WATTYS 2022 SHORTLIST
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A body is uncovered in an empty classroom at Lincoln Lane Prep, West Jackson Boulevard, it's ruled an accident. A heroin overdose. The case is closed within a month.
Holly Steinfeld alrea...
Holly plopped on the chair in the back of the room. Social Studies was Holly's favorite elective class for many reasons. One, there was very little homework...
She reached into her bag for her notes.
Two, it was an easy A.
She flipped it open to the last page.
And three, she was sitting beside Mr. Tall, dark, and handsome. "Think he did it?" Her voice was a whisper. Sitting behind didn't guarantee Mrs. Johnson wouldn't chide them for talking. It bought them time.
Kyle shook his head. "He wouldn't recommend cigarettes to her." He was doodling in his notes.
"What if we're looking at this all wrong and she wasn't offered cigarettes. What if he prescribed laced pills?"
He considered her words then shook his head. "It would have killed her the first day she took the pills."
"Micro dosing?"
He was working on a sketch of her.
"Why up the dose on prom night?"
She couldn't tell.
"So, he has opportunity, but not motive." Holly slumped back in her seat.
Mrs. Johnson was going on about anxiety in social settings and how it affected the modern generation.
Social Studies was the closest Holly was going to get to real-world issues and controversial topics. From bullying to abuse, to drugs and lgbtq+ and abortion rights. No topic was too upsetting for Mrs. Johnson.
"We need to go back there tonight." She thought out loud.
Mrs. Johnson cleared her throat. "Mrs. Steinfeld, is there something you would like to share with the rest of the class?"
Holly sat motionless in her seat. Her phone blared in her hand. A text. She resisted the urge to glance at it.
"The teachers in your old school might have let you get away with things like this, but I will not tolerate it." She wagged a finger at Holly. "Now class, I would like you to open your textbooks to page 37,"
Holly cowered farther into her seat and reached for her phone tucking it into her textbook.
It was a text from Heaven.
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Did Scarlett learn of her father's passing?
Could she have given into the depression of losing a loved one and overdosed on prom night?
