4.
Next, the seven girls in the class were forced to stand up "on the stage."
Riley Johnson looked around at everyone, then started asking each person what they thought.
Someone chimed in and said:
"It has to be Trần Yến! She's so pretty, of course the bad guys would target her!"
Then someone else said:
"No, it must be Quinn Hill! Back then, she always went to evening classes alone."
Another person added:
"No way! It has to be the 'delicate little beauty' Casey Cooper! She's so thin and frail, she'd be an easy target."
At that moment, someone else jumped in:
"No, I think it was vice monitor Morgan Carter!"
"I remember once I was in the hospital and happened to run into her."
"And after that, she took half a month off for sick leave!"
All this gossip made the girls look more and more uncomfortable.
I couldn't stand it anymore. I wanted to stop Riley Johnson, to tell him to cut it out.
But he just curled his lips into a cold smile:
"Come on, class president, we're not in school anymore!"
"It's rare for everyone to be this excited—don't be a buzzkill!"
I hurriedly spoke up:
"Riley Johnson!"
"Don't forget what the homeroom teacher told us!"
"What's in the past should stay in the past. Don't go reopening old wounds!"
But he just glanced at me and asked:
"Class president, do you know something?"
"Tell me what you know, and if I get an answer tonight, I'll stop!"
But I replied:
"Back then, I barely had time to study, let alone worry about trivial stuff like that!"
Hearing that, Riley Johnson gave a dismissive laugh:
"Then stay out of it! Tonight, I'm getting to the bottom of this no matter what!"
Unable to stop him, and unable to just walk away, I had no choice but to stay and watch him put on his show.
At that moment, all the curious eyes in the room turned to four people: class beauty Trần Yến, top student Quinn Hill, vice monitor Morgan Carter, and the 'delicate little beauty' Casey Cooper.
But Riley Johnson didn’t rush to agree with the crowd. Instead, he smacked his fist into his palm, as if he were analyzing things rationally.
He started with Trần Yến:
"Trần Yến, I remember you became really withdrawn back then, not as cheerful as before. At the time, I thought it was just academic pressure, but now that I think about it…"
"Did something terrible happen to you back then that left you traumatized?"
"Come on, just say it. Don’t keep it bottled up—psychological wounds need to be let out if you want to heal!"
Hearing that, Trần Yến shot back coldly:
"Let out what, exactly? I was upset because my grandmother was seriously ill!"
"I’m not obligated to air all my family’s troubles in front of the class!"
"In your eyes, if a girl’s in a bad mood, it must mean she was raped, huh?!"
"What kind of logic is that?!"
Hearing her say that, I suddenly remembered—during that month’s exam, Trần Yến’s essay got a perfect score.
The homeroom teacher even praised her “Beloved Grandma” essay for being so heartfelt and moving.
"Writing is the best way to record things; the feelings in those words can touch people’s hearts, no matter how many years go by."
They said that thanks to that praise, Trần Yến—who’d always struggled in literature—managed to nearly ace the essay section on the college entrance exam.
At that moment, Riley Johnson just gave a dismissive smile, then turned to vice monitor Morgan Carter:
"Vice monitor, how do you explain your sick leave back then?"
Morgan Carter pushed up his glasses and looked at him coldly:
"I had appendicitis and needed surgery. Do you want to see my medical records?"
"The doctor told me to take three weeks off, but I was worried about falling behind, so I only took half a month and came back."
"After that, I stopped doing morning exercises. You were the one pestering the homeroom teacher all the time: ‘Why can’t I get a leave of absence, but he can?’"
"In the end, the homeroom teacher had to call a class meeting and tell everyone to care for each other and stop competing—doesn’t everyone remember that?"
Hearing that, the other classmates immediately nodded in recognition. Riley Johnson could only force a smile:
"Yeah... the timing really was a bit of a coincidence." "But appendicitis... that makes sense."
After saying that, he turned to Casey Cooper:
"Casey Cooper, I remember your house is really close to the alley where the incident happened—just one street over, right?"
"Back then, you used to stay late at school, saying it was to study more since you lived nearby, but thinking about it now, was it really because..."
Before he could finish, Casey Cooper frowned, stayed silent for a while, then replied coldly:
"At that time, my parents were going through a divorce, so I went to live with my aunt."
"My aunt was a school supervisor, so I stayed in the teachers' housing complex."
When she said that, everyone finally understood.
Back then, there were rumors that our class had a "privileged kid" who was related to the school supervisor. A lot of students from other classes didn't like the supervisor, so they used to hang around outside our classroom.
In the end, the homeroom teacher had to step in personally, dragging a few of those students to meet with their own homeroom teachers, and even stood guard outside our classroom with a metal ruler after school every day until things finally settled down.
After hearing that, Riley Johnson turned to Quinn Hill:
"Quinn Hill, you used to go to night classes a lot back then, didn’t you?"
"Did you ever run into anything strange on your way home?"
As soon as she heard that, Quinn Hill let out a cold, mocking laugh:
"Mr. Johnson, my night class schedule was the same as everyone else's evening self-study period."
"From seven to nine-thirty every night, my mom picked me up and dropped me off every single day! Even during online learning weeks, I never missed a session!"
"Do you want me to call my mom to prove it, or should I get the night class teacher on the phone?"
Her words left Riley Johnson speechless.
Among the four people who were most suspected, it was Trần Yến, Quinn Hill, Morgan Carter, and Casey Cooper.
The other three may have gone through quite the transformation since then, but honestly—back in the day, none of them really looked like the kind of "target" someone would go after.
First up was Riley Carter, who, even though she’s slimmed down now, used to be known for her size—she weighed at least 220 pounds back then.
Next was Avery Reed, who used to have crooked, buck teeth. She’s had braces and dental work since, but back then, her teeth stuck out and were all over the place, and the boys in class made fun of her more than once.
And finally, there was Quinn Carter—nicknamed "Spotty"—whose face was covered in birthmarks, with a particularly noticeable patch around her eye.
These days, thanks to her makeup skills, she’s even become a social media star, but back then, if a stranger saw her at night, they’d definitely get startled.
To most people, it was obvious that these three could never be the victims.
But right then, Trần Yến—the most outspoken of the group—turned to challenge Riley Johnson:
“What’s up, Riley Johnson? You’re only questioning us—why not ask the others too?”
“There are seven girls here. Shouldn’t you be fair and ask each one of us?”
“Why are you just grilling us and not Riley Carter, Avery Reed, or Quinn Carter?”
It was true—so far, only the four considered "pretty and fragile" had been interrogated, forced to prove they had nothing to do with it.
Riley Johnson gave an awkward smile, then turned to Avery Reed:
"Avery Reed, I remember your eye was all swollen back then, and you had bruises too. Did something unusual happen?"
Hearing her name, Avery Reed’s expression changed dramatically. It was a long moment before she finally managed to choke out a response:
“It’s not… it’s not what everyone thinks…”
“That day, my dad got drunk and hit my mom. I tried to step in and got hit myself…”
At that, the whole room fell completely silent.
But soon enough, Riley Johnson shifted his gaze to Quinn Carter, who was sitting nearby:
“Quinn Carter, you were pretty unique back then. While the rest of the class was busy studying, you were always skipping evening self-study.”
“The homeroom teacher caught you more than once, right?”
4.
“And after that, you didn’t go to college—you went straight to work.”
"I remember there were a few days when you weren't around. Did something bad happen to you back then?"
"Don't feel embarrassed. If you talk about it now, everyone will understand."
But before he could finish, Quinn Carter couldn't hold back and cut Riley Johnson off.
"Riley Johnson, stop saying nonsense!"
"My family went through a crisis back then, so I went to work at my aunt's place."
"I didn't go to college because I needed to help my family pay off our debts!"
"I worked every single day. There's no way I was some kind of victim like you're saying!"
Hearing this, Riley Johnson's face immediately darkened. Finally, he turned his gaze to Riley Carter, the chubby girl sitting quietly in the corner.
She was sitting still in the corner, her fingertips clenched so tightly they turned white.
"Riley Carter, I remember you also took a few days off back then, didn't you?"
That question made Riley Carter freeze, her face flushing bright red in an instant.
Seeing her reaction, Riley Johnson immediately perked up, his interest obvious, his voice sickeningly sweet as he pressed on:
"Riley Carter, you lost so much weight..."
"Was it because of the pressure after what happened? Are you the real victim?"
"Just say it—getting it off your chest will make you feel better!"
Maybe because he thought he'd finally uncovered the truth, Riley Johnson looked extremely excited.
But just as he was about to keep pressing, I—having just downed my drink—stood up abruptly.
"That's enough, Riley Johnson!"
I stared him down, emphasizing every single word.
"We're old classmates. It's been ten years since we've seen each other. Are you really willing to trample on others just to satisfy your own curiosity?"
"If you want to know the truth, then let me tell you!"
Riley Johnson was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward, grabbing me by the collar and shouting:
"Trần Thực! I knew it—you definitely know something!"
"The homeroom teacher is your mom. How could she not tell you?!"
"Tell me the truth! Tell me everything!"
Seeing him like that, this time it was my turn to let out a cold laugh, staring right at him:
"You're completely barking up the wrong tree."
"My mom made it very clear back then..."
I took a deep breath and dropped a bombshell:
"The victim... was a boy!"
5.
In that instant, the entire room fell into a terrifying silence—you could have heard a pin drop.
"No... no way!"
"How could it be a guy?!"
Riley Johnson screamed, his face turning ghostly pale.
But I didn't let up, stepping closer to him:
"And why not?"
"Who told you the victim had to be a girl?"
"The reason the case back then was considered so serious was because..."
"Let me ask you again—didn't any of you notice something strange?"
I swept my gaze across the whole room:
"Why was the whole class given time off? It was to hide the victim's gender!"
"Otherwise, who would let students take half a month off right before finals?"
I kept pressing forward, my eyes landing on the group of guys who'd been gossiping earlier.
"Now it's the girls' turn to ask: among you boys—who was it?"
The moment I finished speaking, the whole situation flipped upside down.
All the suspicious looks were no longer aimed at the girls.
Every girl in the room started staring at the twelve guys present.
Even Riley Johnson found himself being scrutinized from head to toe by a few of them.
His earlier bravado collapsed instantly, his face drained of color.
The guys in the room forgot all about the gifts or favors Riley Johnson had given them—everyone was busy trying to prove their innocence.
"Class president, you're joking, right? How could the victim be a guy?"
"Yeah, that's just ridiculous!"
To me, their words were nothing but background noise.
I took another deep breath, fixing Riley Johnson with a cold stare:
"Riley Johnson... was it you?"
I let out a mocking laugh:
"If it wasn't you, why do you remember every detail and emotion of the girls from ten years ago so clearly?"
"Who remembers that much about the past after ten years? Unless—you're the one making the most noise to cover up your own guilt!"