Riddle Me This

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I watched the lady behind the desk patiently. She was smacking away on a piece of gum, resembling a cow as she did so. She fixed her thick rimmed glasses and proceeded to highlight and circle several things on my paper; all while chewing loudly. Her freshly manicured hands scribbled on the bottom of the purple paper and then finally, she looked up at me.

"Fourth period will be cut short." She said between smacks of bubble gum. "You will need to go to the east gym for the assembly for all high school students."

I nodded my head and reached for the purple piece of paper. "Okay, thank you." 

"No problem, sweetie." She smiled.

Before leaving the cramped office, I turned back to the lady who looked up at me. "Do you have any more gum, by chance?"

I have had a slight addiction to chewing gum- although I never chewed like a cow- ever since I stopped smoking two weeks ago. I traded in smoking for chewing minty-goodness. 

She gave me a shy smile. "Oh, sorry honey. I don't." She then pointed to her mouth. "Last piece."

"Oh, ok. That's fine. Thank you anyways." I said, gripping the piece of paper even tighter. 

I turned away from the desk and the next person in line took my spot at the desk. I turned and watched as the lady spit out her old piece of gum and then quickly replaced it with a new one.

Last piece, my ass.

I pushed through the turquoise doors of the Aveston Middle School and found myself looking out into a sea of mixed ages, ranging from eleven to eighteen. They were all running about the courtyard either, talking, checking over schedules, embracing, or crying... Still. 

"Alisha!" I heard someone call my name from the sea of people. I could recognize that high pitched voice anywhere.

I turned around to find Jessica and Quinn trotting over to me. Well, Jessica was trotting as she pulled Quinn through the mass of people with much effort. 

"Hey you guys," I greeted as they met me by the planters. 

"Hey yourself." Jessica said. Then quietly she added. "Isn't it just horrible? Seeing all these people still so sad?" 

She was glancing around her shoulder staring at two girls who were hugging as they both sobbed into each other’s shoulders. I knew they had both lost their best friend, Abigail Turner, in the fire.

"I know. I feel so bad," I said. I sat down on the planter next to Quinn. 

"It's not like it's our fault." Quinn said.

Jessica reached over and slammed her hand down against Quinn's mouth. "Shhh. You know we aren't supposed to talk about this."

Quinn smacked her hand away. "What the hell? You fucking brought it up!" 

Jessica looked shocked. She brought her hand to her chest and began talking in a higher pitched voice, "I was just saying that-" 

"Okay," I interrupted. "Let's just drop it." I looked around and noticed that Cody and Jericho weren't anywhere in sight. "So where are the guys?"

"They decided to stay home. Blake called and said that he was going to ditch, so naturally they did too." Jessica smiled.

"And you guys wanted to come to school?" I asked.

"No." Quinn said, but Jessica interjected.

"Cody said that Blake left you here so we decided to come so you wouldn't be lonely." Jessica smiled.