"Please tell me you get the cell and the ATP and photosynthesis. I'm so tired." I push the book back towards Nathan, and he nods.

"I get it, don't worry. I know that it's not an easy course. That's why I'm asking you for help."

I raise my eyebrow at him because his logic makes zero sense. "Why? I'm a computer science-criminology major, not a biology major. I applaud every biology major out there, because this is literal hell."

Nathan chuckles, and then takes out his worksheet to do some more problems before he decides to call it a night when it comes to studying. "You know my biology teacher is actually a chemistry major? Yeah, he minored in biology."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Well, that's ironic. That's more ironic than Mason telling me that I shouldn't minor in math, even though that's literally what he did."

Nathan scoffs. "I don't even know what I'm going to do after high school. I should have some sort of idea, but I don't know. How did you find out, Ashmita?"

I sit back down at the table, and kind of lean in to address Nathan wholly. "Nathan, you're a freshman. You have way too much time on your hands. I only figured out around junior year what I wanted to do with life, and that's because I went to Mason's office to see what the jazz was about his workplace. Trust me, you'll find that passion. Give it a bit of time. And don't worry, not everyone has to do computer science. I had a friend who did it because he wanted to please his parents, ended up hating it, and then switched to accounting. So, don't do it because someone is pressuring you. Because you'll end up regretting it in the long run."

Nathan nods, and then Mason comes in from the kitchen. "Yeah, don't. My mom wanted me to become a doctor, and I said no. I became a software engineer. Just don't major in math. It's torture."

Nathan giggles a little bit, while I smile as well. Then, my phone buzzes, and I pick it up to look at the notification. It's an email notification, and it's in regards to the paid scholarship at Facebook that I've been worrying about for weeks.

I immediately open the email, and check what's inside. I scroll, and then the email says, "Congratulations! You've been selected to intern at Facebook. You will start in the New Year We look forward to working with you."

My mouth falls open at the email, and then I look up. Mason just looks at me, with a slightly curious look on his face. "You okay, Ashmita?"

I give him a warm smile, and say, "Mason, I got the internship!"

His mouth also falls open, and he says, "Ashmita, are you serious?" I giggle a little bit, and nod.

He walks over to me, and then throws his arms around me in a huge hug. "That's amazing! I'm so proud of you!" he squeals, as I hug him back.

I feel so proud of myself at this moment. A Facebook internship is so hard to get, and I had worked my butt off for something like this. I guess good things really do come with hard work.

But also, I'm relieved. Even though Mason had been telling me not to worry about it, I still wanted it badly. I stressed about it a lot, and I finally got it.

Nathan comes over and joins in on the hug. "Great job, Ashmita!" he says, in a happy tone, which contradicts how tired he's been feeling.

Sarah comes down from upstairs, like she can almost sense the celebration from 50 feet away. With an expectant look on her face, she comes to us and says, "Did Ashmita get it?" I look at her with a big old smile, and then she comes in to join the hug. We all hug each other and just rejoice over this new step into something great.

**********

"Ashmita, that's amazing! I'm really happy for you!" Usha tells me, as I giggle.

"Thanks, Usha. I'm stoked! This is something that's pretty huge for me as a whole."

"I can tell. How much did Mason rejoice at this?"

"He was pretty thrilled as well. I can't wait. I've always wanted to do a computer science internship at a huge company so that I can kick start some experience for me."

"I can tell. Oh, also, Rakesh is hosting a huge party at his house in about two weeks. He invited Chris, you, and I. What do you think? I can give you a ride if you want."

I smile at the thought of Rakesh's killer parties, always. There's always good food, loud music, a lot of dancing, but it's also safe, because he never allows heavy drinking there. According to him, "I don't trust myself with alcohol, so putting alcohol in other people's hands is a no no for me."

I think for a little bit, and say, "Hold on a second."

I press the phone to my chest, and call, "Hey, Sarah, can I go to Rakesh's house for a party in two weeks?"

Sarah, who's in the next room, on her laptop, typing up something for work, yells, "Yeah, of course! Is Usha going with you?"

"How did you guess?"

"You two are too close. I knew Usha would tell you. Don't worry, I trust you. Just be safe, and that's all I'm worried about."

"I will, Sarah!"

I press the phone back to my ear, and say, "Yeah, Sarah said yes."

I feel Usha smile over the phone. "Awesome. I'll text Rakesh and tell him you're coming. Oh, also, anything about the case?" Usha switches to Hindi in the question, so that I can communicate without Mason or Sarah understanding too much. Mason's Hindi is decent, but not when it's fast and there's lots of slang used.

I gulp, and then look up a little bit to make sure Mason and Sarah aren't anywhere nearby. Well, Sarah is, but she doesn't care. "Well, I just read the first entry, and there's nothing extremely interesting. Sure, it's cute, because Mason made a promise to my mom to always take care of me just in case something ever happens to her. But it's nothing that could help me solve the case. I don't know what else to do. If all her entries are like that, then I don't have much hope for finding out much about the case."

Usha gives out a little sigh, like she's also done investigating the case, even though it doesn't really affect her in any way whatsoever. "Wait. I have an idea."

I raise an eyebrow, because Usha's idea almost never fail to intrigue me. Whether or not they maybe good ideas, right or wrong, they're always thought out with an amazing amount of reasoning in them. "What is it?"

"Look for the entries on your parents' wedding anniversary! I think your mom must have put something on her wedding anniversary. Maybe she was reminiscing about the times with your biological dad, and she documented that in the diary. Just take a look. Maybe there's something in there. You never know."

I raise an eyebrow. That's a huge possibility, because of how Arjun left her when she found out she was pregnant with me. My mom may have documented something about her wedding and the memory of Arjun in there.

"Do you remember your parents' wedding anniversary?"

"May 30." Mason always told me that day, and it was engraved in their wedding photo album.

"Sweet. Look for entries around that time. There's got to be something there. I can sense it. Just look, and if you look hard enough, then you can find something there."

"Got it. Thanks, Usha."

"Anytime. I've got to go. My mom's yelling at me to do the dishes. Later."

"Bye." I hang up, and then with that, I go over to Mason and Sarah's room to see what they're both up to. I don't know if it's going to be anything interesting, but we'll see. When I get there, surely enough, Sarah is still typing things up on her computer.

She looks up, to see me standing right outside the door, and she asks, "Everything okay, Ashmita?"

I nod. "Everything's good. Where's Mason?"

"Swimming practice with Nathan. I don't know why they're doing it when it's literally freezing right now. I can't get out of the bed without feeling like my toes are about to freeze off."

"Isn't Lebanon like this?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that I'm used to it." I chuckle, as Sarah's honeysuckle laugh radiates the air.

She sets her laptop aside, and then beckons for me to come over. "Come here, Ashmita." I walk over to where she's sitting, and then she snakes an arm around me.

I hug her as well, and she looks up at me. "I'm so proud of you, Ashmita. Great job, and I can't wait until you're working full time at Facebook."

I give her a smile, and then say, "Thanks, Sarah."

She smiles, and says, "Tell you what? Mason's not going to be back for another hour. How about we go get some coffee down at the cafe?"

I smile, and say, "That sounds great. Can I drive?"

"Yeah, why not? I'm not in the mood to drive today for some reason." I snicker, as Sarah locks her computer and gets out of bed. As I walk downstairs, I see a picture of my mom with Mason and Sarah, and it just reminds me of when they were all together and happy.

But, with her murder comes with layers of secrets. I may have only scratched the surface with the diary, but I'm one dig closer to the truth.

****

The next day, I take out my mom's diary and flip through the pages in order to find an entry that is on the anniversary. After flipping through maybe about 20 pages of writing, I come across an entry that is labeled, "May 30, 2000." I open it up, and immediately start to read, knowing that the aura surrounding my parents' marriage is possibly going to be revealed, once and for all.

________________________________

Oooooh, fun chapter, but mysterious! I'm glad Ashmita got those internships, but man, I think we all want to know what's in that diary. What do you think could be revealed in those diaries? Let me know.

Hey everyone! How's it going? So heads up, the next chapter (Jyoti's diary entry) will not have an author's note because I don't think there will be the need for one. I feel like the entry really speaks for itself. So, yeah. I think you'll like it though!

That's all I wanted to let you know. Hope you guys liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! See you all next Sunday with a new chapter of TSOC! Have a great week!

Love you guys,

Shree