Cruther's Wolf

Adam: Symbol

Melissa Bolden was a girl I pretended to know. I've seen her in person about two or three times, all from a safe distance, and the people I talked to around them introduced me to her so I wouldn't have to actually speak to her. Short black hair, tall, a bruised right eye, quiet, loved marijuana, never dated, rumored to be a lesbian. I tended to associate her with a group of girls that I always saw giggling whenever she walked past. Some of them told me jokes about her, and I feigned amusement. She was just some underclassman, though. I don't understand why people are so fascinated by others' livelihoods.

From now on, however, I knew I would associate the name Melissa Bolden with a mangled corpse, the centerpiece of the decaying parking lot.

In an obvious attempt to conceal their anxiety, I heard some younger guys make slut jokes about Bolden, inciting faint memories of the bubbly girls that made fun of her in my mind.

"I seriously caught a glimpse of it. Her legs were spread open so wide!"

I simulated laughter with them, thinking of what I should do today.

"...fuu..."

I whirled around at the unexpected sigh behind me. It was a stocky kid with a dark buzz cut and groggy eyes.

Wolfgang.

"..." He stared at me as if he were expecting me to take the initiative.

"H-hey," I mumbled as I hid my surprise. "Did...did you hear?"

"Di-did I hear?" he said hastily.

"About the dead girl."

"D-d-dead girl?" he was now trembling, desperately searching for words. "S-someone died?"

"Melissa Bolden, the tenth grader. They found her out in the parking lot. School got canceled and we're stuck in the dorms."

"She was murdered?"

I shook my head. "They don't know yet."

"Ah..." His gaze was casted to the floor. His trembling continued. "W-w-what if the killer is s-still on campus?"

"Weren't you listening? They don't know yet."

"W-what reason would she have to commit suicide?"

"You're awfully hung up on that murder idea, dude." Wolfgang is pretty much the only person I understand at this school, and if there's anything I know about him, he doesn't get around much. What would he know about the other students?

"...you're..so uninterested..."

I nearly jumped. "I-it's not that I'm not, I'm j-just tired, that's all..."

"...So is everyone else," he sighed.

The only person I could comprehend was a pretty eccentric guy.