by Blair Burden
“How do you know this stuff?” Michael said.
“I know everything,” Tyler winked and grabbed Linda’s hand. They left without Lucy and Michael and walked passed everyone waiting to get in.
Simon school dances tended to be full of only seniors and freshmen, who wanted to experience a dance. However, today almost the entire school was there. If anything, those kids should have been home—a murderer was loose.
Tyler felt awkward as he slicked his hair back and tugged on his formal attire. Nervously, he sipped on his soda, trying to get the ice out. “There are way too many students here!” he shouted over the loud music.
“People like charity,” Linda shouted back. “Plus, it's cool.”
“Eh, I guess so.”
“Thanks for paying for me to get in. I wasn't expecting that,” she smiled.
“Eh, yeah.”
Linda leaned in to kiss Tyler, but for the first time in her life, a boy pushed her away. Tyler turned Linda’s face in the opposite direction. She frowned in confusion and tried to kiss him again.
“I can't kiss you,” Tyler said.
“Why not?” Linda said. “You're not gay are you?”
“I’m not gay,” Tyler said as he continued to search the room.
Linda pouted, “But, I got all pretty just for you. Don't you think I look pretty?”
With a frown, Tyler stared at Linda’s sparkly pink dress. “You look nice, but I just cannot kiss you.”
“Why?”
“I'll tell you later,” was all he said and he smiled at her.
She rolled her eyes and searched the busy room for Michael, but instead she spotted Hannah. She elbowed Tyler in the gut pointing at Hannah. “Look!”
Tyler was tall enough to see over the crowd as he saw Hannah speaking to Dr. Smith, who was monitoring the dance. “She is just talking to Dr. Smith.”
“You can't just talk to Dr. Smith at a school dance.” Linda looked over at Hannah and Dr. Smith. She looked relaxed next to him—a little too relaxed.
“Why can't they just talk?”
“About what? How to take their relationship to the next level,” Linda laughed at her own joke.
“What do you mean?” Tyler snapped.
“Yeah, I guess she is dating Dr. Smith. It doesn't matter right since she will be eighteen in a few months—”
“Is this official now? How do you know this?” Tyler asked as he stared at Linda. “Did she tell you this?”
Linda turned fearful as Tyler looked mean, “Nope, she didn't tell me this,” she muttered. “But...”
“But, what?”
“I thought I had a dream about her, but, from what I’m realizing...I wasn't dreaming. She was at some bar with him...or well it looked like him,” Linda said as she tried to see where Hannah was. “Did she leave?”
Tyler scanned the room, “Where did she go?”
“I don't know, that's what I just asked you,” she snapped.
Linda noticed Dr. Smith running back into the school. Tyler pulled Linda to go see where Hannah could have gone, but they got trapped in a dance circle. With a huge smile, Linda pulled Tyler to dance with her, but he didn't want to. He yanked his hands from hers and ran off, getting lost in the crowd.
Aw, Linda ran out the dance circle to find her friends. She noticed Michael dancing with Mason and friends. She pulled him by his shoulder and he followed behind her, noticing she was upset.
“What is wrong, sugar?” Michael asked.
“Tyler just rejected me. He didn't want to kiss me and now he left me!” Linda cried. “I think he's using me to get to Hannah. Like every other guy, they want Hannah! I can't stand Hannah! Ugh! I just wish the Simon murderer would come and get her!”
“Don't speak like that,” Michael said as he smacked her. “You're just angry. There are plenty of hot men here.”
“Men?” Linda laughed. “More like prepubescent boys.”
Linda noticed the crowd of people began to get smaller and smaller, but it didn't faze her. “I swear if Hannah takes Tyler from me, I will kick her ass.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed as the room began to grow emptier. “I hate to annoy you at your sad moment, but where is everyone?”
“Who cares?” she sobbed. “If this—”
Linda was cut off by the sound of ambulances and firetrucks. They both ran out the room, along with the remaining clueless students who were still dancing. Everyone was crowded at the back of the school toward where the woods were.
As they made their way through the crowd, the more people began to cry. They stopped toward the front of the crowd, where they spotted Lucy who was covered in rain. She ran into their arms and she began screaming.
“Someone has been killed!” she screamed. “Oh my gosh! I went to throw away the remaining soda bottles and then I saw that—”
Their eyes grew massive as they witnessed a student's body lying nude across the dirt. The only thing on the girl's body was her heels and her ripped dance uniform. Linda looked closer at her wrists—the same bruises she remembered seeing on Hannah. Their thoughts began to go haywire as police tried to instruct everyone to go inside.
Linda couldn't cry because she was in so much shock. Michael however, was screaming in fear. He hugged Lucy and tried to catch his breath. Linda joined in the hug, holding in all her emotions.
All the students were instructed to go back into the gym until parents/guardians came for them. The three of them didn't know what to do, as everyone stared at them. Tyler spotted them, and came running over to them.
“Linda, I need to talk to you,” Tyler said.
She rubbed her eyes as she began to cry. “You're the last person I want to talk to right now. Someone was just murdered!”
Michael blew his nose for the third time, “I think I’m going to throw up. That means someone here saw the person—”
“Or someone who we know,” Linda muttered as Lucy walked over to the dance team.
Tyler searched the room, and the only thing he saw were students crying. “Where is Hannah?”
Linda perked her head up to find her. Hannah was easy to spot, but she couldn't find her. “And where is Dr. Smith?”
“Who cares about him?” Michael said.
“I do! Hannah and him are working together. I overheard them speaking in his office about things they did to some girls and how they can't be seen together anymore. Don't you think it is fishy that the both of them are not here right now, the same time someone was murdered?” Linda said as she felt someone squeezing in trying to sit next to her. She turned around to see who it was that was nearly sitting on her butt. “Um...”
“Oh, sorry...hi,” Adam said.
Linda beamed and ignored Michael. “Hi, Adam! Long time, no talk! I miss you.”
“Yeah,” he said as he tried to dry his jacket off from the rain.
“Why are you so wet?”
“I was outside,” he laughed and Linda laughed along with him.
She stared into his big blue eyes and felt her heart skip a beat. That never happened to her before—it was like love at first sight—except this wasn't the first time she'd seen him. She checked him out from head to toe—clean shoes, nice fitting jeans, plaid shirt, nice clean hair—he's perfect, she thought.
Michael tapped on Linda’s back, “Linda, we are going to find Hannah.”
She ignored him and gazed at her new love interest. “So, um, anything new going on in your life?”
“Besides basketball...no,” he said. “And college preparations. You?”
She nodded, “Same,” she lied. The only thing she cared about was that he didn't shove her away. At a typical sad moment, Linda was pretty darn happy.
“I see you're still friends with Lucy.”
“Um, yeah? Why wouldn't I be; she's like my best friend,” Linda laughed. “I know you guys broke up, but I mean, you can still hang out with us.”
“Nah, I'd rather avoid her as much as possible.”
“Eh, it w
as a bad breakup, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Lucy, Michael, and Tyler tried to stay out of the polices' way as they walked the dimmed halls. Every time they saw a blonde, they would all perk up thinking it was Hannah.
“Where is Linda?” Tyler said.
“She is talking to some boy,” Michael said, trying not to say it was Adam. “I guess he is more important to her than Hannah’s life.”
Hannah turned around as she heard Michael’s voice. She quickly went into a chemistry classroom, trying to avoid them. As they walked passed the room she was in, she sipped her fruit punch, accidentally letting it drip onto her new uniform.
“Crap!” she said as she walked out the room, to hurry to wipe it off.
Linda entered the building and pointed at Hannah, “There she is!”
Hannah sighed and turned around to face Linda who was already holding hands with Adam. “Adam?” she snapped.
“Yeah, this is Adam” Linda said, as she eyed Hannah's stained shirt.
“Um, yeah...does Lucy know about this?”
Linda ignored Hannah's last comment and pointed at her shirt. “What happened to your uniform?”
“What do you mean?” she said as she looked down. The stain was worst than she thought. “Oh, I spilled fruit punch on it.”
“Hmm...” she snapped. “Well, the gang was worried about you. I don't know why, since you're my main suspect,” she whispered. “I'm watching you.”
Hannah froze as Linda walked around her. She tried not to laugh, but did anyway. “What are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Um...okay?” she laughed, and then turned serious. “Why don't you come back with me? I’m going to find Lucy and Michael.”
“I'm hanging out with Adam now.” Linda ran off with Adam and Hannah couldn't help but feel worried.
Lucy spotted Hannah walking toward them and she felt relieved. Michael beamed as he saw she was okay. However, he felt sad again when he realized Linda was gone.
“Where is she?” Lucy said to Hannah.
“Where is who?” Hannah said.
“Linda?”
“She was with um...Adam.”
“The Adam?” Michael said. “He better not be—”
“No, he is like a big flirt. I have no idea why she is getting involved with him. A few days ago, I needed money for gas and he paid for it, but then he insisted to take me out,” Hannah said.
“He took you out?” Lucy gasped. “You went on a date with my Adam?”
“You guys broke up,” Hannah said. “But, I didn't do anything with him. It was innocent. I can't ignored Adam. I was friends with him before you two even met. I’ve known him since kindergarten. You said it was no big deal if we all talked to him.”
Lucy smiled, not worried about Adam. “I know. I’m not mad about that, but you can't date other people—”
Michael rolled his eyes, as he felt out the loop. “What's the big deal?”
“I have a boyfriend,” Hannah whispered.
“Since when?” he gasped. “How come I never know anything?”
“Well, he's a little older. I didn't want anyone to know because my mom would find out. Also, it's kind of embarrassing,” she said.
Michael looked at Lucy as if she were crazy. He couldn't believe Hannah was telling him that, “So, it's true?”
“What is true?” Hannah said as she tried to rub the fruit punch out her shirt.
“Linda said she saw you with him at a bar...”
Hannah chuckled, “Oh, gosh, she is so annoying. She followed me there and then got super wasted. I didn't want her to find out like that. And I know what you're going to say...he's older...I'm sure she told you everything by now!”
“Yeah, she did,” Michael said.
“Good. I felt so guilty not telling you guys.”
“We should go find Linda so we can go home. I’m freaked out being here. I still have that girl's dead image in my head,” Lucy shivered.
“I think we can all agree on that,” Michael said.
“I heard the girl who died was from the cheerleading team. I heard the police believe it's Susie Robin,” Hannah said. “If it is, I will cry all night. Why won't they stop!”
“I didn't know her too well,” Michael said. “But, when we talked she was nice.”
“She wasn't that nice,” Lucy said. “But, then again I only knew her from being on the team not outside of the school.”
“I agree,” Hannah said as she remembered Susie for her long blonde hair. “She wasn't too nice. She was pretty, but not nice.”
“Shh,” Michael snapped as he covered her mouth. “She's dead. Don't talk about dead people like that!”
Lucy and Hannah rolled their eyes, they hated being fake.
6 | Linda’s Mistake
Michael quickly swallowed down his slushy, as Linda and Adam walked ahead of him. The mall was surprisingly empty on a Saturday morning due to the recent murder that happened the night before. Usually on a Saturday, the mall was the only place people could get away from their lives. Now, only elder people, who were too demented to know what was going on, and younger teens were the only ones roaming the mall. Everyone was so frightened to walk outside and they had a right to be.
As expected, Michael didn't like the idea of Adam hanging out with the gang again. Mainly due to the fact that he felt as though he had to act more manly around him. “Let's go into Forever 21,” he said, not caring about Adam's thoughts anymore. Adam spent the whole summer with the gang, and it was obvious he knew Michael was gay.
Linda grabbed Adam's hand and they followed behind Michael. “So, did you talk to Hannah today?” she asked Michael.
“The last I heard from her was last night,” Michael mumbled as she scanned through the shirts. “Oh my gosh! You missed what she told me last night too.”
“What did she say?” Linda said as she stood next to Michael, waiting for him to speak. “Was she talking about me again?”
It wouldn't be a shock to Linda if Hannah was gossiping about her. Anytime Hannah got away from the gang, she tended to talk trash about Linda to the dance team. It didn't bother Linda because, well...she heard worse.
Michael turned to Linda, eyes huge with excitement. “She admitted to it—she admitted to being in a relationship with Dr. Smith—”
“Ew!” Adam said. “She is with him?”
“I guess so. Well, she didn't exactly say his name because people were around but she said she is dating an older man. She didn't want to tell us because it's embarrassing.”
“Hmm...did she talk about the murders?” Linda said.
“She knows about them?” Adam butted in. “How?”
“Well, from my research I believe she and Dr. Smith are the ones doing it. They're hiding it well because no one would suspect them to be the killers,” Linda explained. “It's quite obvious when you think about it.”
Adam laughed. “Really? Then, why haven't you told the police yet if it's true?”
“I know, she's crazy, but it's starting to make sense,” Michael said as he tried on some shades. “And by she, I mean Linda,” he joked.
Linda smacked Michael, “This is serious!”
“I am being serious.”
“Hannah was gone for six weeks. Where was she? She must have been planning the murders. Then, the news said that all of the people who died had bruises on their wrist. She has it too—”
Adam rolled his eyes, “The news is stupid. Those bruises are from a stupid game the jocks play. If Hannah was the murderer, why would she have the bruises? That doesn’t even make sense, Linda. Here give me your wrist...”
“Um...” She put her hand in Adam's hand and stared at him, wondering what his actions were.
Adam tied a thin string around Linda’s tiny wrist. He tightened it until Linda shoved him away. “Do you feel anything?”
“No, but it hurts,” she moaned as she snatched it off.
; “The jocks thinks it gets them high. Tomorrow I guaranteed you'll have a mark there.”
Michael rolled his eyes, “Interesting. Um, so you hang out with the jocks?”
“Um, not really. I just float around.”
“Well, we never see you around...you know...since you broke up with Lucy,” Linda said. “It sucks because you're totally legit to hang out with.”
“Why do you guys still hang out with Lucy?” Adam asked. “Isn't she like controlling?”
“Not really...I mean she can be a bitch, but who isn't in our group,” Linda laughed.
“Well, I guess I knew her differently,” Adam said. “Is she going away to college with you guys?”
“Um, I’m not sure,” Michael said. “Are you going to college?”
“I won't be staying here; if that's what you're wondering. I move all the time. I’ve been here for the last two years though,” he smiled. “I like it here, but I probably won't stay long. Everyone knows everything—it's annoying.”
“It's not too annoying if you have nothing to hide,” Michael said. “Well, unless you have something to hide.”
“I like to have secrets,” Adam winked.
Linda stared at Adam and then nodded that she had to pee. Michael followed behind her, as if he could go into the ladies restroom. As soon as she was out of Adam's sight, she punched Michael, “Stop it! You're pulling a Hannah!”
“What am I doing?” Michael whined as she smacked him harder.
“He's hitting on you. Oh gosh, I think he's gay!” she whined as they stepped outside the store.
“Oh no, I don't want to come out yet. My dad will kill me!”
“Stop it! No one said Adam is gay, I’m just assuming, since he winked at you. I don't know why I’m getting caught up with boys. I need to focus on more important things—like exposing Hannah and her lies.”
Michael elbowed Linda to shut up as he saw Tyler walking toward them. Tyler waved and smiled at Linda, trying to see if she were still mad at him. “Did you hear there will be no school on Monday?”
“Really?” Linda and Michael said. “Why?”
“Because the school is now a crime scene. They said the murderer had to be there on campus. I mean, they're thinking that maybe it might even be a staff member—”
