Kendall & Me [discontinued]

03 | The Murderer

“You know what I don’t get?” Diana drawled, her fingers tapping at her iPod.  “I don’t get why these damn birds are so angry all the time.  Like, go to anger management or something, really.”

I snorted, my grip on my pencil tight as I struggled to concentrate on my math homework.  I couldn’t register what I was supposed to be doing, couldn’t figure out how to solve any of these problems.  It wasn’t because I didn’t understand the topic—I did.  No, it was because I had way too much on my mind.  I mean, Diana talking about Angry Birds was distracting all in itself.  But having your dead twin sister sitting on the couch next to Diana like it was the most normal thing in the world didn’t exactly help me any.

The worst part was?  I couldn’t even look at Kendall, couldn’t even acknowledge her presence.  Because if I did Diana was going to ask what the hell was wrong with me and I didn’t want her to look at me like I was crazy.  Because I didn’t need other people telling me I was insane when I already knew that.  And I didn’t need her blabbing to my parents.  Because that would only end badly.

“Don’t you agree, Iz?”  Diana’s eyes flicked up from her electronic device.  “Seriously.  These birds have issues.”

“Maybe you should lead a therapy session,” I suggested, jotting down the next question and staring at it blankly.  Was I supposed to divide by X here?  Or was I supposed to log everything?  I didn’t even know.

“That’s a splendid idea!” Diana grinned, her gaze returning back to her game.  “Would you like to join us in that session, Isabel?”

“Conflict of interest,” I murmured.

I glanced up as I heard a small laugh.  Kendall covered her mouth with her hand, shaking her head.  She seemed to be finding the whole conversation amusing.  I couldn’t help but stare at her as Kendall snickered.  This was so weird.  No matter how much I tried to accept it, it just didn’t seem to work.  Kendall wasn’t supposed to be here right now.  She was dead.  She was dead.

“Iz, what are you looking at?”

I blinking, swerving my gaze over to Diana as she cocked an eyebrow at me.  I could practically feel Kendall’s entertainment as I mustered some sort of reply.  “Uh,” I mumbled, glancing between Kendall and Diana for a moment before swallowing.  “Nothing.”

Diana looked where I was staring, a confused expression on her face.  “Dude, it’s a couch cushion,” she said.

“I know.”  I smiled.  “I just thought I saw a speck on it or something.  No biggy.”

Diana didn’t seem at all convinced but went back to her game anyway, shrugging as her fingers began to tap at her iPod again.  I watched blankly as she began muttering about “these birds having issues.”  I knew that I needed to work on my homework—I mean, Diana’s break wasn’t going to last forever.

But Kendall was so damn distracting.

“I still can’t believe you couldn’t find your iPod,” Diana murmured absently.  “I don’t know what I would do without mine, honestly.”

“You’d actually get some homework done?” I suggested, forcing myself to look down at my paper.  What number was I on again?

“Maybe if you had your iPod you would get some homework done,” Diana retorted.  She paused her game and looked up at me, her eyes narrowed.  “What is going on with you, Iz?  You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I blinked.  I wished she understood what a terrible time it was to use that cliché right now.  “I don’t know,” I muttered, bringing a hand through my hair.  “Maybe I’m just tired.”