(that worked! Pretty!)
Steven sighed. "It's… alright, so you know how there was the party, at Jeremy's place? I don't think you were there, but Lauren was. I was, David was at one point, Mackenzie Davis and Sarah Lord both were. Lots of people were." He took a breath, thinking. "Uhm…so you remember how I got arrested a few months ago?" He asked, looking over at her for a moment. "Well, my parole officer can track the location of my cell phone, and I have to call in to him at 9:30 every night, from my house. Basically, I have to be home at 9:30 every night, and call him. So I left the party at about 9:15, in order to get home on time. I didn't leave my house for the rest of the night. Thing is, the only evidence I have of that is the location history on my cell phone, and the call I made at 9:30 to my parole officer. Sarah, my sister, was at a sleepover at a friend's house, and my mom had the night shift so she wasn't home until about two am. As many people have already pointed out, all I had to do was leave my cellphone behind and no one would know anything." He looked at her calmly.
(Honestly I would buy it if I had money lmao)
Ayra looked at him, trying to mask the pity she felt for this boy. "But people would have seen you leave right? You would be safe if that happened." The more Ayra talked to Steven, the more she believed he wasn't the one responsible for Lauren's death.
They had walked around the entire block by that time and Ayra was more confused than she had been before she left her house. She saw David standing on the porch, looking around and groaned lightly. "I never liked him you know, I always thought that she could do better but Lauren was always so happy around him."
(mood lol)
Steven sighed. "Yeah, they saw me leave. Thing is, Lauren left alone later in the evening, around midnight? If what I've heard is correct. So the general feeling is that I went home, then met up with her later and killed her and just left my phone behind so that the location wouldn't change. Which, does make some sense, I suppose." He shrugged a little, eyes flickering over to David. "David isn't the worst guy. Not the greatest, but he isn't bad either. Not from what I've seen of him, anyway. Little odd, I guess." He scratched the back of his neck, shaking his head a little bit. "Anyway. Yeah. There's a lot of… potential explanations for how and why I killed her." He knew he wasn't doing himself any favors, but he didn't want to seem like he was covering up too much. Because the thing was, he hadn't stayed home all night like he said. He had left, at one point. He had met up with Lauren. But she had been alive when he left her. But he knew no one would believe him if he said so, so he had lied about it.
"Well this is all getting worse faster than it is getting better." She sighed. "For what its worth, I don't believe that you killed her. She did like you and there was nothing in her voice that told me you guys weren't getting along." Ayra smiled softly at him.
(Idk what else to ask Steven, do you have anything?)
(uhhhh maybe about some of the other rumors? Like the one that Lauren was cheating on David with him, and/or the one that she was pregnant? Idk, that might be too awkward a conversation at this point in time)
He laughed faintly. "Yeah." He said, looking over at her and giving her a faint smile in return. "At least you believe me, which is more than I can say for most people in this town." His mom didn't, thankfully. Neither did his sister. But enough people did that, well, most of the town seemed to be solidly against him.
"I didnt want to ask you, but what about some of the other rumours? Like Lauren ditching David for you, and the other…not so savoury one." Ayra asked, making her way towards the house. At this point it seemed like David had noticed them because he was standing there with his arms crossed.
Steven grimaced. "I can promise you that if Lauren was pregnant, it wasn't mine." He replied, shaking his head a little bit. "I've never gotten anyone pregnant and I don't plan on doing it anytime soon. I'm not ready to be a father and I don't want to pay child support." He raked his hands through his hair. "As for cheating on David…no. There were a few…drunken encounters, but nothing substantial."
"How many…drunken encounters?" Ayra shook her head. "Nevermind, I don't want to know. If David asks me what we talk about, he'll force everything out of me and I'd rather not have him attack you." She half smiled and looked him. "Her murder isn't a normal murder though, it was done with planning because everything points to you. I want to find out who really did it, I need answers."
"If there's such a thing as a normal murder." Steve pointed out, looking down at her with a faint smile. "And yeah, I get that." He ran his hands through his hair. "I'd offer my help, but uh, my involvement might hinder more than help." He shrugged his shoulders, glancing over at David for a moment, then back down at Ayra.
"Im not about to ask David to help me, he'll call me a fool for believing you." She scoffed. "I would rather you help out, but if not then I'll go do it myself. I'd have to visit the place her body was found first, see if the killer left any clues."
"I'm pretty sure that that area has been combed over plenty." He said. "I mean, we can check, but uh, it's still technically a crime scene so I don't know if even you could get close. As the victim's family, you get more access to police stuff than the rest of us, but, getting to places like that with me in tow is going to be… difficult. I've been convicted previously, and the evidence points to me. No one's going to want to tell me anything."
"Sure but you dont have to be with me when I get information. If anyone asks why we're hanging I'll tell them that I want to know why Lauren liked you so much." She said, folding her arms together. "Qe should get back, I know my parents are probably going to call for me soon and they'll get mad if they see me with you." She sighed.
"Ah. Yes. Right." He looked vaguely embarrassed for a moment, then sighed. "I'm… guessing that means I'm not allowed in?" He questioned, glancing towards the house where David was still waiting on the porch. Steven had kind of wanted to be able to go in, but he understood that it probably wouldn't be allowed.
"I'm sorry… as much as I would love to have you come inside, my parents and David will do or say something that will hurt more than one person." Ayra looked him apologetically. She sighed and looked at the sky. It was a stressful time for everyone, but she couldn't begin to imagine what Steven might be going through. They may not be close, but Ayra knows in her gut that he couldn't possibly be the killer. No. There was someone else, and they would be sorry.
His mouth tugged in a faint, bitter smile. "Yeah. I get that." he replied, looking over at her. "I guess I'll see you at school, then." as far as he knew, she didn't have his number, though she could probably get it from any number of the kids already in the house. He didn't offer his number, not wanting to be presumptuous about any of this.
"Sure." Ayra started heading back to her house before stopping and coming back. "I don't think I have your number in my phone, it would be useful to have if we're going to be working together. Do you mind?" She asked, taking her phone out of her pocket hesitatantly.
(Sorry! I completely blanked and couldn't remember the name of this rp!)
(it's fine!)
"Oh. Yeah, of course." He got his phone out, reading out his number to her with a small smile. "Do I need to repeat it, or did you get it all? Just shoot me a text with your name so I know who you are. Also, uh, please don't label me as drug dealer, it won't look good if the cops end up going through your phone and I'm labeled as drug dealer." He laughed faintly.
Ayra smiled "oh no, it'll be saved as not murderer Steve." She said teasingly. "Don't worry, it'll be something normal." She sent a quick text with her name, pocketing her phone when his buzzed. "I'll assume that's me." Ayra waved as she made her way back to her house, and David.
He laughed a little. "Well. Good." he replied, pulling out his phone. He waved back, then turned and began making his way down the street, away from the house.
David looked over at her, crossing his arms. "Well. At least he didn't kill you too." he said, casting a glance at Steve's retreating form, then over at Ayra again.
Ayra rolled her eyes and walked inside without a word. She ignored all the curious glances and unasked questions, making a beeline for her safe space, the little library by the stairs on the second floor. She stayed there for a long time, going through a photo album filled with pictures of her and her twin as the grew up.
(timeskip? Or?)
Steve added her to his phone as he walked, quiet. He hoped that the police would find out who had actually done it, but…with all of the evidence piling up against him, and the police slavering at the mouth to make an arrest, well. It was only a matter of time before they brought him in. They were already sniffing around at him, and he could practically feel their noose growing tighter around his neck.
(I was hoping you'd ask, i didn't want to be rude!)
(haha it's fine! Don't worry about being rude, it's all good. Where do you want to skip to?)
(I was thinking either a moment where they're going to go to solve mysteries or they meet up elsewhere to talk about Lauren's case?)
