Willow knew she shouldn’t have ignored the signs that day. Alissa was clearly hunched over in pain, something was wrong. Just stress, Willow thought. And now, she was gone too.
Going to school was the last thing Willow wanted to do. She didn’t want to face Fern. She didn’t want to go to class knowing she saw a teacher’s dead body. And now Alissa? The world started to feel like a nightmare, and she just couldn’t wake up.
But staying home was worse. It was suffocating having to spend time with her parents. Especially since she had so much to say, but no desire to speak about her worries. So as always, she kept a straight face and pretended like nothing was wrong. Her parents didn’t need more trouble on their plate. She went to bed early, lying there for who knows how long. Thoughts from the day circled around in her head aimlessly, but it felt like a fog had entered her brain.
And when she woke up the next morning, she went through her morning routine with tired, soulless eyes. She could see her reflection in the mirror, but it felt as if she wasn’t inside her own body anymore. So she did her makeup, dressed up as usual, because nothing was out of the ordinary.
Everything was fine.
Walking through the hallway, she kept her head low and her hair over her face. She’d rather avoid the prying eyes of everyone in the hallway. Especially her friends. How could she explain the texts she had received? At that point, she couldn’t bother caring about rumors. It was nothing out of the ordinary to see herself shown as a freak. In fact, it angered her more to hear the words thrown at the others in detention. Though her face was stone.
The texts only looked like someone pointlessly theorizing. Maybe because they wanted to feel safe, maybe because they wanted drama to spice up their boring lives. Or maybe, because they wanted to draw attention from themselves… And speaking of, Willow couldn’t understand how they got her number to begin with… Or how they knew about the people in detention… Did rumors spread that quick?
Maybe it was the stress from the past day, or maybe a hidden sense. But Willow felt a cold pulse run through her veins, making her heart drop. Something wasn’t right. Someone…
A loud voice spoke from the intercom and intereupted her thoughts. “Would the following students please report to the Principal Office: Jennifer Every Bond, Reece Saige, Hazel Bailey, Jacob brian, Oliver cooper, Fernanda Briggs, Anthony Touissant and Willow Montogomery.”
Willow sighed. With slowed steps, she made her way to the principal’s office.
She could only hope the day ended sooner.
@/Detectives × Everyone