Murder on the Clock

|| Chapter 1 ~ Unravelling Normalcy ||

An alarm clock beeped distantly. My arm rose out from under a duvet and I banged it with my pale clenched fist. It stopped abruptly and I let out a muffled moan. Today was Friday. I couldn't be happier that the week was over. I remembered how Jared hated Fridays because he says its only a two-day interval until the week restarts. I mean, wasn't lying but I couldn't be asked to tell him to look at things in a more positive light. I wasn't all that positive myself, to be honest.

I finally left my first-light thoughts under my pillow and hopped out of bed. I ruffled my hair as I shuffled into my bathroom and eyed myself in the morning. A normal day for a normal 15 year old girl. My quinceañera was this Sunday and I wasn't as excited as I thought I'd be.

After I'd left the house I quickly dipped into the Breakfast Ranch on the way there. Jiminy tossed a piece of jam toast and I caught between my teeth as a slipped on my left sneaker and braided my hair. Yes, I got looks and yes, I was quite a sight. But I couldn't care less. I stopped at Greenview Park and sat myself on the bench to inspect my nails. This is the place Mateo, Eva and I called, 'The Halfway Point' since it was roughly halfway from school to our houses; we all lived on the same road.

"Vic!" a loud voice called out. I turned to my left and saw Eva, looking glamorous as usual. She wore her favourite Jimmy Choo loafers and a plaid skirt, a rather revealing tank top with a blouse half buttoned up. Her half-up half-down hairstyle looked flawless, complete with a diamond butterfly claw clip. "Vic ... hey ...!" she said, panting since she'd just jogged down the street.

"Hey Eva!" I said as I picked out a crumb underneath my nail. Mateo appeared beside her, looked her up and down and turned to me.

"What is ... wrong .. with you?!" he said, also panting.

"Gosh why is everyone running today?" I exclaimed, finally retrieving the crumb and flicking it away.

"Dunno," Eva replied, making a duck face at her iPhone as she took a picture for her streak.

"By the way, nice fit, Eva." I said, genuinely trying to be nice. She accepted and said, "Why thank you Victoria. At least someone noticed," She shot a glance at Mateo, who whistled innocently. I got up and we started the walk to school. Eva giggled at her phone and I asked her what was so funny. "Nothing. All good. No worries." She said. Me and Mateo shared a glance. One word. A boy. Wait, that's two words.

We m arrived at school. It was pretty dull for a Friday. The cheer squad were doing drills outside, the geeks were sitting at their usual tables by the bins and we strode through the hallways. Mateo stopped to talk to Chase and Luiz. I hated Luiz and I hated Chase. Especially Luiz. And especially Chase. I could never work out who I hated the most. I made sure to give them the dirtiest of looks.

It was lunch and I was starving. The only empty table was the one with Chase, Luiz and Danielle round it. Danielle was my best friend and I'd met her and Eva on the same day in the first grade. But Chase and Luiz, I still hated. So I pretended to gag to make them stand up. The sunshine shone through the arched windows near the table we sat, and a cool breeze flowed in. I was casually enjoying my food when I noticed Dani making faces across the table. To  .. who it looked like- Chase? Chase winked at her and she giggled. I don't know why my stomach just did a backflip but I wasn't going to stick around to find out. I told Danielle that Chase isn't someone you should waste your time on. She asked me what I was talking about but I got up and stormed away. She chased after me and repeated her question but I ignored her again. She got really mad and slapped me. I staggered a second and then threw a hard blow aimed right at her temples. She collapsed and started groaning. She wasn't mad, and neither was I and I suddenly felt so guilty. Everyone from our table gathered round Danielle. She smiled at me weakly and said, "Deep down, I knew you liked him. Trust me, he's yours. I wasn't looking at Chase, I was looking at Luiz." Everyone turned to Luiz and he turned red.

"Yeah," he said. "We've, uh, been meaning to tell you guys for a while now," Danielle got up and kissed him on the cheek and some gasps got let loose. I hugged Danielle and repeatedly apologised. As I stepped back from her I noticed Chase staring at me. Directly into my eyes. My stomach turned another somersault and I quickly looked away. Luckily, fate had another distraction in mind. The Principal arrived with a short geeky kid with a huge overbite flanking him from behind.

"Right there, in front of those people," a voice said.

The geeky kid pointed to me and told Principal Ottoman that I'd punched Danielle and that I deserved a week's detention and several demerits. I was about to punch those teeth back where they belong when I found myself in Ottoman's office. It was a very dark academia type theme, if you were to put that into Google. The chairs were quilted maroon and rather comfy if you'd asked me. The walls were a light khaki with dark taupe wall trims. His desk had a green chair behind and stationed on it was a dusty printer and old fashioned computer. There were two bookcases behind him, filled with old books. I'm pretty sure I'd sneeze if I got anywhere near his bookcase

"Miss Velazquez, you know full well we have a strict no-violence policy in this school. Danielle hasn't made any complaints so I will let you off with a warning. But do know this, if this repeats itself again you will find yourself in detention for the rest of the month. And kitchen duty." I nodded and started getting my things when he said, "Oh, and uh, do you think you could tell your mom I said 'hi', do you?" I ignored him and left the office with a huff.

When I got home, I faceplanted on my bed and stayed like that. A nearly unnoticeable zephyr flowed through the room. It felt like a euphoria I had never known the feeling of. Plus Mom's cooking downstairs.

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!!" I yelled as I was about to make my way downstairs.

"No, no! I've got it!" Mom shrieked back. Her footsteps thudded to the door.

Silence.

I heard hushed voices coming downstairs. I creeped down and listened. It was Chase! What was he doing here?

Mom, Dad and Chase all laughed heartily.

So I decided to make my move.