School Creepypasta

20: At Lunch time

Valley walked up to Charley. "Hey, where's Anthony?" She looked around, expecting him to make a comment. They always bickered, Valley and Anthony.

Charley gave Valley a look.
A single look, nothing much if you didn't know what it meant.

Valley frowned.
"Oh."

The day continued as though empty.
The two sat next to each other, but Anthony didn't turn to them to talk to Charley. Anthony didn't turn to lose an argument to Valley. Anthony just wasn't there. Charley cluthched his head miserably as soon as he could, feeling bad about what he had done.
"It's my fault." He admitted when class was over.

Valley stayed seated. She gave him a sad look.
"I'm sorry—"

"No, you don't get it." Charley got up and packed his bag quickly. "I hate this."

Valley called out after him, but ended up sitting in silence. Alone.
She cursed.

Someone walked in and Valley realised this wasn't her last class. Though, it was lunch time, why would someone be walking in the classroom?

The person noticed her and paused. It was E.J
"You're still here?"

Valley shrugged and got up, putting her stuff in her bag.
Before she picked up her bag though, she decided that asking wouldn't hurt.

"Can I ask a kinda personal question?"

E.J looked up from where he had been looking at the blackboard. There were calculations, all about angles and lengths and how to best recognise them without having to think for too long.
"Depends, what do you want to ask?"

Valley looked down at her bag. "Don't answer if you don't want to, but, have you ever regretted killing anyone? Like you'd rather take death over having done it?"

E.J thought. With the lunch box in his hands he shrugged and went to sit down on the desk. He opened it but asked, "Do you?"

Not having expected it, Valley paused.
"I'm not sure." She frowned. "Why do you eat here anyway?"

E.J shrugged. He pushed up his mask slightly, trying to hide his mouth a bit. "I don't like it when people stare.

Valley noticed his mouth, she smiled, "Nobody thinks the paranormal faces here are that odd anymore."

E.J shook his head. He picked up what was in his lunchbox. From drawings and pictures Valley recognised it. Her eyes widened slighlty, seeing the kidney.

"Oh."
Yeah, people would stare at that.

As E.J took a bite, Valley tried to regain herself. She felt a bit disgusted, actually, she felt very disgusted when she realised it was human— she didn't want to realise it. She lied to herself that it wasn't, and then she steadied herself.
She could do this, just a simple conversation without distractions.

"So, a personal question to you," E.J said when the kidney was halfway gone, "Have you ever regretted killing anyone? I can kill you now if that's what you want."

"No." Valley shook her head slowly, feeling a child down her spine at the idea of it. "It's not what I mean, anyway. It's just... I know how people look at murderers—"

"Valley," E.J lowered the kidney, "Stop there, why do you ask me this anyway?"

Valley frowned.
"I don't know, you're smart?"

E.J nodded. "So you look for knowledge."

Valley shrugged. "Sure?"

"Okay, so you look for facts."

Valley frowned. "Where is this going? I don't get it."

"How do you look at killers?" E.J shrugged. "You seem to talk to me just fine, meaning you don't even mind cannibals. If other people hate you, then they're just not worth your time, you might as well, I dunno, kill them?"

Valley frowned. It kinda felt like a slap in her face.
"And what would you the people you know would hate you, or are already dead, or like, your parents, or—"

"Well if they're already dead, then in the past you should have chosen better friends or something, if it's your parents..." E.J shrugged, "Your parents are just people anyway."

As Valley nodded thoughtfully, trying to figure out wether she agreed. E.J smiled and continued to eat his... the kidney.
"Thanks for the knowledge," Valley said suddenly, "And I'm sorry for interrupting your lunch, I'll just leave you be."

"I don't mind." E.J shrugged casually, as though he hadn't just fixed Valley's messy brain.

"Well, thanks anyway," Valley said as she grabbed her bag, "I think I should try to cheer up Charley, my friend."

"Oh, yeah I heard, he looks pretty damn miserable all right."

Valley wondered about those words as she said her bye and hurried to hopefully find Charley somewhere at the cafeteria, or somewhere. She'd have to grab food herself as well, but she had her priority on Charley. Now that she felt alright, she had to try to make Charley feel beter as well.

—

Charley wasn't in the cafeteria. He didn't even realise Valley would look for him. He stared at the secret door in the library. He stared with crossed arms. He wondered if he really wanted to get into trouble, just to end it all.

He knew he wanted to find answers that didn't involve 'what's the best way to stab someone who just so happens to be 1,5 meters high and has a cat, and has (idk) four pens in their hands?' (Non of the questions looked like it, but sometimes it felt liked that). He wanted to solve a fun mystery, like the mystery of the door, the unsolved one, the one he wanted to solve with Valley.
The only friend he had left. Anthony was dead.

Charley couldn't get it to be a thing in his head. It was like Anthony was somewhere waiting on him, but Charley knew he wasn't.
He was dead.
And why, Charley wondered bitterly, shouldn't he give up and join him?

With a sigh, Charley turned away. He might be a horrible murderer, but he knew that everyone had some standerds, he had to. He wouldn't drag Valley into going on a one way trip without her wanting to.

Picking up a book about past wars, Charley hoped he'd be able to find out about who Zalgo was. Even without Valley, he'd try his best to get his answers.