I had always wondered what it would be like to catch a murderer. I wondered what it would be like to interview that person. The person who caught the murderer. Not only would it be interesting to talk about, but it would be interesting to write about it for a newspaper or news crew. To report on a crime story would be a dream come true.

  My parents think it’s funny, and so does my older brother, Jessi. António doesn’t have an opinion, from what he says. But I know I can make it happen. Especially with my friends’ help, José and Carlos. They both want to become detectives, which everyone thinks is understandable. But my dream career isn’t. That makes no sense to me. Anyway, we agreed, my friends and I, that once we finished high school and college, we would get jobs in the same city, and if they had a job that I could report on, they would give me the inside scoop. Not that I could publish anything they gave me. But just because they know I find it interesting, they would tell me about cases.

  Sitting on the bus on the way home, Carlos was talking about the st block, study block, the only css we all shared. Sure, Carlos and I shared Calculus, and Carlos and José shared AP Physics, but the css we shared was amazing. Around the school, they call us the Tres Amigos, because you never see one without the other two.

  “Why do you think Mr.Shaun yelled at Cassie?” Carlos asked, gaining my attention. I looked at him and shook my head. Like it wasn’t obvious. I looked at José, expecting him to answer, but he was looking out the window. Strange. José usually joins in when talking about Cassie or any of her friends. “José? Everything ok?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  He didn’t look at me, causing Carlos to look at me, confused. “José?” Carlos asked, slowly putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking him lightly.

  “What?” José asked, looking at us. I could see anger in his eyes, and I immediately regretted asking him. When Carlos didn’t answer, he looked at me, and I shook my head. “What do you want?” He asked angrily, forcing eye contact with me.

  “Nothing,” I said, turning to look out my window, which was, conveniently, in the opposite direction. I sighed, trying to remember if I had said anything to upset him, or if Carlos had.

  “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m just not in the mood,” José said, sounding like it was directed at me. I heard Carlos sigh and turned back around. “Lucía, please, I’m sorry, but I-” I looked at him, and he stopped. “I am sorry.” José gnced at Carlos, then back at me. “I’ve got some pressure on me right now.”

  “Don’t we all?” I said, looking at him. “We’re the tres amigos, José. You can tell us anything!” I said, trying to keep my cool and not get frustrated. “That’s why we always talk. That’s why we always communicate!” José looked me in the eye, holding my gaze. I gulped when I realized what I wasn’t saying. “You can trust us,” I said after a minute, scooting forward so I could put a hand on his knee.

  “Come on, can y’all get together already?” Carlos compined, earning a look from me. When I looked back at José, he was smiling at me. Many people said we should get together, but we both agreed that it would be weird. We’ve been friends for too long to just date, and especially with Carlos, it would never be the same if we broke up.

  “Can you stop with that?” I asked, looking at Carlos again and rolling my eyes. “Besides, this isn’t about me, this is about José, Carlos.” I looked back at José, who was looking at the window again. “Now what’s going on, José?”

  “Nothing, Lucía,” José said, not turning back to me. The bus stopped moving, and José stood up. I looked at Carlos, who was watching José. “I’ll see you guys ter,” he said, walking down the aisle between the seats and off the bus. I looked at Carlos, who was looking at José's seat with an odd expression.

  “What?” I asked, looking at him as the bus started to move, confused. He pointed to the seat, and I saw what he was confused about. José had left his headphones on the bus. I looked back at Carlos and saw his worried expression. “Do you think we should just give them to him in the morning?”

  “There’s nothing else we can do, Lucía,” he said, not able to stop looking at the headphones. I sighed and grabbed the headphones and unzipped my bag, pcing them inside. “I’ll text him in the group chat, just to he know.”

  “Okay,” I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket and seeing a message from someone I didn’t have saved in my phone. I opened the message and froze at the words. “Leave the headphones on the bus, Lucía. Or it’ll be the st thing you do.” I then saw the person was typing and decided to see what they said. “And I’ll make your life hell before it ends.”

  “Carlos. . .” I said, watching out of the corner of my eye as he typed on his phone, messaging José and me. When he finished, he looked up at me, and I handed him my phone. “How does someone know I put his headphones in my bag?” I asked quietly, looking around carefully.

  “You act as if we’re not on a bus,” Carlos said, reading the message. As his eyes scanned the message, I saw his eyes narrow and knew that whoever was behind this wouldn’t be best friends with Carlos. In fact, they would be far from it. “But I won’t let anyone hurt you if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  I nodded and decided to ignore the message. The bus stopped again, and I stepped into the aisle, shaking hands with Carlos, and walking down the aisle. After I got off the bus, I noticed a tall person wearing bck clothes watching me. I couldn’t see his face as I walked down the street in the opposite direction.