One Clue Behind

Chapter Two

We wrap up this round of packing for the day, I suggest we go out for a bite to eat. But what I really want is to talk about the case. It's a touchy subject for us all, but I want to get our heads together and try to figure this out and get justice for our friend.

"Could we do pizza?" Tony asks as he stands up, dusting his hands off on his jeans.

"How about a diner where we can have anything?" Jeremiah suggests, knowing my comfort food is pancakes and the diner down the road makes breakfast twenty-four-seven.

"That sounds fine to me," Courtney answers her brother and Jeremiah. She too stands and flattens her skirt from the wrinkles she endured while sitting on the ground.

Jeremiah sets down the tape roller and turns to me. I'm completely aware that we never had the important conversation from that night. I know he knows too. From the way that he looks at me, I can tell he doesn't want to. I don't have the heart to. So we've just kept busy in a state of mourning. He doesn't spend much time away from Tony, Courtney and I, instead, he spends all of his time with us. I'm not sure why the sudden change, but I'm grateful for it. He's hesitant but he's flipped back to his old self when we first started going out.

Jeremiah reaches down to kiss my cheek but I swerve away, ducking down to pick up my phone from the ground by the boxes I had just stacked. I stand back up quickly and he looks away. Even though we've fallen into a comfortable rhythm, it's still hard to trust him. I haven't kissed him since that day before the party when he stopped by quickly to ask again if I'd be going to the party. When I'd rejected him for the fifth time, he had shrugged and said "Your loss," and walked out the dorm room.

I sometimes wonder if had just gone to the stupid party, he wouldn't have been on the verge of cheating on me. Presumably again, based on what my friends had previously told me. But that part of the night seems so miniscule now, and the thought keeping my brain awake at night is much different compared to an unfaithful boyfriend. I wonder if my being there with Olivia would have made a difference at all. The butterfly effect theory is something I've never really thought about until now.

I walk across my room while everybody else slides their coats and shoes on. I shrug my school sweater over my head, and look at Jeremiah through the hole where my head is supposed to pop out. My eyes soften as I can see the sadness in his face, his mouth turned downward and his eyes dull. I know he's sad about our friend's death, but I also know he's disappointed I haven't been as close as we used to be.

Jeremiah looks up at me as my head pops through the sweater and I situate it just right over my torso. I meet his eyes for a moment and he runs his hand through his dark wavy hair and I remember running my fingers through that luscious hair when we would lay around watching movies or binging How I Met Your Mother together in his dorm room. No! Stop it, Ali! I shriek at myself internally, shaking my head.

"Hey, Court and Tony, could you guys meet Ali and I at Dellah's? I forgot something and we need to go grab it real quick." Jeremiah says in a lower voice, and the twins look at us. Courtney's eyebrow juts up in question.

But as Jeremiah says this, he's only looking at me. His eyes still dull and he grabs his wallet, keys and phone, stuffing them in his pockets, his hair falling onto his forehead messily and he hastily swipes it away. Dellah's is the little diner the Briarcliffe students go to for a yummy bite to eat at all hours of the day and night. It also happens to be our group's meeting spot and leisure restaurant.

"Sure thing," Both Court and Tony say at the same time and begin to walk out of my dorm room, giving Jeremiah and I time alone. Courtney stops for a moment, squeezing my elbow and turns to leave with her brother. Closing the door behind them, Jeremiah walks over to me and sits on the edge of my purple bed. He smooths out the fuzzies on the duvet and sighs.