I swear Officer Perez doesn’t ever change. He looks the exact same as the day I met him. White shirt, coffee stain, shiny bald head, five o’clock shadow, and all. I wonder if all his white shirts have coffee stains on them. I’d bet money that they do.

“Well, well, well, look at you.” He teases me.

I frown at him.

“Trouble seems to follow you.” He says.

I sigh, I mean he does have a point.

“How’s that Kool-Aid tasting now?” he pokes fun at me.

“Can we just get this over with?” I snap at him.

He chuckles.

Asherah led me to an open office, it’s small, mostly empty. Perfect for police interrogation, I mean investigation. Officer Perez is the only one here. But he has a notepad and a recorder. Ready to take my statement.

Asherah has to stay with me since technically I’m still a minor and technically the school is my legal guardian at the moment. Meaning technically, Asherah is my state-approved guardian, which is super weird since she’s only like 10 years older than me. She’s, like, not even 30 yet. She’s more like a big sister than a state-appointed mom.

“Alright, start at the beginning, what happened at that fire?” he gets down to business.

“Cyrene and I were staying up late so I could practice for my exam in spellcasting. We were the only people in the building, besides Lorelei, Cyrene’s girlfriend, who let us in the building.”

“So the doors are locked after hours?” he turns to ask Asherah.

“All the buildings are on an automated lock system where the doors lock after 10:30 PM. Only faculty can get in with a key card.” She says.

“So, even if Lorelei opened the doors, they would have locked behind her?” he asks.

She nods.

He writes that down.

“After Lorelei came back with food I texted my girlfriend and then sat down to eat. That’s when the fire alarm went off. When we went to look, we saw three people lighting a trashcan on fire and running off.” I say.

“So, they probably got in after Lorelei came back with food,” he thinks out loud.

“Then we teleported outside where we saw some more guys tagging the building. They ran away when they saw us.”

He writes that down.

“Were you able to identify anyone?” he asks.

I look at Asherah, she nods in encouragement. I sigh.

“Who?” Officer Perez picks up on our silent conversation.

“My friend, well he was my friend before I was turned into a Caster. His name is Darius Rogan. He goes to my old high school. We caught him running off.”

“We?”

“Lorelei and I,” I admit.

He writes that down.

“After that, I just went to my dorm and went to bed,” I say.

“And what about yesterday?”

“Nothing much to tell. I was eating dinner with my friends when we walked out of the dining hall, there was a dummy of me hanging from a tree. The word traitor spray-painted in red all over the chest.”

“How do you know it was a dummy of you?”

“Well, it had an orange wig, was wearing a black button-up with a star mark on it, and considering we caught Darius with red paint the night before, I don’t think it’s a leap to assume it’s him. Someone who knows me personally.”

He writes that down.

“Did you try contacting Darius after the incidents?”

“I did.”

“And?”

“He blocked my number.” I sigh.

He writes that down.

“Is he going to get in a lot of trouble?” I ask.

“Well, that depends on a lot of things.” He closes his notepad.

“Like what?”

“How co-operative he is with us, if the school decides to press charges, who is all involved in these stunts, how long he’s been doing it, if it’s personal or not. Can’t say for sure, but I have to talk to him, if he gives up his buddies, I might go easy on him.” He shrugs.

I eye him in worry.

“Thank you, Officer, we appreciate you looking into this for us.” She rubs my shoulder.

“It's Detective now. And thank you, for whipping this troublemaker into shape.” He pokes fun at me one last time.

I frown at him.

Asherah chuckles before leading him out.

I grab my bag and check the time before walking out to my next class.