Sincerely, Jonah

Chapter 17

2 weeks flies by and today's school day was like any other. Dad and I got donuts and a breakfast sandwich. We ate in the truck now that we got a heater installed, before he dropped me off at school and went to work.

At the beginning when we first moved in, our house was just filled with the basics: a couch, refrigerator, dining table, beds. Now that he's getting paid more after being promoted to the boss at the car medic, we were able to replace the old stained counters to a polished brown color (with the help of Elisa's taste in style.)

He even surprised me with the tall bookshelf after a bad day at school. I've been begging for it ever since we first walked around town and saw it through the store's window.
Some days were like hell to the point where I had to do school from home because my mental health got worse.

I stayed up all night, restless and the only thing I could think about was how the most important people in my life left me.
Since I refused to take my meds for months, I had to start the process all over again. We're back to stage one.
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I grab my chemistry stuff and close my locker to see Taylor right behind it. I jump as I dropped my books. Kids laugh and snicker as they walk past.
"Hi Jojo!" She's wearing her hair in a messy bun, with strands sticking out.
I forgot to mention she has a new nickname for me. She started calling me Jojo one day after she showed up at my window at 12am to tell me goodnight and that 'the test is canceled for Mr.Sandoval because there's a sub.'

I don't want to scare you away too soon. Lets just say that I started to lock my window after that.

Hey..." I say as I pick up my scattered papers that slipped out of my binder.
"Don't forget, we're still going to the mall tomorrow night. My moms taking us."
I stuff them in my bag. "How could I forget? I'll meet you at your house around 7," I say with a grin. Although Taylor can be weird sometimes, we were friends at some point for a reason: she's fun to be around.

She smiles and nods before kissing my cheek. We lock eyes after and she slowly leans in. I can smell her caramel coffee scent as always. It's now become a familiar smell, yet V' lavender shampoo still lurks around.

"Eh hem."
We both turn around to see one of her friends. She's wearing heavy makeup and long cherry earrings. "Am I interrupting?" She asks.
"Quin! Hey!" Taylor says, taking her hand.
The bell rings and the kid a few lockers next to me takes a hit out of a vape and slams his locker.

"I will see you at lunch right?" I nod my head. "Yep."
They walk away and I go the other direction.

Lunch went by smoothly for once. We talked about our theories about a horror movie we watched the other day. It was about a group of friends who goes out on this vacation trip to cabins in the woods. Long story short, one of them ends up dead. Taylor and her friends think that Zoe, the cabin manager, was the one who killed her, since she was the only one who had the keys.

I shake my head after stuffing Cheetos in my mouth. "It's always the one closest to you who does things like that. I mean, did you see how personal the wounds looked?"
"Yeah but who would want to kill her?" Taylor asks.
"Obviously the siko ex boyfriend. Think about it," I explain, "They were arguing literally every second of his screen time. He also knew where they would be and had an extra key to the cabin."

Zoe nods in realization. "Yeah that makes sense."
Taylor is about to say something when we hear something loud drop against the marble floors. She turns around first and I follow her gaze to see Fin laying in the middle of the cafeteria. He's looking down at the ground in shock. Everyone is silent, giving their full attention to him. I notice Bryce standing too, with an apple in his hands. He fake gasps.
"Oops, I'm so sorry. You're just so little, I didn't see you there."