Faetality |✓|

Chapter Nine, Part One - Secrets, Lies, and Alibis

            Anya nodded.

            “Kyle found him hanging from his closet with a belt around his neck. It’s so tragic. How can someone so cute die so young – I don’t get it!”

            I bit back a harsh reply, reminding myself that Anya’s tactlessness wasn’t what was important.

            “For once, I feel really, really bad about the stuff that’s been happening lately,” Anya continued looking at me from eyes that were watering. “But I don’t think anyone feels as bad Sienna. I’ve been calling her all morning. She left school at lunch yesterday and never came back.”

            There was a pang in my heart, but I ignored it. As selfish as it sounded, I just wasn’t ready to forgive Sienna yet. A dark, ugly part of me whispered that if she hadn’t interfered, Dean and I would have never ended things the way we had. And I wouldn’t be feeling so awful.

            “You guys should go see her,” I suggested. “Make sure she’s doing ok.”

            “Come with us,” said Jules. “I think it would make her feel a lot better,”

            “Why?” I snapped, unable to hold back any longer. “Why should Sienna feel better about this before I do? And why do you guys always have to take her side?”

            “Because everyone thinks Sienna’s the reason that Dean’s dead,” Jules blurted out, looking as stunned as a cartoon bug on a windshield.

            “Oh my god, that’s horrible,” I replied, looking back at her with genuine surprise.

            “Everyone knows Sienna’s the real reason you broke up with Dean,” Anya quietly filled in. “They’re saying he felt so guilty… he killed himself.”

            “That’s not true,” I said tightly.

            “Then why else would he do it?” Jules responded. “I mean, it makes so much sense.”

            There was no answer I could give Jules that would make any more sense than that, so I did the next best thing and simply didn’t answer.

*  *  *

            At lunch, Lana dragged me from the cafeteria and onto the wet, slightly mushy, school lawn. Above us the sky was as grey and overcast as ever, creating a chill that grew stronger by the day. Balancing my tray with one hand, I used the other to pull up the hood of my jacket in an effort to keep my ears from freezing.

            “Lana, where are we going?” I grumbled, already feeling testy from the cold.

            “Right… here,” Lana replied, stopping just short of a tall clump of trees. Usually a girl, Juliette, would sit here quietly reading during her lunches (rain or shine). But today, oddly, she wasn’t here.

            “Well if this is your version of a picnic, it sucks,”

            “We have to talk,” Lana replied in a low voice, “And trust me – the cafeteria is definitely not private enough for this conversation.”

            I banished the sigh of irritation at having to eat and drink standing up like a freak, and instead focused on the conversation.

            “Well, I do have some stuff to talk to you about – R-rated, definitely not PG.”

            “Shoot,” she urged, removing her Buddy Holly glasses to clean them on her hoodie.

            Quickly I filled her in on all the events of yesterday and last night, beginning with my collapse outside the auditorium and ending with my re-awakening in the tub. But I decided on leaving out the more mundane, such as the details of my mandatory meeting with Ms. Lattimer. As strange and uncomfortable as the meeting had been, I didn’t think it could a candle to the current flow of the conversation.

            “So… do you have it?” Lana asked, as soon as my epic had finished.

            “Have what?” I replied, temporarily lost.

            “The Sorcerer’s box – did you bring it?”

            “Yeah,” I said warily, looking around us at the empty grounds to make sure that we were truly alone. “It’s in my backpack,”

Feeling self-conscious, I adjusted its strap on my shoulder.

“Well… can I… you know… touch it?”

This time I did sigh, shooting her a stern look.

“Yeah, ok, you’re right. It’s probably a bad idea to bring it out in the open like this.”

“Are you kidding? After what happened last night I’m scared to even leave it in the house. Apparently just associating with Westley is enough to get me killed – let alone having his property.”

            “Seems to me like the Ice Queen has out it for you just as much as she does Westley. Why else would she send her demon knight after you?”

            I shrugged.

            “All I know is that she wants Westley and the Knight thinks I’m standing in the way. And I probably am.”