Riddle Me This

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I walked slowly into the kitchen and tossed my backpack onto the counter. My mom was at her usual spot on the table, reading the morning paper. Her coffee mug was sending a wave of steam into the kitchen. 

I woke up to her like this every morning, ever since that Friday on the rooftop wrecked the small town of Aveston. Personally, she was affected by the fire that took so many lives, including my old English teacher, Mr. Keller. They had been dating ever since that parent-teacher conference at the start of senior year. Instead of talking about my poor academic performance, they were too busy making plans for a date. 

I know I should've been happy for her that she finally found somebody to love, but how can when she didn't really know Mr. Keller? She didn't know what he was capable of. Honestly, I think the day the school burnt down did justice on his life. But of course, I’d never admit that out loud.

"Good morning, mom." I walked over to the table and plopped down on an old wooden chair. 

"'Morning, Alisha." She half replied. Her voice was shallow and emotionless. The pained look on her face reminded me of the river of faces I saw at the funeral last week. 

They all looked to same to me. Dead. I can still see their sad faces; their mouths that were pinched into a thin, white line as their cheeks where just as colorless and silent. They walked with grace and elegance, as if they had no care in the world. And considering what had happened, I wouldn’t doubt that.

What scared me the most? Their eyes. Sunken, red and they all held a shadow of despair over them. I remember looking into them and saw nothing but hurt and loss in their eyes. It was like they knew what had happened. It’s like they knew that my friends and I had caused that fire.

But did they know that it was only an accident? It’s not like we planned for the fire to get out of hand. Cody was only trying to scare Johnny. He never meant for it to spread. I can still see Blake and Jericho rushing over, trying hard to stop the fire, but it was too late. It was already too strong. So, we ran as fast as we could back down to safety before it was too late for us.

The last thing I did in that building was pull the fire alarm.

Although the alarm helped save most of the people on the first floor, it couldn’t help most those on the second story. I could never go back to sleep knowing that I had helped cause that.

"Do you want something to eat?" I asked picking up a banana nut muffin out to her. 

She shook her head. I knew she was going to reject it. "No thank you, darling." She whispered.

"Um, okay," I set the muffin back down. 

I hated these moments with my mom. She looked so defenseless and I wanted to help her regain herself but I couldn't do that with the knowledge of what had happened that Friday.

"There's still nothing, Alisha." My mom was still staring blankly at the newspaper that was sprawled out in front of her. 

Every morning she woke up with hopes that they would find the person responsible for the death of her boyfriend and many other students. I always hated seeing her with the guilt that hung over me. The day of the funeral, I could barely stand being next to her without feeling the need to tell her the truth. 

But, we all knew that it couldn't happen. We all promised that what happened on the rooftop would stay a secret. The Aveston Police Department had no idea what to do with such a case considering that nothing this big ever happens in this small Colorado town besides the usual 'Disturbance of Peace' that the elderly folk call in every Friday night. So, they didn't have a clue as to what really happened. The only people that knew were the ones on the rooftop, and we planned on keeping it that way.

"I'm sorry, Mom." I whispered. "Hopefully they find out soon." 

"Its fine honey." She said turning to me and then she did something that as of two week ago, I wouldn’t consider out of character. She pulled me into a tight hug. She gently started stroking my hair. "I'm just happy that you got out in time. I don't know what I would do if you didn't make it, too." 

My mom was never a touchy-feely kind of person and I appreciated her for that. We both understood the value of personal space and we respected that. It wasn’t until the day of the fire that my mom changed that. Now, every chance she gets, she pulls me in as if I’ll be gone the next day.

I was pulled deeper into my sea of guilt. I lost all train of thought at that moment and I had no idea how to respond without placing a larger load of guilt on my back. 

So, instead I just stayed there in her arms and cried against her shaking shoulder. I know she must have thought that I was crying for all the lives that were lost but I was also crying for the pain and blood that were on our hands. On my hands.

I don't know how long we stayed like that crying into her shoulder but the sudden sound of a car horn jolted me upright.

"There's Blake." I wiped away the tear that was streaming down my face. 

She pulled away, smiling. "Have a good day at school."

"I will." I gave her a quick peck on the cheek and grabbed my backpack from the counter and slung it over my shoulder. "Bye, Mom." 

I walked down the cement pathway that lead up to the curb where Blake's beat up white Toyota was parked crookedly. Like usual, loud music from his favorite radio station, 99.5, was blasting through the speakers. This morning it sounds like Queen. 

I yanked open the passenger door, pulling extra hard because it tends to stick. Blake leans over and pushes the door as I pull to assist the door open. 

"Thanks." I slide into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. The smell of cigarettes filled the car and I gagged. After the fire, I stopped smoking. Which happened to be really easy considering I hated it and only started smoking a couple months before what had happened.

"Sorry, Alisha." He murmured, knowing how I feel about smoke now. "I will try to get the smell out, but I can't make any promises."

"Its fine," I nodded. "But you should really get this car fixed." I said looking around to the sun visor that was hanging off to roof and the busted back window that is now covered up with plastic.

"What?" He gasped. "I can't get rid of Ol' Gladis!"

"Why not?" I laughed.

"We've been through a lot together! I can't just dump her off and forget about her!" He explained as he drove down the street; Gladis sputtering the whole way. "She is not a one night stand."

"I think someone is in love." I smiled.

Blake laughed. "You got that right!" Then in a whisper he added. "Don't tell anyone, but I plan on asking her to marry me." 

"How cute, you two will make a fine couple." I smiled.

Blake looked over at me. "So can I trust you to keep my secret?" His voice was serious and unwavering. I knew that what he was saying had a double meaning.

Out of everyone in Cody's group, I got along with Blake to most. Which was easy, since we were the only single people in the group. Jessica and Jericho were together and so were Quinn and Cody. My friendship with Blake was something I couldn't avoid, not like I wanted to. Blake was so easy to talk to. 

Which is why he knew how I felt about what happened on that Friday. 

After Cody talked to everyone and told them that we were all going to keep what happened a secret, I told Blake how guilty I felt. He’s probably the only reason why I haven’t told.

I took a deep breath in and said, "Of course. I won't tell anyone."

We were stopped at a stop light so he turned and studied my face. I suddenly grew hot and conscious of how I looked; my brown hair was hanging messily over my face and I was in my usual baggy shirt and skinny jeans. Blake on the other hand looked great; his shaggy blonde hair looked like silk and his crystal blue eyes smiled up at me.  I didn't even bother looking at his attire; his face was perfect enough.

To my surprise, Blake reached out and lightly brushed a single lick of hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ear. His pouty lips curled up into a breathtaking smile. 

"Thank you." I mumbled.

But before he could respond, the sudden honk of a car horn made us both jump. Blake shifted in his seat and stuck his middle finger out the window to the car behind us. When he turned back around, he put the car in motion.

Now that we were in an awkward silence, I listened to the radio more intently.

“Today’s the day,” Trinity, 99.5’s radio host, announced. “All Aveston High Schooler’s will be going back to school at the middle school. These past couple of weeks was good for everyone, as I’m sure we needed it to get over the loss of the fire. The Aveston Police Department are working hard to find out the cau-“

Blake turned off the radio.

"Can you believe that we are finally going back to school?" Blake asked. "If one good thing came from... The incident, it was the fact that we got two weeks of school off."

I stayed silent. I always hated it when any of my friends would mention what had happened that Friday. I hated how they could mention it like it was nothing, while I get caught up in my words every time I try to bring it up.

"Well, it's not too great. We have to share the middle school until they rebuild the high school." I said, “And by the time it's finished, we'd probably already graduate by then.”

"What? Where did you hear that?" He looked over at me but then averted his gaze back to the road as he pulled into the Aveston Middle School parking lot.

"It was on the front page of the Aveston Newspaper and we just heard it on the radio."

"Shit. I was hoping that they would move the middle schoolers to the elementary." he sighed. "Do you even want to go? We can just skip and go to Cody's."

I shook my head. "No, I want to go." 

"Are you sure?" He pulled into an empty space.

"Yeah, I want to see how everyone is doing." I said shyly. “I just want to see if they are better, you know? I don’t want them to be miserable forever.”

Blake stared at me and sighed. "Alisha, what happened was not your fault. You have to get that through that pretty little head of yours." 

I shrugged. "Can you just drop me off at school? You can still go to Cody's."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? I don't want to leave you alone."

"Yeah. Go ahead." I smiled. "It's no big deal."

"I'll pick you up after school, okay?" He smiled. "By the flag pole."

"Okay," I grabbed hold of the car handle. "See you then." I tried shove the door ajar but it wouldn't open. Laughing, Blake reached over and hit the side of the door twice and shoved it open. I need to learn that trick.  "Thanks." I hopped out of the car and slung my backpack over my shoulder.

"No problem, I know all of Gladis' tricks." He winked. "Well, I'll see you after school. Remember, flagpole."

I waved as I shut the door. "Flagpole," I repeated. I watched as Blake pulled out of the parking lot. His white car spit and sputtered the whole way.

I took a deep and faced the school, the classmates, and staff that had been personally affected by what had happened. Now was finally the time to face them.

Here goes nothing.

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A/N:

Okay, so I know that one was a bit slow...really slow...but I promise the next one will be a lot better! :D

Thankies!

Kat :)

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