"I've been trapped in my mind."
-Jocelyn Flores, XXXTENTACION
________________________________
Instead of heading to English Lit, I decide to head outside, round the back of the school and into the woods.
If Mr Jefferson's cat's murder was merely a prank, or even a sociopathic statement to send a message, then fine. It's not surprising that the kids at this school would do such a thing. But whenever I think about it, a bad feeling conjures in my gut, like it's more than anyone at this school is capable of. But it's just a cat though. Kids at this school have done a whole lot worse.
I tread carefully, not wanting to stumble on a thick tree root or get hit in the face by a low-hanging branch. I eventually come to the spot where me and Jasper found Whiskers. The body has been moved, obviously, but it doesn't stop the bad feeling from returning.
I'm about to walk deeper into the woods when something shiny catches my eye. I turn around and stoop down to where it sits, buried slightly beneath an overgrown shrub. I frown and reach my hand towards it, but as my finger touches the edge, I jerk my hand back, it's abrupt sharpness making me jump. I stare at my fingertip to see a trail of blood making its way down my skin.
Frowning, I reach back down again, and carefully drag the item out until it's completely visible.
"A knife?" I whisper to myself. Why is there a knife here? It can't have been to kill Whiskers, since her neck was snapped, she wasn't stabbed or cut.
I pick it up and realise it's a pocket knife. I fold it up, and when I look closer, the colour drains from my face when I see two letters carved into the handle.
O. M.
Olivia Mitchell.
I sit there for a moment, just staring at it. Most likely it fell out of my shoe when I was here yesterday with Jasper. But then why is it open?
"Olivia."
I shove the pocket knife into my shoe again, and spin around. "Jasper? What are you doing here?"
"You rushed off pretty quickly during breakfast, I figured something was wrong and came to find you. Are you alright?" he asks, taking a few steps closer to me.
I nod quickly, trying to shake the bad feeling I get from being here.
"You're not mad at me, about that thing in the Common Room yesterday, are you? I swear I didn't mean for it to get violent," he admits, staring awkwardly at his feet.
He's worried because he thinks I'm mad at him? The fight yesterday has been the furthest thing from my mind this morning.
I close the gap between us and place my hand onto his arm, rubbing it up and down reassuringly. "Jasper, I'm not mad. I just didn't think you all hated each other that much."
He releases a brief laugh and then draws level with me, smiling that heart-stopping smile. "It's been getting worse since a year ago."
"Can you tell me what happened?" I ask.
He finally nods, and gestures to the school. "Let's get out of these woods, before we get haunted by Whisker's ghost."
I laugh and nod, following beside him along the trail back to the school.
"So, the Fighters have always hated us, because they think we're pretentious psychopaths, which I guess a lot of us are. But ever since the divide was put in place- a long time before I got here- there's always been a riff between us. Us Socios didn't like the Fighters because...well, why would we? We're polar opposites. Apart from the common ground of insanity, of course."
I listen carefully, nodding to his words. We make it out of the woods and begin our journey around the side of the building. Jasper leads the way in front, but he doesn't stop telling the story.
"One night, after everyone had gone to bed, we heard a loud scream. Everyone got out of bed and ran outside, looking everywhere for the source of the scream."
We come out of the snicket and turn into the main building, careful to make sure no one sees us. I shadow him up the stairs and down the empty corridors.
"Then we found her body."
My eyes widen, my brain eager to hear more. "Her?"
"A Fighter. Most of her bones were broken, and it was obvious she'd fallen from the roof." Hearing a story about a Fighter on the roof at night takes my mind to Alec, and I begin to worry more than before.
"But the Fighters were certain she'd been pushed. And the only possible suspects were Socios." He pauses as we come to a halt at his dorm door, Jasper swinging it open to reveal his bedroom. Once we're inside, he closes the door behind us. "But since there was no way of proving it, the school didn't shut down to solve her murder. There was a funeral, and the Fighters have hated us ever since."
I meet his watchful gaze and murmur, "So they hate you because they think one of you pushed that girl?"
Jasper nods and replies, "And with this whole cat thing, it's only making it worse."
"Kids are making bets on if it was a Socio or a Fighter who did it," I inform calmly.
"How did it get out? Because I didn't tell anyone," he mumbles.
I shake my head. "Neither did I. But you know what this means?"
"What?"
"Your situation with the Fighters is going to become a whole lot worse."