Strawberries & Cigarettes

Chapter Eight

            Seeing her countenance, Leighton immediately inquires, “What’s wrong?” He sits down beside her and observes for a moment.

            Biting her lip, Moet was surprised that she felt a bit embarrassed to admit that, “I’m… hungry…”

            One of his eyebrows rose in response and he immediately hands her a brown paper bag. “I noticed.” Of course he did, Moet thinks. How could she ever think that the infamous boy-genius of the school could oversee anything? Not wanting to seem like a pig in front of him, she naturally unwraps the homemade sandwich in a graceful manner and takes extremely tiny bites instead of swallowing it whole like her body wanted to. Shut up, she snaps at herself. This is the only food you’re getting for a while. Deal with it.

            “So,” Leighton begins, tugging on his hair in a sort of frustrated manner and pushing up his glasses. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something; something that happened after yesterday night.”

            The mere mention of last night makes Moet’s appetite almost vanish. However, it also brings back to light her terrible idea which was… a good thing? She wasn’t sure anymore and nods her head to Leighton in a “go on” sort of gesture.

            “Ella’s getting even worse.” He begins in a sort of angry tone. “Yesterday, she had a sort of breakdown. It was crazy. The moment I mentioned your name, she started going berserk and shouting and crying…” He rubs his face with his hands and sighs. “I don’t know what to do. I was hoping that you’d have something to tell me.”

            “What do you mean?” Moet asks. She’d met Ella probably once in her lifetime. Ella’s face was just a blur in her mind.

            Leighton sighs again. “I trust you, Moet. I don’t know why, but I do, and I’d like to think that you’d answer me honestly if I asked you a very important question.” She nods her head in affirmation. Lying wasn’t her thing. She only did it when she had to, which included lying to Quinn about Dakota’s state of being. But that was for the best. “Have you ever… bullied Ella before? Called her mean names or something like that?”

            Moet was shocked. “Of course not.” Leighton, sensing the truth behind her words, nods back in response.

            “I thought so… but it’s just so weird. The way that she reacts to your name… It’s just driving me crazy.” Before the two could say another word, the bell rang. Gathering up their bags, they say quick “good-bye”s to each other before heading off on their separate ways.

            She did it. Her plan. The moment she flushed her lunch down the toilet, she knew she had done the right thing. Her body felt instantly lighter. It was wonderful. But then why was there such a feeling of disgust lingering in her mind? Shaking herself, her hand reaches up to turn the lock, but she hears the girls’ bathroom door slam open.

            “God, I feel so sorry for Quinn.”

            Moet freezes. They were talking about Dakota’s Quinn, she just knew it. Quieting her breathing, she puts her arms back at her sides and lingers in the stall, suddenly interested in their conversation.

            “I know! His girlfriend’s been missing for, what? Three months? And the police can’t find shit on her? That’s gotta be hard.” The second girl answers. Moet hears the clicking of compacts being opened and presumed they were touching up their makeup.

            “She could be dead for all we know.” The first girl murmurs, probably half-focused on the conversation and half-focused on re-applying her lip gloss.