She told me

Chapter 5

When I enter the study room, out of the corner of my eye I see Mia, at her usual spot, immersed in a book. I avoid eye contact, even more than usual and escape to my side of the study room.

Once inside, I let out a breath that I didn't even realise I was holding. It's just a regular free period on a regular school day but I feel anything but normal. A girl is dead, I saw her dead body and she was murdered by someone. Not to mention, one of my usual sources of comfort, chatty Cathy had stopped talking to me.

I jump as the intercom in the room comes to life, 'There will be a memorial service organised tomorrow for Karen Hills who passed away yesterday due to unfortunate circumstances'

I hear a snort from behind me, "more like from being stabbed through the heart"

I whip around and Mia puts her hands up, "didn't mean to startle you"

"You knew who she was, didn't you?"

She shrugs, "maybe"

"Why did you make me leave her there?"

She turns around and walks out of the room, "remember what I said, do not breathe a word of this to anyone. The janitor found her, not you."

I want to tell her that her threats are not going to work on me and that I wasn't afraid of her but the words don't come out which lead me to believe that I actually may be a little afraid of her.

I pick up my bag and trail after her because all of a sudden, I don't want to be alone in this cold dark room. It's a new feeling for me but then I've also never stumbled upon a dead body before.

When I enter the classroom, it is silent. I look to the front, thinking maybe our teacher may have entered early but there is no one there. The students are sitting in somber silence and there's just one seat that's unoccupied. With a sinking feeling, I realise who it is. The dead girl was my classmate. Karen, I tell myself, her name was Karen.

She had to die

I freeze, Cathy is back. I listen intently but almost immediately she goes on a tangent about jock privilege and I start to wonder if maybe I imagined what I thought she said. No, she said it, she said she had to die.

Miss Laughlin walks in right then and I turn my attention to her. I'm already failing Miss Spellman's class and I don't want to fail this one too.

Miss Laughlin sets her books on the table and surveys the class, "we're going to do some light reading today, I know a lot of you are going through a hard time"

The class gets out their books and I do the same, consciously trying to avoid looking at Karen's empty seat. I tap my desk lightly as I struggle to process the words on the page. There is a groan behind me, "Could you stop that?"

I turn around and make eye contact with the burly guy behind me before dropping my gaze, "Sorry"

"Hey, take it easy Keith" Maya, who is sitting in the next row, says, "everyone's having a rough day"

"What are you crying about?" Keith shoots back, "you hated Karen, always talked about how she was a waste of space, looks like someone finally did what you wanted."

Maya opens her mouth to reply but no words come out. Keith scoffs, "maybe you killed her yourself"

"Hey" Cory cuts in, "Karen was a bully okay, she sucked as a person, that doesn't mean Maya wanted her to die"

Keith rolls his eyes, "whatever you say captain"

I turned back ahead immediately, not wanting to witness the rest of the conversation. There is silence and I go back to my textbook.

We spend the rest of the class reading through the whole chapter, although I doubt anyone was actually concentrating on what they were reading.

When the bell rings, I grab my bag and stand up, a little unsure of where to go. The study room is lonely, the cafeteria is scary and Karen Hills is dead.

Maya solves that problem for me by standing up right then, "hey guys, our class is going to be in charge of the service for tomorrow so I'd appreciate it if you could stay back to help with organising the service. It's the least we could do for Karen".

I watch as most of the class leaves the room. Either they're not huge fans of Maya or they don't care much for Karen. Since Maya is nearly always surrounded by a huge group of people, I go with the latter option.

Maya catches my eye before I can make a quick getaway and I groan inwardly. There's no way I can leave now, not when she's looking at me like that.

Cory walks up to us and looks around at the nearly empty room, "I guess it's just the seven of us then?"

Maya nods, "We'll make it work"

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

When I unlock my front door, I already know she's home. My mother. I can hear her humming in the kitchen which means she's making one of my favorite dishes. It helps her feel less guilty and I don't really complain.

"Lucas? Is that you?" she calls out.

"Yes," I say, sauntering into the room, "its me mom"

She smiles and takes off her apron before pulling me into a hug, "How was school honey?"

I shrug, "a girl died"

She frowns, "I heard about that, it's terrifying. I told your dad we'd stay back in Frontier and he could come visit every weekend. This place just doesn't feel right to me."

"It's okay mom" I say, "its not the worst place we've lived in, remember Scramford?"

She groans, "don't remind me"

I chuckle, "so what's for lunch?"

"Well you'll get to eat it only once you wash up so I suggest you do that now"

I sling my bag over my shoulder and bound up the stairs to my room. I already feel better knowing I won't be alone this afternoon. Mom usually stays for a week when she returns from one of her work trips and I actually look forward to baking with her. It's fun, it's relaxing and it makes me forget just how lonely I can get sometimes.

I drop my bag onto the floor just as my phone dings. That's a rare occurrence so I immediately pull it out of my pocket and unlock it. There's an Instagram notification about a message request from PurpleQueen. I open the message out of curiosity, and read it

"Hey, I saw your comment on the Last Games post and I just wanted to say that I totally agree with your take. Rake definitely wasn't the bad guy here. He was just someone in an impossible situation and I don't blame him for choosing to protect his family. It's a shame that most of the fandom doesn't get that."

I'm struck dumb for a moment. Last Games is one of my favorite shows but it isn't exactly popular. The official account itself has less than 500 followers so the idea of someone feeling the same way I do about the show and texting me about it seems unreal. But it is.

I smile as I click 'Accept request' and begin typing. 

For G, who always pronounces my name right.