Two

I felt all of the air rush out of my lungs, like I had just been hit in the stomach. This couldn't be. It felt like some sick joke was being played on me. I looked down again, and felt a wave of lightheadedness and nausea sweep over me. This was no joke. For a minute I just stood there, stupidly. The next minute I tore out of there. Two girls standing near the closet stared at me as I dashed past. I ran until I saw what I was looking for. A boy, texting on his cell phone. Without even pausing to explain myself I tackle him, grab his phone, and in no time flat, I've dialed an ambulance.

"What the hell?" The boy yells, but I'm not listening.

"This is 911," the lady on the other end is saying.

"I need help! An ambulance! Quick! Oh God, please hurry! You need to hurry! Oh my God! Oh my God! Hurry, I-I think he was stabbed!"

All the while the lady is saying "Okay calm down. An ambulance is on the way. Calm down." And when I say the part about him being stabbed, she asks me. "Can you tell me who stabbed him?"

Now really, I didn't care. Maybe I should have, but I didn't. The only important thing was that Jeremie get to the hospital as soon as possible, even though I was sure that it was too late. Thinking about that made me feel sick, so I just kept gibbering "I don't know, just hurry! Please!"

Now while this is happening the guy I took the phone from is staring at me. Finally what I'm saying sinks in, and he starts asking me, "Dude, what are you talking about? Who was stabbed? Are you seriously calling an ambulance?"

At this point I hear sirens, but I'm still gibbering into the phone, "Hurry!"

Then the lady says, "An ambulance should be there, but you have to show them where. Can you do that?"

I nod, then click the phone shut and run over to where the ambulance sirens are coming from. I try to think stupid things, like "Boy was that stupid, nodding over a phone, she must have thought I had hung up on her" and "I wonder why there is more than one ambulance here," because I can hear more sirens filling the air. I was trying to keep my mind off of what was actually happening, when I ran outside and saw all these emergency vehicles out there. I was kinda surprised. I knew why the ambulance was there, but what was with all those police cars? Anyhow, I tear over to the ambulance, where the driver is talking to our vice-principal, Mr. Caan.

"Over here!" I call. They all look at me, so I call, "I know where he is!" Well, I guess they weren't having very much luck figuring out what they were doing here with Mr. Caan, because the instant they here that I might have some info, three guys with a stretcher come over to me. So I call "Follow me!" and barrel out of there. Soon we're back at the closet, and the two girls who were staring at me earlier are still there, gabbing. I point at the closet, so two of the men go over and open, while the third shoes the girls away. I sit down against the wall a few feet away, with my eyes shut, but I can still hear the ambulance guys working. Can still hear the students all gather around, whispering and talking. Can still hear the men hurry off with Jeremie.

So I focus on breathing. In. Out. In. Out. I keep my eyes closed for a little while longer, before I open them. When I look around, I notice that there still students gathered around. I see that the closet door is closed, and has been taped off. A policeman I have never seen before is standing in front, waving the kids away.

I stand up and begin running. To where, I don't care. I just wanted out of there.

But when I got outside I saw that police were surrounding the area. At first this made no sense to me, but then I realized. Someone had been stabbed. This was a crime.

"Sammy!" Someone was calling. "Sammy! There you are."

I looked up to see Marissa running toward me.

"Sammy, what happened? Was that Jeremie? Where's Sorci? Are-are you alright?"

No, I wasn't. I was freaked. Freaked, sick, and terrified. I just look at Marissa with my mouth slightly open, tears streaming down my face.

"I don't-I-I…" My voice trails off.

"Sammy, it's okay, it's okay," she tells me, even though it's obvious that it's not. "Don't worry."

"Excuse me, are you Samantha Keyes?" Came a voice from behind me. I turn to see a policeman walking toward me. I nod.

"You're wanted down at the station," he said.

"For what?" Marissa asks.

He looks at her. "Are you somehow connected to this girl?"

Now, the way he says 'this girl' is really incriminating, but I was too freaked to think anything of it. Marissa, however, did think. "Just a friend."

"A close friend?"

Marissa shakes her head. The police nods, "Then I'll just take her. Thank you." He motions at me, and I walk toward him.

Soon he's walked me to his car, and I'm strapped in back. As he starts driving my brain finally starts working. A little.

I start to think. Jeremie, little Jeremie, was dead. Okay, the impossibility of that was too incomprehensible, so I set that aside for now, trying to focus. Someone had stabbed him. Okay, that wasn't so hard; the only person who had gone in the closet was Sorci. So… Sorci stabbed Jeremie? Too incomprehensible. I was being taken to the police station. Probably to be questioned.

But… If I was going to be questioned, then I wouldn't be in the back seat like a criminal. So why…

Then it hits me. No, Sorci had not been the only person in the closet. She went in, ran out, and then who went in later?

Me.

I felt sick all over again. Someone I knew was dead, his best friend (and one of mine) had killed him, and I was a top suspect.

"Um, excuse me?" I call up to the police driving.

He ignores me, so I sit and ponder. I couldn't have done it; I was the one who had called the police. But, they could reason that I had gotten cold feet and backed out. I thought about this, trying to find a way that I could prove myself innocent. And what about Sorci? Had they brought her to the station? Did they even know where she was? I hadn't thought to look for her after I'd found… him. Then I realize that they hadn't given me the right to remain silent and all of that. So… maybe they hadn't come to that conclusion? Or, maybe this cop just wasn't very good. We did live in Santa Martina after all.

Soon we were pulling into the station. The police came around and opened the door.

"Alright," he says. "Step out. Keep your hands where I can see them."

I step out, shaking.

"Come with me."

I follow him through the station, into a room where there were cells lining one wall. He opens one door and pushes me in.

"Wait! You can't just lock me in here."

He turns to me. "Until we find out who committed the crime, you're gonna have to stay in here."

My mind is reeling. "But-but-but I'm not the only suspect, am I?"

He looks at me, as if calculating whether to answer or not. Then he says, "Who else should be a suspect?"

I take a deep breath. Normally I'm the last person who would point a finger at anyone who was breaking the law. Especially if it's a friend. But, this was different. A completely different story.

I nod. "Sorcianna Ziegless. She is-was a friend of mine. She went in the closet before me." I could've stopped there, but I didn't want to appear as if I was hiding anything. "She had been angry at him. He had- he had…" I paused. "He had found out where she lived. She had tried to keep it a secret, but he somehow found out." The policeman looked at me for a minute. "That may be, but until we're sure you're going to stay in here."

He closed the cell door and locked it behind him.

I just stayed quiet, trying to sort out my scattered thoughts.