Sy ran, her footsteps echoing across the school hallway. She gasped for air as she felt her lungs contract. Her legs were begging her to stop. However, she knew that if she were late to class, she would be forced to confront the threat that Mr. Collins had made the other day - reading the numbers from 1-30 in spanish. Sy forced the locker of her door open, throwing her coat and school into a big muddle. She checked if everything was there - her dark stickers, her most favoured art pieces, and her beloved photos of her best friends. Snatching her textbooks, Sy scanned the locker one more time, then slammed the door shut.

Then, she made her way to Spanish.

Exhausted, She arrived just seconds before the bell, throwing her textbooks on the desk.

"Settle in class," Mr. Collins announced, rising from his desk. "In today's lesson, we'll be focusing on Global Citizenships."

Sy slumped back in her usual seat, feeling a little dizzy and warm. Suddenly, she started to feel a sharp pain in her stomach.

"Argh." Sy groaned, the unusual cramps starting to dig in. She immediately raised her hand, knowing something was up.

"Yes Sy?" Mr. Collins asked, sounding a little annoyed that Sy had interrupted his lesson.

"May I be excused?" She asked urgently.

To her own annoyance, a high-pitched voice emerged from the back seat.

"And what would be so urgent that you had to interrupt the class?"

Sy looked behind her, unsurprised to see her enemy.

McKenzie.

"Now, now, Mckenzie, '' Mr. Collins said, trying to silence her. He turned back to look at Sy. "Yes, Sy, you may be excused." He nodded in response, as Sy rushed out of the room.

She ran back to her locker, grabbed her personal bag, and rushed into the restroom.

Her 'personal bag' wasn't all too unusual. It was a teenage girl's insurance – a lifeline in emergencies if you will.

The eighth grader looked down at her bag. In her black pouch with dark gems, was a collection of essential hygiene products. Although, the majority of her bag consisted of feminine pads, clear lip balms, and black hand-made bracelets.

As Sy entered the girls washroom, she immediately moved towards the stalls.

"Gross," she muttered to herself as she moved from stall to stall, trying to find a clean toilet.

It wasn't long after until the culprit of her stomach aches was uncovered. She should have expected it, considering the recent changes in her mood.

A girl's favourite time of the month.

Sy unlocked the stall and proceeded to step towards the sink. She sighed to herself in agony as the soap was slowly washed off her hands.

"I hope Mr. Collins isn't teaching anything important," she breathed to herself. Sy rarely ever used the washroom during class. She was too afraid of missing out on anything.

The eighth grader scurried to her locker. She proceeded to open it, taking her black pouch out from her pocket. Sy didn't open the locker all the way; her hand had frozen mid-way.

The photos of her friends, the stickers of her favourite bands, and her art pieces.

All her belongings had been misplaced.

Someone had breached her locker.

Sy took a step back in disbelief.

"What in the..."

Then, she caught a glimpse of her watch. If she stayed longer to investigate the culprit, she would have to risk missing more of her class.

Shutting the locker tight, Sy clenched her jaw and rushed back to class. This time, however, she scanned her classmates in suspicion.

Who could it have been?

Unfortunately, by the time she had gotten there, the class had already ended. Usually, Sy would be devastated and worried. This time, however, she wasn't. The mystery-lover immediately ran over to her closest friends Aria, Felix, and Asher.

"What took you so long!? Class is already over," Asher asked in a joking way.

"Sorry," Sy said, gazing over to Aria. She gave her a 'I finally got my period' look.

She looked back immediately.

"You guys would never guess what happened! Someone breached my locker!" Sy exclaimed, suspiciously looking at her classmates.

"Wait a sec.." she suspected.

"Where's Kenzie?"

The friends all looked at each other, thinking the same thing.

It must have been Mckenzie.

"It has to be her," Aria assured. "She left to go to the washroom right after you."

"What? Kenzie wasn't in the washroom.." Sy quickly said.

Right then, the bell rang for the second period.

"We'll talk after class," Sy said, and the friends walked out of the classroom.

Sy went back to her locker to see if there was any evidence left behind.

"Aha!" She said with a gasp, picking up the shiny lip gloss that was in front of her locker.

"It must be Kenzie's," she thought, as she started to make her way to second period class.

*At Lunch*

Sy grabbed her lunch bag and walked into the cafeteria, making her way to her usual table. Aria and Asher were already waiting. Suddenly, Felix came running.

"Sorry I'm late! I just had a great idea!" He said, catching his breath.

"After school, that's when my shift starts for the office assistant. I can sneak you guys in and we can check the security cameras!" Felix said, sloppily taking a bite of his tuna sandwich. He was still breathing heavily.

Sy, Aria, and Asher looked at one another. They all shared the same, sly look. Although, Sy was the first to say something.

"Can we really do that?" She questioned.

"Oh, come on!" Asher exclaimed excitedly. "Where's your investigator spirit?"

Aria nodded in agreement.

"We'll catch the culprit in the act!" She added.

Sy found their arguments very tempting. Finally, she pushed her chair back and stood up. The teenager raised her sandwich in the air and grinned.

"Let's get to the bottom of this!" She exclaimed, and her friends cheered in unison after her.

*Two and a Half Hours Later*

Felix was the first one to enter the principal's office. After the majority of the staff and students left for home, he twisted his keys into the doorknob.

The blonde looked left and right before locking it. Then, he sighed in relief and took a step back.

"Do you think anyone saw us?" A voice whispered.

Felix looked down behind the principal's desk and shook his head. Aria, Sy, and Asher slowly climbed out from behind the desk. The four of them shared a confident glance and scurried towards the security computers.

As Felix logged into the computer, his friends hunched over the desk behind him. He moved his fingers over the grey mouse and clicked on today's security footage.

9:30 am... Spanish class.

They paid attention to the greyscale screens. Sy's eyes squinted as she scanned over the student's movements. Then, Felix double clicked on a screen and it was enlarged in front of them.

It was her locker's hallway.

At around 9:45, when Sy had left for the washroom, a figure had approached her locker. The four friends huddled closer together to identify the culprit.

Then, Sy's eyebrows rose in shock. Asher and Aria let out a small gasp and Felix snapped his finger in the air.

"I knew it!" He exclaimed.

*The Next Day*

The morning sun shone brightly above the school building. Sy heaved her backpack as she ran towards the school doors. Several strands of her hair fell onto her face, but she continued.

She couldn't afford to be late. Not today.

The eight-grader reached the doors and bravely straightened her posture.

Today, she was going to confront the locker culprit.

Right then, Sy heard another voice from a distance. Three voices, to be exact. A smile appeared on her face as she turned to greet her investigation partners.

"You ready?" Aria asked. Sy nodded and formed a huddle.

"Good," Felix assured. "Because I just saw them walk into school."

Sy felt her heartbeat quicken. After reassuring herself, she griped the handles of her backpack and nodded.

"I'm going to do it," she confirmed. Her friends quickly nodded and followed her into the school hallway. Once they spotted the figure, Asher, Felix, and Aria hurried to the corners of their lockers.

Taking in a deep breath, Sy stepped forward. The palms of her hands were sweaty, but she ignored it.

The hallways were empty. It was just them.

"Kenzie!"

Sy's enemy turned around in a flash. Her arm stopped midway and Sy could see a familiar stick of lip gloss in her hand.

The mystery-lover strutted towards Kenzie and stopped a few meters before her enemy. They faced one another in silence before Kenzie scrunched her face. Before she had a chance to speak, however, Sy took another step forward.

"That's a pretty shade of lip gloss," she complimented sweetly. "I think I've seen it somewhere."

Kenzie's lips shut tight.

"Near my locker," Sy continued. She could hear shuffling behind her locker and mentally sighed. The least her friends could do was be discrete.

Kenzie took a step back in surprise, but Sy cornered her.

"It was you," she confronted. Although a part of her was nervous, Sy felt proud of herself for stepping up against her enemy.

Kenzie immediately moved away from Sy, managing to push her shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" She defended angrily. "Why are you going on about that hideous locker?"

Sy furrowed her brows annoyingly.

"I know it was you," she repeated.

"We saw you on the security cameras!" Felix's voice shouted from afar.

"Busted!" Another voice followed. Asher.

Sy almost smiled at her annoying friends, but reminded herself to stay serious.

Slowly, Kenzie's eyes widened. She had no way of getting out of this, Sy thought.

"Ugh!" The enemy grunted. "Fine! It was me!"

From the corner of her eye, Sy exchanged sly smiles with her friends. Her smile only lasted for a second and her lips moved into a frown.

"Why did you do it?" She demanded. "Why did you invade my privacy and mess up my belongings?"

Kenzie held Sy's gaze, but she didn't say anything. Kenzie only frowned back and flashed Sy a disgusted look.

Sy took another step forward, her shadow looming over the other eight-grader.

"You know I can report you to the principal," she explained. "You did violate several school policies. Not to mention, the law. I could report you to the police."

Suddenly- something Sy hadn't witnessed before- Kenzie's face filled with fear. Her eyes remained wide and her skin became pale. The enemy clenched their jaw and immediately pushed past Sy.

Her shoulder throbbed, but Sy allowed herself to smile as Kenzie fled out of the school doors. Her friends slowly crept from behind the lockers and joined her in the hallway. They all wore grins on their faces.

Aria wrapped her arms around their shoulders, squeezing them into a huddle.

"We did it," Asher exclaimed proudly.

Sy nodded, still in shock.

She really did it.

She solved the mystery of her locker and managed to confront the culprit.

Sy smiled back at her friends. If there was one thing she had learned from this experience, it was that this wouldn't be her last investigation.