Eyes Around Us

21

duende
(n.) the mysterious power of art to deeply move a person.
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Eden's POV

I sat in the school's garden during lunch. Kiara didn't come to school today, yet she failed to provide me with a valid reason for missing classes.

It kind of annoyed me.

Only a bit

Just a tiny bit

Every passing day without progress in our investigation is another opportunity for the killer to strike again.

If it were up to me, we would be working on the investigation every day.

Unfortunately, we have to attend something called school, or what feels like a simulation to me.

You spend most of your life going to school, and once you graduate, there's a brief sense of freedom.

Just a moment. Free from the clutches and stress of school. But then you remember that you still need to go to college and spend even more years studying just to work a 9-5 job.

These are not my words, but my older sister's words.

If she isn't talking about shopping or gossip, she's complaining about college. My future has never been a concern of mine.

I never really thought about what would happen the next day, let alone in a few years after graduation.

Honestly, I never thought I would live long enough to make it to college, and I'm still not sure if I will.

I have yet to find a purpose to my life in genral

Anyway, my point is that we can't afford to waste any time. Neither of us could decipher the killer's pattern, so we had to act quickly.

Kiara's absence makes everything more difficult, and it annoys me.

Honestly, I would be lying if I said that the only reason I was annoyed by Kiara's absence was because of the investigation.

Unfortunately, she's the only person I actually talk to at this poor excuse of a school.

Back then, Violet was the one I always talked to. Even when she was with Ivy's toxic friend group, she always made time for me.

That was something I loved about her. It has been a few weeks since her death, and referring to her in the past tense slowly shatters my heart.

Even though my conversations with Kiara always revolve around the investigation, it is still nice to have someone to talk to.

Despite the fact that Kiara can be a pain in my ass at times, it's still nice to know that I'm not completely alone in this huge school, let alone in this huge world.

I spend all of my lunches and breaks alone, but it no longer bothers me. I've learned to embrace it.

Despite people thinking I'm nothing but a loner, I'm not the most likable person, but I still have or had friends.

There are many reasons why I no longer have any friends.

Thinking back to everything that happened makes me want to curl up in a ball and hide from the world.

The embarrassment will most likely haunt me forever.

I sighed and smoothed my hands over my checkered skirt attempting to wipe away any crumbs from my lunch.

I've always hated this uniform. But obviously, every prestigious private all-girls school comes with an ugly uniform.

It all sounds so pretentious and stuck up in my head.