Jamie, meet Dylan. Dylan, meet Jamie

Chapter Ten

Naomi turned back to Dylan. Her face was red; she was pissed and even I was scared to approach her in her current state. Dylan didn't care, of course, he thought he overpowered everyone.

"What?" she said, trying not to let out a cry. Sarah and the two girls were far away from us as they got in the car.

Dylan turned to me and I looked away. He whispered something to Naomi, and I could see her eyes buldge out of her sockets from the corner of my eye. I knew he got her too. Tears streamed down her face and it grew a visible shade of red. She got in the car without a word.

"Let's go, Jam," Dylan said he placed his hand on my shoulder. I gulped and got in the driver's seat. Dylan placed his feet on the dashboard and bobbed his head to the music Sarah was playing. I saw him smile from the rearview mirror to someone in the backseat, probably Sarah or Naomi. Either way, I was not pleased.

I sped up as I realized we were almost late to second period. I couldn't miss a second period, one was enough.

We ran, except for Dylan, into school, almost panting out of breath, but we were there on time. Except we were all confused at the scene ahead of us. Kids were busy reading something on their phones. Travis and my other friends were overcome with a gloomy expression as they shook their heads vehemently while looking at their phones.

"What's happening?" Dylan asked cooly as he caught up with us in the hallway. "They thought we were dead already?" he joked inappropriately. I ignored him and went to Clay Rivers, a guy who was with me in Calculus II.

"Clay, hi. What's going on?" I cut to the chase. Clay shook his head in disapproval.

"Tucker Grant, Alex's older brother, was found dead today in a car by a cliff. He's been dead for a week and they just found him," he said. I froze and my hands trembled as I grabbed his phone. My throat was dry and my head was pounding so hard it would explode if it could.

Tucker Grant. That was the guy Dylan hit. I finally had a name to such a tragic memory, and I wanted to scream in the middle of the hallway that his killer was right with us. The article had a picture of the cliff, where Dylan had pushed the car to. It was written that he was found with drugs in his pocket, which was what caused the crash. I sighed in relief.

"Dylan," I called out to Dylan with my eyes still fixed on the screen. Dylan walked towards me and took the phone from my hands. I read his expression, and nothing changed. It was still blank, like he was reading about an opening of a cafe and not the accident he had caused.

"They're planning a memorial for him tomorrow," Clay said. I didn't know whether I should attend or not. I felt it was my fault he was dead; if I hadn't told Dylan I liked his car then Dylan wouldn't have let me drive it and he wouldn't have hit him. Yet part of me thought Dylan would kill this guy anyway, just to blackmail me and play me like a mandolin.

"Thanks, Clay," I said with an appreciative smile, but it was soon gone. I had a sick feeling in my stomach about all of this, and I could feel my breakfast rising up my throat.

"Cheer up, Jamie," Dylan said as he patted me on the back. "At least I'm still not telling." He laughed amidst the sadness of the hallway, like it was the funniest thing he had ever said.

*

"Don't eat that!" my mother berated Jake as he almost popped a chocolate truffle into his mouth. "I brought these for the guests only. You can eat them when they're gone," she said as she straightened the tablecloth.

"Mom they're like, three people," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Four," I said as I leaned on the wall. I looked at my lip in the mirror; it was still swollen but it was much better than earlier.