I transformed myself into a college student and got into the same college as Liam Brown. As I entered the hallway, I saw many new faces: there were curly-haired beauties with perfect hair, Asian students working on a project, and a group of boys who commanded attention as they walked by, making everyone part ways. "Are they bullies?" I wondered.
"They are the heartthrobs of this university," Isabella explained as we walked past them. "The guy with the black hair is Jeremy Akello, the one in the brown hoodie is Andy Smith, and the person standing next to Andy is Colin Hernandez. Ugh, he's the hottest! That brown-skinned guy is Sid, short for Siddharth Rathore, and the one you see there is Liam, Liam Brown." My eyes met Liam's, and I noticed a change in his expression. Did he recognize me? No, that's unlikely. We'd never met before. I should be the one who knows about him, not the other way around.
I sat at the cafeteria, enjoying a glazed donut topped with white chocolate and a drizzle of milk chocolate, complemented by an iced caramel latte. What a perfect combination! It tasted even better than the one I had at the airport.
As I was finishing my donut, Liam approached me and asked, "Haven't seen you here before! Are you new?"
"Yeah, I just transferred," I replied.
"Um, if you need any help, feel free to ask. I'm Liam, Liam Brown. And you are?"
"Daph... Emma, Emma Smiths," I panicked, fumbling over my name.
"Hey, let's go! We have a practice match!" a distant voice interrupted.
"Uh, I... um... gotta go now," he said, feeling awkward.
"Yeah, sure. See you around," I sighed with relief after he left.
"Ooh, what was that guy doing here a minute ago?" Bella teased.
"Shut up, Bella! He was just offering help," I replied, annoyed.
"He never offered to help me when I transferred here a year ago."
"It's okay, Bella. Let's head to class; we're going to be late."
After college, I went to a coffee shop to meet Leo, another one of the victims of the framed murder.
I asked him about Theo, but he claimed not to know anything. I could tell he was lying; his eyes twitched, and his left leg shook when he did. But I couldn't get the truth out of him.
He left, leaving his coffee half-finished. As I was about to leave, Liam approached me again. (Great, just what I needed.) He sat down next to me. I was already in a bad mood and didn't want to talk to him, but I had to cooperate to uncover the truth about Theo.
"What a coincidence! It's a nice day, isn't it?" he said.
"Yeah! A great day for murder," I shot back.
"You're funny," he laughed.
"It wasn't a joke," I said, irritated.
His expression shifted from relaxed to confused, as if silently asking, "Are you serious?"
"Well, do you live here?" I asked him, attempting to shift the conversation.
"Yeah, it's my hometown, but I don't live with my parents. I have a studio apartment a couple of blocks away, and I come here often to study, relax, and work," he replied.
"Oh, that's great." I wanted to ask him about Theo, but I knew it wouldn't be easy to get answers out of him, so I had to pretend to be friendly.
After a few minutes, his friends joined him, and he said his farewells to me.
When I got home, I looked at the items pinned on my board and went through Theo's phone and laptop, hoping to find anything useful. Then I noticed he frequently dialed a number saved as BYS whenever he had a business meeting. Maybe it was a friend who was helping him?
I wasted no time dialing that number. After a few rings, someone answered, "Hello, this is Liam speaking from the Expresso Shots. How can we help you?"
What the heck? Why was it Liam of all people? He was the last person I expected to talk to right now.
I didn't respond.
"Hello? We serve great croissants and chocolate cakes too."
I remained silent.
"Hello?" He repeated it at least four times before I finally hung up.
He really seemed eager to sell those croissants and chocolate cakes. But why was he working at Expresso Shots? I thought he came from money. Maybe his mother was cruel and didn't feed him well, which would explain why he looked so pale and thin. But that wasn't the primary issue at the moment. The real question was: why had Liam been in contact with Theo all this time?
I spent two hours trying to solve this mystery, piecing things together, but I didn't have enough information. It was 3:40 AM when I finally went to sleep.