Part 2 (1/2)

A girl with wavy brown hair and slightly red eyes looked away from her, as if about to cry, s.h.i.+elding her face.

”Did you touch her? You didn't, did you?” another girl asked, eyes wide with curiosity. Chloe recognized her as Jana, the girl she had caused to spill her drink at the party.

Chloe was speechless. The girl with the wavy brown hair was looking at Chloe intently now, unnerving her almost with her gaze. She seemed to want to speak, but seemed wary of those around her. Jana put her hand on the girl's arm in a comforting gesture.

”I bet you screamed,” a thin boy with unruly hair chimed in.

”How do we know you didn't do it?” a serious girl with brown eyes asked.

Chloe felt her cheeks burn pink. She felt intensely uncomfortable as they all turned to sit silently staring at her, awaiting her answers.

Chloe smiled uneasily, ”Actually, I see a girl I know. It was nice to meet you all.”

”Wait,” the wavy brown haired girl said as Chloe abruptly got up and moved away from the table. Chloe didn't look back to respond. She wasn't sure where to go and she definitely didn't want to sit at another table only to get barraged by questions again.

Chloe was seriously contemplating throwing out her lunch and spending the rest of the lunchtime in the bathroom until she spotted the girl she had met at the party the night before, Emma, sitting alone at a table on the other side of the cafeteria. Chloe rushed toward her, feeling the eyes of her cla.s.smates on her back as she walked.

Chloe sat down and without taking a breath said, ”Hey! I hope you don't mind me sitting here. We met last night. Emma, right?”

”Yeah. And, you found Lora Kelly dead,” Emma said, with definite interest.

”Oh, not you too!” Chloe was dismayed, although she knew realistically that everyone was curious about her experience.

Emma shrugged, ”Hey, it's interesting. The whole school is talking about it, you know. You've practically taken over as the most popular girl in school, now that she's dead.”

”Don't remind me,” Chloe nodded, ”Believe me, I know. It's like I can feel the whispers and eyes of the entire school every time I move. I just want to blend into the wall.”

”It probably didn't help that you just sat in Lora Kelly's seat, at her lunch table. Trying to take over for her?” Emma said.

”What?” Chloe asked horrified. No wonder that group had all looked at her in shock at first. Could she have made a worse move? The girl who found Lora Kelly dead sits in her seat at lunch. It was going to be all over the school by the end of the period.

Emma smiled ruefully, ”I've been there. It'll go away.”

”You've been there?” Chloe asked.

Emma shrugged, ”Yeah, last year, I got myself into a bit of a scandal. Plus, the funky red streaks in my hair don't make me blend in or anything. Whatever. I gave up on the popular thing a long time ago. I pretty much consider popularity evil.”

Chloe's curiosity was peaked, ”What happened last year?”

Emma paused as if unsure that she should tell her story, but then said, ”Funny enough, I got caught by Lora Kelly making out with her then boyfriend of the moment. She made a big s.h.i.+t. She hated me anyway and it was her excuse to try and decimate me. She loved to do that. She called me a s.l.u.t to the whole school and basically made me a huge outcast that everybody loved to gossip about. Funny enough, nothing happened to the guy. How is that fair?”

”Wow, that's crazy. That really happened?” Chloe asked.

”Yeah, but it's not that big of a deal anymore. I got used to it. People here will have you believe I'm a s.l.u.t, but the truth of the matter is, I'm not and I actually didn't know he was dating Lora Kelly at the time. She seemed to have a different boyfriend every other second. Who can keep up and why would they even want to?” Emma paused, cheeks pink and looked directly at Chloe, ”Well, except for your friend Jake. He and Lora had a major thing. They were the couple soph.o.m.ore year.”

”Jake dated Lora?” Chloe asked, mind whirling, thinking that would explain Lora's enthusiastic hug at the party. Still, why didn't Jake mention that he had dated Lora, especially after she was found dead?

”Yeah, people were saying that they were the epitome of true love that year. Everyone thought it was so romantic. Jake didn't mention it to you?” Emma looked at Chloe, eyebrows raised.

Chloe shrugged, noncommittally. ”We haven't had that much time to talk since everything that's happened. I only got home after four. It was sort of an insane night.”

”Still, you think he would have mentioned it to you, but then again, they have been broken up for over a year. Maybe he could care less. He should care less if the rumors about how they broke up are true,” Emma said.

”Maybe it was just a little weird for him to mention it to me. You know, with being upset about her dying and all...” Chloe said.

”Maybe,” Emma paused in thought, ”I would think he might end up being a suspect, though. Their break-up was pretty terrible.”

Chloe was riveted. ”What happened?”

”That's the thing. n.o.body knows for sure except the two of them. People said that she broke up with him for someone else. I don't know who for sure, if that's even what really happened. There were rumors, but... Regardless, he was certainly devastated when it happened. Like, seriously depressed and mad about the whole thing. Lora Kelly definitely drove him to an insane place in his head for a few months,” Emma said.

”Wow,” Chloe thought back to the night before and Lora's suggestive glances at Jake. They may have broken up, but he had still intrigued Lora.

Emma nodded, ”I know.”

”So, who was the guy who was two-timing her with you?” Chloe asked curiously.

Emma ducked her head, ”I'm sure you wouldn't know him.”

”But, do you think it was him that was dating Lora at the same time as Jake? Maybe he's the killer,” Chloe said.

Emma frowned, ”I don't think Grey would do a thing like that.”

”Grey?” Chloe felt her mouth go dry. Emma had dated the arrogantly handsome guy that had helped her open her locker this morning? Was he the killer?

Emma's frown deepened, ”Have you met him?”

”Yes, yes I have,” Chloe said thoughtfully.

Emma's eyebrows shot up. ”And?”

”He just helped me with my locker this morning,” Chloe said lamely and then immediately changed the subject. ”So, how are your cla.s.ses going?”

Emma gave her a curious look, but let the subject drop. Chloe felt instantly relieved, although she wasn't sure why. As Emma rambled on about her cla.s.ses, Chloe's mind was still dwelling on Grey and the story of Jake and Lora's dramatic prior relations.h.i.+p. Surely, Jake didn't have anything to do with Lora's death. Chloe dismissed that immediately. Regardless of how long it had been since she'd really known him, he wasn't a killer. Still, her mind kept traversing the details she had learned from his past and she wondered what more there was to the story of Lora Kelly's death.

Chloe finally had a cla.s.s with Jake sixth period. She hadn't even seen him in the hallways all day. It was good to see a familiar face waiting for her in the cla.s.sroom when she walked in. The cla.s.s was Biology and Chloe sat down next to Jake at his lab table.

”Do you mind if I sit here?” Chloe asked, suddenly feeling shy. Maybe he didn't want her as a lab partner.

”Not at all. This should be fun!” Jake said cheerily, unlike the moody guy he had been that morning when he had obviously been lost in thoughts about Lora.

The bell rang then, silencing the cla.s.s as their Biology teacher, Mr. Edwards, started to lecture on cla.s.sroom safety.