Overcomplicated.

Chapter 2

Janet looks up from her laptop. She takes off her glasses and rubs her eyes, sighing deeply. She has been confined to the library for 2 hours straight, editing her speech for tonight's vigil. She buries her head in her hands and for a moment, thinks of how Dariela's disappearance is the sole reason she's stuck here. Dariela was her boyfriend's ex, and ever since her disappearance, it was like a fog had enveloped him. The intensity of his depression increased, his physical health suffered, and he spent days on end in bed, staring at the ceiling. The few times she tried to get him to talk, he repeated the same line: "Dariela can't be gone", followed by an onslaught of tears. In an attempt to bring him back to normal, she hastily promised to say a few words at Dariela's vigil tonight. It warmed her heart, seeing his eyes light up with appreciation. She reminded herself of that memory every time she considered going back on her promise.

The library is normally jam-packed with students, frantically searching for books on the subjects they needed. But it is just her today. The principal cancelled all classes for the day and told all the students to help with Dariela's vigil. Whether it was purchasing the many candles needed, providing coffees for all the attendees, making cards for students who wanted to write final words, collecting money for Dariela's family, everyone had a part. Janet had also offered to help with flyers, even though she didn't see the need for them. Social media had broadcasted the news to everyone in the state. Not to mention the worldwide fans of Unsolved Mysteries, who tuned in to the latest episode. But as long as I'm looked at as nothing more than a grieving classmate, I'd be okay doing flyers.

She is awoken from her "thinking trance" by the door bursting open and Skylar appearing. She is out of breath and holding her "Fingersmith" novel in her hand. Janet sighs again, puts on her glasses and waits for Skylar to come to her.

"Make it quick, I've got things to do", Janet spits out before she could stop herself. She puts a hand to her mouth, but Skylar doesn't seem to notice.

"Just look at this!", Skylar fumes, waving her book in Janet's face. Janet grabs it and examines it, and then her eyes widen in confusion and surprise.

Oh God, I hope Frankie hasn't gone off again, she thinks. Then she pauses for a minute. Something like that had happened to her this morning too, after she had left Skylar's dorm room. She went to her room to get her phone, and on her poster of Mira K, someone wrote John 8:32 in bold, black letters. She wasn't religious, but she knew the contents of that scripture:

"The truth will set you free."

"Earth to Janet?" Skylar is now sitting opposite her, waiting for a reply. "Sorry, just thinking about something," Janet mutters sheepishly. "You thought about what I said? About you coming to Dariela's vigil tonight?"

Skylar shifts uncomfortably, her hazel eyes focusing on the stickers on Janet's laptop. "I'm....gonna go. Not for her parents though. Since everyone knows how tight Dariela and I used to be, it'd be suspicious if I didn't show."

Janet is aware that Skylar's just making excuses, but she is relieved either way. She knows the rocky relationship between Skylar and Dariela's parents, and she almost cries at how brave her friend is. And was. She shakes that foreign thought from her mind and then turns her attention back to the defaced page.

Definitely written in permanent marker. Black. Typical. Could the person who wrote this in Sky's book be the same person who defaced my poster with the scripture?

The same theme, about "the truth." Like we're both....hiding something? I mean, I know about mine, but what does Sky have to do with this? What isn't she telling?

"You're hiding something. This person obviously knows that, and they want you to speak up." Janet looks at Skylar intensely.

"That's the thing, how do they know?"Skylar insists.