Faithless

Chapter 13

School continued on the following day. Police were at the school, making their rounds and talking to students individually throughout the day. Evan, Darren's father, was there. I saw him amongst the other officers, though I questioned his well-being. Dark circles sat under his eyes, evidence of lost sleep. He was restless, tapping his foot on the ground or biting his nails and his hair remained undone. Of course I'd never really know how he was feeling. I didn't have a son who'd been murdered. But still, the small sliver of pity I had for him was overshadowed by how pathetic I observed his demeanor to be. Any sane person would've taken time off or actually composed himself before going into this kind of work. What an emotional wreck.

Avery and I exchanged knowing glances when we watched the police walk through the halls. We didn't say anything, but we both knew what was going to happen. During the walk to school, we already coordinated what our stories the day that Darren died would be. Avery and I went to the park to take some photos together. If they reported that I'd been seen with Darren, the story was that Avery and I split up to go home afterward and I ran into him on my way home. We hoped it would work. We hoped they'd believe us. There wasn't any reason not to.

Avery was pulled out of English class that afternoon. She fistbumped me before she got up from her desk and offered a small smile as she walked out of the classroom. I stared at the door the entire time she was out, tapping my pencil on the desk. It didn't do much to calm my anxiety, but it was all I could think of. Whether or not she got the story right. Whether or not she'd sell me out. God, I was hoping she'd stick to it.

When she finally came back into the room, my hand was sore from persistently tapping my pencil on the desk. She sat back in her seat with a sigh and smiled at me. "I think I did pretty well."

"Thanks," I whispered.

My attention was drawn back up to the door when a police officer called my name through an opened crack. "Jayden Anderson!"

I looked back down at Avery and whispered, "Wish me luck." She gave me two thumbs up in response. Hesitantly, repeating my lines in my head, I stood up from my seat and walked out of the classroom door.

The officer led me to the teacher's lounge, where a mock interrogation room had been set up. I was told to sit down behind a desk which had been arranged to face the wall. Much to my dismay, Evan was sitting on the other side of the desk, a notebook of interviews scribbled down into it messily. Strangely, a look of surprise crossed his face when he saw me. Again, I questioned the state of his well being.

"Oh, Jayden. It's nice to see you again."

"Sure," I said flatly. "You learn anything new about the murders yet?"

He pulled a hand, messing up his hair more than it already was. "Still just grasping at straws. You got anything new for me?"

I shook my head, looking at him in mild confusion. That was the kind of question that he'd more likely be asking one of his coworkers. "No, not really."

"Alright... let's cut to the chase. How well did you know Darren?"

I shrugged. "Not very well. I mean he bullied me since we were in junior high, and we were friends for a bit while I was dating Hannah. But that's about it. We weren't all that close."

Evan narrowed his eyes slightly. "He bullied you?"

So badly I wanted to make a snide remark, but with the other officers watching, I bit back my reply. "Yes," I said.

He nodded slowly, looking down at his notes and biting down on his thumbnail. "According to some other students, you had an altercation with him during gym class the day he died. Can you tell me more about that?"