Writers Note: My initial intention for this story was to make it sound like a show. Hence the weekly updates. Thank you guys so much and the slow reviews do make my day - while there's some that want Joshaya, some of you guys take your time to look passed your ships and look into the plot of the story. Thank you guys so much for reading.
...
Sophomore Year
The thing with coming to school in a small town even after someone was murdered was as if walking into a place where rumors circulate everything. Matías heard the same rumors every minute of the day, he saw the same people pretend to care for Nina even though they hated her. He rolled his eyes at some and while he passed Nina's locker, he could see that it was decorated with flowers, cards and candles. When he made a left and stopped at his locker, he noticed that the school really was different without her.
As he pulled out his books, he noticed that to the left of the hall was a sign that encouraged teens to speak out and get help if they needed any. Next to that one was a poster that told students 'don't forget to smile'. He found it almost embarrassing to walk passed it.
These signs wouldn't do any good. He knew it and the people who made them knew it too.
He looked to his right and saw Anthony. He was standing just a few feet from him, staring in his direction. He gestured for him meet him at a nearby room and he did so.
"I talked to them," he informed while they talked in an empty lounge. "We know what we're gonna say."
"That's not important...for now," Matías brought up. "The autopsy results came in."
He gulped as soon as the words escaped his mouth, "What were the results?"
"Nina tried to defend herself..."
He felt a rush of energy pass through him and struck his heart. "That bad, huh?"
Matías nodded, "The DNA on her finger nails were inconclusive... Anthony, she had evidence of blood force injury to the head. She was hit eight times."
"Was that how she died?" he asked and watched as Matías nodded.
"And even after she was dead her killers tried to make it look like a suicide," there was a short silence between the two. Nina was murdered in such a brutal way. "The strangulation marks on her neck were placed after she was unconscious; that's when they hung her."
"Holy shit," he leaned on the couch and dropped his head. "I should've gone after her when she ran away."
"There's no time for self pity. You're going to need to get rid of that phone. Don't break it, don't hide it or do anything that will further complicate anything. Please." he said. "And do it tonight if possible."
"Why tonight?"
A group of students passed them and he waited for them to leave, "The more time you waste the closer you let my brother get to you."
He sighed and turned back to look at him. "I'll do it."
–
Ever since she was thrown that balloon, Riley had been looking both ways before she took a turn. She had never been so aware of anything until today. She was expecting something to happen and while nothing did, she wasn't ready to let her guard down. When Geb brought her home, she took a shower and washed everything off and after she came out she was greeted with warm soup that he had made. She smiled at him and gladly accepted it.
Now, they were back to ignoring each other as planned. While they talked at her house, Geb finally told her he agreed with her idea. He wouldn't like for people to treat her that way, but it would be worse if they knew they were dating.
So, now since they were at school they are strangers.
They don't talk to each other in the halls or even look at each other.
"Are you okay?" Maya asked Riley as soon as she found her.
She turned around to face the blonde and gave her a hug, "I'm fine. I feel better."
"Those assholes," she said and tightened her grip on her again, "Trust me they don't know who they just pissed off."
Riley finally felt like laughing. "This is why you're my best friend."
As soon as they broke the hug, she looked at Maya. Something told her she still hadn't talked to Josh. Riley feared that they drifted apart and she didn't like that. Maya was so happy with him and now her happiness was fading away. "Has he said anything?"
She understood what she was saying almost immediately. "No."
"You should be the one to talk to him."
"I can't."
"Why not?" Riley was truly confused. Why couldn't Maya just confront him and sort out the issue, the elephant in the room that is Missy?
She sighed and pulled back a strand of hair, "Because if I do, if we talk, I feel like we're going to break break up."
...
Junior Year
"You're gonna get it," Geb playfully warned Aaron as they wrestled in his living room.
The good thing about having a dad that worked up until seven and having a little brother that was being babysat and was thirty minutes away was that he could go home at any time he wanted during school hours. He stood in front of Aaron and held out his arms ready to use them to bring him down. Aaron did the same thing and jerked his head in directions, pretending as if he were dodging imaginary punches. They both stopped for just a second and in that second he pretended to charge at him which made Geb flinch.
"Ahhh, I got you."
Seth was concentrated on his game but soon lost focused when he saw that Maya had texted him. "Hey, watch out for the cord," he warned when he realized Aaron almost came close to stepping on it. "Dipshit."
Maya: You should be at school.
How did you know I wasn't?
Maya: I have my ways.
He smiled as he stared at his screen. Are you stalking me?
Maya: Don't be ridiculous.
Aaron wrapped his hand around Geb's foot and picked him up.
"Hey, put me down," Geb said. "I got it. You won, you won."
Relax. We just skipped math. We'll be back before next period.
Geb's feet reached the ground just a couple of seconds later.
"You fucker," he cursed. "Don't pick me up next time."
That only made Aaron laugh even more. He continued to eat off the plate he had on the dinner table before Geb started messing with him and slapping the back of his head. "Next time don't mess with me when I'm hungry."
"We should be getting back," Seth informed. "The periods about to end."
"Yeah, yeah," Geb said. He had lost full interest in school ever since Riley and Lucas started being close. He would see them everywhere.
They picked up their things and left. Aaron left shortly after with the food he was eating before.
–
Riley waited for Lucas in their usual spot. The bench just outside the main building had been their meeting place for quite some time. They would meet there and walk to the classes they had together.
She sat on the bench with her phone in her hand and when she realized he was taking long she chose to walk without him. Although the walk wasn't long it felt lonely. She wasn't used to that.
As she entered the classroom, she realized that Lucas was already there. He was seated on his seat.
"You didn't wait for me," she told him, slightly confused about why she wouldn't.
He didn't look at her, instead, he looked at his hands.
"Lucas."
He remained still.
"Are you okay?"
"Ms. Matthews, take a seat," the teacher said to her. Riley obliged and when she sat down she stared at him, his eyes faced the front of the class now.
Something was wrong and she couldn't help but think she did something to get him angry.
After the class ended, Lucas was the first to stand up and leave the room. She was barely on her feet when he did so.
She placed the materials she had out in her backpack, but in doing so she came up with an idea. She wanted to know why he was acting this way. Even if she was too blame for this, she wanted to know what she did wrong.
So she walked out of the room chasing after him. She knew what class he had next and she knew the way he took to get there.
Soon she was close to reaching him but she stopped walking when Geb approached her. He wanted to talk with her.
"Riley," he smiled.
"Hi," she took a step back because they were too close to her liking. "I'll see you around."
"Wait," he grabbed her bicep in order to stop her. "I was thinking maybe we could do something after school today."
She stayed silent for a couple seconds, but then she answered him before he could start thinking. "I can't. I have a lot of homework."
He nodded, "How about tomorrow?"
As if the situation couldn't get any more awkward between the two, somehow there was a sign that fate wanted the situation to end up hurting her. From the corner of her eyes, she spotted Matías walking in their direction.
Now, a brief history backstory: Matías and Geb didn't get along because of something that happened last year. It was the reason she and him broke up. If he saw them talking Riley would feel like she's betraying her friend.
Wanting to end their talk, Riley responded with a "We'll see" and continued to walk in the opposite direction from him, hoping she hadn't been caught.
...
Sophomore Year
Don't look at him, she told herself as she spotted him just a few feet in front of her. They were walking in the hallway going different directions and he was on her left side. Her eyes went to his for the fastest second possible only to see that his eyes were already on her's.
He wasn't following his promise.
When they passed each other, he didn't talk to her or stare in her direction. She was relieved.
But also a little disappointed.
Her gaze went forward and she stopped walking when she was about to bump into Ms. Jones - the guidance counselor.
"Riley," she said with amazement.
"Hi," she said to her with a little hint of confusion.
"I've been meaning to talk to you. Is tomorrow fine?" she asked as she closed her phone in her hands.
"Uh," she drawled the word. "Tomorrow...is fine. Yeah."
"Good. That's good. I'll see you then."
She continued to walk uncertain why Ms. Jones was wanting to talk to her. She had heard that she was pulling people in to talk to them about Nina, but Riley didn't know her that well at all. She dismissed it and followed on with her walk to her next class.
–
"Maya?" Josh said almost as surprised as she looked when she stared at him. "Hi."
She mentally cursed herself out. The main reason why she had been avoiding him was for the same reason she feared they would break up. For the longest time now, Maya has known that there must have been something that happened between him and Missy. It wasn't a coincidence that as soon as he started helping her out on the yearbook that the less he started talking to her.
She never had the courage to tell him because she never wanted them to break up.
And now they might.
"Josh," his named escaped her mouth as she took one step back from him, casually pretending to focus on the material in her hands.
"What are you doing?" his eyes observed her.
"Um...I don't understand," she was confused by the nature of his question. She didn't know what he was talking about.
He chuckled, "Let's go out tonight."
He wanted to go out on a date.
A date?
Had she heard right?
"Like a date?" she chose to question him and he nodded.
"Yes," he smiled because she was genuinely addled. I figured since we're dating we would do something as boyfriend and girlfriend," he informed her, a little confused about why she was unsure it was a date. "Do you have any plans?"
She shook her head no. Homework can always wait, right?
"Good. We'll do something after school."
"Okay."
As he continued to walk, Maya watched him pass her by.
"Oh, and one more thing," he waited for her to fully face him, "You look pretty."
She smiled at him. All the worries about breaking up had finally subsided. She walked and squealed a bit before she regained herself back to control.
They weren't breaking up.
–
When the last bell of the day rang, Anthony quickly stood up from his seat and sprinted out the school. Around this time Nina's parents would be leaving to work and if he wanted to sneak her wallet back into her room he had to do it now. He knew what could happen if he were to get caught, but only one thing concerned him. The stains Geb and Seth left in the day Nina was murdered have been cleared but his still remained.
As he slid her window open and stepped in, the familiar smell nearly brought his heart to ache. It smelled exactly like she did. He's only been in her room once and that was to comfort her, who knew the second time would be to save himself from her death?
The room was slightly dark so he walked towards her flashlight and turned it on. He brought out her wallet and searched for a place to put it. He knew he shouldn't leave it somewhere obvious because if he did her parents would know someone had gone into her room.
He searched all over the room before he finally found a place to leave it in: her drawer. He made his way towards it one step at a time, pausing to see if someone was approaching her room. He slowly slipped the wallet into a pair of her pants and before he could close it, an envelope sticking from out her pants caught his attention as well as an orange pharmaceutical bottle.
He pulled out the envelope and stood up.
At first, he thought there was money inside it but he was wrong. It was a letter. Anthony sat on her bed and opened up the letter before he read the first lines:
Dear,
Mom and Dad
I know that what I did was wrong, but i'm in a better place now. You guys are gonna feel sad and
alone and I am sorry for that but I just couldn't. I couldn't do it. Not with what was happening with
the family and with Geb. You're gonna feel like it was your fault for not knowing this was happening to me,
I know you guys will. But I did such a great job of hiding it I sometimes believed it.
He brought the letter out of his gaze because he couldn't read any more. He couldn't read her suicide letter. He set it down and stared blankly at her carpet. Nina was going to kill herself.
What if that was why her murder was staged like a suicide?
He stared at it again and this time he was certain. What he read was true. It didn't make sense thought. She would never do anything like that. But she said so herself, she was hiding it. He was also surprised to see that the letter was typed in a cursive font. He picked up the letter again but stopped when a voice from just outside the room brought him to his feet.
"Honey, have you seen my coat?" a woman said in a very soft voice.
"I can't say I haven't," a man responded. It was her dad.
He hid beside her bed and scoot himself under it just enough so that he wouldn't be seen. He bit his tongue as the door creaked open and in walked the woman. He figured it was her mom.
She sighed loud enough for him to hear. The way she stepped and the way she talked proved to him that she was sad and had recently been crying. "Honey, we left her light on again."
The door closed again and Anthony got out from under her bed, he couldn't help but feel for her.
He pulled out his phone and took pictures of the letter before he paid attention to the bottle. There wasn't any label or description on the medication she was taking which worried him. He slipped it into his pocket before he left her room.
Matías opened the door to his home and stepped in. When he went to close it he spotted his grandma and he smiled at her. Taking off his sweater, he walked over to her and greeted her with a kiss in the cheek. "How are you doing abuela?"
"Wonderful, mijo. How was school?"
He sighed, "School is school. Hard and stressful. Did you take your medication?"
"Yes. Tengo una coartada. You can even ask Acacia." He believed his grandma and decided not to question anybody about it.
He made his way to his little sister who was sitting in the piano beside the staircase. "What will you play for me?" he asked her.
She turned to him and smiled, "I don't know. Remember, I charge."
"Hmmm," he squinted his eyes. "I don't pay you anything but I'll wash the dishes. Today's your day remember?"
"You're right."
"Go ahead."
Her gaze went from him to the keys as she ran her fingers along the keys creating a cheerful tone. He never really understood how she was the only child that got the ability to play an instrument. When he was in the fifth grade he could barely play the recorder and when Adriel was in the seventh grade he couldn't even drag his hand through a guitar string without breaking it.
"Just keep playing," he advised as soon as the twelve second tune she played ended. "and one day I will be the brother of a famous pianist."
She smiled at him. "And remember...my piano recital to get into WildFire is next year."
He sighed, "How can I forget, you remind me everyday."
Matías stood up from the chair and told his grandma he was going to shower before he head up the stairs. Once he was up there, his phone vibrated and a text message from Anthony popped up.
Anthony: You won't believe what I just found.
All he could do was sigh when he read it. He was in no mood to worry about what the news could be about so he chose not to. He replied and said that Anthony could tell him tomorrow.
...
Junior Year
If it was one thing Maya could change about high school, it was the passing times. She hated that she had to rush to class on certain periods. She hated it even more when she showed to class with missing assignments. As she searched for her highlighter in the small pocket on her backpack, a white note slipped out. She was confused because she didn't remember seeing a note in there earlier.
As she flipped it over, she remembered it was the same note that fell out of her locker the first day of school. She knew this because of the very same numbers written on it.
7-14-44
But what were they for? What happened that day that was so important?
Maya had already done her digging. She visited the library for hours trying to gather as much information she could on this day but she ended up finding nothing. It sort of gave her the idea that the note could've been something that was part of a conspiracy. It took her a while to get the thought out of her head.
But she was still questioning why someone would place it in her locker if it had no use?
She grew frustrated and she swore she could rip it. But something stopped her. Something important.
"It's not a date," she muttered only loud enough for her to hear. "It's a pin."
Raising her hand as fast as she could, Maya asked if she could go to her locker. She was warned if she got out of her seat she would get a thirty-minute detention for not being prepared, but she didn't care. She got up anyways.
She ran towards the lockers while passing and nearly pushing people on the way. When she reached the hall where the locker was located, Maya slowed down and stopped running. She was out of breath but she didn't care.
She put the right pin in and placed her finger on the lever before she pushed it open with the side of her finger. She slowly opened it and when she saw that there was nothing, she grunted.
It was empty, but the more she looked at it the more she was convinced there was something hidden. Her hand touched every inch of the locker and when she reached the top, her fingers felt something. And then she heard it. She grabbed what felt like metal.
When her gaze went to it, she realized it wasn't just an object.
It was two keys.
–
"Lucas," Riley said and this time she didn't let him ignore her. Her hand tightened on his bicep and he was a little surprised at the little strength she had that seemed to get a hold of him. "Why are you ignoring me?"
She waited for an answer. "Today, Lucas!"
"I'm not..." his words trailed off, it seemed like he wanted to tell her something but then he stopped. "I'm not ignoring you, I just need to take a break."
"A break?" she questioned. She was frustrated with him because of this. "We were never in a relationship - "
"That's not what this is," he began and stepped a little closer to her. "I found out about something, Riley. I'm not ready to tell you."
There was a hint of sadness in his words. He was hurt by what he found out about. Seeming a little less resigned, Riley loosened her grip on his bicep and removed her hand. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I just...I want to be alone."
Here's the thing about friendships: You never know who the right ones are.
She really thought that she and Lucas were gonna be close, and when she watched him leave, something told her that was the end of what they had. And it hurt her.
She had so much faith in their friendship.
And it couldn't last.
Writers Note: Let me know what you guys think and don't forget to review. I'm really excited for you to read the new upcoming story I have that will come out this winter. I hope you enjoy it.
New story coming soon... ;)
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