Kevin Died

5. Dead and Buried

5. Dead and Buried

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"Tell me what you saw," I demanded as we stood in the middle of the bathroom.

"You know what I saw," he retorted.

"I want to hear you say it."

"What? That I saw a ghost?"

"So what do you plan to do about it?" I asked.

He folded his arms. "You expect me to do something?"

I shrugged. "I don't know you. But I know that I won't let you tell."

"Luckily you don't have to worry about that. It's none of my business."

I eyed him curiously. "You're new."

"Yeah, got here a week ago. Though, I catch on pretty damn fast. Everyone knows about the golden boy Kevin Vásquez. It's the only interesting thing about this town apparently. His face is plastered in a case full of trophies won by the school. He's kinda hard to miss."

"What do you know about me? Or the rest of my family?"

"Do you think I cared enough to look deeper into the story of the dead guy and his family? I'm not a private investigator. It's not my business, as I said."

I looked him hard in the eyes. I wanted to believe him. I needed for him to be telling the truth or he could ruin everything. As I said, I didn't know the guy. He could be anyone. Do anything.

"So you gonna hold me hostage in the bathroom or what?" Travis asked.

"You swear not to tell anyone?" I inquired.

"Dude-"

"Swear!" I demanded.

He sighed. "Fine, I swear, can I go now?!"

Just then another student, a younger kid, freshman by the look of him came into the restroom. We made eye-contact with him for a brief moment and then Travis made his quick exit, bumping into me as he did so.

I closed my eyes, letting out a deep sigh. What was I supposed to do now?

___

The final bell of the day rang. I made my way to my locker.

I had thought about Kevin all day. In fact, he'd pretty much been the only thing I thought about lately. Something was wrong. That much had been obvious, but it just wasn't making sense.

What was Kevin hiding? Why didn't he want to tell me now? Why'd he choose now to come back anyway? And who wanted to kill him in the first place?

Like I said, nothing was making sense. But I think the biggest question on my mind was what or who was buried in the cemetery where Kevin's tombstone was? The police definitely found a body. DNA was scanned, articles of his clothing were found. Police wouldn't lie would they?

Was that what it was? A cover up? Was it really someone else's body in the grave?

My heart sank at the thought and a shiver ran down my spine. Someone who is not Kevin being dead and buried, given Kevin's name in concrete. What kind of scandal could Kevin be involved in that reached proportions such as those?