PENTAGON

HEART IS DEAD

PENNY'S POV

“Hey Penny!”

“Penny?”

“Helloooo?!”

“Penny!”

I saw Rhom standing in front of me who woke me up. One week has passed since I went to SRA and after what I've encountered, I personally withdrew from being a Pentagon's interviewer.

“Are you okay?” He asked me worryingly and leaned his face to mine.

“I'm good. I just didn't get enough sleep last night.” I replied and he nodded.

“Why? I thought you already transferred your work to Cass?” He asked again, but he's now walking back to his place.

“Yeah, but someone–” I didn't finish my sentence when Cass came to our office.

Cass is our senior journalist and a big fan of the Pentagon. She's crying when she came, I immediately stood and hugged her.

“Senior, why?” I asked while patting her arm. Rhom and others also came to check on her.

“H..h.heart is fou..und d..dead.” She cries in front of us.

My eyes almost bawled out after what I heard. The noises here in the office become louder since the Pentagon is also popular in our school.

“What do you mean she's dead?” Rhom asked, but Cass kept crying. I hugged her again and let her cry on my shoulder. She's a fan and I understand how painful it was for her.

We let Cass rest for a while and send her to the infirmary. The journal team gathered and one of my colleagues saw the news on her feed and read it loudly.

“The popular and kind-hearted leader and student president of Stonerock Academy was found dead in front of the Pentagon House built inside of the campus. According to the initial investigation, she was killed as they found a metal tip from an arrow stabbed on her chest that caused her death. The identity and motive of the suspect is still unknown.” As she read.

Our advisor came to our room and told us to postpone the collaboration of our school to SRA for the meantime. He also mentioned what happened to Heart and warned us not to write an article about what happened. We leave the room since he needs to privately talk to our seniors.

“Hey. Are you okay? You look so worried since you've heard the news.” Rhom ask me. Rhom is one of my closest friends here and even though I'm just a newbie, he always reliable.

“I think I know who killed Heart.” I whispers to him and he gave me a shock reaction.

One week ago…

“I HATE HEART SO MUCH! SHE'S THE WORST!”

“I WANT TO RIP HER FAKE SMILE, FAKE FACE AND HER WHOLE EXISTENCE.”

I cover my mouth when I hear things being thrown.

“WILL YOU SHUT! SOMEONE MIGHT HEAR YOU! YOU’RE EVEN THROWING THINGS.”

“ARE YOU DUMB? ASIDE FROM THE PENTAGON HOUSE, THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE HAS NO SECURITY SYSTEM.”

“IF THE JOURNAL TEAM TELL THIS TO HEART, YOU'LL BE DEAD!”

“BUT SHE'S THE REASON WHY I NEED TO FIND THAT STUPID OFFICER HERE.”

“NO! IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR FAILING YOUR CAREER WILL YOU JUST LEAVE IT TO ME?”

“NO. I JUST WANT TO KILL THEM BOTH.”

“She's not here, she may be in her class. Let's go!”

Those words between Pyra and Crescent are shocking that almost made me out of breath. After they leave the place, we both stand up and I hear her crying. I can feel how afraid and nervous she was.

“Is that for real? I thought..” I said when she looked at me.

“That's the real Pentagon. I'm dead! I'm dead!” She cried and I hugged to comfort her.

“How about you talk to your parents or the staff here?” I nervously asked her, but she just shook her head.

“No. They are all under the influence of Heart's family. What should I do? I need to talk to Heart, maybe she will spare me.” She said while crying. She's about to leave when I grabbed her arm.

“Hey? Didn't you hear them? Heart is the worst among them. I didn't know what they meant about that, but I guess Heart is really powerful. Just because you spilled juice, she wants to get rid of you?” I said and she cried again.

“No one knows who the real Pentagon is. If I'm not Dia's cousin I would also believe that they are the perfect friendship, but they are not. It's far from what people think about them.” She said and I nodded.

“Then, you should be careful. You can talk to your cousin for help, but for now you should go. I'll let you use my jacket so the people here won't notice you.” I said and gave my jacket.

“Give me your phone number, so I can contact you. I'm from the journalist team and it will be good that you have my connection. They won't do dirty work against you, if you tell them I have their true identity.” I said and she hugged me tightly.

“Thank you. Thank you so much, by the way I still don't know your name?” She asked me and I offered my hand to her.

“I'm Penny, and you?” I said and she accepted my hand.

“I'm Val.” She said and I smiled at her. We leave the room and fortunately no students see us leaving. We immediately leave the campus, but we need to part our ways.

Present time…

“You mean, the suspect who killed Heart is between Pyra and Crescent?” He asked and I signed him to lower his voice so people won't hear us.

“Yes and I'm trying to contact Val, I'm worried about her.” I said and he nodded.

“She's not answering. What should I do?” I asked Rhom while biting my nails.

“Penny, calm down. Maybe she's taking her time to process what happened to Heart.” He replied. The day has passed and what happened to SRA drew attention not only to our University, but also to other campuses.

I went back to my dorm and tried to contact Val, but she is still not answering my calls.

After I washed up, I sat down at my desk and opened my laptop. I saw the photos of the Pentagon and they are all smiling. There's also candid photos where they look at each other being happy with one another. They seem happy and care about each other.

I also opened a video where Heart cracks jokes to them and they all laugh and adore their leader. While browsing the photos, Rhom sent me a message.

He sent me a link and I dropped my phone when I saw the article. My tears fell to my face and I looked at the article again.

Has Ovaline ‘Val’ Herra killed Heart?

Today, the body of Heather ‘Heart’ Ñuest was found dead in front of the Pentagon building. She has severe head and back injuries. Aside from those, it also found a metal tip of an arrow to her chest, right on her left ventricle. The investigation assumes that the suspect wants to get rid of the evidence.

According to the students, yesterday afternoon, after dismissal they saw Val arguing with Heart. Heart is famous for her leadership and good attitude toward others. That is the first time they saw their President having a big fight with the student. Val is a second cousin of Dia, who is one of the closest friends of Heart and part of the Pentagon. The students suspected her of what happened to their leader and asked the rest of the Pentagon to find justice for their friend.

As of now, Val is under investigation at PCC police station because of what happened. On the other hand, the other police officers still wait for the result of the fingerprint to the tip of an arrow that will be a big help to the investigation.