NINE, teenage law & order

italics — rues narration

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"why are you dressed like a detective and why are you smoking a cigarette in my room?" athena squinted her eyes to adjust to the sudden bright light in her room. rue stood in front of her dressed in overalls and a white tank top, selling the role of detective pretty well.

she had a cigarette in hand, occasionally taking puffs from it although athena didn't like it. rue paced the room, ignoring the fact that athena wasn't even partly amused by being woken up at two in the morning for rue to play investigator.

after halloween, jules didn't go to school for a full week. and even though i sent her about 50 texts, she didn't respond.

i could tell something bad had happened. and that it had something to do with nate. tyler clarkson was booked for assault. but this shit wasn't adding up. and i was putting together the pieces of the puzzle.

i wasn't gonna stop until i got the truth.

"why would jules lie to help nate?" athena rested her head against her pillow, her eyes closed although she was fully listening to her sister ramble. "i don't know." rue said. "well, did you ask her?" she asked. "no." rue shook her head. "you haven't asked her?" she asked. "no."

keep looking, you mook. i'm morgan fuckin' freeman and this is the beginning of the third act.

"well, doesnt that seem like the first logical step?" athena asked. "honestly, athena, this whole thing is beyond logic. unless... jules is in love with nate." she said. "why would jules be in love with nate?" she asked. "you should listen to me."

the aroma from the cigarette rue was holding had wafted over to athena, making her cringe. "rue, the cigarettes are killing me." she complained.

"listen. listen. listen, the night of the carnival, she said she wanted to go meet up with this guy she met online, okay? he's some fuckin' jock, he's from a conservative family, and they were talking and texting. they've been texting for weeks. and when i say texting, i don't just mean regular fuckin' texting. they were sexting."

"like nudes?" athena opened her eyes. "yeah. side note, very nice dick. very clean room. she never fucking saw his face." she said. "yeah, so jules was catfished." rue nodded.

"now hear me out. so the night of the carnival, she made plans with this guy to meet up with him at the lake, okay? i fucking come home. next thing i know, she's fucking knocking at my window. she's all emotional, she's got fucking tears in her eyes. i say, jules, what the fuck happened? she looks at me. she goes... "he didn't look like his pictures."" she said.

athena furrowed her brows, "yeah, that's like the definition of catfishing." rue pointed to athena, "no, but do you know what his name was?" athena shrugged, "nate jacobs?" rue shook her head, "tyler."

"i have no fucking idea who that is." she said. "tyler clarkson, you're goddamn right. maddy is 17, tyler's 22, and they fornicated. statutory. yeah. you saw it, everyone fucking saw it. including nate. and what is a lighter offense than statutory?" she asked. "assault." athena replied. "bingo!" athena sighed, "rue, it's 2:45 in the morning. don't you ever sleep?" she muttered, watching rue continue to pace around her room.

"listen, why would nate single out jules in the first place? it's obvious he was sexually attracted to her. and because jules is predominantly het, okay, he wooed her with his, uh, fucking creepy jock magic shit. she's super fuckin' sensitive, she's very forgiving, and she's basically the most wonderful fucking person on the planet... she fell for him. that's why she fucking testified."

"i'm a genius. i'm a fucking genius. athena! i'm a fucking genius. i'm not even tired. it's crazy. i'm not even fucking tired. i feel amazing." athena rubbed her eyes, "rue, you're having another episode." she concluded. rue shook her head vigorously, "no, no. i'm fucking smart! can't you see?" she asked, sitting down on her bed.

"i really should be a detective, i really should." she mumbled to herself, lightly tapping her temple with her fingers. her eyes traveled to athenas nightstand, seeing her almost five hour old iced coffee sitting there. without a word, she reached over and grabbed it and started drinking it, making athena sit up quickly. "rue!" she grabbed it from her, "this is old."

rue stood up, "you're gonna see this whole thing unfold, athena. you're gonna see it. it's starting to make sense, it is. maybe jules isn't interested in me because nate brainwashed her. maybe that's why." she put a finger up to her chin.

"do you think if i cosplay as nate—" athena got up quickly and pushed rue all the way to her door, "that's enough!" rue went to say something once she was outside of her room, but was greeted by the sound of her door shutting in the face. athena groaned as she turned her lights off and collapsed back onto her bed, drifting back in a deep sleep.

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