Murder Mystery | Herophine story

Chapter Fifteen

Hero

Monday, October 8th, 2:50pm

I hear the rumours before I see the news vans. Three of them parked out front of school with reporters and camera crews waiting for last bell to ring. They're not allowed on school property, but they're as close as they can get. 

Oakwood Academy is loving this. Chad Posner finds me after last period to tell me people are practically lining up to be interviewed outside. "They're asking about you, man," he warns. "You might want to head out the back. They're not allowed in the parking lot, so you can cut through the woods on your bike."

"Thanks." I take off and scan the hallways for Josephine. We don't talk much as school to avoid-as she says in her lawyer voice- the appearance of collusion. But I'll bet this will freak her out. I spot her at her locker with Kathrine and one of her friends, and sure enough she looks ready to throw up. When she sees me she waves me closer, not even trying to pretend she hardly knows me.

"Did you hear?" she asks, and I nod. "I don't know what to do." A horrified realization crosses her face. "I guess we have to drive past them, don't we?" 

"I'll drive," Kathrine offers. "You can like, hide in the back or something."

"Or we can stay here till they leave," her friend suggests. 

"Wait them out."

"I hate this," Josephine says. Maybe it's the wrong time to notice, but I like how her face floods with colour whenever she feels strongly about something. It makes her look twice as alive as most people, and more distracting than she already does in a short dress and boots. 

"Come with me," I say. "I'm taking my bike out back. I'll bring you to the mall. Kathrine can pick you up later."

Josephine brightens as Katherine says, "That'll work. I'll come find you in half an hour at the food court."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" mutters the other girl, giving me a hard look. "If they catch you together it'll be ten times worse."

"They won't catch us," I say shortly. 

I'm not positive Josephine's on board, but she nods and tells Kathrine she'll see her soon, meeting her friend's annoyed glance with a calm smile. I feel this stupid rush of triumph, like she chose me, even though she basically chose not winding up on the five o'clock news. But she walks close to me as we head out the back door to the parking lot, not seeming to care about the stares. At least they're the kind we've gotten used to. No microphones or cameras involved. 

I hand her my helmet and wait for her to settle herself on my bike and loop her arms around me. Too tight again, but I don't mind. Her death grip, along with how her legs look in that dress, is why I engineered this escape in the first place. 

We're not in the woods long before the narrow trail I'm taking widens into a dirt path that runs past a row of houses behind the school. I take back roads for a couple of miles until we make it to the mall, and ease my bike into a parking spot as far from the entrance as I can get. Josephine takes the helmet off and hands it to me, squeezing my arm as she does. She swings her legs onto the pavement, her cheeks flushed and her hair tousled. "Thanks, Hero. That was nice of you."

I didn't do it to be nice. 

My hand reaches out and catches her around the waist, pulling her towards me. And then I stop, not sure what to do next. I'm off my game. If anyone had asked me ten minutes ago, I would have said I don't have game. But now it occurs to me that I probably do, and it's not giving a shit. 

When I'm sitting and she's standing we're almost the same height. She's close enough for me to notice that her hair smells like green apples. I can't stop looking at her lips while I wait for her to back away. She doesn't, and when I raise my eyes to hers it feels like the breath is yanked right out of my lungs.