Chapter 1: Rain

" Early today the sky will be cloudy with light showers in the North-east. Later in the evening there will be possible thunders because of the heat and humidity in the past few days. In the Southern areas the temperature will be cooler with approximately 22°C and a clear and sunny sky. The air in the bigger cities will be dry. In the whole Southern half of the country there will be thundery showers that continue throughout the next three days, when the temperature will drop again."

Arthur turned off the TV. He had heard everything he wanted to know. For the next few days he would walk with an umbrella to school. But this didn't annoy him too much. He liked rain and storms. He had always thought that it was mysterious in a way he couldn't explain. Maybe it was the atmosphere or how the people behaved when everything was dark and gloomy. He liked it. He also liked the freshness that lingered in the air after a heavy rainfall. But there was something far more important. He wouldn't have to endure P.E. outdoor activities. Which always happened to be football or other team sports. Arthur's umbrella was a simple black and a little more than two years old. He felt like he could become invisible between all the other people with their colourful umbrellas that more often than not had silly designs of cartoons and animals. Everything to make the mood more lively.

Arthur's worn-out shoes had more than two holes in them. After he had walked through his mother's little garden ( her pride and joy) towards the wooden fence that had been painted white four years ago, his socks were already soaking wet. With every step they made weird noises. The ground was muddy and little pieces of grass stuck to his shoes. When he had finally reached the pavement, his previously white shoes were brown.

" Bloody hell." He murmured. Grey clouds made everything look rather dark, even at seven thirty in the morning. It was raining. Arthur opened his umbrella which wasn't so easy anymore after two years of constant use.

He walked along the pavement and listened to the raindrops that fell on his umbrella and made a relaxing sound.

The way to school wasn't too far. Arthur crossed a street and passed by a tiny flower shop. He knew the owner of the shop. A tiny 50 year old woman with bright red hair who was friends with Arthur's mother. The shop was closed today. He didn't want to set foot in there ever again after a disastrous birthday a few months ago when he bought some flowers for his aunt, only to realise that she was allergic to the exact same flowers. She was okay eventually but Arthur had always thought that she didn't like him. Even before. He was almost at school now, when he heard a loud thunder and lightning lit up the sky. He hurriedly walked into the old school building. In the hallways, next to the doors, there were coat hooks on the walls. The blond took off his jacket and hung it on one of the hooks, his umbrella next to it. It would be pointless to let it dry because it would get wet again anyway.

He stepped into the classroom where he had maths and sat in his usual seat next to the window. Everyone was already there, except for the teacher. Arthur's classmates spoke to each other as always. But the noise of rain and thunder blended in with their voices. The bell rang. Five minutes later, when another lightning lit up the sky, the door opened and the teacher stepped into the room. Mrs. Smith had an expression on her face that Arthur knew from himself. He almost instantly saw the conflict in her brown eyes. Her hands were trembling. She prepared herself for something she didn't want to do, but had no other choice.

" There is something I am obliged to tell you." She started to say. Her eyes were fixated on the floor before her feet. Arthur could see his classmates lean forward on their seats so they could hear better." The police has been called after Mr. Moore, our Janitor, has found a corpse at the entrance to the cafeteria when he went to unlock the doors." The people started to whisper and murmur with each other. They couldn't believe what they had just heard. It couldn't be. Arthur's fingers cramped around the edges of his table. He knew it. But why so fast? He had told him it would at least take him one week. Arthur was relieved. Of course he was. But he had lied to him. That made him angry.

"Do they know who it is?" Antonio asked the teacher. Mrs. Smith looked like she was prepared for the question, but had hoped not to be asked about it. She sighed. Suddenly there was a loud thunder and one of the girls flinched.

"You know the person. It is Sadik Adnan, one of the seniors." She said. Every single one of Arthur's classmates looked horrified. Sadik had been popular, always relaxed and the best friend and archrival of Heracles Karpusi who was also a senior. Arthur himself hadn't really known Sadik, and generally he was an introvert who liked to be alone. The only two people in the world who could be considered his friends, even it it would be somewhat exaggerated, were Francis Bonnefoy and Alfred F. Jones. Which didn't mean that he liked them. Both of them were unbearable most of the time.

One was arrogant and narcissistic, the other was childish and had an obsession with superheroes. Arthur tried his hardest to keep them away from him. But no matter how often he spent recess hiding on the rooftop of the school building or behind the cafeteria or the gymnasium, it was as if he had some kind of antenna on top of his head because they always found him.

But still, they were nice to him. He knew, he couldn't ask for more. Today, there would be no classes. Instead they were to speak with the two police officers who had come to their school. One after the other, the students had to go to the principals office where they would have to answer some questions before they were allowed to go home. The seniors were first. Maybe the police deemed it likely that it was an older student if it was one of the students at all. Or maybe it was because Sadik had been a senior himself. It would take a while until it was time for the junior year students to be questioned. Quietly he sat there and stared out the window that overlooked the whole school yard. He tried not to listen to his classmates murmuring, but there and again he heard names being whispered. It was quite amusing, to hear how they all accused each other of murdering the senior student.

But still, it was a pity that they destroyed the mood that had been created by the gloomy weather outside. Meanwhile the seemingly endless rain had formed a few tiny puddles along the school yard. The lawn a bit further from the building was soaked and muddy. Dozens of leafs that had lost their bright colours weeks ago stuck to the concrete that provided a steady ground and a long sidewalk around the building that led to the parking lot for cars and buses.

An annoying voice pushed its way into Arthur's consciousness and he wasn't able to ignore it.

" Maybe it was Toris. Or Kiku. It's always the quiet ones." Arthur heard them whisper. They laughed. It was too loud.

The bell rang, but nobody noticed. The students had to stay in their classrooms. Some of them used the time to do their homework or to learn. Some even read books they had brought with them to school. Their cell phones were taken from them for the time being. The teachers tried to stop their students from spreading the information on facebook or other social networks. It would happen eventually, but the police wanted to investigate as much as possible before. Toris slumped into his chair. He had heard them. Kiku wasn't in Arthur's maths class. The blond took a book out of his backpack and began to read. It was old and he had read it four times already, but it didn't become boring. He had brought it with him everyday for the past few days, so he had something to do in recess. His teacher excused herself for a short while.

" I like totally think it was Natalya. You know her, she's crazy." Feliks said, probably to distract the others from Toris. Feliks and Toris were best friends, as far as he knew. Arthur shook his head. It is weird, he thought, how fast they can make a game out of a tragedy. At first they had all seemed shocked and sad, but now they looked like they found it amusing, as if it wasn't real, like a Theatrical play. And he thought how easy it is, to distance yourself so much from your reality. He also thought about Francis and Alfred. Francis was a senior. He must have spoken to the police already and be home right now. Lucky bastard. Alfred was in junior year, like Arthur, but he had English in first block.

" It's our turn soon." Mrs. Smith said after she came back with a cup of coffee. " Prepare yourselves. Try to remember all the details. When you have last seen Sadik, if he was alone, who could have had a motive and all that. After the questioning is over, come back again so that I can cross out your names from my list. Those of you who do not live far away, can go back home. The rest can call their parents, take the bus or their own car. As always." She obviously tried to stay strong for her students but Arthur felt sorry for her. Not only her hands were trembling but also her voice. A teacher from another class stuck his head into the room.

" It's your turn." He said, nodded his head to Mrs. Smith and left again.

She sat at her desk and looked at a sheet of paper she held in her hand. She cleared her throat.

" Ludwig Beilschmidt." Said person stood up from his seat and left the room. It was very quiet now. Maybe Arthur's classmates had finally understood how serious the situation really was. Elizabeta who sat behind Arthur, quietly muttered.

" I wonder if Heracles is okay." If someone other then him had heard her, nobody said anything. They waited. After exactly seven minutes, Ludwig came back. He went to his seat, took his backpack and proceeded to leave again.

" Wait, Ludwig. Is Gilbert still here? Did he wait for you? He could drive you back home" The teacher asked him. Ludwig nodded his head and left. She crossed out his name on her list.

" The next person is Lukas Bondevik." Lukas left his seat with an annoyed expression on his face, but you could never be sure about him. He came back after ten minutes. One student after the other left and came back only to leave again, and soon the classroom was half empty. Arthur had to wait a while until it was his turn but he was glad that his surname didn't begin with a Z. The Zwingli siblings would not be pleased. He wanted to go home so bad, he couldn't wait anymore. When his name was called, he almost jumped up from his seat.

He stood at the door to the principals office and knocked two times.

" Come in." He heard a voice that sounded a little tired. He went into the office and sat on a chair that stood opposite to the desk of the principal, where two policemen had taken seat.

" So." The same policeman who had called him into the room, began to speak. " What can you tell us about the murder of Sadik Adnan?"

I have already published a few stories on other sites, but not a single one in English. Still, I wanted to try, so if you find any mistakes

feel free to correct me. It's not my native language, soooo... Yeah, other than that I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :)