Beyond The Murder Of Emilia Johnson

Chapter 13.

Let's just get on with it...

"Got it!" I shout as I reach for the ball, but it pathetically lands with a smack on the grass in front of me. We've been trying to play volleyball with a baseball and no net.

"How the hell did you miss that?" Gavin chuckles, shaking his head.

"I get a C in gym, sorry." I smile, picking up the ball and bumping it into the air. Of course Gavin sets it into the air with perfection. I step towards it, finally successfully vollying it upwards. But it somehow flies left and plummets into the pond. I groan. "Damn."

"It's okay, let's just sit." Gavin snorts with amsuement. I sink to the bristly grass and Gavin plops down next to me.

"So, you know, I'm a senior in high school this year." He says.

"Where, in Diamen Heights?"

"Well, in Diamen Heights - my sister and I don't have to attend. But here, I do. I spend most of my time here, but at night I return to my home there."

"How do you get there?" I ask curiously.

"It's strange, I should take you sometime." He smirks.

"But how?" I whine like a baby.

"Well, if you really must know..."

"Yeah. I actually do."

"Stubborn, aren't you? But anyway, I run. I run far to the thickest part of the forest miles away from here, and then I go underground. I take a passage for about half a mile, and when I come out, I'm in Diamen Heights."

"Whoa! Is it an underground city?"

"No. Think of it more like...a hidden place that can only be reached by a certain transportation method."

"That's so cool."

"Yeah, but as I was saying, I attend high school here. And I'm almost out."

"And?"

"Er...my prom is coming up. And...well, I wanted to invite you."

"M-me? Your prom?"

"Yes." He nods hopefully. But Ryan? That would be cheating, wouldn't it? I can't.

"Gavin...I'm - I'm in a relationship."

"So now you two are actually dating?" Gavin narrows his eyes.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, I would like to go with you, but only as friends. And it's not like that's really the point of prom...so..."

"It's not cheating, Evalin. It's not like we would be doing anything romantic."

"I don't know...If Ryan went to prom with another girl I would be angry."

"I guess I see your point." He says bitterly.

"Please don't be mad." I beg quietly.

"It's fine. That pig lives in his own fifth anyway." He mutters.

"Haha, what?" I stifle a snicker.

"Have you even seen where he lives? It's so small and dirty. I don't understand how a rat could even live there."

"We're talking about the Everdon's house? That house?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Of course, what else?"

"Nothing...that's just about the cleanest, most beautiful, and the biggest, house I've ever seen."

"Then you've seen nothing, sweetheart. That place is a pigsty compared to mine." He rolls his eyes.

"Or, your just a weird person." I joke.