Death Vows

Chapter Two: Dead

Chapter Two

Dead

Homeroom was chaos.

Without the teacher in the room, everyone talked amongst themselves-except Jesse. Jesse sat at the back of the class, staring at his bare desktop. His desk sat all the way back against the wall, apart from everyone else.

After a moment, the steadily dropping volume of the room managed to draw my attention from him. More of the unsolicited stares gravitated my way, reminding me of a scene in some scary movie.

"C'mon," Darlene whispered, guiding me by the arm to a pair of empty seats in the middle of the room. Just where I need to be, I thought sourly to myself, in the dead middle where everyone can get a good long look.

We took our seats and the whispers slowly raised up around me. I barely discerned what they said, but every now and then a snatch of words found my ear. Jesse's name came up a lot.

"He should've ditched," one boy whispered close by.

"...off scott-free..." a girl hissed to her friend.

"...dead..."

The word drew my attention; the boy who said it averted his eye.

"...they renovated..."

A blonde girl flushed scarlet when she realized I heard her.

"...killed her..." a boy said to a group of students to my right.

A loud crash from the back of the room ended the whispering. Jesse stood over his toppled desk, head down and fists clenched. Darlene immediately went to him, taking his arm. She whispered something to him, but he shook his head.

The guy who whispered, 'killed her,' let out a snicker. Jesse bolted toward him. I leapt to my feet. The other boy turned, noticing just in time to catch Jesse's fist with his face. The guy flew back and took a desk with him.

Everyone moved away from Jesse. The guy he hit backed away without returning the attack.

As though made of stone, Jesse's face remained fixed in an expression of silent rage. His eyes followed the other boy, glinting with murderous obsession.

I decided to sit back down in my seat, but knocked my crossbones bag to the floor. It sounded way louder than it should have.

When I looked up, Jesse was glaring at me. My eyes widened in surprise, but then he turned for the exit.

"It's not like I'm telling anyone anything they don't already know," the guy defended, wiping his nose on his arm and grimacing at the blood trail it left behind.

Jesse paused for a moment; a few students moved out of swinging range. Finally, Jesse just shook his head and laughed without turning around.

"You can all believe whatever you want, but that doesn't mean I have to sit around and listen to your garbage. I'm out." Jesse made for the door and arrived there just as the teacher entered.

"You're late, Ms. Roberts."

As he left, Ms. Roberts surveyed the disrupted room and bloody student with a sigh. "Brian?"

Brian shrugged. "Just the truth."

I sat alone in the middle of the room, completely forgotten for once and somehow unable to enjoy it. Ms. Roberts' subdued reaction suggested that she regarded this little episode as normal.

I wanted to see a copy of this school's student handbook.

A hand fell on my shoulder. Brian stood behind me, but grinned at the teacher. "We have a new student, Ms. Roberts."