I wasn't enjoying school so far, and by the text Luna sent me (even though she's not allowed to use her phone during school classes unless it's an emergency) saying "Bad news; my locker", she wasn't having fun, either. I met up with her at her locker right after I got out of my last class.
"What's up?" I asked. She gestured her hands at her locker. My shoulders dropped. What could be wrong with her locker? I looked inside, and there was the problem.
A note was taped inside the locker in the back. It had scribbled words on it, so it must be a letter. Who was it from? I wanted to ask Luna.
"Have you looked at it yet?" I asked her instead.
"No. I wanted you to read it." She scratched her head. "You know who it might be from?" I shook my head.
I read the note to myself, and showed Luna.
You better watch out. He's here. He's watching your every move. Don't make bad choices, or he'll come for you. He won't give up.
Tara Harris.
Dead girl's walking.
Oh gosh, I thought, Tara was here; here at this school. The note proves it. Why was she here? She wouldn't know anyone here beside me, Luna, and Brandon. I decided to ask her about the note_ including what its saying_ the next time I see her.
We told Brandon everything once we got the chance. We don't call each other when we're going to talk about Tara or something related to her in any way, because it's risky. Because we're being watched because of our accusation, we texted each other instead of calling; it's much safer.
Mr. Harris is really giving us a hard time. He keeps saying "killer" or "murder" every time one of us passes his house, and he so happens to be on the front porch or outside in the front lawn. He really IS crazy. Sure I'd be sad if someone I cared about or loved died or was killed, but I wouldn't go all berserk about it like he is.
2 days later, Luna had an encounter with Mr. Harris. She said he had on a sly face, as if he was thinking about doing something really bad to her. He looked like he was hiding something; like a knife behind his back getting ready to take a swing at her. But he only spoke to her with a stern and hateful tone. She wasn't scared, though. She only thought he was creepy; not scary.
Mrs. Harris, who's also a housewife, thinks he's going crazy, too. She told us he hasn't been acting like himself; I think she's on our side. She has been acting the opposite of what Mr. Harris has been acting like.
"Do you think it's because she's sorry for us?" Luna asked before.
"Yeah, I do. She doesn't think we're killers," I had answered.
"But… what if she's just pretending, and is going to get us one day?"
"Don't think that. It's not true."
Why would Luna think that? Mrs. Harris is nice. But, even so, she seems a bit… odd. She doesn't seem to care that much about Tara. Once, Luna brought up Tara somehow and how she felt so bad for her and Mrs. Harris just shrugged and said, "She shouldn't have lied." We asked what she meant by "lied", but she just changed the subject. Brandon thinks she has something to do with Tara's death, but that's absurd. Why would Mrs. Harris kill her daughter?
Brandon says he's going to try to find out if she is hiding something; something she's not telling us.
We kept telling him that was a bad idea, but he didn't care, so we just stopped. I haven't seen Tara in awhile, neither has Luna. We decided we'll stop by the woods to look for her later.
Just because it's news, doesn't mean it's always good news, especially not this news. Last night, Luna and I talked with Tara in the woods. She told us "My dad, he's crazy for a reason. I saw him do it. I saw him drink." We were surprised. Mr. Harris has been drinking? She said it was because of his grief over her, or at least that's what she knows so far. Does Mrs. Harris know about this? She also said, "And my mom, she used to drink, but not anymore. I think he's using her old alcohol." So, Mrs. Harris isn't as innocent as she seems since she used to drink. I felt so bad for Tara: having a mom who used to drink, and having a dad who now drinks. But, I bet, she'd rather have them as her parents than be dead and have nobody besides me and Luna.
Luna left a little afterwards, and I stayed with Tara, hearing her say all these things she knows about her parents that no one else does… well, besides me.
Today, a new day, Luna told me she was going with Brandon to Mr. and Mrs. Harris's house, and I decided to tag along.
"Why, hello," said Mrs. Harris when she opened the door. "How may I help you?" She gestured her hand at her living room, inviting us to come in and get comfy, which was easy since she has this really soft 3-seat couch in the living room. We all sat down, with me in the middle of Luna and Brandon. "So, what made you all come over here?" she asked, then took a sip of her green tea which was placed on a coaster on the coffee table in front of us. "I would've tidied the place up if I knew you all were coming." She looked at us with a kind, gentle, loving face. I'm sure Luna's thinking the same thing as I am: how can Brandon think she's the killer?
"Oh, it's alright," I said without thinking. Luna and Brandon nodded in agreement. "We just, you know, wanted to talk with you," said Luna. Mrs. Harris eyed us. "Oh is that so?" We all nodded again, in unison. "We wanted to know more about…" Brandon started, "…Tara." He looked at her to see if she started to get sad. But she didn't look sad. She didn't seem like she even cared that Tara was killed. "Oh. Like what?"
Brandon looked at me and Luna, asking with his eyes, if we had any suggestions. Without even thinking, Brandon answered, "About your relationship with her." The words shot out of Brandon's mouth into the green tea-scented air. Mrs. Harris placed her teacup down onto the coaster, and she looked down. "What's wrong, Mrs. Harris?" Luna asked. Mrs. Harris sniffled, took her glasses off, and wiped her eyes.
"My relationship with Tara?" she began. She sniffled once more. "Oh, it was horrid." We all sat there blankly, with a surprised look on.
"Horrid?" Brandon asked. Why would it be horrid? Did they just not get along, or…? Luna looked at Mrs. Harris with a you've-got-to-be-kidding-me look on her face. "Hmm, maybe that's why you don't seem to care she's dead: you guys didn't like each other." My eyes widened with shock. "Luna!" I scolded. She now had a just-saying look on her face. "What?" she asked me. "I'm just wondering." I looked at Mrs. Harris who didn't seem so calm anymore. My shoulders slumped. We came here to talk to Mrs. Harris, not to seem like we're accusing her of something. Seems like a change of plans since they're doing the accusing thing. "How else am I supposed to say it?" Mrs. Harris asked us. "We didn't have, like, anything in common." It was like she was close to crying. I got up and grabbed a tissue from a tissue box, and handed it to her, and let her wipe her eyes. "Don't worry, Mrs. Harris," I assured her. Everything seemed to be calmed down again, until Mr. Harris came downstairs and saw his wife sniffing and us on the couch. "You guys!" He ran down the rest of the stairs. "What're you guys doing here?" His voice was hoarse, probably because he yelled a lot. "We're talking with your wife," said Luna. She cocked her head to the side, and said in a light, innocent_ but somewhat vile_ voice, "Is that a crime, Mr. Harris?" His face, no kidding, turned red with anger. His fists clenched, but we knew he'd never punch us… unless he SAW us doing something REALLY evil. "Don't you talk to me like that, missy!" he yelled. Luna's evil grin became bigger.
"Who's Missy? My name is Luna." She laughed, despicably.
"Luna, you should stop, now," I said, tugging on her shirt sleeve, begging her to be quiet. But, of course, she wasn't listening to me. "Mr. Harris, how come you're never nice? How come you're blaming us? Why are you so annoying?" The questions were spitting out of her mouth, making Mr. Harris even angrier than he was already. "Be quiet or I'll call the police!" he warned her. Luna started chuckling, then laughing. I don't think I've seen Luna act like this before, especially not to adults.
There was this one time she pulled a prank on an adult she didn't like. It was a cliché prank: toilet-papering his house. What happened after that was to be expected: he called the police, they investigate, ask people around, and sometimes the person would get caught, but Luna didn't. I was the only one who knew she was the one who did it.
I'm surprised she even got away with it since that man was always watching everybody, but she did do it at night while he was sleeping, though. So it makes sense that she completed her prank-task.
"Luna, I think we should go…" I made my way towards the door, but she wasn't following. Why is she being so naïve? Can't she just listen? I open the door and leave Luna behind. I just reached the sidewalk when I hear Luna's voice in the background.