Mirror Me

23: Nancy Meyers has a Secret- MARCUS

Marcus scuffled along the lunch line with his tray in hand. Usually he asked the lunch ladies how their day was or complimented how beautiful they looked in the hopes of getting that extra scoop of pudding or a larger pizza slice, but today he was not hungry. He smiled and gave the ladies his usual jovial self but when they offered an extra scoop he declined. The lunch ladies shared a most worried look and without a second thought they reached out to give him a larger scoop than normal. "Don't be down, honey," said one of the ladies. "We are sorry about your friend."

By now it had been days since anyone had seen or heard from Hope. The student body made a morning announcement on the intercom asking for anyone who might have seen her leave school to report it to the counselor. Some of the teachers even took time out of the start of class to express the dangers of walking home alone. Like a lecture out of an elementary safety class, the students of Preston High seemed unaffected or shocked that anyone in an age of technology and phones could go missing so suddenly. It appeared to everyone that Hope was gone for good, that there was no chance she would return, perhaps snatched by the immigration officers and taken to Mexico. Surely this was a farfetched and racist idea, right? The police had searched around the school but found nothing. Were they even trying? Rumors had quickly spread, some heartfelt, others much darker.

"That poor girl," said one student to her friend in the lunch line. "I hope someone finds her. I'm almost sad to think I didn't even know she was in our grade. I never talked to her."

"You heard about that missing girl, Hope?" said another student to a boy next to them. "I heard she was so ugly that no one liked her, not even her mother. She probably killed herself, and the police haven't found the body yet. It's kinda what happens nowadays to those people no one likes. Glad I'm not unpopular."

"Oh yeah, that boring piece of Mexican trash," said Tom Bolton from his table of boys, "I remember her. My dad heard about it on the local news. He said America's better now that one more illegal Mexican is gone. Serves her right."

"Well," said Marcus to himself, "If you could hear how popular you are now, Hope, I don't know if you could handle all the attention." Marcus somberly sat at the furthest emptiest table he could find from the cacophony of rumors and lies. He knew Hope better than anyone else. He knew she would never do anything to hurt anyone not even herself. She was strong and no one gave her credit for it. He desperately wished there was something more he could do than just sit around waiting for answers. Suddenly a large group of preppy girls trotted over to the empty table next to him.

"Oh my God, Stephanie," said Trinity Marks as she placed her tray on the table. "I can't believe she actually did it."

"Are you talking about that Martinez girl?" asked Stephanie Bacon while rolling her eyes. "I can't believe that girl has gotten so much attention just being gone for two days. Maybe I should run away."

"No, I mean," Trinity's voice dropped to a low whisper. "I mean she killed herself. Like how Nancy said."

"Like I said what?" asked Nancy Meyers, poking her fork at the perfectly round Salisbury steak.

"When you told her to kill herself that day on the bus," said Trinity. "I think she actually did it!"

"No way," said Nancy. "It's been only a couple days. It would take her at least a week to come up with the perfect way. I bet some low life kidnapped her and dumped her on some curve. The whore."

"Nancy, did you say that she was too ugly to be a whore?" affirmed Brandy Coups.

"I did say that did I?" Nancy pushed her food away with a disgusted look. "Now my appetite is ruined just thinking about that girl. Ugh." Nancy looked around for a moment and then hunched over whispering. Marcus pretended not to be paying attention, but he focused all his might in hearing what Nancy was saying. "Hey, girls, want to hear a little secret?"

"You know we do," said Brandy excitedly.

"Well," said Nancy, "I think I know exactly what happened to Hope Martinez."

"What? How?" asked Stephanie.

"You remember my old bus stop near that abandoned office building right?"

"Yeah," said Trinity. "That one over by the ghetto?"

"Don't call it the ghetto," said Nancy harshly. "I don't want anyone to know I live near there. It's why I make that bus driver pick me up and drop me off a few blocks away."

"So what about it?" asked Brandy.

"Well, I was walking passed it after getting dropped off when I saw her." Nancy looked around nervously. "I saw Hope Martinez going into the parking lot. She was on her phone unaware that this shady guy was coming up behind her. I heard her scream so I hid behind the bushes. I watched her run in between the two buildings, but I was sure they dead ended cause my brother took me there once to throw rocks at the windows. Next thing I know, I see a bright light and a loud boom. It sounded like an explosion. All the windows burst into a million tiny pieces. I started running but when I happened to look over my shoulder, that shady man was rushing out of the alley carrying Hope's ugly backpack."

"Oh my," said Trinity. "Did she blow herself up?"

"I don't know," said Nancy. "But if I were to guess where Hope is, she is in that alley between those two buildings."

"I heard about the explosion on the news," said Stephanie. "They don't know what caused it, but they never mentioned finding a body."

"Perhaps Hope was so badly mangled that they couldn't tell it was her," said Brandy.

"Nancy, you need to go to the police," said Trinity. "This may be ugly Hope we are talking about but this is serious. The longer you wait to tell someone about this the more horrible it is going to look on your part. What if Hope was a terrorist?"

"Oh, don't be so stupid, Trinity," cried Stephanie. "Hope isn't smart enough to be a terrorist."

"We are the only ones who know about this," said Nancy sternly. "Promise me none of you will tell anyone. This is our little secret." They all nodded. When the group returned back to their normal seated position, each of them appeared to have changed their tune. A worried expression had replaced the once innocent giddy smiles. Feeling a quick gust of wind brush passed her back, Nancy looked at the table near her. A tray of food lay there with no owner in sight.