Small World | Peter Parker

chapter eight

Michelle and I decided to meet right after school, both of us hoping we'd get as much done with our assignment today. She explained she works on the weekends and weekdays, and she's exhausted by the end of her shift. She told me she works at a diner near the school. I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the diner, but I knew it was the same one that I was instructed to go to this morning.

We found a quiet area in the library, and she took out her laptop. I asked her what the stickers on her laptop meant, and she explained each one - bands and movies she loved.

I sat in the chair next to her, looking at the laptop screen. She had already written a paragraph of the assignment, and she asked me to read it. "It's good," I said after reading it.

"Great," she mumbled as she looked around. "Do you think Liz is coming?"

"Uh," I looked around and shrugged. "I hope so,"

"Did she read our messages?"

"Not sure," I grabbed my phone and checked the group chat. Liz hadn't read any of our messages since creating the group chat. "We'll catch her up,"

Michelle nodded, and we sat in silence, reading the assigned work. We spent nearly an hour working on our assignment before we decided to call it for today.

"I can't believe Liz bailed," I muttered.

"Yeah," she sighed. We packed our stuff, the silence between us awkward. I felt bad for Michelle. It sucks being in a group with a member who lets others do all the work. "She's different since the thing about her dad,"

"How so?" Michelle finished packing her stuff.

"She quit the debate team after the news of her dad broke out, and her mom took her out of school for a bit. When she came back, she acted like nothing happened," She explained as we walked toward the exit. "Liz was always popular too, so when she came back, she was getting more attention. Plus, her mom is always out of town, and she throws a lot more parties."

"And both girls disappeared at her parties?"

"Uh, not sure at the parties. It could be after," Michelle shrugged. We were nearing the front entrance. "I know it's none of my business, but I still worry about her,"

"Were you close?"

"Not really, but we talked, you know," she shrugged.

"Did she really date that guy Dion?"

"Yeah," she shook her head. "He was a nice guy in middle school before he joined the football team,"

"I guess I'll see you later," I pulled out my cellphone and sent a message to Liz. "I'm supposed to meet Liz anyways. I'll ask her why she didn't come,"

Michelle gave me a thin smile. "It's not hard to be a nice person," She muttered. "And Liz hasn't been one in a while, so I don't care if she helps out with our assignment,"

I felt my mouth drop. "I think Liz's just going through a lot," I tried to reason, but I agreed with Michelle.

"See, that's the difference between you and me," Michelle smiled. "You see the good in people,"

"Aw, come one," I rolled my eyes. "I don't know about that. I mean, Liz was the first person to talk to me at this school - sure, she was asked to give me a tour, but still,"

"A lot's changed here at Midtown in a short couple of months, too many bad things happening to people, and just be careful alright - hanging out with her," I must have looked confused. "There's a lot of sketchy people who go to her parties, and she's hanging out with all the wrong people,"

"What kind of bad things?" I asked her after a moment of contemplating what she said.

We were still standing in the same spot. I motioned her to walk with me. There weren't any seating areas in front of the school, so I sat on the steps. Michelle sat with me without protest. "More kids are experimenting with drugs - a bunch of the guys on the football team got suspended because they failed their drug tests, and we've had at least two people overdose within two months," she sighed.

The sun was still out, but I felt cold. There was a slight cool breeze, and my sweater was too thin to offer any warmth. I would have to change before I met Peter and Ned. "And this Dion guy, was he suspended too?"

"Yeah, actually, and his girlfriend pressed charges against him for assault," Michelle continued. She had a coat, a large oversized jean jacket, and she pulled it tighter around her. "Lela's the sweetest girl ever. I couldn't believe Dion would ever touch her like that,"

"What about the other girl - isn't there two girls who went missing?"

"Abigal, I didn't know her, but she was on the cheerleading team," Michelle picked at a loose thread on her coat sleeve. "She went to all of Liz's parties and posted about drinking or smoking on her social media page every weekend."

"And what do you know about what happened?"

"You are curious, huh?" She laughed. "I guess, being new here, it makes you wonder what happened,"

"I can only learn so much on the news," I laughed along with her, hoping that I played it off. "Sorry, we don't have to talk about it," I suggested, and she shook her head. "I guess it's a tough subject,"

"Don't worry about it," she shrugged. "I just hope they find the girls alive,"

"Hey, do you want to come to the movies with us?"

Michelle looked down at her watch. "I have to run home and cook supper for my family,"

"Oh, that's fine, but I think we're catching the last movie,"

"Why not?" She smiled. "Text me when and where,"