Hamilton Academy: He's Always Watching

Part Two ~ Chapter Nine

"I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, watching as he slowly pulled a large envelope out of the folder."

-Matt

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MATT:

The atmosphere around us had miraculously shifted from a tense silence to a much happier one. Amy was bubbly and talkative, Julia was back to cracking small gentle smiles, and Andrew was back to being as mysterious as usual. I knew he was hiding something, but that wasn’t my main focus at the moment. I wanted us all to be safe and happy.

            The happy part seemed mostly done, thanks to Amy talking us back into being friends. But being safe had not exactly happened yet. In fact after Kathryn being killed. I felt like we were all in even more danger. Nobody really seemed to understand why I didn’t feel as happy as they did. Sure, we were friends again, but what power did friendship have over Mr. Grey’s knife? Being friends wouldn’t save us from being killed or hurt by Mr. G, and nobody else looked like they realized this.

They acted as if friendship was the magic potion, turning everything dark and bad into flowers and butterflies. I knew that Mr. Grey wasn’t done yet though, and that our friendship would only distract ions and keep us from being safe. My fear was that I would let myself have fun and then one of us would be hurt.

            That’s how it happened with Ethan. I was an awful brother, letting Ethan experience something as horrid as what  he had to. It was all my fault.

            We were all currently standing in one of the fields, using our Sunday to practice volleyball for the tournament coming up. Only Andrew was missing, off at soccer practice with the rest of the soccer team. Amy and Julia were trying to hit a volleyball back and forth, but it kept somehow ending up on the ground. I don’t know how she did it, but Julia had the skill of a worm when it came to sports. Absolutely none.

            Amy was bent over laughing, and I smirked at Julia’s determined look. I would bet all my life savings that by the end of this Julia would need quite a few icepacks.

            “Hey look! The duck is trying to serve again!” Johnny bounded over, Ethan and Kyle not far behind. Julia looked over at Johnny horrified.

            “What did you just call me?”

            “A duck. You know, because ducks can’t play sports at all. Just like you.” Julia didn’t look very offended by Johnny’s attempt at insulting her, and I don’t think I would have either, had it been directed at me.

            “Better luck next time bud.” I slapped him on the shoulder, and he pouted a little.

            “When is the game?” Ethan looked at me for an answer, and I smiled at the fact that we were no longer just yelling at one another.

            “Sunday and I need you all to have some skill by then,” I joked. Julia glared at me, and I just shrugged. “I plan on us winning.”

            “Uh-oh, Matt is getting competitive again.” Amy tossed a volleyball in my direction, aiming at my head, but my quick reflexes caught it.

            “If you look at the competition we have, the chances of us winning are actually rather large,” Kyle stated. “The majority of our team isn’t too bad, excluding our less experienced team members.” Julia rolled her eyes before picking up the volleyball.

            “This is going to be a serve you are all jealous of,” she swallowed nervously before tossing the ball in the air. Her eyes widened as the ball started coming down, and she scrambled away in fear.