Drop Dead Gorgeous 〰 Jake Fitzgerald

30

"Step away from the body!"

Eli flinched at the loud voice that boomed from behind us, both of us backing away as the male cop stared intensely at us.

"Sorry, I uh - just-"

Five seconds into our arrival at the high school we were surrounded by bundles of people who were trying just as hard as us to know what the hell was going on, all of us clueless and scared.

"I can't believe this," I told Eli, staring at the dead girl in front of us. Not only had her throat been sliced open, but she had several stab wounds showing through her clothing, drenching almost every piece of clothing she had on in blood.

"Tragic," someone else said beside me, so close that I jumped at the sudden sound of her voice. Dee turned to me for a second before saying "Sorry" and turning back to the dead body that we all seemed to be captivated by in a sick way.

"She was in my English Lit class. Pretty smart."

"Well she's dead now," I murmured out, causing Eli to glare at me.

"Seriously Lexa? Leave your pessimistic jokes aside for a bit, will you?"

"We're all just coping with it in our own ways," I spat back, rephrasing what he's been telling me time and time again.

"Hey," what I recognized as Jake's voice rang out behind me as he slightly pushed Dee to take her spot beside me.

"Where the hell have you been?" I scolded through gritted teeth.

"Working on something. Do you guys know what happened?"

"Girl was found dead. It was out of nowhere, too-"

"As if someone was making a huge announcement," I interrupted Dee.

"Hey everybody, I'm back and with more ideas for gore than ever," Eli mocked, adding into our explanations.

"Killer couldn't even give us a week," Jake chimed in, holding my hand. "I can't believe it's all happening again."

"Does this mean I'll die too? Since like, everything around you guys screams murder?- No pun intended," Dee began, not looking frightened at all. In fact, maybe too nonchalant about the whole situation.

"Aren't you supposed to be like, crying right now? In tears because your classmate died?"

"Aren't you?" she shot back, causing me to hesitate a bit.

"As fucked up as it is, I'm used to the murder stuff."

"Well," Dee began, crossing her arms and looking back at the lifeless corpse in front of us. "In a town built around murder stories and tales of a Lakewood slasher,  you kinda get the hang of it after a while. After all, this is Lakewood." She stopped and turned to me.

"What would this town be without murder?"

-

"And yet a new corpse."

"The girl must've had some importance then-"

"The girl's name was - is, Sharon. Yes, she's important." Brooke sipped on her coffee before adding, "She was my friend."

"Really? Wow, you don't see much of those around anymore-"

"If you could please stop the banter and get back to the real topic," Emma directed to us, mostly to Audrey who had made the comment. "That would be great."

"Maybe she knew something. Maybe she knew too much," Gustavo added, leaning forward a bit.

We had all decided to meet at the coffee house to talk about what happened, as if somehow we could figure out who the killer was. And here we were, everyone frustrated and upset.