If looks could kill...could they also save?

Chapter 5 - A stranger to talk to

I woke up with 10 minutes to go until school. SHIT! I could not be late today. Too much to do to spend it getting in trouble with the principal again. I got dressed in my *ugh* uniform, grabbed my bag and literally ran to school. I got there just as the bell rang for the first class. I ran to my first class which was, joyfully, French. I walked in calmly expecting to be shouted at but was ECSTATIC when I saw that I was actually one of the first into class. I sat somewhere halfway to the back, not wanting to be moved into the front if I sat back too far. The teacher was already there, plus like three students who looked like they could be total swats or nerds or whatever. The teacher, Miss. Evans I think, gave me a long look up and down and said, "Tá áthas orm fheiscint go bhfuil na héadaí scoile ceart agat inniu. Seo dhuit do leabhair. " [I'm happy to see you have the correct uniform today. Here are your books] She said, handing me my new books, a textbook and a sort of folder with notes in it. I took them and opened them up to the page they were on yesterday. I took some old copies out of my schoolbag, which was on the seat next to me, and started drawing random pictures, which anyone else would've thought were really dark and gothish but whatever. They were just designs mainly, with the occasional demon or scary eyes and knives and stuff...well yeah. So they were kind of creepy. It was pretty much what I looked at most of my life so what else could I draw?  

When the second bell rang, all the other students finally walked in, casually and in no hurry. When Jake walked in, who, yeah was in my French class aswell, he walked straight up to me, grinned, threw my bag on the ground and sat down next to me. Okay, what was wrong with this guy? I raised my eyebrows at him and he just rolled his eyes and kind of whispered/mouthed "what? I can sit where I want!"  

When Miss. Evans called the class to order and started calling the roll, I paid attention looking up sharply when she called the name Jennifer Muller, and a pretty blonde answered "anseo" [here] quietly and shyly. I read her mind and, yeah, she was really depressed and upset. Couldn't blame her really. Her mind was totally overloaded with the guy, Lloyd, memories of him, feelings for him and of course, grief and confusion. I felt sorry for the poor girl. She seemed like the type who was popular, pretty and had everything she ever wanted. Which made it worse, cause now apparently, she didn't want any of it. She just wanted him.  

I obviously looked upset for the girl, and was evidently staring too long, because Jake whispered in my ear, "You heard what happened? To her boyfriend? And not only him, either, but another guy, and now there's one missing aswell." I turned around, and he looked upset too, worried. So once again, I pried where I shouldn't have and saw why he was. Daire was his friend, the one that's missing at the moment. I looked into his brown eyes, noticing for the first time that they were brown, and asked quietly, "Did you know any of them?" He looked at me.  

"Yeah, Daire as a matter of fact. He is- was my best friend. He's the one that's missing. I still have hope but I'm pretty sure..." He trailed off and looked away. And it bothered me. Which meant I was starting to care. Which was bad. And I knew the guy was already dead. Which was worse. I sighed and looked in the other direction.  

Jake didn't really talk for the rest of the class so I left him alone, and I didn't talk to him for any of the other classes either, even though he sat next to me in most of them.

When the lunch bell rang, I walked out, found my new locker and put my new books in it, the ones I didn't need. I went and sat by myself, but in close proximity to Jennifer, watching her talk to her friends and listening to her thoughts wishing they would go away and just leave her alone, to grieve in peace and to STOP avoiding the subject, because it made her feel worse about it all. When she left to go to the bathroom, and told her friends she was fine to go by herself, I quickly followed. She was in the bathroom, rinsing her face with cold water, even though I could still see tear stains. She looked up when I walked in and quietly closed the door behind me. Her mind filled with dread but I ignored it and tried to approach her the way I figured she would hate less.