Chapter Nine, Part One - Secrets, Lies, and Alibis

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Chapter Nine

Secrets, Lies, and Alibis

Returning to school the next day wasn’t quite as easy as I’d hoped it would be. Every student that passed me in the hallways couldn’t help but make eye contact. The stares were long and hard, some inquisitive, some surprised, while others were pitying and still more were accusatory. But of what – I wasn’t quite sure.

            Between first and second period, I decided that I couldn’t take it anymore. My brain was burning with questions that I knew Anya could answer. So I finally tracked her down and cornered her at her locker, standing beside a red-eyed, tearful Jules. And suddenly it didn’t matter that they’d both been snubbing me since after the party. I approached them as warmly as I could.

            “Hey guys,”

            I put a friendly arm on Jules’ shoulder and she promptly began to sob, throwing her arms about my neck and wailing something that was completely unintelligible.

            “Aww, it’s gonna be ok Jules,”

            “Everything just totally sucks!” she replied, stepping back and carefully wiping beneath her eyes so as not to smudge the clearly water-proof mascara.

            Anya may have been calmer, but there was no doubt she was just as shaken. Beneath the concealer there were bags under her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept.

            “Anya, can I ask you a question?”

            Anya hesitated for a moment before nodding.

            “How did everyone know what happened to Dean so quickly? Hearing about him just happened so fast…”

            Anya took a deep breath and looked away, her brown eyes filled with both regret and worry.

            “Kyle is – was – Dean’s ride to school every morning. And when he didn’t come outside yesterday, Kyle went in his house – he always does it, he didn’t think it’d be a big deal…”

            Anya trailed off, looking the most pained I’d ever seen her. Usually she was chipper to spill even the ugliest of news.

            “Kyle found him,” she continued in a half-whisper, sounding as blank as she looked. “Dean’s parents were still asleep.”

            My mouth and throat went dry at hearing the awful news, but I knew I still needed answers. So I cleared my throat and carried on.

            “Was it really suicide?”

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