The Death of Colleen Rivers

Chapter 7: Colleen

I woke up in a strange place. And by strange place I mean not in my own bed. It all started flooding back to me: the cemetery. The letters. Baylor's room. I was in Baylor's room.

I sat up and saw Baylor sitting at the edge of the bed, slipping on some tennis shoes.

"Morning, babe," he said with a smile. "Don't you look beautiful."

"Yeah right," I snapped. "What time is it?"

"Oh, about nine in the morning."

"Wait, what?! Aren't you suppose to be in school?"

Baylor shrugged. "Told mom and dad I wasn't feeling good and had a bad night. They left for work and left me here, told me I could stay home or go to school when I felt better. I was going to go when you woke up. Wasn't going to leave you here by yourself."

"You could have woke me up, Baylor!" I scolded. "Now you're missing class just because of my sleep schedule."

He stood up and grabbed his Letterman from the closet, slipping it on. "Like I care. I'll make it up. Besides, I'm not going to wake you up just to go to school. You needed sleep."

"Why? Because I'm ugly and I need beauty sleep?"

He rolled his eyes and smiled. "No, honey. You're flawless already. Just get ready and I'll be downstairs."

I pushed the covers off of me and stood up. "Bay, I don't have to do anything. My funeral clothes are permanently on me and my hair is naturally straight so I don't have to fix it. I'm just glad my family decided to bury me in my normal look. I would hate to have to run around in a stinkin' dress."

"Alright, well let's go then if you're ready."

And off we went for our school day on Tuesday.

~~~

We arrived and Baylor grabbed my arm before I could get out. "Make sure you find Nat today. You need to tell her as soon as you can."

"Fine," I said, "but can you help me?"

"Yes, Colleen, I'll help you." Baylor kissed the top of my head then we exited the car and went into the school office.

The secretary for our school hates when people come in late, so Baylor had to turn on his charm so we could get passed her.

"Good morning, Mrs. Truman!" he cooed. "It's a wonderful day, isn't it?" Baylor put his elbow on the counter and leaned towards her, raising his eyebrow and putting on a half smile.

"Mhm," she answered, not looking up from her computer screen. "Why are you late, Mr. Bennett?"

He gave her a slight shrug but who knows if she actually saw it. "I wasn't feeling well this morning, but I'm good now. May I get a pass to class?"

She sighed, obviously fed up with him. "Sign in and I'll give one to you."

Baylor signed himself in and waited for Mrs. Truman to finish filling out the pass before we left. It was only 9:30, so Baylor only missed first and second period. The pass had the time stamped on it so Baylor couldn't play around getting to third period. We nearly sprinted to his classroom door just to be there at a reasonable time.

He told me to find the class Nat was in then come back and tell him so we could meet with her before fourth period. I said I would find her then sit outside his classroom and wait until the bell rang. Baylor kissed my head then disappeared into his class.

I had a feeling Natalie was in her College Psychology class at this time, so I went to the door and peered in. The class was watching a film of what looked like different areas of the brain. Everyone was intently focused on the Smart Board at the front of the class.