The Locker Exchange

CHAPTER TWO

Adalia and I traded looks. So did others in the room.

"Two nights ago, a student many of you know. . ." She stopped, as if trying to figure out the best phrasing. "Erm, Ingrid. Ingrid Lund, a junior, suffered from a fatal accident near the football field. Truly, truly terrible." She sighed. "It's unfortunate that I have to deliver news like this. Please be careful so accidents like this don't repeat—"

My hand shot up.

"Miss Hastings?"

"I was there that night," I said, trying to keep the anger out of my words. The room went silent as I continued. "I saw someone at the top of the stairs, and I don't think she tripped. The school should be warning us to watch out at night, or they should at least add some extra security."

Mrs. Drella's lips pursed. "If you have more information or evidence, see me after class. Otherwise, I think that's enough. There's no need to scare your fellow students."

"They should be scared," I muttered. My teeth began to grind as our teacher cleared her throat and reached for a stack of papers behind her.

"Let's start class."

Mrs. Drella stopped at each row of desks, passing out papers that probably wouldn't get done until tomorrow morning, and when a certain black-haired boy turned around to hand me my own, my heartbeat did a leap.

A very small leap.

Sterling Reyes. He'd been sitting in front of me every day since school began. Every day, he gave me one of those loose smiles and then faced forward, ready to start the day fresh, as if we weren't all dying from the horrors of public school and, more realistically, murderers.

I'd admit he made my heart flutter sometimes. And now that I was able to see his face, a sense of calm washed over me, my previous biting anger subsiding just a bit when he smiled. The sight of his dimpled cheeks and warm umber eyes always had that effect on me, but I'd never really done much about it.

"Morning," he said in a low voice before turning his focus away from me. It was so casual that I didn't think he expected a reply, so I smiled back instead.

Sterling had something most guys didn't.

He had manners. He was polite. He cared about other people. Simply put, he was a nice person. Boys like that were hard to find in general, and especially in our school. So with a face and personality like Sterling's, it was almost impossible not to feel a little attracted to him.

Unfortunately, I couldn't stare at his back all day and squinted past him instead. Mrs. Drella started hitting her marker against the smart board, writing letters and words that I never paid attention to because learning history was fun and all, but add a monotone voice and constant lectures? Not really my thing.

My thoughts began to drift, and a feeling of smallness settled in my chest again. It was obvious I needed to do something, not just for everyone at school but for Ingrid too. I knew she'd been involved in something bigger than an
"accident," and I wasn't going to just let it go.

However, it was daunting. Realistically speaking, what could someone like me do? I was just a junior in high school who didn't even have her parents at home to help her.

But now Ingrid's parents didn't have a daughter.

What if another student found themselves alone, unsuspecting, and that murderer came back for round two? What if the next victim was someone I knew? A friend?

My stomach knotted at the thought.

I hadn't known Ingrid that well, but I knew no one deserved to be written off like that.