Author's Notes: This is possibly the first long story I've written in years. It has multiple protagonists which I've never written before. It has romance which I've never written for a long story before. It has mystery and detective stuff which I've also never written in my life, truthfully. Oh, and it has music and band geek stuff, which I've never tried to write before. But I am now.

Hopefully, I will not ditch this story, like I always do to my other ones. I have the entire book plot laid out in a plan so I promise you: I won't stop writing this one!

Enjoy! Remember to review, if possible and tell me if there are any spelling or grammatical errors.

She remembered it like it was yesterday. Those dark piercing eyes that look like they've seen death itself. That mysterious black overcoat that hid his entire body. The rugged blue rain boots with dried mud on them. That short black shaved facial hair. He just came in their shop and suddenly pulled out his hand gun. He shot right away directly at one of their customers.

Blood spurt out everywhere.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, behind the counter and her sisters also shrieked in unison. It was unbearable to be there to witness it all.

Felicita Morricone had witnessed a live murder.

The killer stared at her family and herself for a moment. Then, he looked at another man who was probably an acquaintance of the victim. He looked like an ordinary citizen of Varidee and was holding a bouquet, probably about to buy it. The killed was about to shoot again but the man jumped under our counter and hid there, shaking all over his body.

"Come out, you bastard!" The killer yelled in an outrage, "You and Kenny need to be killed for what y'all did to me! Remember your senior year? Fucking ridiculous. It was my worst year of my life. Desmond, get ready to see hell."

His voice was dark, cold and fierce. His motive was clear. He wanted to kill. Without hesitation, he positioned him gun towards the counter. Eugenia, Felicita's sister, suddenly went over and blocked the counter and the man named "Desmond". Even for a 10 year old, she had the most guts in the entire Morricone family.

"Hey you! Don't you dare make a mess of our shop!" The young girl shouted without any fear shown on her face, but hidden in her heart. She was absolutely terrified.

"You brat. This is between him and me," he replied with a scoff. Suddenly, Desmond got up and a shot was fired right away. However, the killer missed by a couple of inches and that left Desmond enough time to escape through the backdoor.

The killed scoffed once again, rage in his burning eyes and jumped over the counter, chasing after Desmond. With that, it was finally over.

Well, except for the dead guy lying by the sunflowers.

It was a week after that incident and the entire Morricone family could still remember everything that had happened. It was like a movie that was stuck in their heads. Felicita had been having constant nightmares about being the next to die.

Felicita shook her negative thoughts out and sent an instant message to her two best friends, Starrella and Ariel about tomorrow.

In this conversation: Princess.A ; soaringskies ; Flowerful

Flowerful: tmrw is first day of SCHOOL!

Princess.A: gross :C

Princess.A: but at least i'll be able to flirt with people again and see u 2!

soaringskies: air, we only saw each other two days ago in the mall.

Flowerful: ^ truth LOL

Princess.A: pfft but school has a diff feel to it! ;D BOYS LOL

soaringskies: only you. :)

Princess.A: where are we meeting tmr? my locker?

soaringskies: kk

Flowerful: sure

Flowerful: 8? lets go 20 minutes early

soaringskies: fine by me. ;P

Princess.A: alrite

Flowerful: need to catch some Zs! GNIGHT!

Princess.A: buh bye

soaringskies: ttyl!

With a happy mood back on, Felicita closed her laptop and got ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be the beginning of a new year – Her 11th grade year.

Morning came by quickly mostly because she was immersed with another nightmare about the killer. Each night, clues about the killer popped up in her dreams like small subtle details. The way he talked, his voice cracking at a word, his double chin and small aspects about his attire. She gathered a lot of clues but there was no one to share them with. The whole murder incident was kept to herself and her family. The police knew about it but it was currently confidential and not allowed to be put into the news without consent.

That's when she developed the habit of writing down the clues in her agenda that she bought weeks ago for using at school. There was a "daily quotation" box for each day and she used it for the clues she had found. It was quite useful since she never did use that box for the past two years in high school.

After scribbling down the recent clue from last night (long eyelashes), she stuffed her agenda in her backpack and checked the time. So it was still 6 AM! She knew that it was too early to go to school. She yawned and stretched her arms a couple of times to wake herself up.

Tip toeing to the kitchen at the end of the hallway, she noticed that she was the first one to wake up in her household. The Morricones lived on the second floor to their flower shop "Morricone Merry Flowers". It was not too big but not too small at the same time. To them, it was good enough – cozy and comfortable. Two bedrooms – One for her mother and three sisters and the second for her dad and her only brother, one guest room – which was pretty small so she took it. Their loving parents made a rule that the oldest sibling would get their own separate room since they needed fewer interruptions to do better at school. The kitchen and bathroom were right beside each other but it wasn't a problem for the merry family. They enjoyed their little apartment right above Merry Flowers.

Felicita went to the refrigerator and pulled out a sponge cake. "Something to drink…" She murmured to herself and got a carton of fresh milk out right after the thought of thirst.

The room was silent in the amidst of morning. The silence was getting uncomfortable for her so she turned on the radio and tuned to the jazz music station. The first thing she heard was the rich tone of a clarinet and a trombone in the background supporting it with a bass line. It was a nice rendition of "Lullaby of Birdland" by Shearing.

The morning was great so far, she thought to herself. Good music, good food, good start to a brand new year. What could go wrong? It's too late for me to be thinking so positively, she thought, pushing her happy thoughts down her throat while finishing her milk.

A gust of wind blew her warm cheeks right away when she stepped outside. The brunette hummed to what she had heard on the radio and went over to the mailbox to collect the mail for today. "Junk, ads, bills, bills, bills…Hm?"

There was an envelope with no return address and only "Morricone Merry Flowers" and the specific address on it. It was very light, like there was only a sheet inside and nothing else. It seemed suspicious.

Escaping from the outdoors, she went back inside and sat down on a light green couch inside the shop. She opened the suspicious letter up careful with the envelope. "I was right!" she said to herself. There was only a sheet inside and the sheet certainly looked very empty. It fell onto the ground right away and she picked it up to read it.

Dear Morricones or whatever the hell your names are,
Guess who? It's me. The guy that came over to your place last Wednesday. You know, I was so close to catching that damned Desmond Bricks. But the fool got away after your brat distracted me. You guys are giving me such a hard time finishing my duties. Well, let's cut to the chase. My request is…No, not a request. It's an order. You aren't allowed to talk about this entire situation to any outsiders at all. Whatever I said back at Desmond Shitbricks, is confidential. To reiterate, you aren't allowed to tell anyone. Not to your teachers, boyfriends, whatever. If you do, you guys are dead meat. Like I always say, prepare to see hell.
- Your friend John Smith

She widened her eyes greatly and almost dropped the sheet of paper.

"Is that you, Fel?" Leonardo, her brother, called down. It startled her but she snapped out of it.

"Yeah, Leo!" She affirmed while checking the time. It was almost 7 in the morning now. She put the letter down and quickly decided that she was going to bring it to school so nobody in her family could find it before she did. She also decided to wake up earlier than anyone in her family so she could get the future letters before them. "Too early to go to school…" She mumbled to herself and flipped the Closed sign to Open. With that, she put on her favourite apron and went to go water some plants.

Half an hour passed by and it was time for her to get on the bus to get to school. The bus route from Merry Flowers to Varidee Lake High School took twenty minutes, give or take. On the bus, she noticed only a couple of people she knew. Some boys who went to her middle school were there, playing cards on a bus seat. There were some businessmen and women who were chattering about politics by the side. Then there were these college boys who… She was wondering why she was observing people. It's not nice to stare at others, she thought and continued to enjoy her single seat in the back of the bus, where it was all silence except for her iPod ringing some fun "Flight of the Bumblebees" by Rimsky-Korsakov.

The light sounds of the piccolo went through her ears and she swayed side to side to the beat of the song. When the song ended, she arrived at her stop coincidentally. "Thank you," she said quietly to the bus driver and got off with a small grin.

It wasn't easy to smile once she got off the bus. The killer's voice was ringing in her head as if he was speaking the text in the letter to her while she walked to school. She had an internal debate with herself whether it was really okay to never tell anyone.

"I can trust them." She affirmed once, knowing that if it's just her two best friends, it won't get out any further than that. After all, their bond was stronger than anything.

They had met in freshman band back in the old days. They played the main woodwind instruments – flute, clarinet and alto sax. They didn't just play the instruments, they were also the top players in their sections and grade. Starrella being the "star" clarinet player in their grade and also in the mixed grades concert band otherwise known as concert band. Ariel was an ace at playing her sax in many different styles including jazz. Felicita was a flute and violin player. Since the beginning of grade 9, she was always a second flute or second violin because she was the best at harmonizing and backing up others.

They've been friends ever since.

There were six minutes until 8 o' clock but Ariel was already here, checking her iPhone for text messages. "Hey, Fel!" the bubbly blonde called out. "Like my new 'do?" She pointed to her long strawberry blond hair that had been curled like a movie star.

"I always like your hairdos," Felicita commented and sat down on the ground beside her best friend. "You had to wear that on the first day?" She pointed to Ariel's outfit.

"Plaid dresses are SO in. Rompers are OUT." Ariel burst out ecstatically. She was really into fashion and trendsetting. "Girl, where the heck is Star?"

"It's not even eight yet. We'll wait," the calm girl said quietly and raised her head to stare at the ceiling of the school. Oh god, she missed school so much. The summer was fun for a while but she started wanting to be able to hang out with her friends in class, go to band, chill after school, and other things you could only do at school. Oh, and see her crush Nicholas.

A couple of minutes passed by and the Star, otherwise known as Starrella, showed up and joined them. "Hey," she greeted and put down her backpack. "Are we the only ones at school right now? I swear, I've seen no one on the way here!"

"Hey to you too. Listen, Star and Ariel, there's something important I have to share with you…" Felicita said, almost whispering. She panted and hesitated before she spoke more. "I have a situation." She paused again, waiting for their response but there wasn't any. "Okay, so…" She quickly spilled out everything. The murder. The scene. Eugenia blocking the counter. The nightmare/clues she's been getting every night. The threatening letter. Everything. "Here's the letter. Star, can I trust you with it for the morning?"

"Count on me. I'll try and see if I can find anything that could lead to the culprit." Starrella replied and then a smile formed on her lips, "Hey, I sound kind of like a detective…"

"You do, girl…" Ariel said, smiling a bit too. "I'm really sorry this happened to you, Fel. I promise you, me and Star…"

"Star and I." Starrella abruptly interrupted her.

"Star and I will help you and solve the…The mystery!" Ariel said with an extra touch of liveliness. "No one will get hurt, as long as we're helping you!" She shot a look at Starrella for confirmation and the both nodded in unison.

"So, is this just between us? Want me to ask…" The black haired girl said.

"It's safe to keep it between only us and Fel's family." Ariel replied. She played with the ends of her hair and chewed her bubble gum loudly.

"But eventually, he can know about it right?"

"I suppose so," Felicita replied.

More and more people came in the hallway and they decided to stop talking about the threatening letters for now. They agreed to meet up at lunch to discuss it further.

Two classes passed by and Felicita dashed to the band room right after Chemistry class. "Did you get a practice room?"

"I did," Starrella replied and showed her the key with the wooden keychain marked "3#"

They had a fairly large music budget at Varidee Lake H.S. and had five practice rooms, all with a keyboard, tuner and metronome. In order to rent a room, all of the students using it had to be music students and also had to be playing during the time they're in it.

Starrella unlocked the room and walked inside, with Felicita and Ariel following behind. She claimed the keyboard immediately and started playing "Somewhere In Time" by John Barry to warm up her fingers.

"I have a clue that might be of use to you, Fel," the piano player said. "Open up the second zipper on my bag and take out the letter." Felicita did so and waited until Starrella continued speaking, "So, there's a coffee stain on the back. It's very faint but I managed to find it. This coffee is from a specific coffee house and this coffee doesn't sell anywhere in this whole city."

"Really?" Ariel perked up. She liked coffee.

"Yes. Bazz House. Y'know the one near this school. Six minute-ish walk. I've been there a couple of times. I hate coffee though."

"Boo."

"The doughnuts are awesome. That is all. The coffee is exclusive to mornings at Bazz House. It's called 'Espressimo Espresso'. It tastes sweet and a bit bitter, according to my dad." Starrella said while imagining a plate of cute baby blue donuts with eighth note sprinkles on then. She snapped out of it and started playing a improve waltz on the piano. Gb major, my favourite!, she thought.

"Anyone could have bought the coffee though." Felicita pointed out.

"Exactly, so it might not be that useful after all. But from this, we know that the killer did this in the morning. We can stalk your mailbox really early in the morning or something."

Before the to-be-detective said any more, they heard a knock on the practice room door. "Star, it's me," a male voice rang outside. "Open up. I need a practice room."

"Were the other practice rooms really booked?" Starrella asked, curiously.

"Nope. Just wanted you to accompany me for a solo I'm doing for the examinations." Devon Oriens answered, holding up a sheet music book.

"Fine," She replied, showing a sense of arrogance and amusement at the same time. Before starting, she looked at Ariel and Fel and signaled that they would talk about this later. She turned around, back facing everyone and stared at the music presented to her. "Hey, I learned this before. To accompany myself." She said quietly. Then she raised her volume so the others would hear, "Come on, let's go."

"That quick?" He muttered and was about to put his trumpet up to his lips, but something caught his eye. That fishy piece of paper on the ground. "Hey, what's this?" He picked it up.

The only two words he saw was "dead meat" before Ariel plunged at the paper. "HEY! That's not for your eyes to see." The blonde yelled.

"Okay okay…" He mumbled and put his mouthpiece to his lips. He gave Starrella a glance and she nodded, ready to play the piano.

They played "Czardas" by Monti, written for Trumpet and Piano. His fingers moved graciously on the valves, quickly playing each note in the run perfectly and his tongue accurately played all the sixteenth notes.

Ariel and Felicita sat against the window sill, in awe, forgetting about the death threat.

The trumpet and piano duo finished the piece just when the bell rang signalling fourth period. Devon dumped out his spit valve onto the carpeted floor and got the sheet music book back. "Well, see you guys in class." He shot another quick glance at the piano player and left.

Devon stepped outside the room, closing it without looking back. "Something's going on," he murmured to himself and decided to figure out what they're hiding from him.