House of Grimm: Book One of the Grimm Trilogy

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The next day at school, I step into the main hall of Grimsby High, and whispers whiz past me, Rachelle's name surrounding me. I keep my eyes straight ahead, unblinking, steady my breathing, focus on the sound of lockers slamming and papers rustling.

"I didn't go yesterday," one girl says into her locker, breaking through my waning resolve. "But did you see her? Like, was there a body?"

I go cold, unable to help myself, and listen to the conversation. Students knock into me from all sides, weaving around me like water bouncing around a buoy, but their flippant words hold me in place. So casual, so uncaring.

"No, but some people think they did find her but the body was too gross to show," the other girl says, her brown ponytail bobbing as she closes her locker and turns to her friend.

"If so it must have been pretty bad cause they didn't even open the casket."

"No way," the other girl whispers.

I step forward, fury rushing through my veins. My bag drops from my shoulder to the floor, and it's only then that the two turn to me. They raise their eyebrows, searching me over, before recognition has them taking a step away from me.

"Oh, that's the best friend," the brunette says matter-of-factly, as if she recovered from my presence and I'm not even there.

The other girl gives me the same pitying gaze the entire school has given me for the last week. I cut them both a hard glare, the bell ringing over our heads signaling the start of first period. The girls scoot past me, and I catch the arm of the brunette. She gasps. Good. I become very aware of every other set of eyes in the hallway staring at us, at me.

"Don't," a low voice says behind me.

I feel a hand fall on my shoulder and I let go of the girl's arm. The two gossipers skitter away, and I turn around to a familiar sight.

It's the dark-haired girl.

"Punching some basic-bitch out in the middle of the hall won't help the pain," she says, tightening her grip on me.

"You're following me," I tell her, wind-milling my arm out of her grasp.

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

She pauses, glances at me sideways, and then chuckles lowly.

"So what if I am? You'd be suspended right now if I weren't," she says, crossing her arms and grinning.

"I wouldn't have actually hit her," I say defensively.

She raises an eyebrow.

"Sure you wouldn't have."

But the truth is I really wanted to hit that girl. Hard. I wanted to clang her little brown ponytail in that locker and slam it shut. Gossips like her are the reason everyone thinks Rachelle is dead.

I turn around and look at the place the girls had just been standing, and imagine my best friend standing there instead. Rachelle would never hurt anyone, and here I was almost decking people on her behalf.

I really was losing my mind.

"Who are you anyway?" I ask as I turn back around to face the girl.

But when I do she isn't there.

Floored, I look up and down the hall but she isn't anywhere. It's like she evaporated or something. I make my way down the hall and toward my first class, my eyes peeled and searching every corner for the dark-haired girl as I go.