Fate Reloaded

Fate Reloaded--Part I, Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

            Jordana spent most of the morning, being more talkative and outgoing than she could ever remember having been before. At first, she found it hard to talk to guys that she’d never bothered to get to know in the past, but after about her fifth spontaneous conversation, she realized it was easier than she’d thought to get the guys to talk to her.  The hard part was acting nonchalant when she asked these guys about their weekend plans, making sure not to seem too eager.

            Although she knew her watch-slash-tape-recorder-slash-camera was recording everything she was finding out, Jordana had already begun to mark people off her list of suspects in her head.

            After talking to about a ton of jocks, Jordana realized that if she was going to check up on their stories, she’d need to talk to the people who had shared their alibis. So, she started to talk to girls she knew, too.

            By lunchtime, she was exhausted and hungry and ready to hang up her detective hat for the hour. Jordana had been concentrating so hard on tracking down the robber, that she’d barely thought about Billy and Sara, and was jolted back to reality when she walked into the cafeteria and saw them sitting together at their table. Holding hands. And smiling goofily at each other.

            Oh, barf, Jordana thought to herself.

            Taking a deep breath and plastering on a big, fake smile, she crossed the room and sat down at the table next to Desi.

            “Hey, girl! How goes it?” Desi asked her, happily.

            “Hey, guys!” Jordana said, looking around the table. She tried not to look at Billy and Sara, but she couldn’t help it. It’s like when you drive by the scene of an accident, and you don’t really want to see the bloody damage, but you can’t tear your eyes away. Billy and Sara were like that accident and Jordana couldn’t help but find herself feeling more like the victim.

            She quickly looked away from the canoodling couple and dug into her sandwich.

            “So, where have you been, girl? We were, like, worried when you didn’t show up at lunch yesterday. And nobody heard from you all weekend,” Mel said, sipping on a Diet Coke.

            “I just had to take care of some things,” Jordana said. Quickly changing the subject, she added, “So did I miss anything on Friday?”

            “Just a crappy movie and these two love birds hooking up,” Noe said, nudging his head toward Sara and Billy.

            “We were not hooking up at the theater,” Sara responded. “We were just kissing a little.”

            “Uh, more like a lot!” Melina piped in. “Do you guys even know what the movie was about?”

            Jordana found it more and more difficult to keep the smile on her face, and settled for stuffing her mouth instead.

            “OK, guys,” Billy said, softly. “Just let it go.”

            Jordana looked over at him and was surprised to see him staring back at her. His face looked sort of apologetic, and for an instant, Jordana was worried he knew how she felt about him. Then, before she knew it, Sara was pulling his face to hers and planting another kiss on his lips.

            Jordana looked away and continued to finish her lunch.

            “Well, it sounds like you guys had fun,” she said to the group.

            “Not so much,” Kurt answered in a bored voice. Then, his face lit up and he said, “But I heard your Friday night was full of fun!”

            Jordana shook her head at him. “Creepy, yes. Fun, no. I spent most of my night talking to the cops,” Jordana said. “At least you guys got a movie out of it.”

            “That’s wicked crazy that you practically caught the guy,” Kaleigh said loudly. “I mean, I think I would have freaked.”

            “I didn’t catch the guy,” Jordana said, giving Desi a look. “I don’t have any idea who he is. He was wearing a ski mask.”

            “Do the cops have any leads?” Billy asked her.

            “Um, not as far as I know,” Jordana answered. “All they really have to go on is the picture I took of him. And you can’t really tell anything about the guy from his picture—except that he’s a guy and was wearing a PCHS shirt.”

            “Wait! This dude goes to our school?” Sara asked, shocked.

            “I don’t really know,” Jordana said, quietly. “All we really know is that he was wearing our school’s shirt. It could be anyone really.”

            As everyone around her exclaimed over the idea of the burglar going to their school, Jordana’s thoughts turned back to the case. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t really want to let them all in on the fact that she and Kip were trying to track the guy down themselves. Before she knew it, Jordana had made a conscious decision to keep this info between herself, Kip and Desi.

            She glanced over at Desi, and knew by the way she was looking at her, that she understood and wouldn’t be talking either. She gave her best friend a big smile, and got up to toss the remainder of her lunch in the trash.

            “Gotta do a few things before next period,” Jordana said to them. “See you guys later!”
            They said their goodbyes and Jordana headed for the cafeteria door. Within seconds, she was outside, breathing in the cool air deeply.

            Since it was obvious that she couldn’t seem to get away from the subject of the robbery, she decided she might as well talk to a few more people before the bell rang.

            Man, Veronica Mars makes it look so easy, she thought to herself, as she approached a group of guys who were tossing around a football. She pushed the record button on her watch and waved to the guys as she walked over to them.

            “Hey guys, can I join in the fun?” she asked and then prepared to start with her questions.

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Note from the author:

If you like Fate Reloaded, be sure to fan me, and then support your fellow Wattpadder by buying my other book, Life's a Witch, in paperback, or for the Kindle or Nook. Just go to amazon.com and search Life's a Witch...you could help make me the next  New York Times Best Seller!

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:)
Britt