Disequilibrium

Part 2: Sophomore Year - Scene 6

One week later

 

Cops aren't as smart as they'd like people to think. I know that because it didn't take much to fool two of them at the same time. I mean, I wasn't surprised when a missing report went out the next day after the incident. Aaron's parents are high up in the business field; of course they'd get the whole of Seabrook searching for their kid. It didn't take long to find him. Some lady who went jogging on the trail saw him crumpled and dirty, and an investigation opened up real quick.

The cops questioned everyone who knew Aaron, but they focused on the swim team and me. Mostly me. I didn't mind it since they had to. I was the last person with him, after all. Two cops showed up at the trailer—I didn't go to school since I was supposed to be 'grieving'—and said they needed me to come down to the station. So I did. They put me in some room with one table, two cops on one side while I'm at the other. Then the questions started.

"I'm sure you heard about what happened to Aaron, right?" one of them said. His eyes were oozing with sympathy, so it was only natural that I pulled my eyebrows together and looked at my hands.

"Yeah, I did."

"Look, son, I know this'll be hard for you, but we have to get down to what really happened. Can you tell us where you were last Thursday?"

I paused for about thirty seconds before speaking. Answering too quick would seem rehearsed. "My friend Casper invited me over to the community pool. Some of the guys on the team like going there to swim a few laps."

"Can you tell us who was there exactly?"

I looked up at the ceiling, pretending to think. "Um...me, Casper, Aaron, and two other guys. I think their names were Nick and Andrew. I'm not sure. But yeah, I tagged along. I can't swim, so I waited for them to finish so we could get burgers."

"But Aaron never got burgers, did he?"

Ten seconds. "No. Aaron and I had a...misunderstanding that needed to be cleared up. That's the whole reason I went in the first place. So when they were done, Aaron and I split off and went to talk."

The other officer was writing furiously in his notebook, occasionally looking up to make sure I wasn't lying. He didn't have an ounce of pity in his eyes.

"Can you tell us about the misunderstanding?"

"Oh, it was stupid," I said with a shake of my head. "I think he was a little pissed that I was hanging out with Casper more. I'm not exactly part of the same social class, if you haven't noticed, so he told Casper that I threatened him or something. He apologised for it that day, though. I let it go."

"And how did he look like when he was apologising?"

"First he was angry; started yelling at me for talking to Casper in the first place. And then he got a real sad. It was weird. He said sorry, and I forgave him, but he didn't look that great."

Both officers were looking at me by that point. "What do you mean?"

"He was sulking. Shoulders hunched. Eyes always on the floor. They looked a little red, too. I told him we should forget about it and just join the others, but he told me to go ahead. Said he wasn't feeling well and that he'd go home." I placed my head in my hands. "Man, I'm so stupid! I knew something was going on. If I had just stayed he wouldn't—"

The officer with the soft eyes slouched in his seat a little. "You know about the note, then."

"Everyone knows about the note."

"Then you should also know it wasn't your fault. Aaron had things he was fighting on the inside—things we may never find out. You can't blame yourself for his way of handling it. You hear me?"