Beechwood Academy

chapter seven

"Sammy thinks I'm in the bathroom, so this better be quick." Duncan said as he speed-walked towards where Wren and Rudy stood in the middle of the courtyard. Rudy looked terrified, as if he was worried they'd be caught after hours by a teacher while Wren looked completely and utterly calm.

"It's not necessarily a short story," Wren mumbled sharing a look with Rudy. Rudy gave her an encouraging nod and she turned to Duncan. "Jared was Sammy's first roommate and his first real friend, the two were inseparable. I wasn't even enrolled in this school yet, but it didn't take me long to figure out how close he and Sammy were. Then, Rudy came along." Wren looked at Rudy as if telling him to continue the story.

Rudy took a long deep breath in and continued where Wren left off. "We met in drama class, we were all cast as pirates in Peter Pan. Jared was the reason Sammy and I became friends. . .Sammy accepted us."

Duncan furrowed his eyebrows in confused. "Jared was your boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Rudy said, his voice barely above a whispered. "I fell in love with that idiot."

Wren took over, "Jared disappeared as soon as the curtains closed the night of the play and nobody has seen him since. Rudy thinks he's dead but Sammy holds out on this useless hope that he's alive."

"Okay, but you said that Sam didn't want to tell me this because I would see him differently. I don't understand." Duncan looked up at Rudy and noticed the boy's eyes turn glossy.

"Sammy was the prime suspect in Jared's case, he was the last person to see him alive." Rudy said, his voice cracking on Sammy's name. "Jared was being weird the days leading up to the play, he would stare into space and he wouldn't show up to class sometimes. We thought he was nervous, but then he stopped calling Sammy "Sam." Jared was the only person, besides you, to call Sammy that. Susie brought that up after lunch your first day, she said that you reminded her a lot of Jared and we all laughed it off."

It took a few seconds for Duncan to comprehend the words, but when he did Wren cut him off before he could speak. "I don't know if you noticed this, but Sammy always notices when you're quiet and I'll catch him looking at you just to make sure you're still there. He's afraid that he's cursed or something and he thinks your in danger just because you're his roommate." Wren watched Duncan cautiously, worried of how he would comprehend these things.

"Who do you think killed Jared?" Duncan asked, looking up at his friends. They could tell he wanted to know Jared's fate just as bad as the rest of them.

Rudy and Wren shared a glance. "Miss Drake." They spoke in unison.

"What? Wh—"

"What the bloody hell are you doing out here?" Sammy's whisper-yell interrupted their conversation and Duncan saw Rudy silently curse to himself.

"Hey mate, how've you been?" Rudy said with an innocent half-hearted smile.

"I saw you two hours ago." Sammy scoffed.

"A lot can happen in two hours," Rudy said, laughing nervously.

Sammy turned to Duncan. "What are you doing out here?"

"He's fine, Sammy. You don't have to worry so much." Wren gave Duncan an I told you so look. Sammy looked around the courtyard as if expecting to see someone else watching them, Duncan followed his gaze but found no one.

"We need to get back to the dorms, all of us." Sammy grabbed Duncan wrist and tried to pull him back but Duncan stood his ground, pulling his arm away from Sammy's grasp.

"No, Sam. You don't get to jerk me around like I'm your dog. I deserve to know why you're so secretive, I deserve to know what happened to your last roommate." Duncan backed away, glaring daggers at Sammy. Everyone went silent, none of them had ever heard Duncan speak like that to anyone.

Sammy hesitated. "I'm sorry I don't want to tell you how I got my best friend killed, okay? Bloody hell, I wish Rudy and Wren didn't know about it!"

"It wasn't your fau—"

"Like hell it wasn't!" Sammy practically screamed at Rudy, cutting the ginger off and causing him to jump back in surprise. Sammy's body suddenly tensed and Duncan was the only one that noticed. He followed the blond's gaze to a slim feminine figure standing by the wall of the main building, watching them.

"Miss Drake. . ." Duncan mumbled casting a look to Sammy. "You think she did it too, or better yet you know she did."

"We need to go back inside." Sammy started to walk, ignoring Duncan's remark. Duncan following close behind Sammy.

"She did something to you too, didn't she?" Duncan yelled, making sure Sammy could hear. "What did she do to you, Sam?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sammy mumbled.

"I can see how scared you are when she's near. She hurt you, I can see it in your eyes." Duncan's voice was lower now as Rudy and Wren caught up to them. Sammy suddenly stopped and Duncan nearly crashed into him.

"Keep quiet or you are going to get yourself killed. You don't understand and you don't need to, just leave it alone, Duncan." Sammy said in such a low voice that only Duncan could hear. Duncan stopped walking and let Sammy go ahead. Wren and Rudy stopped at the American boy's side.

"I knew he'd be upset but not this upset." Rudy mumbled, wrapping an arm around Duncan's neck and leading him forward. Duncan didn't speak, he didn't have words to describe what he was feeling. He was angry, vengeful, sad, and curious all in one and the only way he could have express that was by being absolutely silent.