their phones. Make sure to monitor them." Rickson says and Teyana smirks.

Teyana winks and turns back to the other students who gape at her in surprise. "I have an interest for Law." She tells them, taking her seat next to her friend again and an officer comes over to inform them of calling one at a time, using a station phone.

The Phone Calls:

T: "Mom."

"Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?" His mom asks and he looks up at the officer monitoring him.

T: "Listen, I've been arrested-"

"-What did you do-"

T: "-Nothing. Mom listen, I don't have a lot of time. We've been taken to the station for after being printed but I did nothing! You know I'm not stupid. Can you do something?"

"We're on our way."

Sarah: "Dad, I've been arrested." She tells him simply, twisting the chord of the phone around her finger. Sarah: "I swear I didn't do anything but, I need you right now. Please."

"Then why were you arrested?" He asks, his voice accusing and she laughs.

Sarah: "Because there's been some unfair miscommunication. Can you come?"

"Yes, we'll be right there, say nothing." He tells her hanging up.

Teyana: "Mom, we've been arrested and I personally haven't done anything but all of this is unfair and just, can you come to the local station?"

"Of course, coming."

Giada: "Seth I've been arrested and I need Baylor, mom or dad. First check if our parents are in town, then call Baylor."

"Oooh what did you do Gee." He says laughing and she rolls her eyes.

Giada: "I did nothing. Do as I say or I'm taking a hammer and bashing your cameras. Bye."

"Geez, bye."

Langa: "Firstly, I did nothing. Secondly, I've been arrested and need you or dad here."

"Okay, we're coming."

Langa: "Thank you."

"You're welcome love."

Adonis: "So...I've been arrested. I literally did nothing wrong, but they're insisting that me and a bunch of other seniors had something to do with some arson crime."

"I'll get your dad and we're on our way."

*****

The Interrogation II:

The six Thrive Academy students are all brought into a boardroom, along with both their guardians and a lawyer brought by their legal guardians as they're tried for questioning again; They're asked the same questions they were asked in their first interrogation which to Detective. Bell's surprise, they answer without stuttering, hesitating or changing their story and alibi.

"May each of you have a look at this picture and tell me what you see." Bell says as she hands out six laminated images of the bookcase at the old librarian's house. The six empty slots where books should sit are on full display made by the flash of the camera the pictures were taken by to purposefully make the seniors notice it.

The six of them: "A bookcase." The six seniors exchange looks of suspicion at each other before facing the Detectives again with blank expressions on each of their faces.

"Can you be more specific please?" Rickson says and Giada's eyes move to him.

Giada: "It's the bookcase that made its presence in the librarian's home." She says and the others nod in agreement.

"I see you're all agreeing, are you all familiar with the librarian's home?"

Giada: "He's like my mentor, of course I go see him sometimes."

Adonis: "Well, everyone has that one book they'll shoot him up with so...you go see the guy."

"It's interesting you bring that up Mr. Sideris. I'm sure you've all noticed in the photograph that, there's six books missing. There's six of you, your prints were on the case and your names were in his records." Bell says, holding up the library cards for the students to see. "I want each of you to write down every book you've asked the librarian to get for you. Then we'll compare."

Six library cards are now set down; all six names, on all six cards. Set next to the six slips of papers the seniors just trotted down their books. Identical.

"How did you manage to plan anything if you didn't have any joint classes?" Rickson asks and the teenagers shrug.

Sarah: "I'd just like to say, I had never once seen any of the seniors in this room before the day we first got interrogated. I don't know them."

Langa: "I agree with the blonde, except I've seen everyone but don't know their names or have spoken, let alone interacted with them." Sarah looks at him and nods.

Giada: "I'm her best friend, she's mine, but I don't know them." She points next to her at Teyana who nods.

Teyana: "What Giada said. She's the only person I'm associated with."

T: "I don't know him, I don't know her." He says pointing to Giada and Langa. "I know you for your rep with the guys in our grade 'cause you apparently compete with their speed every once in a while but; I don't know your name or have ever talked to you. I've seen you, since you hang around Shayla but I don't know your name or have talked to you either. Then obviously, Adonis is my guy."

Adonis: "I second everything this dude just said." He says and him and T share a look of pure understanding.

"Please give us a moment." Detectives Bell and Rickson stand and leave the boardroom.

The sad truth is, the only way to know if none of the six did it, would be to find the one who did. That could easily be one of them...or not?

Detectives. Bell and Rickson make their way back in and stand in front of the six teens and their guardians.

"You're free to go. For now." Bell announces and the teenagers are instantly uncuffed, smug expressions on the faces of their lawyers while the parents and kids themselves remain blank faced.

"Miss. Nubia." Detective. Bell calls to Giada as she shrugs her coat on and she turns back to the other female. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"What do you mean?" Giada asks, pulling her hair out of the back of her coat as her parents flank her protectively.

"He was already dead when we found him."

"Who?"

"Your old librarian? Poisoned. Anyways, I must be off. Have a nice day." Giada numbly turns around and her mother wraps an arm around her shoulders as they walk. She stares at the ground as she's led outside and doesn't notice the stares she earns.

T watches the Nubia girl walk out of the station in shock and he wonders why.

"What's her deal?" Adonis asks aloud, almost voicing his friend's thoughts as they walk out together, their parents leading the way and he shrugs as they both watch as the Luksa girl runs to her friend and holds her by the hand, asking her something before pulling her into a hug.

"I don't know, but we better get going. I'll see you back at school, my parents are taking me to dinner." T says, hugging his friend before passing through to his parents private limo.

His eyes meet Giada's as she hugs her friend tightly and when she blinks, tears flow down her cheeks and he quickly diverts his eyes away from her. She just looks...sad. Is all he thinks, shaking her torn facial expression from his mind.

"Mr. Cash." His driver bows his head and lets him slide into the back along with his parents and the door is closed behind him.

The Academy of Thrive was supposed to be perfect, now there's possibilities of six senior high achiever students committing arson for reasons that still remain unknown and now murder. Because of everything that's happened with the wealthy in the past, it makes sense that all anybody wants to do is create scandals by convicting them.

But is it fair to use the children as the pawns toward selfish gain? What if that's all this is, a way to create bad rep for the Academy of Thrive and not even a student committed the crime?

Have we thought of it this way?