The day droned through without problems, despite the incident with the murderers yesterday. I wondered whether they would ambush me after school, but I decided to put my worries away for a while. Eating lunch under pressure didn’t combine very well.
Tesha shouted, “Hey Nwier!” and sat herself in the chair next to mine.
Thousands of possible deaths I could suffer by her flashed through my mind before I laid eyes on her. The rest of the world behind her went on as usual, crowding the circular tables in the spacious room.
“Thank me,” Tesha ordered, smirking with her chin up, in a joking manner.
“What? What am I supposed to thank you for?” I questioned, taken aback by her entrance.
“Thank me for protecting you, of course,” Tesha answered cheerfully, “I had to make an excuse for you and your pink uniform earlier. I can’t say I pushed all the suspicion away from you, but don’t worry. You won’t be assassinated any time soon.”
“Excuse me?”
I recalled how I ran away from the murderers Ronald and Gerald. Tesha decided to make an excuse for me, instead of killing me off to avoid being found out.
“That’s not how you thank me,” Tesha scolded, still acting playful. “That’s fine though, I just have one request.”
“A request?” I asked, “What do you want in return?”
“Your phone password,” she answered, no longer smiling. She looked me straight in the eye.
“What? Why?” Apparently her help came at a cost.
“I need to erase its data before the others can get past your phone’s defenses,” Tesha explained, “if I can’t reset it, then they will figure out who you are.”
Oh right. I used my phone to distract the murderers when my father called. Obviously they would take the phone to figure out who left it.
“But, if I give you my password,” I thought out loud, “couldn’t you expose me to your group?”
“You’re right,” Tesha agreed, “but if I really wanted you dead, I’d have done it already, don’t you think?”
…She had a point. In fact, she probably had two points, if you included the shiv name tag she carried in her uniform pocket.
“It’s ‘Password123,’” I admitted.
“It’s…it’s what?” Tesha frowned. “Are you sure your mom was a private investigator?”
“Oh, come on,” I groaned, “It’s perfectly fine when you’re not being chased by murderers.”
“Well, you are being chased, yeah?” Tesha reminded, “You better hope you weren’t found out.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Tesha stood up from the chair. She picked up her stuff and flashed me a smile.
“I’ll go save your life now, yeah?”
She left the cafeteria, leaving me alone with my food. Oddly, I found myself able to eat again. I got comforted by a murderer. I didn’t know what to feel.
Taking a bite out of my food, I got interrupted again.
Harry Ballman, the kid I had to save, snuck up beside me. “I finally found you,” he whispered loudly.
“Harry?” I immediately bolted up and scanned our surroundings. None of the murderers were around. “What are you doing?” I asked, “You almost died here yesterday!”
“I know, but I had to make sure you were okay,” he explained, “Aren’t you in the same boat as me?”
“It’s different,” I argued, “I’m not being targeted. You are.”
“Well, we’re both involved with these murderers,” Harry asserted, “I hate to admit it, but I don’t know what to do when I’m being targeted like this…”
I looked at him. Harry, who used to go around being friendly with so many people now sat trying to hide himself from the rest of the school. He kept his eyes cast down, and at the same time, had to keep on the lookout for murderers who could be anywhere.
I took a piece of paper and wrote down my address. “Go here,” I told him, “Explain to my father what happened, and he would understand. Tell him I’m safe too. I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”
Harry nodded and weaved through the crowds of the cafeteria. I knew my father was worried, but Harry would be able to tell him I’m safe. After he left, my lunch ended without interruption, and so did the rest of my day before school ended.
----------------------------------------
When school let out, I came to a third stop. Just before reaching the gate to enter the school, I caught sight of Hazel. Once she saw me, she perked up and waved. I greeted her.
“Hey, Hazel, did you need anything?” I asked.
“Ah, I just, I thought I should see you after school,” Hazel fumbled with her words.
“Really? Why?” I questioned.
“Well…our last conversation kind of got cut short,” Hazel explained, “I wondered, if maybe, we could spend some other time together?”
I remembered how I ran away from Hazel in the morning. Then, I recalled jumping out the bus window. That’s twice, when I ran away from her. Maybe I owed her some of my time.
“Okay, sure,” I agreed, “you want to hang out right now?”
“R-right now?” Hazel’s body jerked up, as if hit while not on guard.
“Oh, are you not free now?” I replied, “It’s okay if you can’t, but I know a nice cafe around here. We can go there together some time.”
“Like a, um,” Hazel acted flustered, “a date?”
“A-a date?” My thoughts ran wild. “No, no, I don’t think they sell dates there.” I tried to joke my way out of my nervous ideas.
“Not those kinds of dates!” Hazel exclaimed, “I mean, like, you know…”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I admitted.
“So, then…” Hazel reinstated the question, “Is it?”
I couldn’t give her a straight answer. How could I go on a date when I still needed to solve the case of the murders?
Catching on to my inability to speak, Hazel decided, “...We can just figure it out there. Um…how about we go on the weekend? Where’s the cafe?”
I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing I didn’t need to answer her question. “The cafe is called the Hangman Cafe. We can meet up at the Taireah Public Park, at noon.”
“That’s a pretty ominous name,” Hazel commented, “I’ll meet you at the park then!”
Hazel waved and quickly opened the gate to leave the school. I remembered how I ran away from her again. She might have been just as afraid to talk to me as I was with her.
“She’s kind of cute,” I muttered. Immediately after, my ears turned red.
I had to go home though. My father and Harry Ballman have some serious business with the murderers.