the suicide club (s.h.)

Chapter 6 - Carrie

C A R R I E

"Hey Carrie." Lena suddenly asked me. "Do you think I've gained weight?"

I looked at her in slight surprise. We had been walking together towards our next class, which was in the farthest part of our school. I've been silent because I'd been mentally taking down notes on what to do for Trevor as a welcoming gift. I guess what was on Lena's mind was weight.

I shook my head. "You look the same as you ever did Lena. I guess you do look like you gained a tiny few pounds but other than that no."

She stayed quiet. Was it something I said? "Lena, what's wrong?"

Lena opened her mouth to speak when suddenly Franz Alexander popped up from nowhere. He put his arm around Lena and the three of us kept walking.

He was whispering something to Lena, which must have been something very exciting because he had the biggest grin on his face. Lena's face didn't change at all. She only kept nodding. I tried to ever so slightly listen to what he was telling her and all I heard was "new kid."

"Well, thanks for letting me borrow my girlfriend for a couple of seconds Carrie. Not like I need your permission though." He said playfully. He also snuck in a wink. I made a face and didn't reply. Franz just shrugged and walked away.

"So what did he want?" I asked Lena, hopefully trying to pry the information out. I know prying seems wrong or something but hey, blame my natural curiosity.

She shook her head. "I'm not supposed to tell you. Franz made me promise not to tell."

Darn. Well, that's that. A few seconds later we arrived at our class. Thankfully Mrs. Cartwright still hadn't arrived so we had a few moments to mingle with our other classmates. Lena went to her circle of friends, which I had dubbed "The Plastics" a la Mean Girls. I went towards my artistically inclined friends.

"Hey Carrie! Working on anything new right now?" Tyler Bench asked me. I heard rumors that he had a crush on me, which was highly unlikely because no one could possibly have a crush on me, so I just told him no.

I went towards my desk and sat down hoping to rest my mind for a bit when Mrs. Cartwright entered. She took our attendance and we listened to a fascinating lesson about Fibonacci and his magical sequence.

The same was true for the other classes I had before lunch hour. As soon as the bell rang, I gathered my stuff and put it in my bag. I was about to walk out of the room when Mrs. Green, my Social Science teacher asked for me.

"Carrie, can you come here for a sec?" she asked.

I nodded. I went towards her desk and she spoke again. "Carrie, I've been noticing that your grades have been slipping. I can't help but worry."

"Look at this Carrie." She continued, pulling out last week's test. It was my paper and it had a big fat B+ on it. "As far as I'm concerned, all your tests had at least an A. This is the first time you've gotten anything lower than that. What's the problem?"

Gulping, I shook my head. "Nothing's the problem Mrs. Green. I guess I'm just getting a bit busier as usual with the homecoming dance getting nearer. I've been making all these plans and I guess I just left my schoolwork. You know how I get about these kind of things."

Mrs. Green nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess so. But Carrie, don't forget to prioritize. No matter how much these activities interest you, you still have to keep up your grades. After all, you're still in high school. It's very crucial to get good grades in order to go to a wonderful college."

I nodded. "Thanks. I've got to go now. Someone's waiting for me at my usual lunch table."

"Sure. Just remember what I said."

Leaving her room, I give her a slight wave. I walked the halls towards the lunchroom when I heard shouts and some cheers coming from inside. I could feel the tension from whatever was happening inside.

I ran towards the lunchroom. Pushing the door open, I found that the crowd was circling around something. Or someone. They were all cheering for...

Franz? Suddenly I remembered Lena and Franz's conversation earlier. Did this have something to do with it?

I elbowed my way past the crowd until I got to the very front. People were shoving, screaming and it took all my might just to get past one person.

I broke past the front person to see Franz was holding Trevor in a headlock. Harry and Ben, two of Franz's lackeys were holding his legs. Suddenly Franz shouted out loud.

"What school is this?" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Redwater High School!" the crowd replied back.

"And what do we do to new students?" he shouted again.

Shit. The hazing ceremony! I forgot about that stupid ritual that the guys do when some new guys enroll here.

I saw Ben reach into his pocket for something. Pulling it out, I saw it was a container full of bugs and worms and cockroaches. I shuddered. Suddenly, I knew I had to stop them.

I raced towards Franz and tried to pull his arm off of Trevor's neck. Trevor's face was turning blue, so I could only assume that Franz was holding him very tight. "Let go Franz! He's turning blue!"

He laughed. The more he laughed the angrier I got. I raised my arm to slap the shit out of him when suddenly someone threw a purse at me.

"Don't you dare slap him you bitch!"