"Ahem"
"Making out? The audacity."
The sharp voice cut through the room. The principal stood there with the police officer beside him, both staring at us like they had just walked into a crime scene.
"And her? Andrew, you can do better." the principal said, his eyes filled with disgust as he looked at her.
My jaw tightened at his comment. It irritated me more than I expected.
"You wait outside. Andrew, come with me," he continued.
She hesitated for a moment avoiding eye contact before stepping out. The door clicked shut behind her.
"I do understand you are grieving your friend that is why I wont punish you."
"You know Nathan didn't commit suicide. You know that so well." Whenever his name is called, my emotions just crash.
"I do"
"Then why cover it up like that. We both know that this is the work of someone in this school." By this time, there was a great tension in the air.
The principal sits on the table, he said;
"What do you expect me to say? Tell the student someone is after the destruction of the school? Look Andrew, this is greater than you think. Officer tell him."
"We are looking into it, your friend will receive the justice he deserves, so see your therapist. " The officer said, he hugged me and then whispered in my ear; "Your friend was killed, I am sorry."
I swallowed hard, blinking rapidly to fight back the tears.
I stepped out of the principal's office, the weight of the conversation pressing on my shoulders. The hallways felt emptier than usual, the faint echo of my shoes against the tile making me more aware of every sound.
Jane—standing near the doorway, she looks so deep in thoughts. My heart skipped a beat. What do I say? What do I do? For a second, I hesitated. She looked at me with that sharp, knowing look.
"I am sorry…..for... putting you into all this and the…..you know"
"When you and your mere men were speaking, I got time to connect some dots together." That caught me off guard. It was not what I was expecting.
"Denis" She continued. "She was attacked on the second Wednesday we resumed. Nathan, third Wednesday. There was a pause, then the next case, the Biology teacher- second Wednesday that means, it is serial. IT follows a pattern, and if the pattern is true...….we should be expecting something terrible to happen in the next 100 hours."
We gave the room to silence.
"What then do we do?" I asked breaking the silence.
"We do nothing, we will study the bastard's pattern. It will lead us back to him." Jane replied. "What happened inside with you and the Principal?"
"Nothing much, but the Police guy confirmed that Nathan was murdered. How about, we just observe for now, if you get anything let me know."
"Sure." She said and started to walk away, but I called her back. She paused and turned, staring at me as if she had known I would.
"Can we talk about this as we take a stroll?" I offered.
She nodded slowly with a half smile. We walked out of the building together.
"Why do you always go to Delman's hall by 8?" Jane asked.
" I go there every day because it is our thing, our hang out spot " I replied. " Wait, I thought you said you aren't a stalker? Are you in love with me?" I teased to lighten up the mood.
She scoffs and then said rolling her eyes,
'Don't flatter yourself kid. You always avoid the question'
"Shouldn't you be answering that your question?" I replied walking toward her this time. I paused, standing right in front of her.
"I wanted to meet the Principal." She lied, looking at me right in the eye. Wow, what a good liar.
"You are such a bad liar." I pat her head as I said each word. We continued our journey.
"Do you miss Nathan?" She asked that one question most people forget to ask me.
"Yes" I replied.
"Your best friend?"
"Lets say brother. We been friends since I knew I could call my name. My mum said, when we were little, I always thought I was Nathan and he was Andrew."
We both laughed.
"How is that even possible?"
"I don't know…."
"What of the cupcakes?" She asked twisting her lips.
"I ... just…..the cafeteria were giving away cupcakes."
Jane paused suddenly, she turned, looked at me with a look that I couldn't discern well.
"Why are you so bad .....in lying" She said laughing through the sentence. Then continued. The harder I try to hold back the laughter the stronger it fought. I couldn't hold the laugh.
By this time, we were at the female's dormitory. We said our goodbyes and left.On my way back to my room, the whole conversation kept replaying in my head like a broken tape. Jane's words. The officer's whisper. "Your friend was killed."
Killed.
That word refused to sit quietly not that I did not suspect that, but it was a confirmation.
The moment I got into my room, I locked the door and went straight to my desk. I pulled out the notes I had been kept. Wrote out the dates, names, patterns, what I thought. Then I brought out something else… something I wasn't supposed to have.
The police report I had taken in the Founder's hall. Well, when Jane and I were searching, I saw a report, it had Nathan's name on it. I picked it, tossed it through the window. When I got out, picked it up. Jane has no idea of this.
Not that I stolen… lets say, just borrowed without permission.
My eyes scanned through the pages again. In it,
Jasper. Denis. Mrs. Rogue. Nathan and one that we did not know of…..Dora.
Different methods. Different locations.
but one thing stayed constant and that was the timing.
"Second Wednesday… third Wednesday…" I muttered under my breath, aligning it with Jane's Wednesday theory.
"But why Wednesday?
My pen moved quickly across the paper as I mapped it out.
The next day, I went to the Principal's office.
"Here you are." The Principal said as soon as I entered the office.
Inside me was hot,
Actually I was hot due to the hoodie that I was wearing at that moment
but, I was actually burning.
"Why would you do such a thing?" He started scolding. "Your grades are falling, how do you want to compete with others schools like this….." He voice faded in my ear.
"Why?" I said unable to bottle it any more.
"You're weak." This time, I didn't wait to be invited to speak.
The words came out sharper than I intended but I didn't take them back. The principal looked up slowly, his expression unreadable.
"You heard me," I continued, my voice tightening. "You're weak. And impotent. Students are dying and you're standing here talking about competition? I went for a competition and when I got back, my friend was gone."
"Andrew"
"No!" I snapped. "If students had somewhere else to go, anywhere outside this place they would have left already. That's how bad it is. That's how unsafe this school has become under you."
Silence fell, that type that feels so heavy.
My chest rose and fell rapidly, my hands trembling at my sides.
The weight finally hit. I sank into the chair, covering my face as everything I had been holding in broke loose.
I cried...Just… broke like I have been doing this days. For a moment, no one spoke.
Then the principal sighed, a tired, defeated sound I had never heard from him before.
"There are things about this school you don't understand, Andrew," he continued. "Things even I don't fully understand too."
"Then tell me?" I requested calmly.
"This isn't just a case. It's not just a murderer hiding in the shadows." He paused. "This… is something older." His voice dropped then continued, "The founders of this school… Saint and the others… whatever they built here, it wasn't just an institution. Well that is what we know but there is more to it. Those who have an idea of the true story are gone. I am so sorry I could not protect you all and I made you feel that way."
"It is a conflict," he said. "One that was never meant for students… or people like us… to contain. That is all I know Andrew. If you find anything let me know. The Police are working on this." He replied.
"I will sir" I said then walked out of his office.
A lot of things were not just right. If he had it under control then why would the Police tell me that?
To scare me?
To inform me?
Something just felt off.
But why would the principal have no idea of what goes on in the school….
There, I drew my conclusion, "He is a puppet" by who?
On my way back, I ran into Emma.