Red Herring ✔️

5. MIA Sis

19 Days to Halloween

Call her studious or whatever, but Mazie woke up early the next day to arrive at school before everyone else to visit with Mrs. Smith, her Advanced English teacher, about the headway she made on her Frankenstein paper. Mazie was rather exceptional at math and physics, but don't ask her to write a paper about it.

As she departed before the buses and school traffic blocked the roads, Mazie unconsciously scouted her neighbor's house for one Christian Slater. There were two cars in the driveway, but for some reason, Mazie didn't think they belonged to him. Secretly, Mazie hoped to catch sight of him, but it's not like they were friends or something.

The quiet morning streets were bogged down with heavy fog. Mazie wondered why they didn't delay school. Then again, it was always foggy in Hollywood, Oregon. She felt an almost haunted feeling raising the hairs on the back fo her neck. As much as she loved Halloween, Mazie didn't necessarily enjoy being afraid. 

Arriving at school, Mazie parked the car and hitched her bag over her shoulder. Mrs. Smith was chatting with the office aide outside the principal's office so she didn't have to hunt her down. Mrs. Smith was nice enough to offer Mazie a cup of coffee since apparently she looked as tired as she felt. 

The most interesting part of her day didn't start until after her session on man-made monsters. Head bowed, looking over her notes on her first rough draft, Mazie didn't notice Ailene Woods until her voice was ringing in her ears. Nonchalantly, Mazie lifted her head and glanced around as if she were searching for someone. 

On her left, Ailene Woods was talking with a boy in a letterman jacket, showing concern.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I don't know what to do with her," Ailene whispered to her confidant.

Who? Demi?

"Has she ever done that before?" 

Mazie recognized his voice...Lonny Harrison. She peeked over her shoulder. Definitely him. 

I know Ailene is her best friend, but Lonny, shouldn't you know more about your girlfriend's behavior? If he and Demi were even still together...since her supposed drug bender. Goal before lunch: find out if Demi and Lonny are still together. Another thought occurred to her: was Lonny in the woods last night too? 

First and foremost, who put the note in her locker? Who put the note in Christian's locker too? And why the two of them? Did anyone else receive a note?

Her head swam with so many questions without answers. To steady herself, Mazie focused on preparing for her first class. At her locker, Mazie pulled her notebooks and books out of her backpack. She realized she was missing her Trig homework. Maybe she left it in her car. After all, she grabbed it off of her desk as she was walking out the door.

Outside, Mazie crossed her arms over her chest to ward off the October chill. Everywhere students milled about, meeting up with their friends before tracking inside. Mazie pandered through the aisles of parked cars. 

The next aisle over, Christian hopped out of his truck - a Chevy Silverado, not what she expected - and reached back inside for his backpack. Perfect timing, maybe they could chat privately considering she arrived home before him and they never saw each other after their interlude in the forest. 

But his focus was already on someone else. Apparently, it was a friend because he was smiling enthusiastically. Crossing the parking lot, Mazie continued on her path to her car.

Unable to control herself, she glimpsed beyond the cars, hiding behind a Toyota SUV, to watch Christian aggressively pump out his hand to dab up his friends. So Casula. So innocent.