Verdict of Secrets.

nulla; need

chapter zero; need.

Jordan turned the page and bit the top of her pen as a result of the frustration. She scanned the next few paragraphs of the book in an attempt to find the answer to question twelve, only to see that mister Johnson must've given them the wrong page numbers. 

 She was listening to Stevie Wonder, the tune of Isn't She Lovely on replay so she could try to focus on something other than the so called inconvenience of her thirst. It was unsettling in the heat and not worth the effort of healthy habits.

 She was sitting alone in the back, the corner of the room behind her and the noise of conversation shut out by the music. It was the beginning of the school year and students were happily getting back to their groups after summer vacation. 

 And maybe the rush of senior year had gotten to a lot of the older students, or so she would assume. They all seemed more confident and well spoken than last year of Bresshill High. Either way it didn't help her.

 She stood up, pulled out the earbuds and closed her biology book. With the knowledge safely tucked into her book-bag, she made her way through the crowded canteen to get to the counter. Her wallet was resting in the palm of her hand and when reaching the cashier she pulled out a ten. 

 "A Sprite, please," she said and gave it to the guy behind the counter.

 "Can or bottle?" he asked her and grabbed the money. 

 "Bottle," she answered and he turned around to grab her request from the fridge in the back. She looked at the cookies sitting on the plate next to the register machine and grabbed one of those as well. 

 "I'll have this cookie too." The guy typed it in and then handed her the change and bottle of soda.

 She was about to go back to her seat and enjoy what she bought, when she overheard a conversation at a table nearby. The Welsh siblings, Luka and Molly, who she sat behind in English and another pair of students were gathered by it. She recognized the other two as Meredith and Peter, a well known friendship from last year after Meredith transferred to their school. 

 "Are you insane, Peter?" Molly exclaimed in a low hiss. 

 "No, come on, it's just for fun. You don't believe in all the bs about that place, do you?" Peter asked them all and Jordan pretended to search for something in her bag, just to seem busy at the spot.

 "Just because it's bs doesn't mean you have to go prove it. Besides, we only know about the rumours. What information do you have on that place, huh? Right, nothing," Meredith taunted her friend, putting him on the spot. 

 "I'm not going there for a history lesson, I just want to see if it's as bad as people say it is," Peter defended himself and turned to Luka. "Please back me up on this?" 

 "If more than ten people died there, then I'm out." Luka put his hands in the air as a defence mechanism, even if his demand wasn't completely serious, and then continued eating his lunch. 

 "A million people could've died there and we wouldn't know, would we?" Meredith rolled her eyes and took a bite of her sandwich. 

 "I've heard twenty, a lot of twins apparently," Peter said and wiggled his eyebrows, only to earn a playful slap.

 "Seven," Jordan spoke, turning their attention to her as she looked at them all. "If you're talking about the mansion then it's seven since the house was built in 1904. Eight if you count the last owner who died just across the property border and nine if a pregnant woman counts as two. Depends on how you look at it I guess, since there was a house there before as well that was ruined by a fire in 1884." 

 They all looked surprised at the knowledge and watched her fiddle with anything she could get a hold of; suddenly nervous. 

 "Jordan, right?" Luka asked, gesturing to her with his finger. 

 "Yeah, erm- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I should go. Mister Duncan wanted me at his office before lunch was over."

 Jordan suddenly put fire to her legs and speed-walked out of there, leaving the four classmates confused about the scene she had caused with them. They were also slightly impressed, the smile on Peter's face clear. 

 "We might need her."

a/n just a short introduction to get it started. I have so many plans for this. x