by Shawn Jolley
Tony opened his mouth.
"Someone else," she said before he could talk. The short Veres girl raised her hand and the woman pointed to her. "Yes, you. What is your name?"
"Tamara. Umm… you see, Tony wanted to show everyone something before class started. Apparently, he has some… unusual talents."
"What do you mean?"
Tamara scrunched her nose. "Umm… he put a beetle up his nose."
Everyone giggled again. The woman placed a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. She opened them just as the tall Veres girl came back in the room and took her seat in front of Eden. She looked pale and sweaty, but worse than that, her ears were red with embarrassment. Tamara whispered something in her ear, but she did nothing to acknowledge that she had heard. The blonde woman took a deep breath.
"Let’s start again. I’m your new teacher, Ms. Kozi, and I’m so excited to be here." She smiled widely as she talked. "I want to learn all about you, and I’m sure you want to learn all about me."
Tony raised his hand and Ms. Kozi pointed at him and nodded her head. She seemed to have forgiven him quickly for his more-than-rude first impression.
"I’m Tony, but Tamara already told you that." He paused for laughter, but nobody laughed. "Anyway, I was wondering why you haven’t been here before now."
"I’m sorry, Tony," she said in a cheery tone. "The woman who was supposed to be your teacher quit just as the school year started. Your principal hired me last week." She turned to talk to the whole class. "And as hard as this has been for all of you, I’m happy she decided not to come. I mean, I’m just happy to be here with you. Does anyone have any more questions?"
Eden wondered why Ms. Kozi talked the way she did. Nothing was wrong with her voice, but she sounded like she was reading from a script. He silently watched as all the other kids asked pointless questions about her favorite food, drink, movie, board game, and diet craze. Tony asked the last one, and Eden still couldn’t decide if he was trying to be funny or if he really cared. A pause followed where nobody could think of any more questions. Eden raised his hand.
"What’s your name?" she asked, pointing at him.
"Eden."
"Nice to meet you, Eden. What did you want to know?"
"Can I use the restroom?" A few kids chuckled.
"Oh! How wonderful," she said while rummaging through her purse. She pulled a small card out and held it up for everyone to see. "This is the hall pass, and I’m so excited to use it."
She held the laminated, green card out for Eden. He walked over to her, took it, and said thanks. She smiled and even curtsied a little, which he thought was overkill. As he walked out of the room everyone stared, and he saw Tony wink. He thought he made it out of the room before he started to blush.
The hallway was completely empty. He went to the men’s restroom, not because he needed to, but because he thought that's where Dustin would be. The stalls were empty, so he decided to see if Dustin had gone to the front office.
He took the short walk down the hall and walked into the reception area. Nobody was there, so he knocked on the door frame in hopes of someone in the back hearing him. Principal Bolt came out of his adjoining office behind the secretary's desk.
"What can I help you with?" He looked happier than Eden had ever seen him before. His cheeks actually had color in them, and his hair (as limited as it was) wasn't disheveled.
"Is Dustin here?"
"Ah. Yes. He did look quite pale." The principal continued to stare at Eden. He didn't look like he was going to say anything else.
"Does that mean he's here?" asked Eden. Principal Bolt stared at him, and Eden realized he might have sounded rude. "I just want to make sure he's okay."
"One second." Principal Bolt stepped through a door to his right and Eden heard him ask how Dustin was doing. A moment later, he came back into the main office. "You can see him for a minute. Then, I expect you to go straight back to Ms. Kozi's room."
Eden nodded and walked through the door. Dustin was sitting on the edge of a tiny white bed, his face pale, in what appeared to be a large storage closet that had been turned into a workspace. Someone tapped Eden on the shoulder and he turned around. A lady who Eden had never seen before smiled at him.
"Hello, dear. You wanted to see the patient?"
"Um… yeah. Yes, ma'am."
The woman smiled a wide lip-filled smile. She was wearing blue scrubs. "You’re a good friend for checking on him. I think he just needs a few more minutes and he’ll be fine." She leaned in and whispered, "I'm surprised more students didn't come down here after what Tony did. How is Millie Veres?"
"Oh, yeah, she's fine. Thanks," said Eden, not knowing if Millie was indeed fine. The lady winked and walked to a desk in the corner of the room where she started filing paperwork. A name tag on the desk read "Miss Brown" in embossed gold lettering. Eden walked over to Dustin. "How are you?"
"Fine," responded Dustin, his head in his hands.
"You look like it." Eden sat down on the mattress. What Tony had done was gross, but he couldn't understand why Dustin found it so revolting. It was Tony, after all. "You don’t like bugs?"
Dustin turned his head and squinted through his fingers at Eden. "You think I feel sick because of a bug? If that were true, I'd have run out when Millie did."
"You mean, that's not it?"
Dustin sat up fully now and glanced at Miss Brown who was still busy filing papers.
"Think." He leaned closer. "Haven't you wondered who she is?" He stood up, his face slightly less pale, and walked over to Miss Brown, while Eden sat there looking perplexed. "Thank you for your help," said Dustin.
Miss Brown looked Dustin up and down before saying, "Anytime. Never hesitate to come in, sick or not." She smiled and busied herself with paperwork again.
Dustin walked to the door and Eden followed him out of the main office and into the hallway. He couldn’t figure out what Dustin meant, and how that related to him throwing up. Had he been talking about Miss Brown? As they walked past the restrooms, Ms. Kozi stepped out of their classroom and started walking toward them. Eden stopped, his mind racing. Everything had finally fallen into place.
Dustin had become pale when Ms. Kozi had entered the room. Ms. Kozi replaced the new teacher they had never met—the one who had never shown up. An unknown woman’s body lay in the field next to the blue house. Dustin must've thought that the two events were connected. And now, so did Eden.
"Long bathroom break I see," said Ms. Kozi as she got closer to them. "And you’re the boy who ran out of the room. Are you alright?"
"I’m fine. I’m also sorry," said Dustin, looking at the ground.
Eden walked forward and handed the hall pass to Ms. Kozi. She pinched it between her long red nails and thanked him. "You two run along to class. I’m just getting some copies from the printer." She walked by them and they continued down the hall.
"I get it now," said Eden. Dustin nodded his head. They had a vague idea of who the dead woman in the field could be and why they had no teacher the first day of class. Of course, it could have been coincidence, but the chances were slim when Eden considered how few people lived in Fracture.
When they walked into the classroom, they were surprised to see everyone reading silently, including Tony. Nobody bothered looking up as they took their seats. This was the first time Eden had ever been in such a quiet classroom. "What’s going on?" he whispered to the Veres twins.
Tamara turned around and shushed him. Tony turned around and glared at him, then turned back to his book. Eden raised his eyebrows and looked at Dustin who shrugged his shoulders and took an old brown poetry book from his backpack. Eden didn’t like reading much, so he sat in silence.
Ten minutes went by about as fast as it would take a dull, rusty knife to cut through a cinderblock. Ms. Kozi came back to class with the copies she had promised and handed them out to everyone. Eden looked at the paper and inwardly groaned. It was a grammar worksheet. Ms. Kozi walked to
her desk and opened up a drawer.
"Alright," she said, "who wants a big candy bar?"
Tony bolted from his seat and sped to the drawer, but he managed to politely stop himself from plunging his grubby hands into the chocolate stash. Dustin leaned over to Eden while Ms. Kozi reprimanded Tony and told him to sit back down.
"We need to tell someone," he said.
Eden had been thinking the same thing, but without any ideas. "Like who? We can't go to the police." Ms. Kozi was still lecturing Tony.
"I know, you're right. They'd ignore us. But what about Sammy? We can go to the gas station after school and see him."
Eden thought for a moment. Sammy owned and ran the gas station on the edge of town that ran up against the woods. He was in his early twenties and about the only friendly adult Eden could think of. Every time his mom had filled up her car at the gas station, Sammy would come out and talk to her and Eden. "I don't know. I'll think about it. I'll need to tell my mom where we're going anyway."
Ms. Kozi invited everyone to stand up and get a candy bar. Dustin stood up to get his with the rest of the class. Apparently, his appetite had returned. Eden wasn't hungry and he stayed sitting. They did the grammar worksheet for the rest of the day, and while most everyone struggled to understand the concepts, Dustin answered everything flawlessly.
"Can you point to the direct object, Eden?" asked Ms. Kozi.
He couldn't.
"Dustin?" she asked.
Eden wasn’t jealous, especially since it was fun to watch him do better than Tony, who kept on raising his hand despite his inability to even spell the word grammar.
When the final bell rang, Eden felt like his head was about to explode. Bolt's movies hadn't prepared him for actual school work. He waited patiently by the door for Dustin to finish packing all his folders and when he finally caught up to Eden, they were the last ones to leave. They walked down the hallway. Eden saw a tall man wearing a sweater and jeans come out of the front office.
"Who's that?" asked Eden.
"Who?" asked Dustin, looking up from his homework. He stopped where he was and grabbed Eden’s arm. They watched the man make his way to the front entrance and leave.
"Again," said Eden. "Who was that?"
Dustin didn’t look like he wanted to say anything, but he cleared his throat anyway. "The county sheriff."
Eden felt the blood leave his face. Why would the sheriff be at the school? "What do you mean? He wasn't even in uniform. Does he normally come here?"
"I've never seen him here before. He hardly ever comes around. He only comes when something's wrong. Like, dead wrong." They continued to stand there, staring down the hallway.
"What should we do?" asked Eden.
"What should you do about what?" asked someone behind them. Eden turned around and saw Principal Bolt. His hands were placed on his hips and he was staring at them. Eden wondered how long he had been there.
"Our homework assignment," said Dustin.
The principal raised his eyebrows. "Ah. Well, I suggest you make your way home to get started." He walked into the main office, humming as he went.
Eden and Dustin walked to the entrance. The hallway didn’t look right to Eden; it seemed longer than usual. Everything had grown dim. His mind raced. His dad was a cop, so he had been used to seeing him and his co-workers when he was younger, but he had never felt like this then. He felt guilty. But, he hadn’t done anything wrong. Except, for withhold knowledge about a possible murder. But, how could that change anything anyway?
They pushed the front door open and went outside. Eden ran into Dustin and knocked him over while simultaneously tripping himself. They landed in a twisted heap at the base of the short staircase. Sirens sounded and blue and red lights flashed. Eden got up first and helped Dustin stand.
"Hey, break it up," the sheriff said as he approached, his car lights on behind him. Eden stepped away from Dustin even though they hadn’t been fighting. "What are you two doing?"
Dustin didn't say anything, so Eden said, "Sorry. We tripped down the stairs." He tried to look up at the sheriff, but he couldn’t manage to look higher than the man's shins. He must've been wearing size thirteen boots.
The sheriff didn’t say anything right away; Eden felt like he was using the silence to intimidate them, but that was stupid because they weren’t guilty. They weren't guilty of fighting, or anything else. "Dustin, is that you?"
"Yes."
Eden watched the sheriff's shoes make their way around them and stop again. "Who’s your friend?"
"Eden."
Eden felt his face start to burn. He could've answered for himself.
"Stay out of trouble," the sheriff finally said.
Eden watched the shoes walk back to the police car, and he glanced up as it pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the street, its lights still on.
"Why didn’t you tell him about the body?" asked Dustin.
The question caught Eden off guard. "What? I didn’t know we were going to tell him. I thought we were telling Sammy."
"Don’t you think that’s why he came to the school?" asked Dustin. "Now he’s probably gone off to tell Heather and your mom we know stuff. Maybe we should have just told him."
"He only asked us our names," said Eden, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Yeah, and you squealed like a rat."
Eden thought Dustin was exaggerating, but he didn’t bother saying so. Not knowing what else to do or say, he started walking home. Dustin lagged behind for a few minutes before catching up. Both of them seemed lost in their own worlds.
When they got to the blue house, Eden was sweating. The weather had warmed up, but he didn't think that had anything to do with it. He said, "Do you still want to go see Sammy?"
"Yeah. Whenever you're ready," said Dustin, his expression was distant and unmoving.
"I'll meet you back here after telling my mom."
Dustin snapped out of his trance. "You're going to tell your mom?" he asked.
"That we're going to the gas station. Yeah." He rolled his eyes and turned around.
"Oh, right. I should probably tell Heather." Dustin jogged down the dirt road and Eden walked up the porch steps and through the front door.
"Mom!" he yelled.
"What?" Her voice floated down the hallway from her room. She didn't sound happy, but she also didn't sound mad. She just sounded like any other mother having a loud conversation from the other end of the house.
"Can I go to the gas station with Dustin?"
"Tell me about your new teacher first"
Eden didn't have time for this; Dustin would be back any second. "She's dandy. I'll tell you later. Can I go?"
She didn't answer right away. Eden hoped he hadn't been too abrupt. "Do you have any homework to do?"
"I finished it at school," said Eden, even though he hadn't. He hoped she didn't ask him what it was or any other direct questions.
She hesitated, then said, "Don't be too long."
He walked outside just as Dustin came jogging back up the road. Dustin had put on a fuzzy blue jacket and was holding a bag of beef jerky in his hand, a piece hanging from his mouth. Eden turned him down when he gestured to the bag.
"Why the jacket? It's warmer now," said Eden.
Dustin shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm just colder now than I was earlier."
Twenty minutes later, they were in the gas station on the edge of town. The building had two aisles and a counter near a back room. Hardly anybody ever came inside during the middle of the day, so there was never a line. Eden got an energy drink and Dustin picked out a bottle of pink lemonade. Sammy was in the backroom, but he came out as they approached the counter.
"Hey, guys. It's been a while. How've you been?" asked the cashier.
Eden exchanged a quick glance with Dustin before saying, "We've been busy with school, I guess. Sorry about that." He kept his eyes on the green and brown mosaic countertop as Sammy rang up their drinks.
/>
"I don’t mean to be a creep, but when you two stopped showing up, I didn't know what to think. You could have run away for all I knew." He looked off into the distance for a moment, lost in thought. "I figure in a small town like this I have a duty to know all of my customers. I guess I was even a little worried." He laughed and shook his head. "I'm glad you came back. Without you, who knows, I might go out of business."
Eden glanced up and nodded his head even though he had hardly been listening. Sammy always talked a lot. Eden hoped Dustin would say something to Sammy; it had been his idea to come and tell the cashier about the body, after all. The total flickered on the cash register's display in bright blue digital numbers. Eden reached into his back pocket for some money, but Sammy held up his hand as the numbers turned to zeros.
"Know what? Today, it's free." He paused, smiling, then said, "I don't expect my best customers to always pay." He winked and pushed the drinks across the counter. His long hair fell across his face and he pushed it back.
Eden elbowed Dustin in the side as he went to grab his drink. "Hey, uh… Sammy. Umm… Thanks for the free stuff. Can we ask you something?"
"Sure, Dustin. Shoot. And don't look so worried. You're making me nervous." Sammy placed his palms on the counter and leaned forward so that his shoulders came up next to his ears. A ceiling fan overhead clicked every few seconds.
Dustin started slow, and Eden tried to look indifferent. "It's just, a few weeks ago, well, when Eden moved in. We, kind of, sort of, you could say that…." Dustin looked up at Sammy and blurted out the rest, "We found a woman's body in the field next to the old blue house where Eden lives with his mom."
Sammy blinked a few times, stretched his arm across the counter and patted Dustin on the head. He turned to Eden and said, "You dared him to say that, didn't you?"
"What?" Eden couldn't believe Sammy was blowing them off so quickly. He hadn't even asked them any questions about the story. "No, it's true. My mom asked me to go make friends, and I saw some guy with a shovel go—"
