"Pretty girls like you get lost in these woods all the time, Alexa."
On the night of Sebastián's annual Beginning of Summer Bash, amiable and adventurous Melody Tryniski went missing. What might have appeared as a juvenile escapade - a casual incide...
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SCHOOL IS MOSTLY EMPTY during this time.
The majority of the student body is long gone, tucked away in their houses by their parents' order to hide from whatever dangerous being lurks in the night. The jocks are out in the football field, running some laps in preparation for a practice game. Their calves are probably burning from the pressure, bodies soaked in sweat as they breathe out strings of curses. They must be used to the muscular pain.
The cheerleaders are practicing their traditional routine in the school's gym, probably searching for ideas to twist the monotony in their moves and change it to something worth seeing. Something like extra cartwheels and extension stunts. Not exactly new, but it's different from what we're used to watching. Some students take Advanced Classes, so they stay until late with their study groups. They always want to be one step ahead of the teacher, a million steps ahead from the rest of the students.
I'm in Advanced Science, but I can't be bothered with it anymore. It's not the same as a couple of months ago. There was a time when I loved science so much that I wanted to become a doctor. Before Melody's murder, I was still indecisive on the field I wanted to specialize on. All I knew was that I had to become a professional doctor. Senior year was supposed to be the year where I focused on my career choice, college, my future. Now I don't have that option.
The girl who could tolerate blood and dreamed to help people by becoming a doctor is long gone, buried away alongside Melody. I can't stand the sight of blood anymore, let alone the thought of it. What stands in the place of that hopeful girl is a weak, pathetic shadow of what she used to be; what she was going to become.
I sigh as I walk through these empty halls, my boots' heels clicking against the marble floor. There's a silence in here that's only interrupted by the distant sound of the cheerleaders singing in unison. From time to time, the sound of the coach's whistle vibrates through the metal lockers, and his constant screaming penetrates the concrete walls.
"You call that a field goal?!" His voice booms through the school. "Faster, faster, faster. Am I not being loud enough?"
I open my locker and search for some books, rearranging the order of things inside it and stuffing the needed books in my bag. Suddenly, a note slips out, zig-zagging and twirling in the air until it lands safely in front of my feet. I crouch down and stare at it for a second. It's folded once down the middle, my name typed on its bottom right corner. As I pick it up, my legs aching as I stand straight, I notice how small it is on the palm of my hand. My eyebrows knit together the longer I stare at it, its pale beige surface so different from Melody's letters. I unfold the note and-
"Tara, I didn't know they let suspects in school premises," Polly says, her high-pitched voice loud and obnoxious. "That's, like, a threat to our safety."
