Not Her | ONC 2022

| chapter four |

Nora shifted closer to Leigh as the video began to play. It started with both of them strolling into the frame, Nora holding hands with Aubrey, and Leigh couldn't help but shoot a questioning look to Nora, who just arched an eyebrow at her. 

Leigh quickly turned back to the video. Now was the time to pay attention. Aubrey had stopped at the intersection, standing at the street across from the camera. Nora's back was to the camera, and from the angle the camera was placed, Leigh could scarcely make out Aubrey's expressions. 

Aubrey began to glance around, fidgeting with the strings of her coat. Her eyes were glassed over, and it looked like she was saying something to Nora, who took a couple of steps closer to calm her down. Leigh noticed the stumble in her step and the lack of expression on her face. At this point, Leigh took note of the time, 9:58, Aubrey had stepped back from Nora, and her eyes were scanning the street lights, her gaze passing over the camera several times before she was looking dead straight at the camera. Leigh felt herself go cold. 

Aubrey looked like she had stopped listening to what Nora had been saying. Leigh felt as if Aubrey's eyes could pierce through her; it took everything for her to not click out the video and call it a day.

Aubrey then mouthed something, and she felt Nora bristle next to her. 

"Here, look. Play it again," she whispered, reaching for the touchpad to slow down the playback speed.

This time, Leigh could make out the words. 

"I didn't do this." 

Leigh frowned. What did this mean? Was she just saying it because she was high? To be fair, she was doing it. She had the knife in her hands, and a few seconds later, Leigh can see the glint of a knife being pulled out and being raised, and before Aubrey did anything, Nora quickly closed the video out, slamming the laptop shut.

"I-"

"Watch it when I'm not with you. I don't think I can see that again," Nora deadpanned, this time without a quiver in her voice. 

Leigh swallowed a lump in her throat. "Okay." She got up off the bed, and walked over to the opposite wall, absentmindedly looking at a painting of two people sitting on a bench. "Okay. Technically, this doesn't give us a lead. But, it's enough to assume there might be something more than suicide."

Leigh turned around and shoved her hands in her pockets. "If she was murdered, we need to know why. And for that, we need leads."

It was Nora's turn to get up. "We need to find connections. People who she interacts with every day." She pulled out a whiteboard, and a red marker from under her bed and put them on her carpet floor. Pulling the cap off with her mouth, Nora began to write on the board, the squeak of the lines the only sound in the room. Leigh slowly began to see what Nora was doing.

In the center of the whiteboard, Aubrey's name was circled, and from it, different lines stretched out. At the top of one line, which was sticking out right from the center, Nora had written, mom. Another line was labeled with police.

"These two people are going to help us get started. Whatever we learn about Aubrey is going to help. The more we know about her life, the better," Nora said, putting the marker cap back on with a snap, pausing for dramatic effect.

Leigh nodded and leaned on one of her crutches. "Okay." She gazed at Nora, who was busy scribbling something on the board. 

What was worse than heartbreak? Have your heart pine on someone that was never meant to be yours.  Someone who only looked at you as a friend, who regarded anything that was remotely intimate as a mistake.

Leigh hadn't even liked anyone else for two years since what had happened with Nora. Yes, maybe here and there, she had found people attractive, but there had not been a single day where Leigh hadn't thought of the possibilities she and Nora could have had. 

Not a single day passed where Leigh thought about how her hands had found the curves of Nora's body when they cuddled (platonically, of course, they had another friend present) or the shape of her lips or the small smile she had on her face whenever Nora was thinking about something. The way, even when they were just friends, and they held hands, how only Nora's hand felt right with Leigh's hands, and Leigh was repulsed when another girl held her hands. It wrenched at her heart, knowing that whatever Leigh felt was one-sided and that this wasn't like one of those books, wherein the end, the love of your life falls for you, and everything was happily ever after.

"Leigh?"

Leigh snapped out of her self-pity and turned her attention to Nora, who was putting all her stuff away. 

"Yea, sorry. What were you saying?"

Nora rolled her eyes. "Can you please pay attention? I was saying we could go to the police station tomorrow?"

"Yea, my bad, my bad. I'll let you know when I get home. I think I might have to go out somewhere."

Nora's face fell a little. "Right, of course. Text me, and let me know, alright?"

Leigh shrugged and looked away, starting to make her way out of the door. And then, the nail in the coffin. She was finally talking to Nora again, but for what? Another girl's death. They could only have a normal conversation when they were talking about the case, and the rest of the time, their relationship was busy crumbling. She clenched her jaw and twisted the doorknob when she felt Nora's cold hand on her shoulder. 

"Leigh, listen." 

Leigh paused but didn't turn around at Nora's soft voice.

"Thank you." 

Leigh turned around and gave Nora a small pat where her hand was, shooting Nora the most realistic smile she could. "There's no need. We're going our own separate ways after this anyway, right?"

The last thing Leigh saw before she turned around and struggled to go down the stairs was Nora's face morph into confusion. Maybe she had been a tad too dramatic for the moment, and now shame was burning on her face, but sometimes the heart wants what it wants, and right now, Leigh's heart was bitter.

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1066 words