INTRUDER

NOW

Daniel is waiting for me again at the front of the school this time. He grabs me by the arm and locks his arm in mine. It's a hard grasp and he brings me towards the bathroom.

"Did you hear?"

"What?" I asked.

"A woman named Lynn is dead, they found the woman right next to her car in the parking lot out of the school. Claire she was my teacher! Who killed her Claire, who?"

BEEP...BEEP...BEEP.

My alarm clock violently blares across the dark morning. It was just a dream, just a dream.

I reach in into my pants that I wore yesterday and I dial her number that she gave me. I got a new phone from Susanne yesterday. It was a old phone that Susanne had kept just in case. It's pretty funny to think about.

"Hello?" She answer. A wave of relief surges through me when she answers.

"Hi Lynn! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" She laughs into her phone.

I tell her to meet me at the park downtown when we have lunch. She tells me that yes she will me me at 1 and she is very excited to talk to me.

I hang up and rest my phone on the bed. I can't believe I actually thought that Lynn had been killed. I laugh at that thought and get ready for the entire day.

When I get to school, Daniel is waiting for me. He is standing there with one of his foot on the wall and the other one on the ground. His hair is a dark brown shade and is combed to the side which makes it look like he was ready for picture day everyday.

"Hey," is all I can muster up to say.

"Hey! What's up?" He asks me, putting his arm around my neck.

"Nothing, I almost realized to late that I was late for school, but I made it on time!" I lie, I actually didn't care if I was late or not. All I cared about right now was meeting with Lynn at lunch time. I wanted to know more about my dad and his other "life" before he died.

The day passes with an annoying slowness. Nothing really happens at all, nothing.

When the bell rings for lunch, I shoot out of my chair and race towards the door. Ben steps into the doorway and I slam into him. His cologne blasts into my face making me laugh.

Ben starts to laugh and I have no time left to run to Johnny's car. I run the car to the park and I notice that Lynn is already there. She is sitting there eating a sandwich I bet is homemade.

I walk out of my car and speed walk toward her. I try not to run into any kids but fail as I bump into a little girl and she glares at me.

When I reach Lynn, she pulls out another sandwich out of her bag.

"Oh! You didn't have to."

"It's just my way of saying sorry for your loss," she smiles at me.

I smile back at her and start to unwrap the sandwich. I eat it gracefully and we begin to talk about what we came her to do.

"Why did you want to talk today?" She asked, as soon as I was maybe halfway through the sandwich.

"I want to talk a little bit about Garred, you know, since you guys were friends."

"Oh, yeah, he was a charming man. He always was by your side and he was an all around great man to be around. I bet he loved you family!"

"No. It's not true."

"What's not true?" She asked, leaning in closer as if this were a secret no one should ever hear.

"He abused us. He hit us. He lied to us. He hated us," I silently croak into her ear.

"But... but I... He told me that you guys were lovely and that he loved you guys."

"That was a lie."

"But why?"

"He was abused when he was little and this was his way of life back then, that's my theory. He thought that hurting people was okay when it wasn't."

"He... he never told me anything about that. Are you sure we are talking about the same man?" She asks me.

"Yes, because I know you had an affair with him."

"Damn! I told him you would find out, look, I am really sorry. He told me he was not married at first and then he told me he was but he didn't care because he loved me. He lied to me and I guess I will never forgive him because of that. I could kill him because of all the damage he caused me when he broke it off when he said that he suspected "Maggie" found out."

I raised my eyebrows in shock. That was really surprising to know.

"Lynn, I gotta get back to school. Thanks for the sandwich again! Also thanks for the talk!"
I get up and race to my car. I could kill him, her words pierce through my mind like a needle in flesh. Could she?