Amateurs

Chapter 3 - Hellos and Goodbyes

~Cato~

Cato watched the man walk away, annoyed. Clearly he wasn't the... nicest person alive. He scowled. Then he had to stifle a laugh. Sienna was giving him the death glare, her wide brown eyes narrowed into slits. She was crazy.

"Try not to murder more than two people today," he said to his friend.

"Please, if I had been trying, they'd be d-" Sienna started to speak but stopped. She was watching the ambulance drive away. Cato looked back at her and was surprised to see her eyes watering slightly. She cleared her throat. "I gotta go," she said. She walked away quickly.

Well, that was weird. President Miller had been a great person, and Sienna had been one of her favorite students, but she was a complete wreck today. Cato was concerned.

Suddenly Terry was next to him. "Did you hear? They already decided when to hold the burial, tomorrow. I guess they already have a coffin ready and everything. Seems like they really want to get this over with."

"Yeah. Could it be a teacher? It seems like... well, who else could it be?"

By the look on his friend's face, they didn't know any better than he did.

~~~~~

"It wasn't me!" Cato heard a voice. "I didn't do anything! Ask Professor Wick, I was in class when it happened. You've got no proof, anyway."

He looked down and saw Stacey Bartez having a shouting match with Roger Judge. Stacey had come to the school on a grant. She had been forced by her parents to help them with robberies and other crimes, and by coming here, she was turning over a new leaf. Miller had been the one who fought for her. No way she had done anything. "Bartez, what's going on?"

"This a****** thinks I did it! No way! What the h*** is wrong with you?"

"You have a criminal record! I'm just doing what's right. I don't believe a word you say," the detective continued. "You live a life of crime and then come here for free. Why? I say you wanted to murder Miller!"

This was so stupid that Cato opened his mouth and started to retaliate, "You have literally no proof! Nothing matches, except that she was forced to rob a place. Murder? You're out of your mind."

He stalked off, leaving Judge to glare at him. He turned to Stacey and Cato heard him say, "I know you did it, and as soon as I have proof, you're going away for a long time."

He really had to solve the mystery now.

~~~~~

He found Terry, and recounted what happened for them. They were annoyed as well, and the two talked about who it could possibly be.

"Hi Terry," said a voice.

The two turned around and saw Amy, Terry's girlfriend. She looked upset. "What's wrong?" Terry asked, concerned.

"Well, I- I saw the person going into the building. I didn't really think anything of it... but I could have stopped this!" she said, and laughed humorlessly. "This is awful." She was almost hysterical.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. There was nothing you could have done in the time before they killed her. C'mon, do you want to tell someone what you saw? It might help them catch the criminal," Terry said consolingly.

"Good plan," Amy smiled. Terry put their arm around her and the two walked away.

"And I'm alone," Cato rolled his eyes. He was really happy for Terry, but he felt like a third wheel in moments like these. Now to find his other friend.

~~~~~

He already knew where Sienna was. He walked a little bit until he saw an immense weeping willow, with limbs brushing the cold ground. It was winter, so the leaves were gone, but empty boughs hung down, sheltering the trunk from view completely. He pulled up an armful of sweeping branches and entered, letting them swing back into place behind him. Sure enough, a small person with long reddish hair was sitting with her back to him. He walked closer to his friend. Sienna was drawing a hawk, and it was perfect except for the splotches on the paper. She had been crying. "Sienna?"

Her head snapped around. Her eyes were a bit red. "Oh, hi, Cato." She sounded like she had a bad cold.

"Hey, are you okay?" Cato asked gently.

She sighed. "Not-not really. Have I ever told you about my parents?"

"No," said Cato. He had never asked because he didn't want to make her sad, but he had always been curious.

"Well, on my seventeenth birthday, they went out to get dinner or something, to surprise me. And while they were driving, a drunk driver hit them. They both died, and I-I never g-got to s-say g-goodbye," she paused here. "I came here, and Miller sort of became my mother figure. She was my role model, and I genuinely liked her. And now this, and I just-" she broke off here, and tears rolled down her cheeks. When she continued, her voice was higher and vulnerable. "I don't know what to do. It's not fair."

Cato sat down and hugged her. Sienna put her arms around him and kept crying, but less hard. "Thanks," she whispered.

~~~~~

The next day was the burial. The students wore whatever formal, warm clothing they could scrounge up, the result being that instead of a somber, dark feel, it had a happy mood. Most people wore colored outfits, the exception being the people who brought tuxedos because they were just that rich. All Cato had managed to find was a tie, a white button down shirt, and khakis. At least he wasn't wearing an orange polo shirt with jeans and a puffy jacket.

The sky was iron gray and a relentless breeze was causing everyone to shiver. Maybe the jacket would have been a better idea. Cato scanned the crowd for his friends. Terry was standing with Amy, and both of them were crying silently. Sienna was standing across from him, staring at the ground with intense hatred.

No one really paid any attention to the service until they were each instructed to shovel a bit of dirt onto the coffin in the ground. When the coffin was buried, they stepped back. Cato whispered, "Goodbye."

Almost immediately, every other student repeated it.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."