The Outsider

9. The Campus Killer (Part Three)

9. The Campus Killer (Part Three)

"Actually, some of your experience may help me in my situation," I said, looking at Beth and deciding it couldn't hurt to get some more advice.

"Oh?" Beth exclaimed, and our walked slowed even more.

"How did you... get your mind off things? Like, get rid of the teenage stupidity?"

I wasn't sure why those were the questions I had asked. If anything, I wanted to know how to put my stupidity into full force. That seemed to be the only way to get close to the mysteries, apparent killer, I had found myself lusting over.

Of course, there was the part of me that was telling me to drop it. To listen to everyone around me and move on from the thought of approaching him. Perhaps that was where the questions had come from.

"Get rid of it?" Beth asked, laughing as she did, and I raised my eyebrows. "The stupidity is the best part about being a teenager. You don't want to get rid of it."

"What about clearing your mind? What if there is something on your mind and it's nagging you all of the time? How... can I get rid of that?" I questioned, looking down at the pavement, waiting for an answer.

"What's the thought doing to you?"

At Beth's words, I let my mind wander to the Campus Killer. The dark, unkept hair that sat perfectly on his head. The smooth voice that had greeted my ears while I was at work—which I had not expected to come from his mouth. And the tattoos.

I would have never thought he'd be my type but here I was.

As the image of him circled around in my brain, I felt my stomach twist itself into a knot, and it seemed as though energy surged through me. It felt like excitement, though, there was much more to it than that.

"A lot," I managed to say, and I hear Beth hum beside me.

"You have to find something to calm your mind down. To slow it down."

"You're talking about pot, aren't you?" I questioned, and Beth let out another laugh, giving me a gentle slap on the arm.

The sadness that had coated her voice before was now complete gone, and I found myself feeling sorry for her. I hoped she wasn't too lonely.

"No, no, no. Although, it does help."

"Oh?" I looked down and shot Beth a questioning look, taken aback by her words.

Beth, however, took no notice, and continued to look straight ahead.

"I was very lucky to find someone who had a way of calming me down and putting my mind at ease. I married him when I was nineteen, and he made everything so much easier."

"I don't really follow," I admitted, following Beth's gaze and looking ahead.

The path wound around a few bushes, and I could see it led back to the main road. The sun had started to set, and an orange hue was settling over the town, and I could see that there was still some beauty in where we were.

"I always felt the need to be doing something. To keep my mind occupied so it wouldn't drown itself in thoughts. That man, however, made doing nothing the best thing in the world, as long as I did it with him. No matter what was going on in my mind, or how much I was stressing out, as soon as I was with him, I was content."

I heard Beth sigh beside me when she finished speaking, and while I nodded along with her as she spoke, I still had no idea what she meant.

"I'm... lost," I said quietly, and Beth chuckled.