Behind the books

1.

"Oh my god, Ciara, there has been another one." 

Ciara Nevin closed her locker door and turned around to face Mindy, one of her best friends.

"Another what?" She nervously bit her fingernail, but Mindy didn't seem to notice. Ciara tried to push a book between the others, and dropped it. The bag was way too small, but she hadn't gone out to buy a new one yet. She was upstairs in her room most of the time, with something to read or music to listen to. 

"There has been another murder! They know it's the same killer. There was a smiley on the back of the victim, and a note that said 'Ignored, but not unseen'. All the other victims had the same!" Mindy's turned pale, she was obviously stressed. Mindy Turper had been Ciara's best friend for as long as she could remember. Their mothers had known each other since college. Mindy lived a few blocks away, so they usually walked home together. 

"So, your point is..?" Ciara asked. She wasn't freaked out by it at all. In her mind she laughed, because one person could frighten the whole town. 

"Don't you see, Ciara," Mindy said, "we're all in danger! All the victims went to the same school. This school. We could be next! Do you know who died yesterday night?"

Ciara sighed, "Surprise me."

"Travis Lancaster! You know him, that guy with brown hair and cute dimples. He is dead, Ciara."

Ciara raised her eyebrows to fake a surprise. "Travis? Well I don't like to say it, but after what he did, he kinda deserved it."

Mindy shook her head. "Not at all! Okay, sending that terrible letter to you was a dick move, but no one deserves to die." She had had a crush on Travis, and that probably influenced her opinion. As far as Ciara knew, Travis had absolutely deserved to die. Mindy, however, seemed really touched by the deaths. There had been 3 murders by now and although they all had died in a different way, they always found the victims with the same marks. They had a smiley carved into their flesh on their back, and a note which read "Ignored but not unseen'. 

Ciara shrugged, and at that moment the school bell rang. "I have to go. Don't worry, Min. You know some karate, you'll be just fine." She gave Mindy a supporting hug, after that they parted ways and hurried to their next lessons.

Ciara always sat in the front of the classroom. She loved her seat, she was fully concentrated and she was the first to answer the questions the teacher asked. Ciara glanced over her shoulder and saw the 'popular' kids.   They usually didn't pay attention to her, and when they did it wasn't in a nice way. Ciara called them the Tigers, because they were relaxed unless you annoyed them. Only then they attack.

One of the guys, Colin, saw her staring and decided to make a comment. "What are you looking at, nerd?" All of the Tigers laughed, like Colin had made a great joke. Ciara turned back around, and clenched her fists. She was angry. Not because they had ever harmed her in a physical way, but because they didn't. If they would try to kick her, she could fight back and at least cause some bruises, but there was something about words that made them invincible. Maybe it was because the words hurt her soul, and she couldn't handle it.

Ciara took some notes, but her fingers started to hurt. She was pressing on the pencil too hard. Ciara shook her head, biting on the pencil. Even her thoughts didn't make sense anymore.