Betrayal of Wisteria ✓

1

"Class, as you know, we lost one of our students last night. I know it must have hurt you all so we're going to take a break from work for the week and pick up on Monday. If any of you need to talk, I'm always available. Remember, if you have any information on what happened, you need to speak up immediately." The math teacher projected. She sounded as if she felt no pain from losing her student and was merely talking about it to appease the class who also showed the least bit of care. "And be careful on your way home! Don't walk alone. Have your parents or a sibling wait for you outside of school. If they can't, go home with a friend until someone can get you."

The soft air from the central air blew into the classroom, causing goosebumps to rise on the students' skin. The sun shone through the large window, creating a warm glow, and the petals from the cherry blossom trees danced around the sky outside like a pop of confetti on someone's birthday.

The beautiful spring weather contrasted with the solemn aura that ghosted through the school halls. Soft murmurs were heard when walking past each classroom. Since there was no school work, the students were allowed to talk — the most popular topic being the death of their classmate, Qi Qiao.

No one knew much about her death seeing as it'd only been a day since her body was found — just a few blocks away from the school. She'd been beaten to death and was nearly unrecognizable, her face bashed in so far and her teeth so severely damaged her dental records were of no use. The only thing that identified her was the bracelet she always wore around her wrist and the tiny Turkmenistan shaped birthmark on her waist.

Her mother's scream could be heard miles away when she had to identify her daughter. The scene would go on to haunt her for years, the white sheet draped across her precious Qi Qiao's body fluttering from the bed and wrapping around her throat to silence her wails of heartbreak—and her husband's thin arms doing nothing to catch her falling body, only taking his trembling form down with her.

"Zhen Jie, did you hear about Little Qi?" Mo Chen asked. "I heard she was raped before she was murdered."

"No, I didn't hear," Zhen Jie said softly. "This is my first time hearing of it. No."

Zhen Jie's head hung low, somberly. She was disgusted and disturbed with how Mo Chen could talk about rape and murder so loosely. Especially about Qi Qiao — someone they both talked to daily. However, she couldn't expect anything less from her friend. The entire school was insensitive about the topic, not sparing the deceased girl an ounce of remorse and spitting the gruesome details of her murder to one another.

Zhen Jie wasn't very close with Qi Qiao, but they did talk from time to time. She didn't consider Qi Qiao a friend, but Qi Qiao considered her one. She was ashamed that she didn't appreciate the girl's effort to be friends while she was still there, but there was no one to blame but herself.

"Have you been going to your speech classes? You seem to have gotten worse." Mo Chen asked teasingly. She rested her chin on her hand, her muted pink nails tapping against it gently as she hummed for a response.

Zhen Jie had been in speech classes since she was a kid. She spoke softly and oftentimes repeated herself — other times having a bad stutter. She didn't learn how to talk until halfway through middle school so her speech was still at a low level and it was one of her biggest insecurities. She'd say a sentence, reword it in her head, and say it again so it could make more sense. She was kind of like a toddler in a way when she spoke. Recently, after her father lost his job, she decided to give up her speech classes to save money.

They didn't seem to work much anyway.

"No, I don't go," She said. "I haven't been going, no."

"It's okay... sorry for teasing," Mo Chen apologized after taking in the girl's expression. "Have you ever had a boyfriend? Do you know what that is?"