Absquatulate

1

I don't know if I can do this.
The message flashes on my screen and snaps my attention towards it. Yara, my best friend, had a knack for dramatics. I had texted her earlier about whether she'd come to school today. It was our first day at Edinburgh highschool. We pulled a joint transfer because life at our old school wasn't worth living.
"Aiki!" I hear Yuta's voice. "I swear to god if you make us late again I will post ugly pictures of you from when you had chopped your hair off." "You wouldn't dare." I yell back. I rush to grab my sneakers and backpack. I nearly stumble and fall on my face trying to descend the stairs.
"Careful Kiki," mom says from the kitchen. "I am fine." I say heading towards the door. "Eat something sweetie. You have been skipping too many meals." Mom says, worried. "I am getting very late mom. Bye." I say with an apologetic smile and head out.
Yuta is sitting in our 2010 Bently with his passenger door open. I walk towards him. "God this car is so old," Yuta says, turning the car keys. The car shrivels and dies. He tries again but to no gain. "Her time hath come." I say clapping a hand on Yuta's shoulder. "Your time will also be near if I am late, Aiki." He gives me a withering look. I shrug. "No one cares about punctuality in college, relax." "Well I do, ok." He looks annoyed but also anxious. "Hey, you'll be fine. Don't worry too much." I say, giving him a reassuring smile. "We could take my motorcycle." He says with too much gusto. "Absolutely not. I am not sitting on that death machine of yours." I say as he laughs. "You don't have too much choice in that. You are the reason we are stuck here." "How-" I begin but then shake my head. "You'll somehow justify your claims." "It's the lawyer in me." He says with a lopsided grin. I roll my eyes.
....
I get off the motorcycle, my head spinning. I take off the helmet as Yuta plops up his face shield. "A little winded there buddy?" He asks, his eyes teasing. "You absolute nutjob! You were going way past the speed limit."
He snorts, "Rule number one of sitting on a bike is that there are no speed limits." I look at the sky and hold my hands together, "Lord help this country whose future lawyers are like him." He rolls his eyes. "Go now." I wave at him and he drives away.
I take a deep breath and step inside. My phone vibrates in my pocket. I take it out to see Yara's name on the display.
Where are u????
I smile at my screen.
At the entrance, where are you?
I see the three dots move on my screen.
Stay there Im coming
I turn my phone off and put it back in my skirt pocket. I see Yara waving at me from the front. I smile and wave back at her. She runs to me and hugs me. "Did you come on Yuta's motorcycle?" She asks, surprised. "Unfortunately. It is way too uncomfortable to sit on a motorcycle with this stupid skirt." I point at our uniform. She laughs, "Someone is off to have a good day." She says but her voice sounds a little odd. "You ok?" I ask her. She nods, "Just nervous." I hold her hand, "It'll be alright. Don't worry." She nods.
We walk towards the main building where our class was. The architecture of the school was beautiful. The school looked old but it was in a glorious way. We enter our class and realize that the teacher was already there. "You both are late." She says in a matter of fact tone. I feel embarrassed and itchy all over from all the eyes turning towards us. "Sorry," Yara says and moves towards the empty desk. I follow her. "Introduce yourselves." The teacher says, her attention to the papers in her hands.
"I am Yara Zaheer. I hope we get along well." She says and takes her seat. The eyes all flick to me in anticipation and I feel extremely uncomfortable. "My name is Aiki Yukimoto. It's nice to meet you all." I say quickly and sit down next to Yara. She gives me a small smile.
"Very well. If either of you has any questions," She points at a boy sitting on my left, "Ask Ivan. He is the student body president." We both nod. "Let us start the class."
Ms. Roane, after introducing herself, lapses into the bore of French revolution. I try my best to not fall asleep and pay attention to her. Yara's phone pings next to me and her expressions turn sour after looking at the screen. Before I can ask something, she raises her hand and says, "Can I use the bathroom?" Ms. Roane nods her head without even stopping her sentence. I look at Yara but she quickly leaves, her phone still in her hand.
Nearly fifteen minutes pass by and Yara doesn't come back. God is she skipping class? I press the heels of my palms into my eyes. Ms. Roane stops mid sentence as her phone starts ringing. She furrows her brows and picks up the call. "Yes?" She answers. Suddenly she looks straight at me. "I'll be right there." She says as she walks towards me. "Come with me," She says and walks out. Confused, I follow her.
We reach the main hallway and she turns to me abruptly. "I should apologize in advance." I look at her confused. She shakes her head. "I wish you didn't have to see this but.." she trails off. She shakes her head and walks towards a door, "From here you can go to the backside of the school."
She turns the knob and hushed voices trample inside. I walk outside and see a group of teachers consoling a young girl, maybe a freshman. I look around and see a small group of paramedics standing in a circle. Ms. Roane nudges her head for me to go towards them.
My gut twists and I feel the sudden urge to empty my insides. I walk towards them and they make way for me.
The sight knocks the wind out of me. My heart drops the base of my stomach and I feel dread so immense I feel unstable on my feet. Yara laid in a pool of red, her face paler than that of a ghost.