Chapter 12 – The Search Party – Holly Hayfield

The day went well after Sam protected me. It was going too well, in fact. The way Black Brittney’s girls proactively avoided bumping into me in the hallway was astounding. Seeing three of her cultists go out of their way to sidestep me was miraculous. I watched them walk by as if they were walking on water.

With Val, Angelica, and Sam looking out for me they were beginning to treat me differently. How long would this immunity last? Truthfully it’d probably only last until Candace returned to school. I heard that she took the day off due to ‘falling’ into something. The rumors were saying that she went to the hospital to get stitches. Angelica really did a number on her.

The suspicious peacefulness didn’t end there either. Val was nowhere in sight. I had this nagging fear that she’d suddenly pop out and send me into shock. Yet I hadn’t seen her all day. Val and I didn’t share any classes together.

The way we met on the first day of school was due to her dropping off some stuff during my math class. We talked after that class ended and seemingly hit it off. This was before I learned she was a sadist. I was unwittingly making myself her new target. If I had a time machine this one conversation with Val would be the first thing I’d change at this school.

When I didn’t find Val I made the dangerous decision to search for her. There was this old saying about how those who went searching for trouble would find it. My fear was the possibility that Val would interrupt our search for the Killing Cat. My goal would be to try talking to her about my plan to recruit Lilith. If I could justify things then maybe she’d keep her distance while we searched. For that reason I went down to the main office as soon as school ended. Val’s last period was as a student office assistant. If she hadn’t left yet then she’d likely be there.

Val wasn’t inside the main office. Instead, there was another student office assistant putting away papers on the reception desk. She noticed me walk in, but hardly paid me any more attention beyond that. She continued working as if I wasn’t there. My assumption wasn’t that she was being rude, just that she was busy.

“Excuse me, is Val in?” I asked.

“Who’s asking?” She asked.

“I guess you could say I’m an associate of Val’s. My name’s Holly Hayfield. We were working on something together and I…”

The girl dropped the box of papers she had in her hand, letting them all scatter to the floor. She turned her head towards me, her eyes widened as she did so.

“Holly Hayfield! You’re Holly Hayfield?!”

“Yes I am. I’m sorry, have we met…?”

The girl stepped over the box and marched up to me until she was uncomfortably close. She lowered herself until her eyes could glare a straight line into mine.

“Val’s talked so much about you! I thought you’d be taller. What a disappointment.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint… About Val, I…”

“Save it! I don’t want to hear anything you have to say about her. I’ve been gunning for Val over a year now! What the hell gives you the right to swoop in and just…”

“You misunderstand! I’m not like that with Val!”

“Oh? That’s not what Val says. She said the two of you are really close.”

“Val’s a psychopath! She’s the one who kissed me! I didn’t even want…”

“You kissed her?!” She yelled.

A teacher opened the office room door and poked her head out.

“Jay, quiet down. I’m on the phone.”

Jay stood up straight and turned about face to the teacher.

“I’m sorry ma’am! It won’t happen again!”

Her tone was a complete flip-flop from the way she talked to me. This girl could sound nice when she wanted to. She just had no use for that kindness with me apparently. The teacher nodded at her and shut the door. Then she turned back to me, still enraged. She grabbed me by my collar and pushed me until my back reached the wall behind us.

“Holly! You’d better give up on Val if you know what’s good for you. Tell Val that you can’t date anyone right now. Tell her you’re not interested.”

I laughed hard because this situation was ridiculous. Jay seemed to take this as an affront. I lightly pulled her hands away before explaining myself. She was boiling with so much anger that I was afraid she might choke me instead. This girl was jumping the gun.

“Listen, please. My relationship with Val isn’t romantic, trust me. That’s the last thing I want.”

“You’re saying that Val’s confused?”

“Val is a lot of things. I only came to see if she needed to talk to me about something before I left. I don’t have her phone number.”

Jay let out a sigh of relief at the fact that I didn’t have her phone number. That seemed to reassure her more than anything else I said. She shrugged and turned away to go pick up the box she dropped.

“Val didn’t come in today,” Jay said as she put the papers back into the box, “She’s at home working on her damned student council nonsense.”

That was good to hear. That meant she wasn’t around to intrude on the search. I went over to help Jay with the papers that fell out of the box.

“Let me help you out Jay.”

“Don’t call me that name!” She snapped, “Only my friends can call me Jay. You can call me Janet. My name’s Janet Caleb.”

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“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Honestly…” Jay huffed.

She stared me down as I helped her clean up. When I stood up with the papers in hand I noticed her looking at me. She wasn’t just casually watching me. She was truly studying me like I was an art piece. She put her fingers on her chin like there was something on her mind. She finally stood up and sighed. She couldn’t even return to working properly with me still standing there.

“Ugh, this is the type of girl Val likes?” She asked while biting her thumb nail.

She wasn’t asking me. She was asking herself.

“Would you like help cleaning the rest of this before I go?” I asked.

“No, but there’s something else you can do for me.”

“What is it?”

“Tell me what Val sees in a girl like you. Does she really dig the whole cutesy girl-next-door vibe you have going on?”

“I wouldn’t know about that. Val usually isn’t kind to me.”

“She’s kind enough to kiss you apparently.”

“That surprised me too.”

“Ugh,” Jay groaned.

The teacher that was on the phone in the office stuck her head out of the door again. She waved an empty coffee cup at Jay.

“Jay could you be a dear and get me a refill from the teacher’s lounge? Thanks.” She said.

“Sure…” Jay said as she went over for the cup.

She took the cup and headed for the hallway. She stopped at the door to wait for the teacher leave again. When the office room door was closed all the way Jay looked back at me.

“You’d better be gone by the time I get back, or else.” She said.

Before I could respond she was already storming off. If only I could make friends as easily as I made enemies then I’d have no problems at school. That girl was something else. From the way she carried herself she seemed like an otherwise normal girl. Our conversation was pretty one-sided. I felt I didn’t get a chance to prove my side of things.

Only senior students who made good grades the year before could apply as an office or library assistant. They needed to have good grades and good attendance to boot. Why would she waste her time pursuing Val? I didn’t have time to stand around there contemplating it. The teacher’s lounge was close by and I didn’t want to stick around long enough to realize her threat.

Jay passed me as I was on my way to the library. I gave the most awkward casual wave of my life as she passed by. She breezed on by without as much as a glance in my direction to acknowledge my existence. Ouch. Was she aware of Val’s evil side? Maybe she wasn’t. Maybe Val didn’t let her real friends in on that side of her. Or maybe Jay knew about it and was some sort of masochist? That, somehow, sounded more realistic given the eccentric students of this school.

The view of Lilith sitting at the library check-out desk was an astonishingly relieving sight. My only concern would be her mood. Would she be cooperative or would I have to drag her along? Still, I much preferred Lilith to Jay. Lilith’s gaze shot up towards me when she noticed me come in.

She jumped out of her chair and flew over to greet me. This was an unexpected reaction. I looked around for the book-cart but it was nowhere to be seen. The number of books she had left to put away would dictate when we could start our search. It was best that we got that out of the way.

“You’re late! Where have you been?” Lilith said.

“I got held up in the main office. I had a weird confrontation with the office assistant there. Never mind that though. Where’s the book-cart? We ought to get started as soon as possible.”

“I’ve already finished putting them away.”

“You what…?”

Lilith looked off to the side and fiddled with her headphones.

“There weren’t many books today. It’s no big deal.” She said meekly.

I grinned.

“There’s no need to be shy. You’re excited aren’t you?”

Lilith rolled her eyes. She turned around to head back to the check-out desk.

“Whatever, I just wanted to get my work done. Let’s get this pointless thing over with.”

Lilith’s words and tone didn’t match. What she was saying was cold but she sounded upbeat and vibrant. I smiled at her.

“I’m excited too. Hopefully we turn up something interesting about the school legend.”

“I doubt it’ll be that easy. Still, I’ve got a place in mind that we can start out.”

“Before that, there’s something else I want to talk to you about.”

“What is it?”

The library doors flew open as someone walked in. Naomi waltzed in with sunglasses on and a flashlight in hand. She had a malicious grin and adventurous look on her face. She waved at me idiotically as if I were blind. The moment she reached me she slammed into me with a hug and wrapped her arms around me. She hit me so hard that we nearly both fell over. Lilith looked at her, aghast, and then looked back at me.

“I can explain.” I said.

“Aloha baby! Are you ready for our date together, future girlfriend?” Naomi said.

“What’s this sexual harasser doing here?” Lilith asked.

“About that, that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Naomi lit up at the sight of Lilith.

“Oh? Lil’ doll is coming too? You didn’t tell me that! This is great! This will be the best date I’ve had in a while, one girl for each arm!”

“You two are familiar with each other?” I asked.

Lilith grimaced.

“I’m too familiar with this pervert. She tries something shameful every time she comes into the library.”

Naomi laughed.

“You still haven’t forgiven me for that time I fell into you? It’s like I told you before. That was an accident, purely an act of god.”

Lilith scoffed.

“Fell into me…? You dived at me like a football player. I’m glad you ended up hitting your head on the edge of a bookshelf. Hopefully you’ve learned your lesson.”

Naomi tapped the top of her head.

“I’ve still got the bump to prove it! I promise I’ll be on my absolute best behavior this time. Let’s have a good time today.”

Lilith glared at me.

“You set me up, didn’t you?” She asked.

“This was a last minute change. Speaking of which, I also invited…”

The library door flew open once more before I could finish my sentence. The three of us turned to see who it was. It was Sam. Lilith and Naomi were equally wide-eyed at the new student walking through the door. From their expressions I assumed they had heard the rumors but had yet to see her. Naomi let go of me to approach Sam.

Naomi had a look on her face that was like love at first sight. Lilith on the other hand was purely curious. She was smart enough to grasp the mysteriousness of this transfer-student’s arrival without being told. Her confused look at me seemed to confirm this. She pulled me by the hem of my uniform to get me to come closer.

“That’s the transfer-student, right? How did she manage to enroll here?” She whispered.

“That’s a question that has yet to be answered.” I whispered back.

“Holly!” Sam said as she approached.

Naomi blocked her path. Sam stopped abruptly. She picked up Naomi and proceeded to place her to the side as if she were merely a holiday decoration. Then she closed the distance between us.

“Holly, sorry I’m late. This place was harder to find than I thought it’d be, even with the directions you gave me earlier.”

Naomi inserted herself between us and brushed her hair with her hand.

“Hi. You must be the transfer-girl everyone is talking about.”

“You are…?”

Naomi raised her sunglasses to her forehead and put one hand out to Sam. Sam took it unsurely.

“My name’s Naomi Su. I’m Holly’s girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend…?” Sam asked and looked at me.

“Yeah ignore that. I’ll explain her weirdness later.” I said.

Lilith poked out from behind me like a child hiding behind their mother.

“How did you manage to enroll here? The enrollment office is closed.” Lilith asked.

Lilith was more direct than I ever could be. I wanted to hear this as well. Sam scratched her head and looked away.

“It’s a long story. Speaking of long stories, you promised to tell me more about this cat we’re looking for.” Sam said.

Lilith was the one to step forward. She pulled a piece of paper from out of her skirt pocket and began unfolding it. It was a map.

“I’ll tell you along the way. Right now we need to talk about where we’re going to search.” Lilith said.

We all gathered around Lilith’s map to get a better look. Naomi pointed out the Old Science Wing on the map.

“There’s my base! We should go there! I want to show the transfer-girl my hang out! Plus, my girlfriends and I find cats there all the time.”

“Not there,” I said, “We’re trying to discover the undiscovered, remember? We need to find a place that isn’t regularly visited by any students. If the legend is true it’ll be hidden from plain sight.”

“Is there somewhere like that in this school?” Sam asked.

“There is,” Lilith said, “Right here.”

She pointed out a place on the map that had been crossed out with a red marker. Sam put her finger on the crossed out text and read aloud.

“The Discipline Hall.”