Simon Death High

by Blair Burden

  “Okay, we are getting somewhere,” Linda said as she jotted down notes. “What do you know, Lucy?”

  “Mr. Conner has a history of being arrested,” Lucy said.

  “I mean about Mandy,” Linda rolled her eyes. “Who cares about a teacher!”

  “How did you know?” Michael said. “About Mr. Conner?”

  “He's been arrested for soliciting prostitution,” Lucy said as if it wasn't a big deal.

  “Ew,” they all gagged.

  “How would you know this?” Hannah asked.

  “I just know things,” Lucy rolled her eyes. “Don't worry about it.”

  “And Mandy wasn't pregnant, her emo friend was,” Hannah said. “I remember her saying it in those exact words.”

  “Also, I know Mandy's boyfriend. He was a little crazy, I’m surprised she stayed with him,” Adam said.

  “Hey! Have you guys noticed that all the people killed were girls and they were either a cheerleader or on the dance team,” Linda said. “And you remember last year that little freshmen died too, she was on the dance team!”

  “But, Karen died in a car crash,” Michael said.

  “No, she is too much like the others to let slide by.”

  “She was friends with that emo girl too! What happened to her?” Hannah said. “The emo girl...”

  “She graduated and moved, duh!” Michael said. “Which I want to do.”

  “Who are all those girls connected to daily?” Linda said as everyone shrugged. “Jocks! Cheerleaders and the girls from the dance team are always around jocks.”

  “The jocks are nice; right, Adam?” Hannah said. “They would never kill anyone.”

  “You don't know that,” Linda said. “Here,” she paused as she handed each of them a paper with a name on it. “Your job is to get information from these people.”

  “This is a really stupid idea,” Lucy said.

  “Do you want to go to prison for the rest of your life?” Linda snapped as they all said no. “Then, just do it!”

  “Ew,” Hannah shrugged. “I have the worst one. Why should I talk to the jocks?”

  “You just said they're nice,” Adam said as he read his, which was to talk to the dance team.

  Hannah peaked at Adam's paper, “We should switch.”

  “No way!” he beamed.

  “No, keep the ones I gave you. I gave them for a reason,” Linda snapped as hers was to talk to Cassidy White, the emo girl in Mandy’s eyes. “Now, go!”

  Lucy walked toward the English classes to do her job—talk to Mr. Conner. Michael spotted her going to the class, so he followed behind her, trying to spy on her.

  With her little hands, she knocked on the door and let herself in. Michael walked behind her, without her noticing and he listened through the crack.

  “Um, hi Lucy?” Mr. Conner said. “Is something wrong?”

  “How are your college courses going?” Lucy said awkwardly.

  “Well,” he nodded for her to sit. “What is wrong? Do you like the other English teacher?”

  “Yeah, it's a good class. I’m not here to ask for any more money, but—”

  “It's okay; if you want I can always go online to find you, Sugar Beam,” he winked. “I have money, if that is what you're wondering. I’m also available—”

  “No—”

  “Is this about you and your friends getting arrested?”

  “No—”

  “I know you guys didn't do anything. It's odd because most of the murders happen on the weekend, but no one else died this weekend. That's why the town was in fear when you guys came back.”

  “They think we are the ones because when we left when the murderer decided to chill out?” Lucy snapped. “That's not fair. I wish I had someone to talk to about all of this. I wish I could just call my parents and tell them everything is okay with me, but that's what I get for getting emancipated.”

  Michael gasped and then he slid away from the door. He tried to think back to all the times he spent with Lucy, which was daily and she never mentioned being emancipated.

  He walked to the lab room and read his paper which was to talk to all the members of the Associated Student Body (ASB) and glee club members. He moaned, because he didn't want to talk to them. Although, he was a glee member not too long before he joined the swim team, he didn't like any of them. They weren't like the actors on TV—they were arrogant brats just because they lived on the richer part of town.

  Quickly, Michael placed his badge into the basket for IDs and pulled out a computer number and ran over to one. He remembered Mr. Conner called Lucy Sugar Beam, so he typed it in the computer. Since nothing was blocked on the school computers, he clicked on the first page that came up, which took too long to load.

  He jumped as he felt a tap on his shoulder, just to realize that it was Linda. “You scared me!”

  “What are you doing?” she whispered, even though they were the only ones there. “Did you talk to the ASB kids?”

  “No, not yet,” he paused as the page finally loaded. “Wow.”

  “Ew, what is this?” Linda said. “You're going to get in trouble for looking nasty stuff up.”

  He scrolled through the pages and realized it was a web cam site. He pointed to an image that was the back of a girl with long flowing curly hair. “That's Lucy!”

  Linda pulled a chair next to Michael, and leaned in closer. “No, it can't be. That girl's hair is too neat.”

  “Yes, I overheard Mr. Conner call her that. He said something about if she needs money. Also, did you know that Lucy is emancipated?”

  “What? Really?”

  “So, all this time we thought her family has been traveling but really they haven't been.”

  “So, then where is she getting money?”

  Michael tapped on the computer screen, “Here, duh.” He went back onto the main page and scrolled through all the girls. “I don't know how she has time to do it, since we are with her all the time.”

  Linda gasped as he stopped on another profile. “That's Mandy!”

  Monroe Love was what the name of the girl said. The age said twenty-one but it was obviously a lie. Although, it wasn't a clear picture of her, Linda tried to remember Mandy’s body and it seemed to be her.

  “That is not her!” Michael said. “You think all girls look the same.”

  “Print it out,” Linda said as she ran over to the printer. She stared at the profile that was being printed and then felt bubbly inside. “We should take this to the police.”

  “Wow,” Michael said. “Over two-hundred men have commented on her.” He paused on a comment that read, 'I know this girl. She goes to my high school in Simon, Idaho. I hate her.' “Look at this comment, Linda.”

  “Is that person an idiot? Someone could have easily found her in this town. There are only two schools. The private one and then ours. All that person had to do was roam around town for a few days and find her easily.”

  “Obviously, that person doesn't care,” he tapped on the screen. “The person clearly hates Mandy!”

  “So, that's proof right there that someone here might be a suspect.”

  “Duh!”

  The lab teacher walked into the room, so Michael and Linda quickly turned off the computer. He grabbed all the pages they printed and then they ran out the room.

  “So, what do we do now?” Michael said as he stuffed the papers into her backpack.

  “I have to find out where her best friend Cassidy White lives now. We need to talk to her to see if she knew about this online life Mandy had,” she said as she pointed to her photo in last year's yearbook.

  “Online life?” he laughed. “That is clearly not even her. And it doesn't explain the other girls' death.”

  “We will get to that in a minute. Just do as I say.”

  He sighed, “Ugh, what are you getting me into.”

  Linda walked outside and spotted a guy she knew who had to repeat his senior year over again. He was a member of one of the
motorcycle packs. She tugged on her shorts to make them higher and seductively walked toward them in the drizzly rain. He was hard trying to look sexy in rain, but Linda always made it work.

  “Hi!” she said as they smoked their cigarettes. “Can I talk to you guys?”

  “You're the girl who was arrested a few days ago,” said one of the guys.

  Linda rolled her eyes, “You're Kyle, right?”

  He walked closer to her and put out his cigarette, “Yeah, why?”

  “Did you know Cassidy White?” she asked as she pointed to her in the yearbook.

  “Maybe, why?”

  “I need to know where she is.”

  “So, you and your friends can kill her?” said another guy.

  “Funny, but no,” Linda snapped. “I really need to get in contact with her.”

  “Good luck getting in contact with her. All I know is that she's in New York. I’m not sure if she's back yet. She should be close to done now—”

  “Done with what?”

  “Finished with school. She went to some center for mental people to make up credits. But, um, she should be done. All I know is she was going to be done a few months before I graduate.”

  “Um, okay thanks,” Linda said.

  “Well, she said she was coming back home until she would leave for college. Most likely she is staying with my friend Jordan and his family.”

  “Thank you.”

  Linda knew exactly who Jordan was. They would occasionally speak in the hallways of school. His father was the town's head doctor and his mother worked for the airlines, which meant they lived on the richer part of town. She knew she wouldn't be gone for a long time, so she text the gang she would be back before school was out—that she was going to find Cassidy.

  It didn't take long to find the biggest home in town at the top of the hill. Her worst fear was that he would shut his door on her or have her arrested for trespassing.

  Linda walked up toward the huge front-door and before she could knock, Jordan answered it. “Hi! Do you remember me?”

  “Um...” Jordan said as he shook his head no. His hair was completely shaved off from what she last remembered, and he seemed like he grew a few inches taller.

  “I'm from Simon High—”

  “More like Simon death High,” he joked. “I'm glad I’m out that school. Look, I don't have money for any cookies or anything.”

  Ironically, Linda stared at his home, “Really?” she chided. “Well, luckily I’m not here for that. I’m here to see Cassidy White.”

  “How would you know she's here?”

  “I asked your friend Kyle.”

  “Who is that?” said a soft voice from behind him.

  “She's here to see you,” Jordan said as Cassidy walked toward the door.

  “Who are you?” she snapped as she untied her freshly shoulder length hair. “What do you want?”

  “It's about Mandy—”

  Cassidy pushed the door shut on Linda, “No!”

  “Please, I need your help!” Linda cried. “If you don't help me, my friends and I could go to prison for a crime we didn't even do.”

  Cassidy sighed, “Fine,” she led her into the huge home.

  Cassidy was a different kind of beauty. It was amazing that she came back to the town that once hated her. She had a reputation of being mentally unstable, with her abusive mother. Oddly enough, the last she was seen in town was for her mother's funeral, which half the town attended—as if they liked her.

  Cassidy rolled her eyes, “I really don't want to discuss Mandy, but what is it?”

  Linda pulled out the papers from the website and handed them to Cassidy, “Did you know about this?”

  Her eyes grew large as she read the profiles. “Um, nope.”

  “Mandy apparently was on this site. Do you know anything about it?”

  “Damn, I said no! And plus this isn't Mandy,” she laughed. “That's some other whore.”

  Linda grew tense as she seemed to upset Cassidy. “Well, you would help if you weren't so stubborn—”

  “I remember Mandy was fired a few months before her death and she still needed about two-thousand for a car. So, she told me she was getting money from someone but I never questioned who.”

  “Well, maybe she met—”

  Linda became quiet as Jordan sat on the couch next to her. “Hey, I know this guy!” he laughed as he pointed to the comment of the male saying he knew Mandy. “He went to Simon High, or maybe he still goes there but he was held back I believe. I don't think he graduated.”

  “Him? Mr. 127?” Linda questioned as she scrolled down to see another comment that read 'I know her too. She's a bitch.'

  “Yup,” Jordan said. “But, I forgot his name. Something like Aaron, Arnold, Aston—”

  “Adam,” Cassidy said. “He had a thing for Mandy that whole summer. He wouldn't leave her alone.”

  “Adam?” Linda asked. “Adam what?”

  “I don't know,” they both said.

  “We really have to get going,” Jordan said. “We have a plane to catch in two hours and I know she is going to take forever to get dressed,” he teased.

  “I don't take that long,” she snapped, as Jordan walked back upstairs.

  “Can we exchange numbers?” Linda said as she pulled out her cell phone. “I promise I won't stalk you guys about this Mandy situation. I remember that memorial last year—eh.”

  “Uh, sure,” Cassidy said. “I'm willing to help. I just seem like a bitch sometimes but I’m really not—I swear.”

  “Um, where are you guys going? You don't have to answer if you don't want to.”

  Cassidy swallowed as her eyes began to water, “Um, Jordan is going away.”

  “Going away where?”

  “He's being drafted.”

  “Like in the military?”

  “Yeah, he's going to war. He just shaved his head a few weeks ago. We are going to visit family.”

  “Oh, wow I’m sorry,” Linda sighed.

  “You say it like it's such a dreadful thing,” she playfully laughed. “He'll be okay...right?”

  “My dad went to war.”

  “And he's okay, right?”

  “Um...he's had better days,” she muttered. “But, everyone is different. I’m sure Jordan will be fine. He's strong minded.”

  “Yeah, I have no one else. I don't know what I'll do if something happened to him,” she sighed. “Well, you should get going. I’m sorry I wasn't much help.”

  “No, way! You were a lot of help. I'll keep in touch with you guys.”

  Jordan walked back downstairs and shook Linda’s hand. “Bye.”

  “Good luck; you'll do good.”

  “I hope so,” he winked and they walked her back outside. “Also, that site you got those photos from isn't an adult site. It's a social site...well, I change that...but, it's more of a dating site. Facebook meets Match.com. A lot of the seniors from last year have an account. So, it wouldn't surprise me if Mandy had one too.”

  “So, it's a dating site?” Linda asked.

  “A dating site to find rich men. Well, there were a lot of rich men on the site. Anyone could join, but if you had a premium account you were connected to the richer men. The sexier you are, the better men you get,” Jordan said.

  Cassidy laughed, “How do you know this?”

  Jordan began to chuckle, “My dad has rich friends and so, I’m nosy and I hear the stories. Also, don't forget I was pretty popular in high school.”

  “Oh, gosh! You should leave before his ego gets so big,” she teased.

  Linda laughed, “Thanks so much you guys! It's all adding up.”

  As Linda sat in her car, she organized her notes. She crossed out the fact that the so-called web cam site was really a dating site. There were only so many people in Simon, Idaho so it was no shock that students would go onto that site—especially, students who needed money.

  11 | Busted Bitch

  Michael walked into the gym w
here the glee club members were sitting doing homework. The school was so broke, they didn't even have an extra room for them. He strutted his stuff, dreading to even have a conversation with his old friends.

  “Shh, it's the gay boy,” he overheard, Debbie, an overweight blonde say—and they all laughed.

  Aw, Michael’s face turned red as a fresh apple as they pointed at him. Of course, he didn't want to be called a murderer but he would much rather be called that than have a rumor going around that he was gay—even if it was true. He would much rather tell his family first.

  He paused at the door, “What did you say?”

  “You're gay!” Debbie shouted. “I would respect you a lot more if you would just admit it. I’m gay too.”

  “I'm not gay—”

  “Oh, yeah...sure...like you and your friends aren't murderers too. If I were you, I would avoid this school or better leave this damn town!”

  “Debbie, shut your ugly mouth up. You have no right to talk so low to me. Firstly, you have no idea what is going on. Secondly, you don't know my sexuality and it's my business. Thirdly, you're an idiot.”

  Debbie stiffened up as everyone began to chuckle. She hated not being liked. Debbie was the type of chick that enjoyed putting others down because she had low self-esteem—bully.

  Michael leaned on the door, with his arms crossed. “I was here to just ask if you guys knew anything suspicious about what is going on. Me and my friends need any help because police are suspicious of us for no reason.”

  The group stayed quiet as they put their heads down, ignoring Michael’s questioning. He hated the glee club members which made him dislike the show, even though he loved watching it.

  After a minute of silence, he sighed as loud as he could and slammed open the door to leave. He spotted Adam writing next to his locker and walked over to him.

  “Did you get any info from the cheerleaders?” Michael said as he tried to make eye contact with him.

  “Um, no I didn't. Did you get any good stuff?” Adam asked as he continued to write. “Well, I have to go,” he said, not letting Michael answer his question.

  As he twisted his curls, Michael spotted Hannah running out the school and onto the field. He thought about running after her, to see if she got any information, but he decided to sit next to his locker. He had enough adventure for the day.