You Killed Him

The Call

I kicked the leg of the chair in front of me. “What was that for?” Colin asked, startled. Then, he started laughing. “Hey! Quit laughing. How come no one told us that there’ll be a new student in Jefferson High School?” I whispered, making sure that my new desk partner wouldn’t hear me. “It must have been a sudden transfer. I’ll ask around to find out more. Why? Checking out the new guy?” Colin said with a smirk. “No! He’s just another random guy who just so happened to be sitting next to me. Just let me know after you’ve done your digging, okay?” I said in a higher pitch.

The rest of the school day whizzed past like usual. The last period was Chemistry and I was on the way to the lab with Colin when he told me that he had to meet a teacher regarding an assignment. “You’ll be fine. Just hope that there won’t be any pairing up for today’s lesson”, Colin said after I told him that I would have to do all the lab work alone with him gone.

A few minutes into the class, just when I was about to get cozy in my seat, the Chemistry teacher, Mr. Miller instructed us to pair up for an experiment. “Just my luck”, I sighed. “Kayla, since Colin isn’t in class, you will be pairing up with Nathan for today”, he said.

“What? This can’t be happening. I don’t even know him. I can conduct the experiment by myself just fine”, I wanted to shout out. But of course, I agreed obediently at the thought of 3 hours of detention.

“Hi. I’m Nathan Sharpe. You can call me Nate”, he said with a smile as he walked over to where I was standing. “Yeah, I know. I mean, I’ve heard. Ms. Zumi told the whole class”, I replied coldly. I was starting to regret what I said. Why was I so harsh to him? He raised a brow and as he was about to speak, I cut him off. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. Start over?” I asked. Nathan nodded reassuringly. “Okay. I’m Kayla Carson. Nice meeting you.”

He gestured towards the apparatus laid out on the table. “Shall we? It seems everyone else has started already”, he said, looking around the lab. We had to investigate the properties of acids and alkalis. I hoped he would be good with handing the corrosive substances because Colin always handled that task. Nathan handed me a test tube, expecting me to pour some acid into it. “Nahh, you do it instead. It’s your first day here”, I said, pushing the test tube back to him. “I’ve done it way too many times before”, I lied. I didn’t know why I lied. I guess I didn’t want Nathan to know the real me – clumsy me.

Back at home, I was lying on the sofa lazily while watching The Avengers on the television. It was probably the fifth time I’ve watched it. I was at the scene where an old man found Bruce Banner in the warehouse after he crash landed when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID before answering but it was an unknown caller.

“Hello?” I said warily into the speaker.

“Hi, Kayla. How’s my little princess doing?”

I cringed. “Oh, dad. You’re using a different number now? Oh and for the record, I’m not a little princess anymore.”

“You’ll always be my princess”, he laughed. “I’m with my colleagues now and since my phone died, I had to borrow a phone to call you.”

“Yeah? What’s so important?” I asked curiously.

“Listen, Kayla. Remember when I said I’d be home for the summer? Things have changed. I’ve got a serious case to deal with and I don’t think I’ll be able to make it home. I’m sorry. I know I promised to spend more time with you and Vincent but I have really urgent matters to take care of.”

“Vincent”, I repeated after him like an echo. I remember calling Vincent the “best brother ever” back when we were young. With my dad always travelling, he was all I had after my mother’s death. Before he graduated, we used to hang out every day. He would bring me to an ice cream shop a few blocks away from our house and we would order our usual – a chocolate sundae for him and a banana split for me. But after he completed high school, he moved out and furthered his studies in a different city.

 Vincent and I haven’t seen each other for two years and he was supposed to come home to spend the summer with my dad and I. I was imagining the three of us going to the movies together, hanging out at the beach and even having the time of our lives kayaking down the rapids like we used to.

“Kayla. Kayla, please. Talk to me.” My train of thoughts was interrupted by my dad’s stern voice. “I know you’re upset but I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“I understand. I guess I got my hopes too high up. Go ahead, dad. We’ll catch up some other time. I have tons of school work to do during the holidays anyways.” I lied. I was feeling so crushed deep inside. I was longing for some family time for so long. I thought we could finally be a family again. “I guess I’ll just have to wai—“ I was cut off by my dad. “Kayla, hold on, would you?”

I heard some muffled voices on the other hand which belonged to my father’s colleagues, I presumed. I tried making out what the person on the other end of the phone was saying. I heard a few words like ‘investigation’, ‘getting close’, ‘suspicious’ and ‘too dangerous’ but what really caught my attention was ‘Jenna Marce’. That is my late mother’s name. Why would anyone mention her?

“Kayla, are you still there?” asked my dad. I could hear the urgency in his voice. “I need to go now. Take care and stay safe, okay? I love you.”

“Yeah, sure. You too dad. Love you.” I replied just before the line went dead. “See you when I see you”, I muttered as I put my phone away.

I went back to watching tv and totally forgot about the conversation between my dad and the other man. When the credits started rolling, I grabbed my phone to message Colin. “Sup? I’m bored. Want to come over for some snacks? I have a bag of Cheetos – your favorite”, I typed. Then, I headed into the kitchen to get myself a bottle of soda while waiting for Colin’s reply. As I popped the bottle open, my phone beeped. It was Colin. “Check your front door.”

Colin was standing on my doorstep already. “I planned on coming over even before I got your message. Now, where’s that bag of Cheetos you were talking about?” he said with a huge grin. “Right this way, sir”, I gestured to him and then we both laughed.

We were in my room like every other Wednesday afternoon, just joking around, talking about school. “Doesn’t seem like summer break is in two days right?” Colin said. “Yeah. Time sure flies. We should start planning on what to do during the holidays right now”, I told him.

“But I thought you had plans with your family. Are you asking me to join in? It’ll be very awkward, Kayla. But since you’ve asked, how can I say no?” he said, holding his laughter.

“Hey! That’s not what I meant. My dad called just now to cancel. He couldn’t make it back for the summer. I was just about to tell you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s okay, Kayla. We can hang out; do whatever you planned to do with your family. Like you said, time flies. Before you know it, we’ll have to be back in school. How does that sound?”

I could tell he was trying to comfort me. Maybe he was right. It wasn’t such a big deal. After all, summer is the perfect time to try new things with friends. “It sounds great!” I tried to say enthusiastically.

******* Hey guys. I've been really busy lately. I was supposed to post this chapter yesterday but it wasn't done yet. I'll try to update weekly from now on. Happy Chinese New Year :D 

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