Broken Memory ✓

14. Wes Murphy

Today is like any other school day; I drag myself out of bed and find that everyone else is asleep when I first wake up. I throw on whatever is deemed acceptable for the day in my eyes, and today it happens to be a tee shirt, shorts, and my sneakers. Breakfast is the same as always - whatever I can find. Today I find a breakfast sandwich to eat.

By the time I'm done eating, Dad is awake and finds me sitting at the table. "Hey, kid."

"Hey, Dad," I greet him.

"So, I want you to be even more careful when you're out, okay?"

"Why? What happened?"

"Well... Murders are still going on. It was on the news today that an officer was killed. I think his name was officer Nathan or something. And the local police are obviously getting a bit more scared to investigate knowing one of their officers was killed and the murderer didn't leave behind anything to work with."

"Oh God... That's scary..." I say, but more thoughts are flowing through my mind than I can quite comprehend. Officer Nate is dead? Who's next?

"Bus," Dad alerts me. I nod, getting up and snatching my prepared backpack from the floor. I run outside and catch the bus just in time, Officer Nate still filling my head with anxiety.

When I reach the school and get off the bus, Caleb is already at our normal table listening to music. I sit down next to him and smile. He grins back and we wait here in silence for Connor.

"Okay, this is getting really weird," I tell the two of them once they're both here. Connor casts me a weird look and Caleb waits for me to elaborate. "What? You guys didn't hear?"

"Hear about what?" Caleb asks. I fiddle with my Nirvana necklace as I speak.

"That Office Nathan was murdered. The one that was questioning us. And the recordings of the conversations he had were wiped. It was on the local news."

"What are the police going to do about it? The murderer needs to be stopped real soon," Connor fidgets in his spot at the bench we always sit at in the morning.

"This has to be targeted. I mean... What are the odds that the two bullies of the school and the police officer questioning students are murdered?"

"Yeah. But who would do it? It couldn't be a kid going to our school... Right?"

"I don't know anymore. It could be anyone at this point. Maybe we should look into if Liam and Jonathan have any more enemies," I shrug.

"I think we're gonna have to take this case into our own hands... I mean... The police aren't doing much," Caleb looks down to his legs. "I hope this doesn't cost us any lives to investigate."

"We'll be careful. And we'll be more lowkey about it. We just can't keep being spectators as chaos unfolds around us."

"Yeah..." Connor reluctantly nods. He's scared, I can see the fear in his eyes.

"Connor, we'll be okay, and so will your siblings. Okay?" I give him a side hug. He hugs back, leaning into my touch, and it seems that maybe that reassured him the tiniest bit.

"Alright..." he lets go of me as Caleb awkwardly glances between us.

The starting bell rings and people begin to crowd out of the cafeteria. I say goodbye to the two of them as I break away to my locker and begin the day.

At lunch, I sit down next to Caleb as I drop my tray of food on the table. Connor sits across from the two of us instead of next to me, and this usually happens for seating; it changes daily as long as it's at the same table.