On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Avril Kahn sat in her family's furnished dining room, staring at the T.V screen, advertising an Eco-friendly microwave oven. She gazed at the big white dish of macaroni and cheese in front of her. Even though it was one of Avril's favorite meals, she couldn't eat. Instead, her brain kept sliding to her first day at Rutgers University, New Jersey, in the next month. The past two months had raced like a maglev train. She had spent every second in her room, cramming her AP econ books and writing articles for her Art History classes. Instead of one or two family dinners at their favorite restaurant at Philadelphia, she hadn't had any fun. And now she was heading to Rutgers soon, more tensions in her way.
Her mother cleared her throat, "So are you done with your rehearsals Avril? I heard the play's this weekend." She stared at her mother, a blank expression on her face.
Then it hit her. The school drama.
She had gotten the chance to play Ophelia for the school's version of Hamlet. She hadn't had any time to rehearse at home so she had bunked her last two classes today to practice her lines in the library. "Yeah, I'm done with my lines." Her father gave her an encouraging smile, "I have cancelled my appointment with an architect who was renovating the townhouse for Courtney for your play." Avril shifted. Since when did he began caring about her plays? And cancelling an appointment? Courtney was really going to be angry.
Her sister Courtney had recently ordered to shift in the townhouse Dad was buying her when her last semester at Princeton ended.
"I'll love to see you there." She replied. Her Dad never watched her plays. She was surprised at the possibility.
The advertisement ended and the headlines appeared.
A picture of a boy, maybe 18, appeared on the screen. Avril froze by recognization. She gawked at his familiar soft blue eyes, his kooky smile; his brown hair matted neatly on his forehead. Ashton.
He wore his blue oxford T-shirt they had bought from Chelsea when they went to New York to visit Aunt Kendall. The anchor, who was an elderly man in his late fifties finally spoke, "The Caribbean Blow Case reopened. The six month old blast mystery at Havana, Cuba has a new climax. Researcher Nicholas Delong, who was assigned to investigate the blast that destroyed the essence of the cruise, has a lot to share with the victims." Oh.My.God.
An image of a man with a goat-beard appeared on the screen. He introduced himself and went on, "Four months from now the belief was that the Caribbean tragedy had been a suicide attempt by an 18 year old teenager called Ashton Kahn as the blast took place in his cabin. But by precious evidence shared by an anonymous tip has proved this explosion to be merely a murder attempt..."
Mr. Kahn hit the power button and the screen went blank. He bizarrely acted to be interested in a newspaper article about a new AK-47.
Mrs. Kahn left the room and headed for the stairs.
Avril watched the uneasiness on their faces.
A murder attempt. Of course it was impossible. Who would hate Ashton enough to murder him? She met her father's eyes who just shrugged and left the room too, mumbling an excuse. Her attention fled back to the news.
An anonymous tip. She felt the sudden urge to smack the person hard on the face to put down a theory as such. Her brother was the best. Even though he would never help her with her homework or let her enter his bedroom or even get close to any of his things, he was the star of Clifton High. His report card always had straight As on it. He always got the lead role in the school drama. His field hockey career had always rocked. Of course no one hated him.
Or did someone? She immediately cleared the thought from her head.
YOU ARE READING
Blame for Blame ✔
Mystery / Thriller"One body: A death, a suicide, and now a murder. Lunacy is settling over, leaving its fingerprints on them, while breathing down their necks. The warm kiss of air is mistaken for nothing but a midnight breeze, and finger prints not much more th...
