Never mistake my silence for weakness. No one plans a murder out loud.
~Anonymous
***
Marcus' half-closed eyes glanced at the clock.
7:45
"Shit!"
He sprang from his bed and rushed to the bathroom. Toothbrush in mouth, he undressed and turned the shower on. School started at exactly eight o'clock and he couldn't even find his clothes.
Shaking into yesterday's trousers and a loose black t-shirt he swung his backpack and ran the down the stairs. He could feel the drops of water slipping into his clothes from his hair and he raked his fingers through them.
"Mom?!" He called out as he made his way to the dining room.
Jane sat on a chair, face placed on her wrist and a little frown playing on her lips. Her eyes were plastered to the floor, as her mind travelled.
"So, you wouldn't even wake me up?"
His mother sighed.
Reading the time on his watch, he grabbed an apple and began his sprint to school. "Bye Mom!"
He slammed the door behind him with a frown and increased his pace.
Marcus' socks threatened to slip out his shoes as his sweat-drenched body wobbled for the school doors.
"Eight seventeen," he panted. "I'm fucking dead."
Armed with an emotional explanation that his poor mother was unwell and he had to stay back to take care of her, he rushed forward to class, his fake tears at bay.
He paused at his class door, chest rising and dropping rapidly. He took in slow breaths, wiping his sweat away, squeezing his shirt and fixing his hair, and then he opened the door.
"What the hell?"he snapped.
The silent class and empty chairs greeted him as he walked in. No one was in attendance. Did they skip?
"No way, Gregory would never skip," he murmured to himself. Kid was way too serious.
Muffled sobs brought Marcus out of the classroom as two girls approached, their hands to their mouths, as tears streamed down their faces. Jeff came to sight and once the two boys locked eyes, their pace quickened.
"What the fuck happened Jeff? Did someone die?"
"Yes."
Marcus staggered back. "What?"
"Sheila's body was found in the auditorium, and from what I'm hearing its a pretty ugly sight." He turned on his heel. "C'mon."
"Bloody hell!" Marcus gasped as he took a step back. He turned his back to the body and shut his eyes.
Sheila's body lay at the centre of the auditorium, bisected from the waist, with her intestines scooped out and tucked in her buttcrack. Her legs were spread apart in a straight ballerina split and her elbows were both bent at ninety degrees. The slit from her ear extended from ear to ear in a maniacal joker-like smile, and her broken nose was painted with dry blood. Finally, her breasts were slashed into two, the nipples sliced and tucked into her nostrils.
Marcus' hand slapped his mouth shut, as his digested apple breakfast threatened to make way.
"Who the fuck does that?" Marcus grumbled as the boys walked out the auditorium. More students piled in to see the body before the teachers closed it down. Marcus frowned as they walked. His morning officially ruined.
"Didn't you extend your time here in school yesterday? Surely you must have seen something."
Marcus punched his arm. "Keep your voice down idiot," he whispered and looked over his shoulder. "Don't you know how gossip flies around here?"
"Sorry sorry," Jeff said. "But did you see anything?"
"I didn't see shit, okay. Okay?"
Jeff slowly nodded and the two boys walked to class.
In the corner of the hall stood Elli, popularly known as Big Ears. The girl had average looking ears but earned her name through her ability to hear the lowest of whispers and tell her friends the latest at Arabella Academy, and that was not going to change today.
"Did you know Marcus was here yesterday?" Elli told her group of friends.
"Which one?" one of the girls asked.
"The troublemaker."
"Really? He was here..."
And so the train of Arabella gossip boarded.
"Did you know Nilla's boyfriend Marcus was here yesterday?"
"Did you hear? Marcus broke up with his girlfriend yesterday and stayed back in school..."
"I heard Marcus was with a girl when Sheila was killed..."
"Marcus saw Sheila being killed..."
"Did you hear the news? Marcus killed Sheila!"
By lunch, the teaching staff and the police force had managed to calm down the entire school. Well, all but one student.
Marcus shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the glares from his back tore down at his hair.
Tommy, one of his classmates walked up to his desk and asked, "Did you really do it?"
"NO!" Marcus shouted. "For the thousandth bloody time No! I didn't even know she was in school at the time! I did my fucking punishment and left. I did no killing and I saw no murder? And Nilla is not my girlfriend! Kapeesh?"
Tommy backed away, "Sorry, dude."
Marcus grumbled and sank into his seat. He knew he didn't believe him. Nobody did.
"Don't mind them," Jeff whispered from the side.
Marcus rested his head on the table and sighed. Why would anyone kill Sheila in the first place?
She was sweet. Her brain could account for every student in the school, she was pretty and nice. What could she possibly have done? What did this all mean now? Would he be blamed? Taken to jail? Marcus gulped silently.
My mother would surely die there and then.
"You're innocent you fool," he grumbled to himself.
"Marcus," Job, Marcus' class teacher called and Marcus lifted his head.
"Yes?"
"You've been summoned to the principal's office."