by Garza, Amber
Not only that, but she was hot. Not hot in the obvious kind of way like Tanya Dillard with her bleached hair, blue eyes and big tits. In fact, I wasn’t even sure “hot” was the right word for this girl. There was something exotic about her that made her….stunning. That’s the right word. “Stunning.” Alluring even. Like a peacock. The first time I saw a peacock I was mesmerized with its feathers, spreading out and creating a colorful picture. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. That’s how I felt looking at this girl.
Her hair was bright red. Almost candy apple red. It seemed fitting. Apple being the forbidden fruit. I was probably being melodramatic. She wasn’t exactly forbidden fruit. But she definitely drew my attention.
After class I introduced myself and found out her name was Piper. Piper. Even more fitting than her red hair. Remember the story of the Pied Piper? How he lured all the children out of town? That was this girl. She was luring me. One look, and I’d follow her anywhere.
Her red hair and green eyes bewitched me, held me captive.
Even now as I sit here and write this, I can’t stop my mind from picturing her face. I can’t keep myself from thinking about her. She consumed my thoughts. She had all day.
After I introduced myself I said something stupid about how I’d never seen her at the high school before. She grinned, but it wasn’t exactly a friendly grin. More like an amused one. Then she responded with something about how of course I’d never seen her before since it was her first day.
I liked that she had spunk, that she spoke her mind. Girls I’d dated in the past were all giggles and drivel. However, her words did make me feel like a royal jackass for my dumb statement.
Her lips were painted with red lipstick. Blood red. It was a stark contrast to her pale skin. Her eyes were lined with thick liner, her lashes long and black, like spider’s legs. Normally I hated when girls wore a lot of makeup, but hers seemed to make her eyes pop, her lips more pronounced. I found my mind wondering what it would feel like to kiss those lips, to touch her face.
As we continued to talk, her tone took on a bored quality, and I worried that I already blew my chance with her. My gaze lowered down her body, taking in her black shirt, ripped jean, and Chuck Taylors. She wore chunky rings on almost every finger, and bracelets rode up one arm. There were other guys at our school more suited for her. Shane with his Mohawk who wore skinny jeans and tennis shoes just like Piper’s. Or Max who wore gauges in his ears and dyed his hair different colors every weak. They both had that edgy look and personality I was betting Piper would find appealing. And neither one of them were a preppy jock like me.
Even so, I was praying she’d give me a shot.
As I was trying to figure out how to go about asking her out, a thought hit me. She was new to town, so she didn’t have any friends yet. Most likely she hadn’t met Shane or Max. So even if they were better suited for her, I saw her first. Isn’t there a phrase that goes finder’s keepers, loser’s weepers? I’m not sure it applies when we’re discussing people, but still I took advantage of the situation.
So I asked her if she had “A” lunch. When she nodded, my heart lifted right out of my chest.
I offered to have lunch with her and show her around. She agreed, and we made plans to meet in front of Mr. Jones’ classroom before lunch.
But things didn’t go exactly like I’d hoped. Before lunch I met Piper outside of Mr. Jones’ class as promised. She was leaning against the brick wall, one leg bent. In her hand she held an old book, the pages gold edged. It didn’t look like a textbook. I was curious about the book, so I asked her what it was. Something that none of my friends knew about me was that I loved to read. I did it in private so they didn’t harass me about it.
She told me it was a book of poetry. That fascinated me, because while I loved novels, I’d never really gotten into poetry. Frankly, I rarely understood it.
I made the mistake of saying this to her. Annoyance flickered in her eyes at my statement, and I wished I could shove the words back in my mouth. Before I could fix it, she shut me down. Said something about how I could report back to the welcome committee I had done my job by offering to have lunch with her, but that she was fine eating alone. We didn’t even have a welcome committee, but I never got the chance to tell her that. She shoved off the wall and whirled away from me, walking with large clipped strides down the hallway amidst the sea of other students. Only she couldn’t blend in. With that bright hair she’d stand out anywhere. I planned to go after her, but then Tyler and Zach intercepted me. They wanted to warn me about the new girl.
Apparently the rumors were already running rampant about Piper. An unfortunate byproduct of living in a small town. Of course they all had heard something different. Isn’t that how rumors are?
Tyler heard that her dad is a doctor, a specialist of some kind, and he had started his own practice here. I actually believed him because I remembered my parents talking about some new doctor. He worked on ears or something. Apparently he set up a fancy office right in the center of town. That was Piper’s dad? I would never have guessed that her dad was a doctor.
But he also said that he heard she’d moved here because she got in trouble at her last school and was expelled.
It didn’t seem right. Why would her whole family move just because she got in trouble at school? My parents wouldn’t do that. They’d send me to private school or something. And if her dad’s a doctor, I was pretty sure that Piper’s family had enough money to send her anywhere.
Zach heard that she was expelled for murdering her ex-boyfriend. Obviously that’s absurd. I mean, if it were true, she’d be in jail. But when I tried to defend her, the guys razzed me saying that I had a crush on her.
That’s when Tanya walked up, her boobs popping out of her too-tight blue top. Tyler and Zach didn’t even try to pretend they weren’t ogling her breasts. Then again, why bother? She never seemed to mind. Of course she was more than happy to share her version of Piper’s story. That girl always loved gossip. According to her, Piper had attempted to kill her last boyfriend. She warned me to bring mace if I ever went on a date with her.
Irritated, I made the mistake of spouting off some shit about how I wasn’t interested in Piper. That I just felt sorry for her since she was new and had no friends. Right after the foolish words left my mouth, I caught a glimpse of red hair, a flash of green eyes.
When I glanced up, Piper’s eyes collided with mine, anger radiating from her like a heat wave.
Feeling like an asshole, I was about to go after her and explain everything. But then she was gone. Vanished, as if she’d never been there at all. And I never saw her the rest of the day.
Tyler
It’s all anyone talked about.
No one could focus on school with Jackson’s death looming over us. It was like this constant elephant in the room, large and stinky. There was no way to ignore it. No matter how hard I tried to stop thinking about it, it begged for attention.
Jackson and I met in elementary school. Even then he was larger than life. He was one of those guys everyone flocked to, girls and boys alike. There was a charisma about him that not many people possessed. I garnered attention for a completely different reason. My skinny frame, freckles and glasses made me a target for endless playground bullying.
I’d known of Jackson from afar ever since kindergarten, but we didn’t have class together until third grade. By then I wondered if I had a bulls-eye permanently painted on my back. It didn’t matter who was in my class or if there were new kids at the school, they all knew who to pick on. I guess it was instinctual. Survival of the fittest or some shit like that. One glance made it obvious that I was the weakest link.
However, all of that changed in third grade. That was the year that Jackson came to my aide. I’ll never forget that day.
It was the beginning of the school year. I’d contemplated hiding in the restroom all through recess, but then I worried the bullies would follow me in there. And I definitely didn’t
want to be alone with them, trapped in a smelly bathroom. Even at my young age, I knew that wouldn’t end well. So I trudged out to recess, steeling myself for what was to come.
I barely reached the playground when a hand clamped on my shoulder. I stiffened. That didn’t take long.
“Tyler, right?” The voice said.
Perplexed, I swiveled my neck in the kid’s direction.
It was Jackson, and he wore a smile on his face. Not a mean smile either. It was a sincere smile. I didn’t know what to make of it. Glancing around, I looked for his friends. Looked to see if this was some sort of trap.
“I’m Jackson. Wanna play catch?” He held up his other hand, a Wiffle Ball nestled in his palm.
I nodded, unsure if I should trust him. But the thing is, that I wanted to. Desperately. I would’ve given anything to have a friend.
Jackson and I played catch every day that week. And when someone would tease me, Jackson would tease them right back. Eventually the teasing and bullying died down. But my friendship with Jackson didn’t. We were still friends.
Well, I guess not now. Could you be friends with a dead person? I was thinking not.
“I still can’t believe it.” Tanya spoke from where she sat on the bench across from me in the cafeteria. “I can’t believe he’s gone. A couple of times today I forgot and looked for him in the halls.”
“I know,” Farrah, who sat on the left side of Tanya, piped up. “I had him in two of my classes. It’s so weird to see his desk empty.” She winced. “It makes me sick.”
Jenny leaned forward, propping up her elbows and scouring the table. “I heard Piper’s in the hospital. Apparently she’s got a really bad concussion and she’s pretty banged up.” I wasn’t surprised that Jenny had more details than the rest of us. Her mom’s a nurse and worked in the ER.
“Serves her right.” Tanya shook her head. “She was the one who killed him after all.”
My face drained of color. “We don’t know that.” In fact, we didn’t know anything. We’d been told the barest of details.
“We know she killed her ex-boyfriend before moving here,” Tanya countered.
“No, she didn’t.” Zach sighed with exasperation, and I was a little surprised that he was defending her. There was no love lost between Zach and Piper.
I glanced over my left shoulder at where Zach sat hunched over an untouched sandwich. I hadn’t eaten a bite of my lunch either. Looking around the table, I realized none of us had.
“Okay. So she didn’t actually kill him, but she tried to kill him. Same diff.” Tanya rolled her eyes. “I tried to warn Jackson about that, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“That isn’t what happened. You don’t know the whole story,” I snapped, irritated with Tanya for being such a know-it-all. It’s how she always behaved, but today it was too much. Even though I didn’t like Piper, I knew she didn’t kill her ex-boyfriend. Zach and I knew all too well what really happened with him. Not that we would readily share that story. Especially not now.
“Do you?” She raised a brow.
“N-no,” I sputtered, wishing I’d kept my damn mouth shut. Zach shot me a warning look. “But Jackson does…did…and he trusted her.”
“Yeah, look where that got him.” Tanya flashed me a knowing glance, and my stomach twisted.
“But why would she kill him?” Farrah asked. “What would be the reason?”
“Perhaps Jackson wasn’t as in love with Piper as she thought.” Tanya’s lips curved slightly at the edges in a way that unnerved me. “We all have our secrets, right?” When her gaze met mine, I lowered my head, unable to look her directly in the eyes.
She couldn’t know, could she?
Staring at my hands, my heart beat erratically in my chest. No, it seemed she was alluding to something about herself. She wasn’t involved with Jackson, was she? Sure they went out before Piper moved to town, but he was head over heels for Piper. There’s no way he would cheat on her. Was there?
“Anyway,” Tanya continued. “We’ll know soon enough. I’m sure the police will be interviewing us.”
“Us?” My head snapped up. “Why? Why us?”
Tanya frowned. “Because we’re his friends, silly.”
“So?”
“So?” Her eyes widened. “Haven’t you ever watched a crime drama on TV? They’re going to want to get information about Jackson from his friends.”
Agitated, I clasped and unclasped my hands in my lap. I hadn’t thought about talking to the police. Lifting my head slowly, I looked at Zach. The fear in his eyes mirrored my own.
I nodded my head subtly, and Zach nodded back. A silent agreement.
We’d never let them find out what we’d done.
Piper
I couldn’t stop puking. At first I thought it was because I was sick over Jackson’s death. But soon I realized that it was more serious than that. Apparently so did the nurses. That’s why they wheeled me down the hall for a CT scan.
Now I was lying in a giant donut-like contraption. As the scan started, I wondered what they would find when they looked in my brain. Would they see all the poetry I knew by heart? Would Juliet’s lines, that I’d painstakingly memorized, fly across the screen? Would Jackson’s face fill the frame, his brown hair tousled, his dark eyes piercing, teasing and haunting all at the same time? Would they see the tender moments between us, the silly times, the many hours we rehearsed for Romeo and Juliet?
My heart squeezed at the memory of the play. The one Jackson and I worked so hard on. I had no idea it would be the last one we’d do together. And if it weren’t for the fact that Jackson was trying so desperately to get my attention, we never would’ve done it at all. Jackson had no plans to try out for the lead in the school play. His plan had been to do the bare minimum to pass drama class.
But then I blew off his advances, and all that changed. Honestly, I had no idea he was actually hitting on me that first day of class. Red Blossom was a small town with a small-town feel. In fact, the day after my family moved here we had numerous neighbors come over with pies and pastries, welcoming us to town. We even had a welcome committee show up with a basket of goodies and coupons for local businesses. So that’s what I thought Jackson was doing. I thought maybe he was part of some similar program at the school. It was so obvious he was one of the popular crowd, and I clearly didn’t fit with that group.
Besides, I’d overheard him telling his friends he felt sorry for me because I was new. So I avoided him. I didn’t want to be anyone’s charity case.
However, he was persistent. For the first few weeks of school he constantly came up to me after class trying to strike up a conversation. But after awhile he got the hint and stopped. The truth was, that I missed it. Missed talking to him. Not that I’d ever admit that to anyone.
And lucky for me, there wasn’t anyone to admit it to. At that point I hadn’t exactly made any friends at Red Blossom High. I was pretty sure the rumors had scared them off. Besides, everyone had known each other since they were in diapers. Cliques had been established, and no one was inviting in new members.
But then something happened.
“Okay, class, listen up,” Mrs. O’Connor spoke from up on the stage.
Students laughed and chatted, some played on their phones from our seats on the floor. One thing that had become very clear to me in my first month at this school was that not many students were into drama class. They all seemed to think of this period as free time. I, on the other hand, had been taking drama classes since I was a child. I took it seriously. Frankly, it irked me that hardly anyone else did. I had been hoping to get involved, maybe participate in a play or two this year. But so far all we’d done is a few basic exercises and a little improvisation. None of which anyone took seriously.
“I have an important announcement,” she tried again.
I rolled my eyes. Dear god, this woman had no control of her class. It was annoying because I wanted to hear what she had to say. I thought about yelling
out, demanding everyone to shut up. But they already thought I was a freak. No need to add fuel to the fire.
Mrs. O’Connor clapped her slender hands together, her pink fingernails sparkling under the bright lights. “Class, listen up. I want to tell you what play we’re putting on this year.”
I sat straighter, the chair moaning beneath me as if it were the ghost of this theatre. Okay, so maybe I was a freak with those kinds of thoughts. I splayed my hands in my lap, staring down at my fingernails that were painted black. One of the edges was chipped, and I picked at it by habit. A couple of my rings dug into my leg, so I readjusted them.
My parents hated my style. They said I dressed like a homeless person. As if they’d ever been around homeless people. That would require them to step outside the bubble they live in. Not something they liked to do, believe me.
“This year,” Mrs. O’Connor continued, despite the constant noise around her, “we will be performing William Shakespeare’s classic, Romeo and Juliet.”
My heart leapt in my chest. It was one of my favorites. Keeping my face neutral, I glanced around the room. I wondered who else would try out for Juliet. No one else even appeared interested. Well, if I was the only one trying out for the part, then I was guaranteed to get it. Not that I needed a guarantee.
“Auditions will be one week from today. Sign-ups will be up here on the wall, along with the scripts.”
I glanced up at the sheet of paper tacked to the wall, biting my lip. Finally this school didn’t suck as bad. At least I now had something to look forward to. The rest of class I tapped my leg impatiently waiting for the bell to ring. The minute it did, I bolted from my chair, making a beeline for the audition sign-ups.
As I held the black pen in between my fingers and lifted it up toward the paper, a shadow cast over my shoulder.
“Who you trying out for?”