Fate

Chapter Four - What's in the Box?

Chapter Four – What’s in the Box?

 It was only Mason and I left in the store now and the mall was starting to empty as places turned off the lights and machinery. I took a deep breath and walked out the back, it had been over an hour since our kiss and I had avoided Mason since it had happened. But I had to talk to him. I cleared my throat to motion for him to come out of the cupboard he was stocking, he did and a half smile half frown crossed his face like he didn’t know whether to hide or embrace me. I planned on telling him everything, feeling wise – he knew the rest, but I couldn’t get the words to come out so I said something that resembled going to the bathroom and left my face flushed red from embarrassment in the fact I couldn’t even speak properly, he probably though I was immature, and he had every right to. I quickly exited out of the stores faded door ready to avoid all eye contact once again that day, but there was no one in the corridor, I thought I saw a movement up ahead but it was just a cardboard box with a loose label that said ‘Juicy Juicers’ I wondered what it could be, surely Mason wouldn’t have dropped it here and left it, could he? I decided to check it on the way back.

The bathroom was closed for cleaning so I hung around the end of the corridor until it seemed like an appropriate amount of time to go back, I wondered if I should go and speak to Oliver, he was still here, but decided against it. I started down the corridor for the third time that day walking faster than before but not knowing why. I rounded the corner of the store next to ours when I saw the box, still unopened. I wondered what it was, it was big, about as long as me but flat. I didn’t want to add an injured back to the list of things wrong with my life so I opened the box to check that it wouldn’t be too heavy. I tried to rip the tape off but it was too difficult I felt like someone was watching me and could hear footsteps down the corridor, I tried harder and harder to rip the tape off breaking fingernails and quietly swearing to myself, the footsteps getting closer, the tension was rising within me and I don’t know why, it was probably just pineapples or something. Finally the tape ripped off and I opened the flaps of the box to see Gus. Well Gus’s body.

I silently screamed within myself my body full of rage that someone had done this to my best friend. Then came the overwhelming sadness that made me want to let all the water from my body cry out and flood the earth, leaving me and everyone else dead too. Gus was dead. His body wasn’t bruised and he looked peaceful, but he was dead. Who loses they’re best friend at fifteen, it just doesn’t happen, does it? It was crazy, he didn’t even look like he had been in pain, which was good, although he did look a little underweight and his collarbone stood out from beneath his dirty shirt. Who would do this? And how did the box get here in the corridor, especially at the exact timing I was walking through and it wasn’t here this morning, was it? Then I suddenly remembered something, footsteps. I swivelled around so fast I almost lost my balance, Mason was standing a few feet away from me.