Murder in the Dark

Murder in the Dark 8

The rest of the day went by in a blur. I acted kind of like a character in an old silent film, barely saying anything. People gave me funny looks, but why would I care? So far talking hadn't gotten me very far, so I might as well try behaving like a hyped up mime. 

"Are you mad at me?" Sandra asked me at the end of the day. 

I shook my head no, and conjured up my best confused face. 

Sandra sighed, exasperated. "Then why aren't you talking to me?" 

I shrugged, nonchalantly. 

"You know you're behaving like a little child." 

I glared at Sandra and shook my head, vehemently. 

"Fine. Don't talk to me! See if I care!" Sandra howled, storming away. 

"Harsh," Rob, the kid who stole my parking spot that morning, chuckled. 

If looks could kill, Rob would be dead in his tracks-especially with my new skill at miming. Slowly, I raised my middle finger right in his face. 

Rob raised his hands in defeat, backing away from my furious onslaught. "I tell it how I see it," he muttered. 

"Jeez Jess, someone has some anger management issues. They have counseling for that you know," Derek whispered into my ear. 

"Seriously! Why can't people just leave me alone?" I exclaimed, giving up on silence. Maybe miming isn't such a good job for me. I turned to face Derek to see an amused smirk on his detested face. 

"I got you to talk," he gloated. 

"No. I spoke because I wanted to speak," I objected. 

"But only because you were talking to me. You remained silent for Rob and Sandra, your friend. You must have special feelings reserved for me. I don't blame you though. Girls fall head over heels for me." 

"In your dreams, Loser," I growled. 

Derek made a tsking noise with his tongue and shook his finger at me. "Shoving down your emotions won't get you anywhere Jess. You should try opening up some time," he grinned with a wink before leaving. What had life come to?

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The rest of the week crawled by at the pace of a snail. You know the saying, slow and steady wins the race-or whatever that crap is-well, it's wrong. I can never wait for the weekends. They seem to be my one solace in this crazy, crazy world. Nothing interesting even happened at school. My life is basically one viscous cycle, only to be interrupted by a fight with the lunch lady about giving me more ketchup or the surprise of seeing a pair of lesbians making out in the girls' bathroom. Other than that, my life was basically the same, day in, and day out. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but from a teenager's perspective it's dead on. That whole week I went to school, did homework, and went to bed. Repeat. However, Sandra still seemed to be ticked off at me, so we rarely spoke. Math class just isn't the same without her constant chatter. Plus, it helps me ignore the fact that Jason is sitting only a couple of chairs away. Scary. Much to my annoyance, Krista and Sam also continued to pester me into going to the lock-in on Friday. I finally caved in on Tuesday-pathetic I know; I could only last a day against their tortuous ways- because I was so sick of them bugging me around the clock. Even though I could drive by myself, Sam was determined to come pick me up. He mentioned something about how if he didn't, I would just skip out... Crazy I know. Where in the world would he obtain such a preposterous idea? Yeah, maybe I should give him some credit for actually being smart enough to realize that. 

The only other thing that landed a spot on my radar of life was another unfortunate run-in with none other than Brian. He seemed to have forgotten our conversation the other day, and was once again flirting his pretty little head off. Seriously, when will some guys ever learn? I wonder if it's just guys at my high school, high school guys in general, or all guys on the face of the earth that have absolutely no brain. I'm really hoping it's not the latter, since I was putting my hopes in the prospect that there may actually be decent college guys out there. A girl has gotta dream! 

"Are you going to the lock-in on Friday?" Brian asked. 

"What's it to you?" I retorted. 

Brian's eyes gleamed. "I just really want you to be there," he admitted. 

"Sorry, but I have no feelings for you whatsoever," I snorted. 

"I think you're just hiding them," Brian smirked. 

"Trust me, I don't hide things." 

Brian rolled his eyes. "Well I'm going, and I think we could have a lot of fun together," he smiled. 

I sighed. "Why can't I just enjoy a nice day in peace?" I wailed. 

"So you're going?" Brain asked, hopefully. 

"Unfortunately," I groaned. 

"Great! I'll see you there then," Brian waved before sauntering off. That was just... weird?

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When the bell finally rang on Friday, releasing me from my prison and signaling the end of the school week, I started walking to my car, a new prance in my step. Sam ran to catch up with me. 

"Hey Jess, wait up!" he hollered. 

I slowed down. "What's up?" 

"I better find you at your house at five!" 

"Yeah, yeah," I sighed. 

"Promise me you'll be there!" 

"I promise. Happy?" 

Sam smiled. "If you keep your promise I will be." 

I laughed. "Don't worry, I will. I'm a woman of my word." 

"Okay I'll see you at five," Sam chuckled and ran off to his car. 

I rolled my eyes and hopped into my own car. It only took five minutes to drive home which was nice, since I arrived at a quarter to three. I started packing for the lock-in: a change of clothes, a sweatshirt, toiletries, pajamas, a pillow, and a sleeping bag in case I got tired and wanted to sleep. After I packed it was still only three, so I started working on my homework. Time ticked by slowly, but finally it was a quarter to five. I decided to get all of my stuff together so I'd be ready when Sam arrived. I glanced in a mirror, and I did not look my best. 

I was suddenly self conscious, and I don't know why. I'm rarely ever like this. I quick ran up to my room and applied a little mascara, eye liner, and blush. Pleased, I also changed my baggy sports shirt to a cute grey tang top with dark blue beads that I found in my sister's room. I rarely see my sister since she's off at college. But whenever I want to look nice, I go straight to her room. I also found a pretty blue necklace that went perfectly with the tang top. I stared at my reflection, shocked. I looked so different! I felt antsy thinking about what Sam would say. 

A minute later the doorbell rang. I quickly grabbed a cute black jacket and ran to answer the door. "Hey," I smiled, seeing Sam waiting for me, staring off into the distance. 

"He-eeey," Same greeted me, his eyes roaming up and down my body. "You look.... different!" he gasped. 

"Thanks?" 

"In a good way," he quickly added. 

I rolled my eyes and started picking up all of my stuff. 

"Let me help you with that," Sam smiled, bending down to pick up most of my things. 

I blushed. "Really I can do it." 

"I know, but I want to help."  

"Well... Thanks," I murmured, jumping into Sam's car.

A/N: That didn't take so long! Please comment, vote, and fan! I know people are reading this!