Primal » Isaac Lahey

Chapter O8.

The rest of the day, I was way too ready to go home. So when the final bell rang, I quickly said goodbye to Allison and Lydia before rushing to Danny's car. He was shocked to find me already leaning against the passenger door when he arrived. It wasn't like me to rush out and reach the car before him. On a normal day, Danny would have to drag me out as I was too preoccupied with gossiping. For the first time in a while, the car ride was loud. The radio was playing and Danny and I carried a conversation the majority of the way home. It was refreshing after the kind of day I had, that was until he brought up Isaac's mysterious school appearance.

The hot topic the rest of the school day was "the Isaac Lahey". The word was that around lunch someone caught Lahey leaving the school. How was a wanted criminal on school grounds, they whispered. Why would he come back, some questioned. Did he really kill his father, students rumored. Was the murder weapon in his lacrosse locker, players speculated. The news and rumors spread like wildfire and was the word on everyone's lips. Lydia's return was brushed off as last week's news in a matter of seconds, and everyone knew os his return by the end of fifth period.

To top it all off, when "the Erica Reyes" was said to be leaving with Lahey in a black camero with a shady figure, the news was too good not to talk about. Were Isaac and Erica dating, they whispered. What if Reyes was pregnant with Lahey's baby, some questioned. Did they belong to a gang or were they some sort of dealers, students rumored. Who was their getaway driver, students speculated. It was all too much to handle, but by some stroke of luck, my name was never brought up in the conversation.

Lahey and Reyes were both students who would rather keep to themselves than go out and try and socialize. Before a month ago, I had barely spoken to either one of them and I would have participated in the rumors in the hallway. I wouldn't have cared that I didn't have the real story, but the winter formal was life-changing. Would I have cared if a student had gone missing in the woods for days? Yes, but would I have cared why instead of joining in on the rumors? Probably not. Would I have cared if I learned a student was a wanted criminal? Yes, but would I have known that that particular student was being abused at home. No. Would I have cared if a student had fallen off the rock climbing wall? Yes, but would I have learned that there was more to that student if I hadn't gone out of my way to talk to them? Never. 

Things had changed for me. Lydia, Isaac, even Erica made some sort of impact and although it wasn't as big as I thought it was, it still had an effect on my behavior. They had me questioning myself. Why was it that people found themselves gossiping about someone they didn't even know? Had I done this for years without realizing it?

At my quiet response, Danny changed the subject. "I don't know what's been going on with Jackson," he told me as he pulled into the driveway.

"What do you mean?" I had noticed something off about him, but it was Jackson and there was always something off about him.

"I don't know exactly how to describe it," Danny explained getting out of the vehicle. "I mean he's been acting really aggressive, way more than usual, and the past few days he's even he talked to Matt about--"

"Matt Daehler?" I questioned. It would be a surprising, yet odd act, from Jackson if he decided to talk to Matthew. Matt was quirky. Not the good kind of quirky like Stilinski, but quirky on the verge of weird. Yet I couldn't say too much, I didn't know him that well and who was I to say the boy wasn't normal. The conversation he had with Allison and I the other day was normal. I've had a few classes with him ever since the seventh grade. Something he's always had since then was a camera around his neck. There's nothing wrong with that if he was in the yearbook or the photography club, but Matt isn't in either. Maybe he just liked taking photos, but it was slightly off-putting when you felt the lens turn to you when you least expect it.