She Told Me

Chapter 4

My brain is screaming at me to do something, anything, but all I can do is stare at the dead girl. There is a crack behind me and it snaps me out of my shock. I whip around and see her standing there watching me, Mia.

She doesn't even flinch, "we have to leave." I stare at her, still trying to process what she's saying. Suddenly, she has me by the arm and is dragging me out of the forest. I regain my senses as we reach the edge of the forest and wrench my arm from her unusually strong grip, "What are you doing? We can't just leave it...her out there, we have to go back."

Mia looks calm, "What are you going to do? Give her CPR?"

"I don't know, maybe she's alive."

"She's not."

I swallow, "Then we have to tell the police, someone at least."

Mia takes a step closer to me, "listen to me very carefully, you are going to go home and you're going to forget this ever happened."

"And if I don't?"

Her expression didn't waver, "Then you'll live to regret it."

                                                           *****************************

The front door swings shut behind me and I flinch in spite of myself. Mia's words are still ringing in my head and Cathy is unusually silent. I take a deep breath and let my backpack slide off my shoulder and onto the floor. I just saw a dead body, I realise, I saw a dead body and I didn't report it.

I suddenly feel very cold and alone. I know it will be at least an hour or two till my dad comes home which means I will just have to find a way to deal. For me, it means video games.

I skip over War games and go for something a little less bloody. I play for fifteen minutes before I realise that I cannot get the image of the dead girl out of my mind. I finally give up and take a pill. The sleeping pills I use weren't procured the right way but they do the job as always and that's all that matters to me.

The next time I wake up, it's dark outside and I can hear movement in the hall. My head is also pounding and after a blessed moment of confusion, all the events of this afternoon come flooding back.

I think of the poor girl, lying there in the middle of the forest, all alone and very dead and make a decision. I'm going to the cops. But before that, I need to talk to my dad. So, I drag myself off my bed and trudge to the kitchen. Sure enough, he is there, looking unusually somber as he flips a piece of roast beef.

He catches sight of me and his expression changes. He has a concerned look on his face and my heart skips a beat. He knows. He knows about the pills.

"Lucas, we need to talk."

I swallow, "what do you want to talk about?"

"Why don't you sit down?"

"I think I'm fine where I am."

He doesn't insist. He studies me for a second while I try to maintain a neutral expression. Then he sighs, "A girl from your high school was murdered today."

I don't have to pretend to be shocked because I am, and a little bit relieved too. This means someone found her. Maybe Mia herself went to the cops.

"Are you listening to me?"

I force myself back to the conversation at hand, "it's just scary."

"I know," my dad turns off the stove and walks up to me, "which is why we need to talk."

"How do you know she was murdered?" I say, 

My dad looks confused, "the paper says she was murdered."

"How?"

He shakes his head, "does it matter? I'm just glad you weren't there when it happened. The janitor who found the body was traumatised. Can you imagine going to dump an old broomstick and finding a corpse instead?"

I could, but I didn't tell him that. Instead, I just slumped down on the sofa, "who was the girl?"

"They haven't identified her yet, the hyenas got to her first"

I felt a surge of guilt but managed to maintain my expression. My dad took a seat next to me, "Anyway, the point is, from tomorrow, I need you to come straight home after school, no loitering around and I need you to call me as soon as you reach home."

"You never pick up my calls when you have meetings."

"Then text me."

"Okay Dad, I will, relax."

He rubs his forehead, "your mom is going to kill me when she gets back tomorrow. She never wanted to move here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I convinced her that you would thrive here in a small homely place."

"So you lied."

He looks so defeated that I almost wish I hadn't just said that. He leans forward, putting his head in his hands, "I'm sorry Lucas, I know none of this has been easy on you. I really did think this would be the fresh start you needed."

I shrug, "if it makes you feel better, I probably wouldn't thrive in the place mom wanted to move to either."

He chuckles, "you're a good kid, you know that?"

I stand up, "And you're a good cook and dinner right now smells really tempting"

                                                                   *********************

After eating an amazing dinner that should have uplifted my mood instantly, I make my way back to my room. I open up my laptop and place it on my bed. I don't know why but I feel the overwhelming need to know what happened to that girl.

I log onto the site of one of the more well known news outlets in the town. The dead girl at the high school is one of the top stories and I skim through the article quickly. She was found by a janitor about three hours after I'd left and the police suspected foul play. I chuckled without humour. A stab wound would definitely be considered foul play.

The article mentions something about the efforts being undertaken to identify her and my body turns cold. I'm probably the only one who knows what she looks like. Well me and the person who killed her.

For Ash, who is the only teacher whose classes I actually enjoy.