L I A R.
act 2, scene 1

THE DOOR CLOSED softly behind the Inspector as she entered, feeling a sense of familiarity as she looked over at Inés.

"I'm sorry you have to do this again." She mumbled as she took her seat opposite the girl. The Inspector must have thought Inés was running in circles, always looping back to a police inspection. But that was far from what the girl in question thought.

Inés was the guilty party avoiding conviction before. Now she was just as clueless as those who had been looking on from afar.

And that was even scarier.

──── T H R E E MONTHS EARLIER

THE SUMMER AFTER Marina Nunier was murdered was one Inés would never forget.

Her friends all flew off to various places around the world, and with what felt like a constant target on her back, Inés found no comfort in remaining in Madrid. Of course she did, as her father was released from prison only days after Nano's arrest and he insisted on staying in the city to rebuild his reputation.

He didn't have his work cut out though, as his clients were too distracted with what had happened to Marina to remember the prior scandals. Her death had wiped away a clean slate for all 3 families involved.

The lack of vacations made Inés restless, but she compensated her extra time by spending the days when Carla was actually in the country around her house, occasionally joined by a few guests. Well, two in particular.

Christian had quickly replaced Polo in the three's outings, as Inés couldn't bare to be in the same room as him anymore. Even the mention of his name made her want to be sick, the guilt of covering what he had done swelling in her stomach each and every time his face crossed her mind.

Samuel was also a frequent companion of the two, Inés purely wanting to be with him but Carla and Christian insisting on keeping him close in order to conceal the truth for as long as possible.

When the two lovebirds embarked on their boat trip, Inés found herself, more often than not, spending nights at Samu's house. She didn't feel safe at home alone, where her paranoia could attack from ever angle. But the comforting snores of her friend at 2am when she couldn't sleep offered protection the boy would never come close to understanding.

He made her feel safe, for the first time in a long time.

He'd even managed to convince her to accompany him on the first day. Of course he had initially suggested they could walk together (even cycle - though he didn't suspect she even owned a bike), but Inés had quickly refused. If she was going to be seen socialising with him so openly, they would do it in the back of a Rolls-Royce.

"Straighten your tie." She snapped at the boy as the climbed out of her car at their school's entrance. After his lack of movement she whipped her head to look at him and fix it herself. He pulled away. "You need to look presentable. People will be staring."

"Let them." He sighed as he walked away, leaving Inés to thank her driver and follow after him.

She had only just caught up to him by the time they entered the school, but she was certainly close enough to him when she saw all her friends in a crowd at the bottom of the stairs.

Lu saw the pair first, her speech slowly trailing off as her eyes widened to urge Inés to turn around. Then one by one, the rest of her friends noticed her arrival, silently pleading for her to leave Samuel alone. But she couldn't do that - not after all he had done for her since Marina had died, and all he would continue to do. He was going to become her alibi when things got nasty.

"What are you doing here?" Guzmán scowled as he walked over the the two. Inés instinctively took Samuel's hand and stood in front of him, knowing she wouldn't get hurt if either tried to start something.

"He has every right to be here." Inés hissed back.

Guzmán looked down at her with a sour expression on his face. "Can he not speak for himself?" He asked with a raised brow.

Inés shook her head angrily and held her hands up dramatically, moving aside so the two boys could talk. But she had underestimated the hostility of the confrontation, because as soon as she was at Carla's side, Guzmán had punched Samuel in the face.

Christian held Inés back as she lunged to separate them, Polo and Ander running into the classroom to the job for her.

"Guzmán! Get off him!" Azuenca shouted as she managed to pull them apart, a huge crowd of students entering the classroom. Once Inés had managed to push herself to the front, the boys had stopped fighting, though Samuel looked slightly worse for wear.

"Everyone in this lesson, sit down." Azuenca instructed angrily once the commotion had stilled. "The rest of you - get to class!"

Every student quickly obliged, Inés pulling Carla to the back of the room with her. They sat and pulled out their laptops, each giving the other uneasy glances as they worried Guzmán would start something more.

"The wound Marina's death has left in all of us will take a long time to heal." Azuenca began once everyone was settled.

For some, longer than other - Inés thought to herself as Carla rested a comforting hand on her leg. The blonde had become quite accustomed to making sure her friend was okay in situations like these.

"I need your help to close it. All of you." Azuenca smiled sadly, glancing at all the broken faces the last year had produced. "Guzmán, I can't even begin to imagine the pain you are going through."

"No, you can't." He nodded, taking the headteacher back. Those who had been around him throughout summer only slightly flinched at his tone, but they had grown used to him acting so crudely. "And now imagine that you had to bump into the one to blame for all that pain in the hallways every day."

Inés butted in against her better judgement from her seat behind Guzmán. "Samuel didn't kill Marina, Guzmán."

The boy turned around in his seat to scowl at Inés and fire back an argument. "If Samuel hadn't have come to this school - if him and his fucking brother had stayed in their shitty little village, none of this would have happened."

"Your father pays for his scholarship." Azuenca defended in an attempt to stop a row breaking out between the two.

Guzmán half turned away from Inés to answer, "You're the one who renewed it. Why?"

"He's a good student. It wouldn't be fair."

"Fair?" Guzmán scoffed lowly, looking between Inés, Samuel and Azuenca with a raised brown and gritted teeth as he rose from his seat, "Marina is dead. My sister is dead at 16 years old. Is that fair?"

"No, it's not." Inés shouted as she too stood up, cornering her desk so she was right beside Guzmán. "But neither is making the life of someone who had nothing to do with her murder a living hell."

"How are you defending him?" Guzmán yelled back, "How do you know they didn't do it together? Unless it was really you all along?"

Inés' heart dropped. She knew it was just a throw-away comment, but Carla's wide eyes seemed to panic her more. She glanced over at Polo to see how he had reacted, but his eyes were trained on his desk.

"That's enough, Guzmán." Azuenca shushed, the severity of his accusations making her worry something worse would happen.

"From now on, just so you know," Guzmán began, scanning the classroom as he spoke, "if you talk to that vermin, you are dead to me! If you're with him, you're against me."

As the boy she had know her whole life stormed out, Inés began to wonder whether she really had made the right decision. Samuel could only be shielded from the truth for so long until he knew what had happened, and Inés didn't know how much her intervention was extending that period.

She was losing friends by the minute, all because of Polo Benavent.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
season 2 bby!! let's go!! (don't mind that this chap is bad pls i hate the start of this ep lol) love u all stay baddies