by Milda Harris
"Yeah," I nodded, feeling a cold sweat come on. I couldn't help but feel that Anne ending up in the hospital was half my fault. I had led a killer straight to us. "You?"
Anne nodded, "Took a few days, but much better."
"Good," I said and not knowing what to say commented on the movie she was watching, "Ethan Hawke is cute."
Of course, just saying the name Ethan made me think of my Ethan. My heart hurt. It couldn't be over between us. It had barely just started.
Anne nodded, not noticing that my head was already not in the conversation, "This movie is one of my comfort food movies. You just watch them talk about life for two hours. It's great."
I smiled, "Yeah... I should go up front."
I left Anne to watch her movie. I had my own things to think about and talk over in my head or better yet, avoid thinking about. I walked over to the counter and set down my bag. I felt like getting out my ereader and reading for fun to try and push out the Ethan thoughts, but I had too big of a mound of homework to finish to even consider that. I pulled out my Chemistry book and a worksheet I had to complete. I vaguely wished Kyle had let me copy his. I was all about learning, but I had a billion worksheets to make up. It was going to take me forever. I sighed and started on the first question.
It took me almost the entire night to finish the one worksheet. I could never afford to miss school again. I still had current homework from other classes to finish when I got home, not to mention my murder investigation work. I wondered if I should call Ethan. He hadn't tried to call me or anything. Not that I blamed him. I was the one that had messed up. It had been hours and I still couldn't think of a way to apologize. What was wrong with me? Why was I avoiding this? I couldn't wait much longer or Ethan might think I wasn't sorry. Did he already think that? I looked at my phone. I only had about thirty minutes until the store closed.
I'd call Ethan as soon as I got into my car after work. I couldn't let him think that I wasn't sorry. I just... No, I had to do it. Ethan was important to me. I had to say I was sorry to him and then I could expound on it and make it a huge apology as I went along. I wasn't beneath groveling. I had totally disregarded my promise to him. The fight was completely my fault. Yet, there was a small part of me that felt like looking into this mystery was something that I had to do. I pushed that away. No, my promise to Ethan should have been more important.
Just as I was thinking that I couldn't wait for work to be over so I could get all this Ethan thinking off my brain, I heard someone walk into the store. I froze and had a weird deja vu flashback. Ethan had walked into the store. It was just like the first time he walked into my life. I felt giddy and nervous and I didn't know what to do.
"I'm so sorry," I gushed and walked around the corner of the cashier counter toward him, not caring if Anne heard my blithering apology to Ethan.
Ethan walked toward me, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have made you promise. It wasn't fair of me to do that. I..."
Then suddenly we were kissing in the middle of the store. It was like a romantic movie moment in any of those great movies like Titanic or Gone With the Wind or Pride and Prejudice or Sixteen Candles. It was just me and Ethan and the kissing.
I heard Anne clear her throat and I jumped away from Ethan, guiltily.
"I'm so sorry, Anne," I said, feeling my cheeks burning bright red. This was so unlike me to make out with a guy at work. Oh, who was I kidding? This was really the first opportunity I had to do that and I totally went for it. I just couldn't believe I had done it at work. I had such good intentions when I got there to do nothing scandalous or flaky, but so much for good intentions.
Anne looked between us and frowned trying not to crack a smile, "Just wait until your shift is over."
I nodded and whispered to Ethan, "See you in twenty."
Ethan grinned and walked out of the store. I went back to the counter and packed up my things. Homework was over for the night. All I could think about was kissing Ethan. After about a minute, my thoughts returned back to normal. Was our fight over? Who won? Was it okay if I continued investigating the murder? Or, by kissing Ethan had I told him my promise to not investigate was back on? I was really confused. Was this a we need to talk moment? Because I kind of dreaded saying those words to Ethan.
Anne told me to leave about five minutes early. I was done with all the usual close up tasks and pacing, waiting for Anne to pack up and leave the store with me, like was the norm for closing. I think I was getting too antsy for Anne to take. I grabbed my bag and forced myself not to run out of the store. Ethan didn't need to know how eager slash nervous I was, after all. It was important that I act totally normal.
I walked out of the store and saw Ethan's car parked on the street, a little ways down. I left my car in the parking lot and walked to his and knocked on his window. He unlocked his doors and I got into the car, feeling suddenly first date nervous.
"Hey," I said automatically and then felt stupid.
Ethan smiled and leaned in toward me. Then we were kissing again. I could totally get used to this making up after an argument thing. It was totally amazing and awesome and great. I'd even give up Wired's peanut butter banana milkshakes if it meant this could last longer. And, then suddenly I was pulling away from Ethan. What was wrong with me?
"Um," I managed, my brain trying to assemble its thoughts into a cohesive statement, "Where do we stand on the whole investigating Madison's murder issue?"
Ethan looked at me blankly like he didn't understand what I was saying at first. Wow, did me kissing him have that effect on him too? I felt a giddy happiness in my stomach, but it quickly disappeared as I started worrying about why Ethan wasn't answering my question.
"So?" I prodded.
"Uh," Ethan ran a hand through his hair. It was great hair, but I stopped myself from running my hands through it and getting both of us distracted. Ethan took a ragged breath. "I'm not thrilled with the whole investigating thing, but..."
I could take a but! What was the but? Ethan was hesitating again, like he was deciding something.
"But what?" I asked.
Ethan frowned at me, "But I'd like to investigate with you."
I was surprised. That was so not something negative. I'd rather have Ethan on the case with me, holding my hand, stealing kisses, making out in parked cars. Oh wait, we didn't need to be investigating a case to do that. I smiled.
Ethan smiled back at me and I felt a weight lift off of my chest, "You can be like my sidekick."
Ethan's smile quickly turned into a frown, "What about partner?"
I smiled at him, feeling silly. "Nah, sidekick. Definitely sidekick."
Ethan looked at me sideways, studying me and then I saw the corners of his mouth turn up wryly, "You want me to be a wacky sidekick, don't you?"
"Yeah," I grinned. "That would be pretty great."
Ethan looked at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Should I wear a costume?" Ethan asked.
"Sure!" I said, thinking of all the cute Ethan costume sidekick possibilities. There was something adorable about the thought of seeing him in a cape like a superhero or a trench coat like Mulder and Scully wore in The X-Files.
"Okay. So, just one more thing then: What's the pay for a good sidekick these days?" Ethan asked as seriously as he could, but I could tell he was trying not to smile.
"Kisses!" I said, taking the bait, and leaned in toward him.
Ethan laughed and kissed me back and then pulled away to look at me, "So, where are you in the investigation anyway?"
I recapped all of what I knew so far to Ethan. I was glad when he stopped me to claim that even he had thought Julia Morgan coming onto him was really weird because he had never talked to her before and that, just in case I wanted to know, he was not at all interested in her. Good.
Other than that, Ethan listened and nodded in all the right places and didn't distract me with kissing even once. At least, not until after I was done giving him all the details.
<
br /> As we broke off from kissing again, Ethan looked at me seriously. "So, you still haven't talked to Casey Hunt, then?"
"No," I said. "She hasn't been at school. I heard she was out sick."
"I think I can get to her," Ethan said.
"Really?" I asked. "How?"
Ethan shrugged, "We used to date."
I felt my stomach drop out from under me. I had just been feeling so confident and un-jealous about our dating relationship. That was fast. Now my stomach was churning wearily.
I didn't know that Ethan had dated Casey. Where was I when that happened? I mean, I hadn't been stalking him or anything, but surely I would have heard they were going out if they had been an item.
"When did you date her?" I asked.
"Freshman year," Ethan said, "But we're cool now. I have a plan."
I was definitely not going to like this plan. I was not going to like it at all. Not even one little bit. My stomach hurt. No, I was so not going to like this plan, even if I knew that we had to talk to Casey Hunt to move forward in the investigation. Maybe I really should have dropped the case instead of having Ethan join me in murder solving. We didn't really need to talk to Casey did we?
Chapter 11: Eavesdropping
I didn't sleep well. Then I got up early to try and look extra good for meeting up with Casey Hunt after school. Well, the looking good part was actually for Ethan, but I also wanted to look amazing standing next to Casey, or at least my very best attempt at looking amazing. It was a bit of a disaster instead. I tried to curl my hair and ended up with some burnt hair. It smelled totally bad. Then when I made myself some maple brown sugar oatmeal, I spilled some on myself, so I had to change my shirt. I really was not having luck with keeping food off of my clothes lately. It was not a good morning. I hoped my luck would turn by the time Ethan and I met up with Casey.
On the bus on my way to school, I looked over my investigation notebook. Besides wanting to talk to Casey and keeping my eyes open for anyone - guy or girl - wearing red high top Chuck Taylors, I also wanted to talk to Madison's date to the dance, Sebastian Zane. I wasn't sure how that was going to happen, even though I knew what he looked like from a quick glance at my yearbook this morning. I just had no idea where to run into him or if I did, how to approach him. After my run-ins with Noah and Julia, I was kind of weary of talking to anyone in the student body about the murder.
I got to school about ten minutes before the bell was going to ring for first period. I threw the books I didn't need into my locker and got out the ones I did and decided to walk the halls looking for Sebastian. It couldn't hurt. I could decide if I wanted to talk to him or not after I found him.
I was busy walking randomly down a hallway near where my Chemistry class was on my search, when I heard it. I didn't normally follow gossip, but my ears caught this piece and took it in.
"And, I can't believe that Julia Morgan swept in and became Pep Club President. It's just so unfair. She hasn't even been to any of the meetings this year even if her name is on the roster," a girl with long black hair was saying to her friend.
"Why? Did you want to be President?" her friend with a short pixie cut and flaming red hair asked.
The black haired girl paused, "Yeah, you know, I would. It's my senior year. I've been to every meeting and yeah, I mean, it would look good on my college applications. I might have been the next in line for it. I know Madison would never have wanted Julia to take over for her. I might have to quit now. I hate Julia. She totally went after Paul last year. This totally sucks."
I had to keep walking, but I really wanted to pay more attention to their conversation. I glanced around, but there was nowhere within earshot for me to hang around near the two girls gossiping without being noticed. In addition, the crowd of students was rapidly thinning out since the five minute warning bell was about to ring to signal that students should get to their classes. So I kept walking, my brain flying with thoughts.
Julia had gotten the Pep Club Presidency just like she'd wanted. It was definitely a plus for her that Madison was out of the way. I'd also admit that Julia hadn't left the best impression on me with the way she'd decided to torment me by coming onto Ethan at lunch the day before. I could definitely see why she and Madison might have stopped being friends in the first place.
The warning bell rang and brought me out of my thoughts. I headed to my first class, still not having found Sebastian. I'd keep looking for him and anyone with red Chuck Taylor high tops. So far black ones seemed the most popular, though. That was good, since it meant if I found someone with red high tops, they might actually be the killer. Or they'd be a really good witness, at the very least. Still, with the short time window Ariel had given me, it was looking like Red High Tops was the only person who would have had the time and access to kill Madison.
My classes until lunch flew by. Kyle and Suzie shot each other goo-goo eyes all of Chemistry and I tried to ignore them. They were almost too gushy at this point. I sure hoped Ethan and I weren't like this. Just the thought of Ethan, though, made me wish it was already lunchtime. I wanted to see him! It hadn't even been twenty-four hours and I was already craving his presence. What was wrong with me? Maybe Ethan and I were just as grossly lovey-dovey as Kyle and Suzie. Oh well. I was a happy hypocrite.
I felt a little nervous walking into lunch. I didn't want either Noah or Julia to join Ethan and I at lunch today. I still wondered if Ethan was weary about me investigating Madison's murder despite what he said the night before in the car. I would understand it if he was still bothered by it. I mean, Liz's death wasn't that long ago and it had to bring up some unhappy thoughts. I hoped Ethan knew he could talk to me about it.
Then I worried if Ethan would actually sit with me at lunch again. We hadn't actually discussed it. And, it had never been a permanent thing. The thing was, I didn't relish sitting alone at lunch anymore. Prior to Ethan I had enjoyed the time alone, using the lunch hour to read or finish homework, but it was much more fun to hang out at lunch and talk to Ethan than eat cheese fries by myself and read a book.
I felt a huge wave of relief wash over me as I saw that Ethan was already sitting at my lunch table, waiting for me. I had to act normal, though. I couldn't let him know he affected me like this.
I walked up to him and set down my books, "Hey."
Ethan looked up from his sandwich, "Hey."
I walked to the lunch line and started breathing again. I still felt like things were on tender hooks. I knew we had just made up from our fight only the night before and that technically we weren't anything yet anyway, but it just felt like so much was at stake even with simple word exchanges. Did all relationships feel like this? I quickly grabbed a healthy slice of pizza and a pop and hurried back to Ethan.
All it took was those five minutes for the whole school day to change. I was barely at my lunch table when the intercom buzzed on.
"Classes, after school activities, and sports are cancelled for today. Busses will be waiting outside shortly," The principal said.
My mind shorted out. The last time we had been forced to leave the school someone had been murdered. I walked to Ethan in a daze. He stared at me with what I thought was a similar expression.
"It sounds like someone died," I said.
Ethan nodded as if in slow motion, "I just heard it was Julia Morgan."
Chapter 12: Ex-Girlfriend Conning
Even though Julia had made a bad impression on me, I would not have wished her dead. This was insane. Two people in the span of days, both killed while they were technically in school. I wouldn't blame people for starting to ditch at this point. You might be safer in an out of school suspension, at home, or out on the town. The murderer definitely had to be someone in the student body. Well, unless it was a faculty member or a parent.
Ethan and I were forced to toss out our lunches without eating much of them. We quickly made plans to meet at 3:30 pm and carry out our plan to talk to Casey Hunt, despite the insanity of the day's event
s. I wanted to ride the bus home and listen to the gossip, actually. Even if the faculty said nothing, the other students might know what happened to Julia. It now seemed even more imperative that our investigation continued. In fact, we needed to hurry up and find the murderer before they killed someone else.
According to the gossip I heard running rampant on the bus, this was what happened to Julia. She had been seen in her first two classes, bragging about the Pep Club Presidency. Well, only one girl said that on the bus, but I'm sure it was true. Then just before first lunch hour, Julia got a pass and she went five minutes down the street to pick up a bunch of cupcakes some mom baked for a Pep Club bake sale that had been organized to happen at lunch. It was Julia's first duty as president and her only duty. Julia never made it back to school because the brake lines in her car had been cut and she careened into a brick wall. Of course, I'm sure the police were still investigating the exact cause of the collision and it hadn't been ruled a murder yet. The school, with another tragedy, had gone by the books and cancelled classes. The two deaths were totally connected, of that, I was sure. Why else would two Pep Club presidents die within the span of days? Someone definitely didn't have school spirit.
I was having trouble processing the fact that Julia was dead even though I didn't much like her. I was probably in shock. I knew the whole school had to be. The obvious secondary connection between the two girls was that they had been best friends at some point. I wondered which connection - the Pep Club presidency or their friendship was the important common link. Unless, of course, I was missing some information and there was another connection. Still, I wouldn't be rearing to become Pep Club president anytime soon. It seemed like it was turning out to be a deadly job.
I was home at a little after 1:30 pm. That gave me about two hours before Ethan came to pick me up. I spent the time touching up my hair and makeup and doing some online research. I glanced at old Facebook posts between Julia and Madison and they seemed like they had been really good friends, until they completely stopped being friends, even on Facebook. I looked at their friends in common, but that was really no help. They were both friends with half the school. It was too many people for me to weed through if we hoped to find the killer anytime in the next six months, much less the next few days. Besides, they might not be friends with the killer. Oh, who was I kidding, it could be anyone. I was still gunning for Red High Tops, though.
