The Monthly Mystery

june

Friday | June 1st
The long month that followed Andrew's murder was filled with homework and studies. I drowned myself in my work, striving for the A's I desperately needed. At the time I told myself that my only motivation for my sudden improvement of work ethic was my realisation that QCS was coming. Queensland Core Skills. The standardised test that had an effect on how my year levels OP's would turn out. Of course, my extensive Chemistry revision and English speech memorisation wouldn't effect the QCS test, but they decided my OP. I needed that final number to be less than 10 to get into the course I needed.
In reality, all this studying was my way of blocking out my emotions. Xavier also kept his feelings about Andrew to a minimum, never mentioning him when we discussed the Fallen Children. Discussions on the towns mystery were far and few between by the first of June.
The time on that fateful Friday didn't cross my mind until the lunch bell went. I slipped out of the computer labs and Xavier nudged my shoulder.
"It the first of June," he said and I raised an eyebrow.
"That is correct..." I replied, my mind too filled with the bonus HTML I had written down and was attempting to memorise for extra marks.
Xavier rolled his eyes and pulled me aside to the balcony edge. I looked out across the gumtrees of the northern part of the school. Being Australia and all, I wondered how many dangerous animals were out there. "The Fallen child?" Suddenly I whipped my head back to Xavier. Then, I grabbed his wrist and looked at the digital green numbers. 12:32. I then looked up and along the balcony, eyeing the students that walked past to their lockers.
"There wasn't a siren," I said, dropping Xavier's wrist and leaning over the railing. The level below had a large door leading to the schools oval, which is more of a deformed rectangle bordered by flakey white trees. A steady trail of students were heading towards it, all acting as usual and showing no sign of hushed whispered that had occurred every first day of the last months.
Slowly we walked to our lockers, my ears pricking up on people's conversations. I heard slips of gossip, homework and assignment ideas, but none of police. That confused me, causing me to wonder if someone had even gained powers. Maybe Andrew's death had stopped them.
Andrew.
I shivered as I shut my locker, looking to Xavier. He just raised an eyebrow as we walked out the side door to the benches. We found a place at an empty table, the wood slowly being uncovered by the sun. I edged towards the shaded end, a cold breeze verses the burning sun. I watched those who enjoyed extra exhaustion running around the sports oval with a scuffed soccer ball. My eyes lingered on the group as Xavier began to talk, something off about the mass of sweaty teenagers.
"We haven't talked about it," He said, his voice slow and steady. I didn't meet his eyes, instead keeping them on the soccer ball as it was kicked into the rattled net of the goals.
"What's there to talk about?" My voice was low but sharper than I intended. I took a breath.
"When we were there, what we saw, it has to replay in your mind like it does mine." The soccer ball was shot across the field, a chorus of cheers from one team. "We saw a kid jump off a cliff."
I scoffed, "Have you begun to believe that lie?" I faced him when I probably shouldn't have. "That it was suicide? We both know that it wasn't."
"Well what should I call it! Actually, never mind. If you don't want to talk about it we don't have to-"
"Murder," I said to correct him, right as the soccer ball hit the side of my face.
It knocked me aside and I fell against the bench I sat upon, catching myself with my elbow. The impact against my cheek left a pulsing red make that I knew would soon bruise. The soccer ball rolled to a stop in the grass near by as I rubbed my face. Before I got the chance to look around and glare, a boy was running up, ruffling his sweaty sand blonde hair.
"I'm so sorry!" he cried, scooping the ball up and patting my shoulder. I recoiled at his touch. "Wanda, right?" I nodded, wondering how he couldn't have been sure with our year level of only eighty kids.
"That's alright, Matthew," I replied, drawing his name out. The corner of his mouth turned up and he looked at our table. My water bottle now lay on its side, water spewing from the tip. I quickly sat it upright and slammed the plastic shut.
"Sorry, again." He motioned to the water bottle and mumbled, "can't escape water bottles today." Xavier scrunched his eyebrows together across the table.
"What do you mean?" He crossed his arms over on the table, leaning closer. Matthew glanced back to the field, the other kids waving him back. He turned back to us and shrugged.
"You don't know about Josie? Thought you two of anyone would know."
"Josie? Josie Johnson?" I asked. Matthew nodded.
"In P.E we were off campus at the beach, for beach volleyball." He leant in as if telling a dark secret, "Josie started acting weird, screaming and stuff. Then she ran to the water and fainted in the shallows. Weird bit is that when she woke up, all our water bottles exploded." He throws his hands out, "Like, really exploded! I need to get another now cuz of her."
"Interesting," I mumbled, new questions buzzing in my head, but Matthew turned and kicked the ball across the field before I could.
Xavier tapped his knuckles against the table, "So it was Josie. And it sounds like she has powers over water. That or plastic." I exhaled through my nose loudly and shook my head.
"Water it is. Let's see if she turns up to school tomorrow."