The Fire

Chapter Ten

Past

After the fire, I didn't go back to school for two months. I didn't want to face the constant talk of Leah and the attention that came with it. Just the idea of having to talk about her without being able to cry seemed impossible, but I had to go back at some point.

The first day back, I reluctantly walked up to the front doors of the school, people were staring at me already, and the tears were beginning to prick my eyes. The corridors were worse. It was something out of a movie, people stopping what they were doing, pausing their conversations. It was as if someone had stopped time and left me out. I gulped and put my head down so all I could see was the zig-zagging laminate flooring; I couldn't stand to look at them. As I walked through, people slowly began to mind their own business again, except for one person.

Katie.

She muttered something to Hannah before strutting towards me like an awkward catwalk model, carving a path in the corridor. I looked around to make sure it was me she was walking towards, but there was only me. This couldn't be good.

"Hey, Sophie!" She said in what seemed like a very sarcastic tone. "I am so very sorry about your friend...what was her name again?"

"Uh..." I looked around in disbelief, "Leah."

"Oh, of course!" It was only then when she realised the crowd that had gathered around this amazing spectacle. Her eyes opened wide and glared at the group, ushering them away with a wave of her hand while shaking her head in exaggerated disbelief.

"Sorry about that," she said.

I opened my mouth to speak but Katie had beat me to it.

"So, anyway, I am really sorry and if you ever need anyone to talk to, I am here for you." Her eyebrows were raised and her eyes wide with almost believable sympathy.

"Uh, thanks," I said awkwardly.

"Anytime!" Katie almost shouted as she span around and strutted her way back down the corridor.

I was in disbelief at the conversation that had just played out.

But maybe she was being genuine, maybe she did really care. After all these years of her constantly tormenting me, maybe she had really grown up, started fresh. Or maybe she just felt sorry for me. I probably wouldn't be so cold towards her if one of her friends got murdered.

Then at lunch, I heard the rumours. I shouldn't really have been surprised, but I couldn't help but feel used and manipulated. According to Josh and Millie, she had been going around and telling people that I was probably the one who killed her. As the day went on, I tried to ignore the whispers and murmuring around me whenever I walked into a lesson by keeping my head down and pretending to be busy with my bag or my hair.

When the bell finally rang at 3:15, I grabbed my bag and stormed my way out of school and almost ran home; I couldn't deal with it anymore.

I got home and collapsed on my bed in a flood of tears. I couldn't understand why someone would do that to anyone, I really did think that Katie had turned over a new leaf and started anew. But maybe no one can change, maybe you are born the same person as the one you die as. I hated myself for being tricked by her. Of all people, it just had to be Katie. I was still her pawn in this game of chess that would just never end.

The ringing of my phone woke me from my nap that I had accidentally drifted into, I deliberated not answering it, but I couldn't help myself when my phone said NO CALLER ID, but I soon wished I had pressed the red button that stared at me from the bottom of the screen.

"Hello?" I said.

The silence that followed made me sit up in my bed.

"Who is this?"

I stood up.

"Hello, Sophie." The voice that spoke to me through the phone was deep and menacing, so much so it sent shivers straight through me. "This is Leah's killer talking."

I gulped but remained silent, this couldn't be real.

"I'm sorry about your friend."

My mouth was wide open.

Then I heard the giggling in the background, and the familiar voice of Beth in the background achieving a terrible attempt at a whisper.

"Don't you think this is a bit mean?"

Yes, Beth, I do think this is a bit mean, I thought to myself sarcastically, containing the urge to say it aloud.

I hung up immediately, shaking my head and chucking my phone on my bed. Crossing my arms, I stared out the window and began to dread the next four days ahead of me.

However, it turned out that I wouldn't make it that far. It was that week that James got taken as a suspect, and I refused to go to school. I was overwhelmed by what was happening and being at school would make it worse.

When James was cleared of all suspicions, we both made an agreement to stick together that first day back at school. Unbeknown to us, it would be worse than last time.

Everyone seemed to blame either me or James or both of us. They really did think that one of us killed her or we somehow worked together to bump her off. We managed to develop the nickname "The Psychopath Siblings."

Eventually, the school gossip that was me and James slowly died out as people lost interest. But while people forgot, I still had to remember the friend I had lost.