Look for clues on campus

The apartment was quiet as I began walking towards the entrance. For student accommodation, the soundproofing was surprisingly good, but it certainly wasn’t perfect. Just how quiet it was now though strengthened my ideas that whoever had taken Grace’s skin wasn’t hiding out somewhere here.

Campus would be my best bet, at least to start. Everyone at that party was a student,

I think…?

And all of my main suspects certainly were, so asking around the student body was where I should start. Alicia, Frank and Lisa at least were all very popular, so that upped my chances too.

And even if some stranger was at the party, invited by a friend of a friend or something, once they tried on Grace they’d probably want to be on campus too… after all, part of the fun as roleplaying as the cute, shy college girl was actually going to the college.

It turned out that a college life of crippling shyness does have the effect of making one fairly invisible. Asking about Grace was a total dead end, it seemed no matter who I ran into, none of them had ever even heard of her.

The reactions changed a little when people got to see her face, even if it was from the small windows of her social media profile pictures. Some of the guys noticeably looked a lot more interested when they realized she was so pretty, but even though that made them wish they knew her, it wasn’t like they actually did.

Of course, many of the people I talked to did know Lisa, Alicia and Frank, although none of them seemed to know where any of them actually were. I even ran into a few who said they’d been at the party, but no-one could really give me any helpful information.

Hours passed like this, a frustrated haze hanging about me as dusk descended and the temperatures started dropping. Tired, unhappy, and with the frazzled headachy sting of concern for Grace pulsing at the back of my brain, I trudged over to one of the college canteens and got myself dinner.

The table was slightly rickety as I sat down, stuffing myself with curry, chicken and rice, a student staple that I ate so ferociously it was almost as if I might find the answers to my question printed on the plate. My bites slowed a little as I filled myself, eyes flicking around the canteen, noting the groups of students studying here or there, chatting idly, lots of smiles on display. It was still the start of the year really, friendships had been made, new explorations both personal and physical happening every day.

The coursework wasn’t particularly serious yet, and the efforts of the students were more focused on partying than anything else. I pulled my eyes back down onto the table, bored of finding nothing out from my sullen glances at the carefree happiness of the other students. On the table, now that I actually was paying some attention, was a spread of leaflets left behind.

I flicked through them, seeing the expected invitations to try out for sports teams, or to join clubs and societies on campus. One leaflet talked about looking out for your mental health, which I appreciated, while another discussed student resources that were available to help if you needed financial support. Further down the pile, as though buried by some morally focused staff member, were the types of leaflets that wouldn’t look good on a CV.

Now these ones pick up my interest a little more…

Leaflets for parties organized by various student groups caught my eye, glossy pictures of attractive young people covered in foam or paint, or even just scantily clad and a little sweaty. A lot of them seemed to have happened already, but one of them…

It promised the best party of the year so far. Not an uncommon claim by these leaflets, but this one really seemed to be selling it. The pictures showed an azure pool, catching multi colored lights from above as people danced and smiled, palm trees and artificial stars giving way to real ones. A nightclub with a Hawaiian beach party aesthetic, with a thick carpet of sand on the floors, and oil drums painted in perfect UV colors, glowing while acting as tables for colorful cocktails. Part inside, part outside, Moai heads and other decorations adding a “Pacific” vibe to proceedings, and people really dressed the part too, with flower lei’s and bikini’s being the order of the day.

Huh…

The club was called “Tiger beach”, and promised a tropical experience, so that no matter what the weather was really like, once you came here you’d be swept away into a dream of a sunny, island holiday. Tomorrow night would be its grand re-opening, after being renovated and upgraded.

That… that party does look incredible.

Some scrolling through various campus community pages on my phone confirmed what I was thinking… nearly everyone was going to be there.