what's your id.

2 | jeremy

CHAPTER 2 | JEREMY

innocence (n.) - lack of knowledge and experience of the world, especially of evil or unpleasant things

Everything in this town felt old to Jeremy. The old town square where Daf's Diner had been around since what he assumed to be the 1500's. The quiet park on the north-side of town that the pond ran through. Even though it was a popular gathering for students at Waybern High, it still felt ancient. The trees covering the entire town. Great, big Connecticut maples and red oaks making the town feel age-old. The graveyard in town that probably had pilgrims buried in it. The graveyard that now had a freshly-laid grave for his friend, Tina.

The timeworn feel of the town is what made it magical to Jeremy. Growing up in China, distinct traditions and histories had been ingrained in the culture. But when he had moved here two and a half years ago with his family, he immediately sensed how different it felt from back in China. Waybern had an ambiance of mystery about it when Jeremy had first arrived in town on a foggy April morning, and the town's atmosphere hadn't felt any less mystifying in the following years. Waybern was home now. Timeless and enigmatic, home.

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Jeremy watched Fleur as she read her book. He liked the habit she had of tucking her hair behind her right ear while she read. He liked to watch her hazel eyes scan the words on each page, how she lost herself in far away worlds and fell in love with fictional characters. He liked everything about her. She was always quick to smile or laugh at one of his jokes or call him stupid and roll her eyes, every action towards him consisting of an affectionate warmth.

Jeremy remembered the first time he met Fleur after moving to Waybern. He was really nervous to start at the middle school. When the homeroom teacher introduced him to the class and said he was from China, she then motioned for him to sit by a dark haired girl in the back of class. 

"Fleur's half Chinese so I think you'll get along great." The teacher had said. Jeremy was shocked as he walked to the back of the class, only to be met with giggles from the girl, Fleur. 

"Ms. R's kind of an idiot." Fleur laughed, looking up at him for the first time, a light in her eyes. "You'd think she'd be a little less ignorant considering a quarter of the town is Asian. It's whatever, don't think much about it." Jeremy loved the way she had talked to him right after meeting him, like they had been friends forever and it was just another day of laughing at Ms. R's stupidity. He fondly thought back on their first encounter as he looked at her on the bus.

"You're staring again, dummy." Fleur laughed softly, looking up at him from her book.

"And what about it." Jeremy said. "You're even quieter today than normal." He added, serious.

"I can't stop thinking about her, Jer." She closed her book and slid it into her blue Jansport. Her. Tina. Their friend who had created the group on id. Who had planned the friend group's camping trips and movie nights together. Who had been telling one of her weed stories to Jeremy, Fleur, and their friend, Andy, at his house party two weeks ago only to end up dead in the pool later in the night. 

"She wouldn't commit suicide." Fleur whispered, looking around the bus, her expression turning serious, her hazel eyes storm clouds. "We both know that."

"But what can we do about it, Fleur?" Jeremy said. "It's not like we have any idea who it was. There were so many people at that party. Practically the whole school."