The Ghost Whisperer

Part 8

I hugged my pillow closer to myself as I lay silently on my bed. The guilt that once gripped my heart was now choking me .like something dark and slimy rising up in my throat. I wanna scream but there's no sound. I'm Scared out of my mind.

Because of the incident with Tessa, which was reported as a suicide, we were allowed to go home early and let the police investigate. I tried my best not to look suspicious or anything. I couldn't look at Irma. I did manage a glance though. Happily talking with her friends. Concerned about what's going on. I was amazed at how good she was at acting. It totally made me doubt for a second about what I saw. How...? How can she act like nothing happened so casually, while I'm here feeling like I'm about to be caught red-handed doing something illegal. Tomorrow, we all will be questioned. What will happen? Will Irma be caught? Will...she drag me down with her? But.....the matter I most wanna avoid...

Will Tessa come back?

As expected today, a police officer came and started questioning us. A big guy with glasses and clever eyes. I've seen many movies to know they only question others if they suspect it's not actually a suicide case. Thinking that my feet began trembling.

"Good morning. My name is officer Charles and I need you all to tell me where they were at 10:00 am yesterday. The truth please ." he says calmly.

One by one everyone answers him .of course most of them were in class. As Irma's turn gets closer, my anxiety increases, and I try to find what to say if she blames me or something.

"Next " and then it was Irma's turn. I watched her as she calmly rose up from her chair. Face showing no sign of suspicion.

"I....me and Tessa had a fight in the music room," she says.

My eyes widen as I watch her lie with a straight face. Seriously? The police narrow his eyes.

"A fight huh? Any alibi ? " he asks.

Then as if looks could kill, she looks and points at me. I feel the whole class looking at me. Staring at me. I feel if they stare too hard they might know what I'm thinking about. When officer Charles looks at me, I start to panic.

"Lisa was looking for me yesterday. She saw us fighting. That's when we stopped and Tessa ran out of the room . " she says blankly. This is the first time she's looked directly at me since yesterday. Her eyes look honest.

"Is it true ? " he asks me. Everyone looking at me. Irma waiting for me to reply to her cruel lie. Everyone will believe her because they already know I was looking for her. This is it. I could tell the truth. Irma will be punished for what she did.

I open my mouth to say it. But....nothing comes out. I know why. It was because deep down I didn't wanna let go of my happy middle school life. I had friends. I hung out. I was social. No one ignores me or avoids me. No one treats me like an outcast. Now, I have everything I needed. Is it worth the lie? Now I know what Irma meant by ' your smart, right? '.

"Umm, yes. I was walking back to class and heard them fighting in the music room. I went in and they stopped . " is what I find myself saying. Feeling even more like I committed a crime. Guilty pressure weighing on me.

"Are you sure ? " the officer asks and for a second I get a horrifying feeling that he saw through me.

"Yes. It's the truth " I say.

Fortunately, he looks away and starts writing something on his notepad. I glance at Irma and she looks back at me. There's no expression on her face. It's just blank. But her eyes. I feel like her eyes are telling me.

' now were both murderers '

I feel a shiver down my spine and look away.

"There ARE signs of struggle on the victim so I guess that was the reason? What were you fighting about ? " he asks Irma.