The Tree's Girl

Chapter Forty Five

"What are the two of you doing here?!" I asked, shock was obvious in the tone of my voice. From laying on the park bench and on Maria's lap, I rapidly sat up and fixed myself. I wouldn't have mind people who knew nothing about us seeing that sight, but to think that Ken and Anna would witness it was embarrassing.

"My, my. Is that a blush I see, Joseph?" Anna teased and I couldn't help but cover my face, "Honestly, I didn't think that you two wouldn't attend school just to have a date."

"L-look who's talking!" Maria stuttered a shout, probably embarrassed too that we got caught, "You two are cutting classes just to have a date yourself!"

Anna and Ken were flustered.

"We're not on a date!" They shouted in sync.

It was a moment of silence. We just let the awkward fade away. In a second we were able to compose ourselves, taking it seriously that time.

"If not on a date, then what are you two doing here? You're also wearing the school uniform. It looks like you're cutting classes," I stated. Eyeing the two of them.

"We're not cutting classes though," Anna then argued, "It's break time. We plan to return to the school after ten minutes or so." She then shrugged her shoulders.

Ken approached Maria and I then sat right next to me. "So, other than having a date, what's your other reason of not attending school today?" he asked.

"A-a date wasn't really planned," Maria stuttered a reply, "Joseph just slept in today. He woke up two hours late."

"And I bet you're thankful about that, aren't you Maria?" then Anna sat beside her, intertwining their arms together. "You two were given the chance to have a day all for yourselves.

Maria couldn't help but chuckle, "Well, I guess you can say that."

I couldn't help but stay silent as the three of them talked. Their topic wasn't really something I'd usually talk about; Homeworks, exams and love. Ken would just laugh with the girls even if he himself didn't like the topic as well. Unlike him, disinterest can easily show on my face.

"Hey, I also heard something," then Anna caught my attention, "Do you guys know someone named 'Cheryl?"

My eyes couldn't help but widen. The same reaction was earned from Maria.

"U-um, no. Why?" I tried my best to hide my stuttering as I tried to learn more about what she had to say.

"Well, she was the one who took the video of us meeting your brother, Jian. She died yesterday and it has been making the school noisy!"

Anna was right. Even we could hear whispers about her at this very moment.

"Other than that, it has been making rumors about you two a lot worse. They said the reason she died was because she tried to break the two of you up because she had a crush on you, Joseph."

I am really surprised at how rumors are so detailed these days. Eventhough someone most likely made that up for mere drama, it's actually on point. It's a little scary at how close we are to getting found out, all that's keeping us safe is the fact that rumors continue to stay as rumors and that they don't know the murder weapon.

"A lot of rumors are spreading about the way she was killed as well," added Ken, explaining it as if he was some kind of detective, "Some said it was with a chain saw, a huge butcher knife, a plain saw, gardening scissors. All those giant cutting tools."

"How was she killed, actually?" Maria asked, trying to look confused as ever. She's doing a great job trying to divert the suspicion away from us.

I tried to join in too, "By the way you enumerated weapons, it seems pretty brutal."