ATTENHILTE ACADEMY | developing

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT

A few days had passed and the energy at Bluebird Academy was still at an all time low.

Noelle was sat on the library floor, her face buried in the chemistry textbook in an attempt to absorb all the information for her upcoming test.

She was failing miserably at it.

It was an ongoing battle. Everytime she closed her eyes, or tried to concentrate on something, the image of poor Avani Parikh floating overhead came to mind.

Avani's eyes always looked like polished amber, just as the sunlight hit it but that night, even Noelle could see the light leaving them. They were turning dull and lifeless.

The image caused goosebumps to race up her skin. Avani had left school, taken some time off to recover and stay safe incase there was another attempt on her life.

They were never really friends, more academic rivals than anything but Noelle truly hoped that she was alright, and that she would recover soon enough.

More than anything, Noelle hoped that the killer would be found so that everybody would stop living in fear.

Like usual, the library was practically empty, with the exception of a fairly loud group of freshmen girls sat at the biggest table.

Noelle was never the type to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, but their tumultuous voices echoing throughout the library was making it increasingly difficult to not overhear.

"They say it was Seth Grayson, the senior boy." One of the girls said, piquing Noelle's interest.

It was the one with the pale skin and bob-cut who said that. "Well, who else could it have been? He's the only one in the school powerful enough to do something like that! Plus, haven't you heard? His father was Tempest!" The crowd erupted into a sequence of gasps, as they all turned to the other girl who spoke. This one had curly hair and an overbite.

"It has to be him." They all agreed in unison, finally, Ms. Keating, the librarian put a stop to their rambling when she hissed out a very intimidating "shhhhhhhhh!" from her desk, her sapphire gaze shooting daggers at the girls all the way across the room.

Noelle closed her book upon the realization that she wouldn't be getting any studying done tonight. Maybe she was in need of some counseling, but she fought the urge to talk about the incident on a daily basis in fear that her friends were tired of hearing about it.

She knew she wasn't supposed to feel that way, those were her friends, after all, but she couldn't help it. There was nothing she hated more than feeling like a nuisance or a bother to other people.

She got up from the floor, dusting herself off before grabbing her bookbag on the chair. Her phone said it was now 6pm, which was the time scheduled for her group meeting regarding their next assignment.

The other members would be showing up soon.

Instead of disadvantaging herself by leaving she opted to stay seated and wait. Her eyes wandered out into the scenery outside her window.

The sky was dull and gloomy, with clouds whirling around like they would finally give the setting sun an opportunity to showcase its beauty, only to cover it up with more clouds.

It had been like that for the last couple of days, since the incident really. Noelle wasn't sure if she loved or hated it.

There were many things she wasn't sure about, she realised, but one thing she knew for certain was that Seth Grayson most definitely wouldn't try to kill Avani Parikh. In fact, she would vouch to believe that he wouldn't try to kill anyone at the school.