The Murder Of Hazel

Chapter 3

     We made our way to a hotel outside of the city. We headed back up north, near Clarksville, just so we were close for Alex to pack my stuff and his. We ended up in Ashland City. It was near the middle point of our cities. We eventually found a decent hotel and stopped there. We checked in, checked out our room, and then laid around for a while. We started with some small talk and going over the basics of our personalities. Turns out, Alex really likes to cook, he does schooling online, and he also works from home. He mentioned something about graphic design and something about how he just takes requests from businesses around the state. Everything was going good so far... until he looked at me kind of funny.

     "What? Is there something on my face?" I giggled and covered up my face. How girly Hazel...

     "No. I just... you look familiar. I kind of just pushed the thought aside earlier. What school do you go to again? North View?" He questioned, while still looking at me with the funny look.

    "Yeah. The wonderful North View." I said with slight sarcasm.

    "I used to go there... about two years ago. You're a Junior, right? So, we were in the same freshman class... That's why you look so familiar. I never remembered someone that goes by Hazel though. What's your real name? Full name." He looked at me.

     I closed my eyes a bit and bit on my lip. I didn't want to tell him honestly. You're probably wondering why I hate my name. There's really not much of a story behind it though. I just grew up hating it. No one else that I knew had it, and it made me feel out of place. You think it would be pronounced like Haylie, but it isn't. It's pronounced the same way you would pronounce Halle Berry's name. So there was always the teachers messing it up and eventually they all just called me Haylie. No matter how many times I tried to correct them, I just got flat out ignored, since that's not how it was spelled.

    "Are you going to tell me? It's okay, if not. I just was curious, Hazel." He smiled slightly as he said Hazel.

    "My real name is Haley Eloise Hayes..." I said before pulling my knees into my chest, with my head down.

    "We knew each other." He said, dead serious.

    "Did we really?"

    "Yeah. Do you not remember? We were in the same Biology class. Mr. Nile was the teacher. We were once lab partners. It was at the beginning of the year, before we got all those transfer students and partners were changed."

    "Alex...? I remember you now... How did I not recognize you?"

    "A lot was going on. It's understandable."

    "So when and why did you leave? What happened?" I ask him, hoping I'm not intruding his personal life.

    "Long story short, I was having a tough time. My parents were sick and my grades started to slip. I figured that once I was at home, working at my own pace, things would be a bit better. So once I did, things improved with my grades, but my parents just got worse. They passed later that year. My sister and I were left to fend for ourselves. She's out there still, but she's probably doing a lot better than me. She had already been through college and had gotten her degree in business. She only calls during the holidays, but that's alright. There isn't much to talk about anymore." He said as his eyes started watering. I wanted to ask where he got the house and money from, since he seems like he has plenty, but I figured there was a will or something left. I didn't want to upset him anymore, so I just kept my mouth shut and placed my hand on his shoulder, to comfort him.

    We sat there for a bit. We stared up at the ceiling and just listened to the sound of each other's breathing. It was honestly relaxing, and it was nice not be in fear for once.

    The sound of the phone made me jump. So much for relaxing, I think to myself. I looked at Alex and he was about to pick up. He placed a finger to his lips, indicating me to keep quiet, as he picked the phone up.

    "Hello?" He asked. "Um, no. Yeah... Sure." I heard him say to the other person. Who could that be?

    He hung up and looked at me. His eyes filled with fear.

   "What is it?" I question, biting my lip, not wanting to know the answer.

   "Someone is here. We have to go."