Chapter 8: The murder List
“When your girl friends are dead, you will always be the dead girls’ friend.”
Tuesday, 12:00 NN
The next day, Tyler wasn’t still not in the mood to talk to me. Sometimes he smiles, sometimes he waves, sometimes he releases simple recognition words like ‘ey’ and ‘yo’. They’re not even exactly words but I can say he’s starting to move on.
“Were you and Kendra seeing each other before she died?” I asked out of the blue as we walked out of the classroom door for lunch.
“If your ‘seeing’ meant ‘dating’, the answer is no. But if it means just ‘seeing’ then yes.” Reece answered.
“What exactly is your relationship with Kendra?”
“I, to her, there’s nothing. But she to me, boy she had a huge crush on me.” He answered, making my brow shoot up an inch from its usual location. “It’s true. She told me before the homecoming game started, but I told her off.” He added noticing my reaction.
“What exactly did you tell her?”
“I told her I like somebody else; which is you.” It brought a burning sensation on my cheeks but I’m not mixing business with pleasure. I have to continue.
“Did you tell her it was me?”
“Yeah. She’s pretty furious about it.”
“About what?”
“About me, liking the bitchy ‘little miss perfect’ instead of her. Her words, not mine.” He answered. I knew Kendra was capable of saying that so I’m taking no offense. It’s kind of a compliment to me though.
“Did you talk to her after the game?” I asked.
“If you mean the entire night after the game, it’s a; no. But a day after the game and during the ball; yes.” He answered. This is it.
“When exactly did you have a chance to talk during the ball?”
“I bumped into her and Stacy outside the ladies room. She looked sick. Then she said she wanted to talk to me outside so she can breathe. She dragged me to the forest and…”
“And what?” I spat impatiently.
“She threatened me of hurting you if don’t make out with her.” He answered.
“What?” It was almost a whisper. I couldn’t believe Kendra would even dare to think that but then I remembered Kendra’s words.
“So it really is her, huh? You know what I can do to her Reece. I can bring her down anytime I want… Kiss me. Kiss me and I’ll never get them to touch her.”
“Stacy was with her from the ladies room?” I asked, remembering what Stacy saying that she already checked the ladies room finding no sign of Kendra.
“No, she was just drinking a glass of champagne with Kendra.” He said.
This kept my mouth shut as we climbed the narrow fire exit stairs towards the rooftop. Another suspect; Stacy Danes.
I spent my lunch at there with Reece feeding me with a box of cupcakes and chilled coffee in can.
“Does this have poison?” I joked but deep inside I was dead serious. Having Nicole Harper, Barbara Bay and Kendra Hope’s poisoned murder case in mind, nothing’s worth the risk. Scratch Barbara’s name out because hers was just attempted poisoning and she was stabbed to death instead. He smiled and shook his head hopelessly as he tasted one and handed it to me.
“Your mom bakes a lot huh.” I commented savoring the sweetness of the homemade marshmallow, torched on top of the chocolate fudge. For almost three long days that we’ve been casually together I’ve been continuously fed with countless pastries.
“That, she does.” He smiled, seemingly enjoying the sight of me devouring the heavenly cupcakes.
“What? Do I have something on my face?” I asked.
He bent over to my face as I was left simultaneously moving backwards until he held my nape, imprisoning me into his gaze. He kissed my cheek and licked my right smile line. “Yeah, chocolate fudge,” He answered sexily.
Did he just lick me? I was completely stunned by the whole porn like scenario. I hope Bryce’s not hearing this but I’m sure he is from the wires he taped on my bra just this morning. I can still remember his zealous face two days ago when he told me he has a lead on Reece being a either a witness or a suspect. I can still remember his serious face when he asked me to take my off my robe for him to tape the wires on my bra. I can still remember his salacious face when I took it off and started to attach the wires with tapes and test its audio- bending over between my breasts and whispering words that’d resonate to his earplugs.
I never knew the police actually had those super cool undercover stuff. And there are so many of this little recording mini mics that they didn’t even notice a couple missing. Did I mention Officer Franklyn De Mente didn’t know about this?
“Hey, you okay?” Reece asked making me come into senses. I was touching the portion of my smile line that he just licked and staring at him like he’s some complete stranger.
“You always have me at a disadvantage.” I said as I released a breath and drank my cold coffee in the can.
“No Lucy. It’s you who’s having me at a disadvantage.” He said as he leaned closer to me.
“And why is that?” I didn’t move back. I have to level this situation up so I could start asking. Does he know I’m taping him? His words sound like there’s more in it.
“Because I fall for you more and more each day as you stay you.” He sighed. I wrinkled my forehead and folded my legs into a mermaid sit.
“What does that mean?” I looked him in the eye as he reclined in our picnic blanket and rested his head on my lap.
“What?” He asked.
“That. What does ‘you stay you’ mean? You said ‘you are you’ back then in my room. What does that mean?” I asked.
“Everyone’s different Lucy. I’m different… You on the other hand are just like them but in an extraordinarily different way.” He looked up at me as I managed a smile, playing with his hair on top of my purple poplin dress.
“Extraordinarily different huh. I’ll take that as ‘weird’.” I said making him almost choke on his coffee. I was just laughing so hard when his spilled coffee on his shirt. Suddenly straddled me and cupped my nape.
“You surely are not.” He bent over to peck on my forehead, trailing kisses down to my lips. “And if you are, you’re still you.” He kissed me again as I broke off the kiss. What does that mean?
This device attached to my hair band has been making me uncomfortable since I can hear Bryce’s faint voice talking to me on wherever he is. “Oooh somebody’s becoming smoochy. Over,”
I just smiled and fortunately, the bell rang for the afternoon classes. I went to the ladies room to talk to Bryce. “I’m telling you partner, he is into you. Over,” He said as I adjusted the earpiece into my earlobe.
“Oh come on Bryce. I thought we’re using him for the case…Over,” I said.
“I know and you’ve been so good at it I think I’m starting to think I’m listening to Revenge since we first started this morning. I love that show. Over,” He replied. I can tell by the faint piano music, clattering of knives and forks and his frequent gulps and munches that he was in a restaurant..
“Bryce, I’m afraid I might fall for him. Over,” I intentionally crumpled my hair in annoyance and fixed it again.
“Then fall for him. I’m not going to make you do what officer De Mente would make you do if this were a real undercover cop mission. Just keep in mind, that if he’s knows something, we’ll need to force it out of him. Over,” He said.
“First, I really find this ‘Over’ thing too dramatic. Why can’t we just talk like were on phone. It’s making us sound suspicious and making me sound funny. Second, I’m not falling for him. And third, that officer De Mente you’re talking about is your dad, of course we’ll turn him in.”
“Hey Therese, partner, hold that thought. He’s not our killer. All our leads about him say that he’s only on the vicinity of the SOC which means he’s a possible witness. We’re not gonna turn him in. Post mortem reports from the forensics all show no signs of his DNA on each victim so he certainly is not our guy. Oh and by the way, thanks for his saliva samples. ” He let out a giggle. “Over,” He added.
“Okay Okay. But if and only if he is, I will personally bring him to your dad. For his DNA samples, don’t mention it; I have those all the time. It’s really cool though, how they take samples and proving it matched just by scraping my lip. It’s just like how I see it on CSI.” I dropped my comb back in my old leather carryall. “Over,”
“No way, I’ll be taking all the credits worth my work. But I’m telling you partner, that guy wants to bang you, bad.” He said and laughed. “Over,”
“Yeah, I think you’re right. It’s not every day I see some murder suspect who wants to bang me bad. Well actually it is almost every day because we are at the same school and at the same classes from Monday to Friday. Owvur,” I spat sarcastically as I zipped my bag close. He just laughed.
I stepped out of the bathroom finding the hallway still packed. I notice the popularity bulletin. It still wasn’t changed.
“I wish they’re all still here to see that this isn’t taken out yet.” A girl spoke behind me.
“Yeah, now they’re all ...” I looked back at her but no one was there. “…dead.”
And then it hit me.
1. Nicole Angela Harper – dead
2. Poppy Brown – dead
3. Barbara Bay – dead
4. Kendra Alexandra Hope – dead
Oh my God. This is not happening!
5. Lucy Therese Connors
6. Avery Kristine Mitchell
7. Tyler Mayer
8. Martin Ivan Novgorod
9. Tiffany Smith
10. Stacy Rhiannon Danes
5:08 PM
“Who’s number six?” Bryce asked as he sipped his cappuccino.
“Avery? Oh she’s a friend of mine, former reporter. She’s in the hospital right now because of bad milk.” I didn’t know why I had to say it. Anyway, I threw my bag on the couch opposite his.
“Number ten?” He asked taking another sip.
“She’s a sophomore, former editorial cartoonist and new reporter. She’s replacing Avery for now, and clearly enjoying it.” I answered, removing the device in my hair as I sat in front of him in the diner. “Why?” I asked.
“If this is last school year’s list, she was still in the freshmen year when she got the slot. What did a little freshman do to deserve a slot?” He said, pointing at my tab with the list on it and completely ignoring my question.
“Yup. She won an interschool award for cartooning, lost weight, had her red hair dyed into blonde, had a nose job, started becoming popular in when Nicole, Poppy and Barbie took notice of her and started bringing her to parties.” I added.
“So basically, it pretty much inflated her head. Did she have friends she left before her transformation?” He said in comprehension of something.
“Some geek. What are you implying?” I asked as a waitress came to take my order. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about food so I just told her to “surprise me”. She smiled at me, then to Bryce and then walked away.
“I can see that these Nicole, Poppy and Barbara have been giving geeks their fifteen minutes.” He said, smiling cockily back at the waitress. “Are there any others besides Victoria?” He asked, obviously listening to every single word we say in the Interrogation Room.
“What others?” I asked
“Others that they made friends with,” He said
“Well there was this girl, Simone. She was the geek I’m talking about, Stacy’s ex-bff. She’s really… weird you know? She has these really short limbs, horrible bob cut graying hair, and serious wardrobe malfunction. Nicole helped her a lot in changing her fashion sense. Poppy would clip on extensions on her hair everyday and Barbie would do her makeup. They’d take her to yoga class and even hook her up with the guy she was crushing on; Bill Dickson but he obviously didn’t like her still….She transferred schools for the sophomore year. Stacy was the next Simone after she dropped and left in the middle of the freshmen school year.”
“This Simone, is her last name Flynn?” He asked
“Yes. Ohhh somebody’s doing their homework.” I complimented. “What do you know that I don’t, Bryce De Mente?” I asked
“Only if you tell me everything that you’re hiding, Therese Connors” He leaned forward and gave me a tempting smirk.
I leaned forward to meet his stare and gave up. “Deal. You first.” I raised an eyebrow.
“Deal” He reclined to the diner’s red couch. A gesture he got from his father. “Let me start with introducing you to college life. During the fall of each academic year, students interested in becoming members of a sorority participate in this event they call rush. During this time, students get acquainted with different Greek-letter organizations and the organizations have the opportunity to meet prospective members.” He started.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, not able to connect the dots. But then again, he ignored my question.
“Traditionally at the end of the rush period, organizations extend invitations for membership, known as bids. Students then decide which bid, if any, to accept. If they accept a bid, they are said to be ‘pledged’ to that organization and are known as pledges or probationary members.” He said.
“So?” I asked
“So, now the tradition is upside down. Because of all of the perks one can get from being a member, it’s the students who apply for the sorority to accept them. Basically, the bids don’t exist nowadays. So what the sororities do is they set games- mean, dirty, psychologically torturing games for the neophytes. Those who survive become ‘Pledges’. During the probationary period, pledges learn about the history, traditions, and ideals of the sorority. And lastly, the initiation takes place. It’s some kind of special ceremony designed to embody the spirit and beliefs of the organization.”
“How do you know, I thought those sorority and fraternity stuff are secret?” I asked
“Everyone in college knows plus my girlfriend is a Gamma. She’s a ‘legacy’ which means her mother was once a member and, once a member always a member. So back to Serena, she sets the rules of the game.”
“Your girlfriend Serena sets the rules of the mean, dirty and psychologically torturing games?” I asked feigning awe, wonder and a bit of sarcasm. I love pun.
“She sets the rules, she doesn’t set the games.” He said defensively.
“Please do continue.” I said as my chicken salad and cheeseburger came with Bryce’s protein shake and bucket of fries. I thanked the waitress but her eyes were glued on Bryce.
“Serena… is Nicole’s older sister.”
“What?” I asked, shocked of how small the state of Michigan is. “Wait, wait, I think I’m getting something.” I squeaked.
“Pray tell.” He folded his arms and looked intently at me- ready to listen.
“Nicole’s copying Serena. That’s it. Nicole, Poppy and Barbie has this game called ‘Check List’. And every desperate girl who wants to make friends with them are signed up in this website for the game. Wait, how does the game go in college?” I asked.
“Legacies become instant pledges, they collect virgins, before the rush. Make them look pretty. Make them Gamma-lified.”
“Gamma-lified?” I asked, munching my lettuce.
“Gamma qualified.” He cleared. “All in all they make these neophytes transformed into the most beautiful they can ever be and then hooked up with lucky or not so lucky brother Greeks. These guys then score the ‘Wannabe Pledges’ in a list of categories containing… you know.” He said.
“I don’t.” I answered with oozing sarcasm. But then, he still buys it.
He explained further. “Like how long they reach climax, dirty talk, how much she begged…”
“I know. I know, stop it. It’s disgusting.”
“The more checks one can get, the more scores they accumulate. Take it as an advantage or a head start before the rush. But hey, who’d say no? I mean, they’ll have makeovers, meet new friends, finally have their virgin graduation with the Fraternity brothers and a chance to become a Gamma. Scores are posted to a website with their profiles on it and reviewed by the Head Gamma Sister on the night of the Pledge.”
“That’s pretty much what’s happening to the ‘Check List’. Or shall I say; it’s what happened to Simone. Nicole posted her profile on our private website which Kathy made. It was supposed to be private but then more girls became interested to be like her and Nicole made them blank profiles and the website spread like herpes. It just jumped from school to school. It’s just so embarrassing.” I said.
“Do you know what happened to Simone Flynn?” he asked
“Last thing I know was she transferred to some high school in Chatham Ontario.” I answered.
“No. She committed suicide.” He said
“What?” was all I could say as I massaged the beating vein in my temple. “I didn’t know something like that happened.”
“Yeah, sucks right? So here’s what I have in mind. Our killer is on all this for revenge- maybe avenging Simone or one of the girls in the ‘Check List’.” He said. “Now spill.” He added.
“Okay, I’ll spill. It’s not just Nicole, Poppy and Barbie. Kendra, Avery and I were also involved. But we we’re only the ones taking them with us on our yoga and tai-chi classes and shopping. That’s why I know about the ‘Check List’. It’s top secret. Only the six of us and some boys know about it. It was just some game at first but Nicole wanted it to be on the internet so the guys would just check it out on their places without going to hers. God, I feel responsible for Simone’s death.”
“Did you know Simone’s Check List will be posted online?” He asked devouring his fries.
“No. I was even last to know it had a website. Nicole knows I would oppose it.” I said.
“So don’t feel responsible because you’re not.”
“But still,”
“Try to look at it this way; turn the killer in and you’ll bring justice to all your DFFs.”
“DFFs?”
“Dead Friends Forever.”
It wasn’t supposed to be funny, but I still ended up laughing. DFFs huh, now the only friend that’s left to me is Kathy. This killer took them all way from me, but what’s Kenji and Sybil got to do with this?
“If our killer already had Nicky and Poppy, six feet under, why stop by to kill Kenji and Sybil before killing Barbie?” I asked.
“I’m going with dad’s deduction on that. That, Kenji Takano might have witnessed Poppy being murdered and told Sybil about it before our killer had Barbara Bay.” He said as I was left nodding with complete understanding.
“So you think it’s the same reason with Kendra?” I asked
“Yup. This is just one piece of the puzzle, partner. And if the killer really is following this pattern,” His eyed the tab where I had the picture of the list and fixed his gaze to me.“You will surely be next in line for the funeral house services.”
I’m next.
New suspect: Stacy Danes
Vote for the DFFs. LOL