Cipher [sahy-fer]: Zero; A person of little or no influence, importance, or value; nonentity.
That's excatly what Talia Fox is. A zero amongst a sea of other numbers. That is until she makes an imperishable deal with her maker. Now the seven teens t...
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Monday morning was as normal as any Monday morning for any high school student.
Well, it was as normal as having the thought of a dead girl on your mind that you had some part in for six specific teens.
"Stop fucking looking over your shoulder, no one's there!" Jennifer hissed, kicking roughly at Adam's chair to get him to face the front of the classroom.
Huffing an irritated sigh, Jennifer sat back in her chair, crossing her arms beneath her breasts as she stared at the back of Adam's head. He'd been checking over both his shoulders all morning, and had no doubt gained a few strange looks from everyone wondering just what, or rather who, he was expecting. Plus the added damage to his face was enough to start whispers.
She'd used the cuts and bruises on his face to dismiss his weird behavior to others. Lying to everyone about his anxiousness after he'd been mugged late at night after Round Four.
But still, all morning both Maureen and Jennifer had to throw out some form of a giggle and say something along the lines of 'he's still high from the party' and when someone gasped at the obviously impossible excuse they would chuckle and say something like 'yeah, that's how awesome Round Four was'
The two teen girls were back to their friendly ways compared to two nights ago when they were basically at each others throats. They were and have been best friends since third grade, when they met at the bus stop, and that wasn't going to change despite the horrible accident that happened Saturday night. Sure they were opposites and found themselves fighting more than less nowadays, but they were somewhat tied at the hip.
And even with the clashing thoughts of Talia's death, it brought the two of them closer.
"Jennifer Garrison." Falling from her thoughts, her attention snapped to her wrinkly teacher. It was now homeroom and that meant morning role-call.
When the teacher continued down the list and finally finished, she did as she always did and recalled who she thought to be absent. "So, we're missing Talia today?"
Adam's head turned to the side, his eyes enlarging as he glanced over his shoulder again. This time it obviously had a purpose as his horrified eyes met Jennifer. Jennifer's main focus was on Desiree who sat to the left of her. Desiree's guilty look was clearly directed towards Maureen who sat in the front, Talia's empty chair directly in front of her.
Murmurs fluttered through the crowd softly, crinkled eyebrows following suit including their teacher's. "That's too bad, Talia has had perfect attendance all year," and that sentence right there is what caused the murmurs to turn into full blown conversations.
Maybe the four culprits in the room were just over analyzing everything. I mean why would so many people care about a nerd that was always pushed around? She rarely talked and when she did it was to answer every goddamn question the teacher asked. In fact, she wasn't acknowledged by anyone, so why when she doesn't show up for one day of school, is she the topic of conversation?
The class was now buzzing with remarks about Talia and different absences and even off-topic stuff like Round Four. How ironic? Usually when a Round was over that was it. It went down in history as another amazing party and if you were there it was your topic of conversation for a few hours.,But if your weren't there, you didn't talk about it. It was like you weren't allowed to because you didn't live the amazing experience.
"Amazing my ass," Maureen muttered, hearing someone explain just that. Her idea of Round Four was far from perfect.
"Does anyone have an idea as to where she might be?" The old teacher asked, placing her clipboard on her lap.
"Can I ask why we're still talking about this?" Jennifer's loud, powerful voice exclaimed over the class, immediately bringing the chatter down.
"So what if she's absent?" She shrugged, her voice gaining confidence. She seemed to be the only one who remained herself after Saturday as everyone else laid restless in their bed and even after rolling on deodorant, still found themselves sweating immensely. Not Jennifer, she wasn't going to ruin her life by leading suspicion. When she said nothing left that room, she meant it. And to her, this Talia girl was irrelevant.
"Sometimes I'm sick and I can't make it to school. Big whoop that her usual seat isn't being warmed." When silence followed and her eyes remained locked with the teacher's, her blonde curls brushed past her shoulders as she tilted her head, letting off a sickly sweet smile.
The teacher was the first to break eye contact, letting out an awkward cough to which Jennifer smiled in victory. No teacher, nor student would dare face her and even if they tried, they wouldn't get very far.
When the bell rang signaling the start of first period, the teacher nodded, circling around her desk to write today's objective on the board. Everyone including Jennifer groaned as they sat back in their seats ready to die of boredom.
Adam finally dropped his tense shoulders, leaning forward so he could rest his chin on his arms and maybe catch some much needed sleep from his stressful weekend.
Five minutes later, the teacher's long ranting was cut short when the doorknob rattled, the seal of the classroom breaking as the door was ripped open.
