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ooo. the victims
NOTHING EVER MATTERED. Not at least for a while. Everybody went with their own lives. Girls talked about boys, boys talked about girls. Outside of the closed doors, and the hidden problems that hid beneath people's homes, everything seemed normal.
Before all the missing kids, things were as they were supposed to be. The kids Juniper once knew, who she had seen walking near her, who she knew were now gone. She cried every night, knowing that anybody outside could be next. And that someone in town had her brother.
Griffin. Not Juniper's full blood brother who was only older than her by a month. He was the best brother anyone could ask for. He'd bake her cupcakes on her birthday, and sing Juni songs. One evening, he went out with his friend, Bruce. Around six p.m, Bruce called Juniper and asked if her brother was on his way to his home. That he'd been waiting for him two hours ago. And that's when Juni knew. She never saw her brother again.
Billy. The paperboy who Juni would see every morning before running off to school. She'd pay him five cents each Friday. His dog would help deliver the paper to the doorsteps. One Friday, the girl was waiting for him to arrive, and retrieve his weekly five cents. But he never came.
Then there was Bruce. Juni's brother would always force her to go to his baseball games. Cheering him on from the stands. He was an attractive boy, a generous & kind person. Girls head over heels for him. He and my brother would always go to the drive-ins, and I would always have to tag along. Sometimes, we'd see a bush of yellow frizzy hair, and that was our cue to leave. I was the one who found his bike stranded on the road. It was tossed on the grassy field, mud covering the chain. On the road were some sidetracks of muddy tire tracks. Police announced Bruce Yamada's disappearance on a Wednesday Night.
Vance Hopper. The owner of the yellow bushy hair. The meanest and scariest person in town. Everybody feared him. He was a ruthless & vile person. Everybody knew him as Pinball Vance. Last Spring, he'd almost killed a guy interrupting Vance, almost reaching his high score. When he went missing, the townspeople were appalled. Vance was no little kid. He could kick the living shit out of anybody, blindfolded.
And then there was Robin. Juni knew him because of the eight fights he gotten into the past year. He fought to prove his point. He wore his infamous bandanna over his head, wore it as a bracelet at times. He talked about his dad who fought in the Vietnam War. Griffin looked up to him. Robin once saved him from being bullied. His bandanna was found with bloody marks on it. Nothing else.
"Miss. Blair?"
Juniper looked up from peeling her fingers to her pursed lipped teacher.
"Is there anything more interesting than the lesson up on the board, that is keeping you from paying attention?", her yellow teeth chipped spit from talking.
"no", she responded without looking at her.
" you need to stop this disrespectful behavior. i understand you've struggled this year, but it's not excuse to give up attention in school.", She spat. Mrs. Salvatore, a science teacher, would step all over a child, and everybody would just let her. There was no other choice.
" Anyway, Back to the lesson children."
Juniper's face heated up in embarrassment & anger. She felt her ears heat as she continued to peel on her fingers.
Walking away back up to the board, the eyes of Juniper's classmates looked away from her face. Except for one.
His curly hair moved with the motion of the air coming from the AC. He shared a look of sincerity. Smiling with lips tight , he looked back up to the board as well. His fingers played with a toy rocket , shifting it through his thumb & index.
Finney. He was Juni's partner last year. For the most part, he was a quiet kid. Barley spoke a word to each other. She knows about the problems he faces at home too. He would come to school with a different bruise or a healing scar on his arms or face, each week.
It's the fact where Finney wasn't the only person struggling.
Each teen in the classroom battled something, once they stepped off campus.
