by Marlowe Blue
I glanced around, noticing that the cafeteria was quieter than usual. Everyone was leaned in, speaking in soft voices. Every few seconds someone looked over their shoulder at me and then snapped back around when our eyes met. They were all talking about me.
I stuffed my history book into my backpack. I couldn’t be the school’s movie screen. “I’m going outside for the rest of lunch. I’ll catch up to you later, M.” I wanted to make it quite clear that I would catch up to her and not the others.
“Oh, let me come with you,” she said, gathering things on her lunch tray.
“No. Please stay with your friends.” I really needed to be alone.
Outside, I lay my head on a picnic table, taking deep breaths. This couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be happening. How was I supposed to come to school every day without the Hex? Every second I was there I expected to see one of them coming down the hallway, but I would never see them again.
The bell rang but I didn’t go to class. I knew I would get in trouble for ditching, but I didn’t care. I was too numb to care about anything.
Halfway through fifth period, Ms. Carole, the vice principal came strolling out of the school’s auditorium and spotted me. She and I knew each other very well. I waited for her to rail on me for skipping class once again. Then she’d make me go to her office where I would have to call one of my parents and tell them what I’d done.
“Ms. Dupree, what are you doing out here and not in class?”
I picked at my chipped nail polish. “I can’t be in class right now. I can’t even be in that building. It feels like the walls are closing in on me. I can’t breathe in there.”
Really, it was the stares from my classmates that I couldn’t take.
The stern expression she always wore melted away. Usually she had no mercy and despised excuses. “I understand, dear. You’ve been through so much these past weeks . . . I can’t even imagine. Would you like to take the rest of the day off? I’ll write you a pass and you can go home.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Ms. Carole.”
She told me she’d take care of everything and that I could go. I didn’t leave though. Instead, I made myself comfortable on the trunk of Morgan’s car. I didn’t know where I wanted to be, but I didn’t want to be at home.
At dismissal Morgan came tumbling out of the building with Shana in tow. When she spotted me, she whispered something in Shana’s ear. Shana looked in my direction before stalking off. I was relieved because I didn’t feel like talking to anyone but Morgan.
She ran to me, her ponytail bouncing from side to side. “Hey, what happened to you in PE? I was worried.”
“Ms. Carole gave me the rest of the day off.”
Morgan’s eyebrows rose. “Really? Hard-ass Carole? That was nice of her.”
“Yeah.” I hopped off the trunk and went to the passenger side door. Just then Hunter pulled up in his Range Rover. I was happy to see him.
He rolled his window down. “Hey, Morgan. Hey, Lela.”
“Hey,” we replied.
“Lela, I wanted to see if you wanted to go to Ray’s to get a bite to eat. You must be starving. I noticed you didn’t eat your lunch.”
He had been watching me? Well, why not? Everyone else was.
I glanced at Morgan who gave me a thumbs up. She was such a cornball.
“Oh, Morgan can come too,” Hunter quickly added.
“Nope,” Morgan said, opening her car door. “I’ve got to get home. I’m going somewhere with my mom, but you two have fun?” She closed the door and started her car, apparently not waiting for me to accept Hunter’s invitation. She had accepted it for me.
“Okay, then.” I walked toward the Rover. Hunter hopped out and ran around the other side to open the passenger door for me. He always had a way of making me feel special.
I took a deep breath as we drove through the parking lot. “Can we go anywhere besides Ray’s? That was kind of our place.” I had made the decision that I would never go to Ray’s again and I intended to stick to it.
“Of course. We can go anywhere you want to go.”
“Anywhere but Ray’s.” I melted into the seat, feeling peaceful and at ease. There was something about Hunter’s presence that calmed me.
He took me to an ice cream shop where we both got chocolate shakes loaded with whipped cream and cherries. Hunter shoveled spoonfuls into his mouth while I used my straw to make swirls in the ice cream. “Chocolate shakes were Char’s favorite.” I immediately regretted saying that out loud.
Hunter gave me a sad half smile. “I didn’t know her very well, but she seemed like a nice girl.”
“Even if she helped trash your father’s building?”
Hunter shook his head. “Nice people do stupid things sometimes. All that stuff is forgotten. Was she your best friend?”
“One of them. I’ve known her since I was a little kid but we didn’t really get close until we were in junior high. She was a good person. She wouldn’t harm a fly.”
She wouldn’t have harmed a fly. I was going to have to get used to referring to them in the past tense. They had all been a part of my life for so long it just seemed strange.
I found myself wanting to pour my heart out to Hunter. Maybe Toby was right. It might help me to get things out. “Can I tell you something?” I asked Hunter.
He took my hand and squeezed it. “Anything.”
“Neil took a video of the bodies after he’d killed them and I saw it. The videos and pictures of the dead bodies.”
He gripped my hand tighter in his. “Lela, I’m so sorry. That’s awful. I don’t even know what to say about that. Man, Neil seemed like such a nice normal guy. What do you think would drive him to do something like that?”
Wasn’t that the way it always was though? It was always the quiet, normal people who were behind the most terrible crimes. The people you would never suspect.
“And why?” Hunter added. “What reason would he have to go after you guys like that?”
“The only reason I could think of was that he wanted to be a part of our group but we wouldn’t let him be. He really wanted in. Every Saturday night he’d meet us outside of Ray’s and beg Coach to let him in, but the answer was always no. That’s a stupid reason to kill four people but I can’t think of any other explanation.”
Hunter shook his head. “If there wasn’t video evidence and if he hadn’t confessed, I wouldn’t have believed him.”
I looked around the empty ice cream shop. “Speaking of the video, there was someone else on it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You couldn’t see or hear them, but Neil was talking to someone else in the room with him. So not only did Neil do this, someone was there with him. Someone who condoned what he’d done and they’re still walking around free.”
Hunter paled at this new information. “Holy shit. I wonder who. I wonder if it’s someone who goes to our school. That’s freaky. I’m sure the police will be able to get it out of him sooner or later.”
“I hope you’re right.”
The fact that the person who had witnessed and probably taken pleasure in the murdering of my friends could have been anyone, the possibility that I could be passing them in the hallways every day, was terrifying.
17
Any hope I had of getting my life back on track was squashed the following afternoon. The police wanted me to come in for some more questioning. When Mom told Detective Bloom that they had traumatized me enough, he quickly reminded her that I was the only living witness to this brutal crime aside from the culprits. If I wanted my friends’ murderer to be put away, I needed to cooperate.
He had a point, but there was one problem. I still couldn’t remember anything.
Thankfully, I would only be meeting with Detective Nichols that evening. He was the nicer one.
“I don’t remember anything,” I spat out as soon as I sat down at the table.
He pressed his lips together. “Are you sure? Not one
thing?”
“Not one thing. I don’t even remember walking over there. I don’t know what you guys need me for. I can’t really help.”
As long as I had to come to the station and talk about my friends, I would never be able to get past it.
Nichols folded his arms across his chest. “Okay, but we’re going to have to keep checking in with you just in case. In the meanwhile, I want you to keep your eyes and ears open. It’s very possible that the other person on the video goes to your school or is someone you know. Pay attention to anyone acting strangely or even bragging about this. If you notice anything suspicious about anyone, call me right away.”
“What did Neil say?”
“Nothing. He keeps saying it was him and only him despite there clearly being another person there with him. We believe the other person took part in the murders also so they need to be behind bars. I’m not sure why Neil is okay with taking the fall by himself, but he is.”
I tried to think. I thought about all his friends and who I remembered him hanging out with. They had to know something. “I’ll find out,” I assured the detective. “If somebody watched my friends get slaughtered or even did it themselves, I’m going to find out.”
Detective Nichols extended his hand for me to shake. “Good, but don’t do anything stupid. As I said, if you come across anything, call me right away.”
He handed me his card even though I already had one. I slid it into my back pocket as I left the room. On the way to the lobby where Mom was waiting for me I took out my phone and called Morgan. She answered on the first ring. “Lee? You okay?”
“Yes,” I replied, “and I’m coming over. We have some work to do.”
It took a long time for someone to come to the door at Morgan’s. Finally, Mrs. Thorne answered. Visions of the last time I was there knocking on the door flooded my mind. She stood there watching me for a moment before finally letting me in.
The two of us stood by the door awkwardly. I had seen her at the funerals, but we hadn’t spoken. I just kept remembering the way she looked at me that night—like she knew I was a murderer. I couldn’t blame her under the circumstances.
She squeezed me into a tight hug which I hadn’t been expecting. Over the year since the Thorne’s had moved to Riverside, our relationship had been rocky.
At first she didn’t want Morgan hanging out with me. I didn’t see why. I looked like a perfectly normal girl. I assumed she’d heard rumors about me and my friends and was afraid that we would corrupt her good little girl. Unfortunately, Morgan had been drawn to me. She wouldn’t stay away, so the Thornes had to accept our friendship. It took a few months, but Mrs. Thorne grew to like me. I don’t think Mr. Thorne cared either way.
Mrs. Thorne held my chin. “How are you, honey? I can’t even imagine.”
I didn’t know what to say. I definitely wasn’t fine but I didn’t quite know how to describe how I felt.
Mrs. Thorne kept talking. “Morgan is torn up about it but she’s only known those kids for a year. You’ve known them for most of your life, haven’t you?”
I nodded.
“And then all that stuff with the police. We never thought you’d actually—”
Yes, you did.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Thorne. I’m just glad it got straightened out. Where’s Morgan?”
She looked toward the staircase. “Upstairs. She has a paper she has to finish tonight.”
“I won’t stay long,” I called over my shoulder.
I barged into Morgan’s room without knocking because that’s what we always did. She sat on her bed with her legs criss-crossed and her laptop balanced on her lap. She set the laptop to the side and grabbed the pen and notebook sitting beside her.
I settled down in front of her so we could make our list. “Okay, so we have Zander and Hunter, but both of those are impossible.”
Morgan crossed Zander’s name off the list. “Why is Hunter impossible?”
I shrugged. “Because he’s Hunter. He’s not even mad about what we did. He forgave us.”
We sat in silence for a few moments. I could hear Mrs. Thorne banging pots and pans around downstairs. Morgan gasped. “So Zander couldn’t have physically committed the murders, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have someone else do it. He could have hired someone. Do you realize that he didn’t come to any of the funerals? He’s obviously still pissed.”
She was right. Zander hadn’t been to any of them. “But who could he have gotten to do something so terrible? Why would they agree to it? Zander couldn’t possibly have enough money to pay someone to kill four people. And why would they leave me alive? I’m just as guilty as the rest of them.”
Morgan lay back against her headboard. “I don’t know. If it’s not Hunter or Zander, who would it be?”
I could think of one more person, but I couldn’t dare say the name out loud—Officer Downs.
18
That moment when you think your life can’t get any worse and it does.
Thursday morning I’d gone to my locker to grab my chemistry book when I noticed two things that didn’t belong. One was a Hallmark card with the words “thinking of you” on the front. Underneath was a little birdie with sad eyes. The inside read:
I know you’re going through the hardest time ever and I’m sorry. We don’t know each other that well, but I’d like to get to know you—you know when you’re up for it. Morgan never stops talking about you so I know you must be an amazing person. Anyway, as I said, I’m here.
It was signed Shana. I held the card to my chest. That was incredibly sweet of her. Maybe in time I would give her and the others a chance.
The other thing that didn’t belong was a sheet of loose-leaf paper folded into a hexagon. I had never been able to do fancy paper tricks like that and the sight of it made me feel sick. The Hex. Was this somebody’s idea of a joke?
I carefully lifted the six folds of the paper. In handwriting that looked like a kindergartners were the words:
You’ll find the answer you’re looking for at H6. H6? What the hell was H6 and what answer did the person think I was looking for? I didn’t have much time to think about it because someone covered my eyes with their hand. “Morning, beautiful.”
I knew that dreamy voice from anywhere. I turned and fell into Hunter’s green-eyed gaze. “Morning.”
He handed me a small container filled with fruit. “My mom wanted me to give you this. She’s worried that you’re not eating.” There was even a fork on top wrapped in plastic.
I took the container, feeling guilty. “You told your mom about me?”
“Of course.”
That was about the sweetest thing I could think of. I peeked inside the container. There were bright red strawberries that had been cut carefully in half among a handful of plump blueberries and green apple slices. “This was really nice of her, Hunter. Please tell her I said thank you.”
He grinned. “Will do.”
I couldn’t believe how nice the Clarks were being to me even after what we’d done. “I’ll give you the container back later.” I turned to shove the mysterious message in my locker. Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t good and I didn’t want to discuss it with Hunter. I wanted to have a happy conversation with him for once.
He took my backpack from me so I could dig into the fruit. “I’ll walk you to class.”
I ate while Hunter yapped on about a presentation he had to give later that day. It didn’t matter what he said, really. I just loved the sound of his voice.
The day went by pretty quickly and soon the creepy note I had received was long forgotten.
The next day Morgan pulled in front of my house extra early, blaring her horn. I wasn’t expecting her for another thirty minutes. Mom rushed around the house getting ready for work. “Lee, hurry before she wakes all the neighbors.”
I threw on a t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans before grabbing a granola bar from the counter.
“What the hell is wrong with y
ou?” I asked as I settled into the passenger seat of Morgan’s Beetle.
Her eyes were wide and frantic. “We need to talk, but not here.” She ducked her head and peered through her windshield. “I feel like someone’s watching me.”
I shivered at the thought. “What? Why would you think that?”
She didn’t answer me until we were sitting in the parking lot of a McDonalds. Morgan reached into her purse and pulled out a sheet of paper. I took it from her. It was identical to the one I had received and forgotten about the day before telling her to look for H6.
“Morgan, I got this same note in my locker yesterday.”
“What?” She snatched the note away from me. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Honestly, I forgot about it. I mean, what does it even mean?”
Morgan rested her head on the steering wheel. “Lee, your note was in your locker. I found my note on the pillow beside me when I woke up this morning.”
My stomach lurched. “What?”
“Lee, whoever left this note came into my house—into my bedroom while I was sleeping.”
No wonder she was in a panic.
I rubbed her back. “Holy shit. What did your parents say?”
“Are you kidding? I couldn’t tell them. They would have called the police. My mom would pack us up and move us back to Wisconsin before I could blink. They can’t know, but we have to find out who left this note and what it means.”
I sat back in my seat. “Maybe it’s some place in the school. It can’t be a classroom or a locker number. Those don’t have letters in them.”
We headed out of the parking lot. “We’ll keep our eyes open,” Morgan said, her voice cracking. I felt sorry for her. I knew how scared I would be if someone had left that letter in my bedroom while I was sleeping. I didn’t even know what to say to reassure her because the whole situation was completely frightening.