TW: mentions of death
"River!" I hear my mom calling me from downstairs. She's home now I suppose. Probably ran into Lilly. Or Lilliana? I don't know if Lilly is only what friends call her or something...
I open my door and peer down from the second floor. Mom is taking off her sneakers.
"Hey, sorry I couldn't pick you up. Was everything ok?" She comes up the stairs and stands beside me. I take off my face mask, still wearing my hood. It brings me warmth.
"It was fine. We got some work done."
"Okay. Good. What do you want for dinner—"
"Did you see the news..?" My hands grip the railing as I ask. She's either acting this way because she's clueless, or trying to give things a small sense of normalcy. It's always hard to tell.
"I got a call." She bites her lip the way she always does.
"Sounds like that's number 8... How! How have they not stopped him yet?" My voice breaks a little. It's embarrassing. The lump in my throat doesn't help either.
"Actually... They found two other bodies nearby. They—"
"so it's what? Numbers 8, 9, 10?!" I hate yelling, but I can't help it.
"No. Jackie didn't do it." My mom stays composed, but she still seems hurt.
"So he was framed?"
"Most definitely! That's what this whole thing has been, I'm sure of it."
"You just can't get over it."
"Neither can you! We've both lost a lot—"
"And you keep fixating on this! We should just move on and forget about it all." A silence fills the air.
"I'm going to order pizza."
YOU ARE READING
(OLD) River
Mystery / ThrillerAs the second semester of Freshman year creeps around, things should be the same, right? LILLY will have her friends, her school, nothing's going to change! RIVER will hide in the shadows, hoping to just go through each day without trouble. JACKS...
