peculiar winds

"I probably manifested it or something."

"You're joking." I said shakily. Jensen had no answer, just a frightened nod. "Well, is she okay?"

"Um, I don't no. John said she was dead, but you can never believe John, can you?" Jensen cackled nervously with an apprehensive grin on his face.

--

"13 YEAR OLD GIRL, KILLED IN WINDSTORM"

St. Cuthbert's College student, Emily Doyle, was killed in a violent Crosby, Liverpool windstorm this morning

Ah, how ironic. Nice one, John!

My eyes were fastened on my phone, scanning the news report. "Apparently she snapped her back against the fence." I looked up at Jensen, who was pacing back-and-forth with crossed arms. We were still in the sun room; the sky was blue-grey, and wind had eased down a bit. 

"Y'know, that's probably why we were let out so early! They didn't want us to see the body. Maybe parents got an alert on their phones or something, and that's why your mum came home early as well." He paced up and down the floor. 

"I mean, it also could've been because we were in dangerously high winds." I looked back down at my phone. "That was a bit of a hurricane!"

"But George and Oliver weren't let out, were they?" -- His point made sense. -- "It's just so weird, how could you have punched her in the face before she died? It's dodgy." 

"Do you think I had anything to do with it?" my voice fell quiet.

"No, it's not like you punched her to death!"

"I don't know, something just feels really off about this." I felt a pang of guilt in my chest, as if I had killed Emily myself! 

"Jensen! Liz!" mum tapped against the lite of the door. She wavered for us to come inside.

-- 

I poked my chicken around with a fork; I felt off, but not off like last night. Something felt really wrong about this situation, and I somehow felt linked to it. What are the odds of me punching a girl before her impending doom anyways?

"Liz, you've barely touched your chicken, are you alright?" Mum looked down at my untouched plate.

"Yeah." my voice was faint. The troubles of today were wreaking havoc in my mind, flooding it with unease and stress. These feelings stirred in my stomach as well. 

"What's bothering you, Liz?" mum stared at me tenderly, and so did Jensen, of course. "Is it Emily?" I stared at mum; my gaping eyes were begging for her to stop. "Liz?" She said another time. I dropped my head, and looked down at my plate. 

"So... Jensen, what exactly happened at school today?" Mrs. Gallagher was making light conversation.

"It was weird. It got super windy outside, and somebody screamed, so Elizabeth and I ran into the corridors." -- Thank god, he never mentioned the exchange I had before school -- "So we were hiding behind the stairwell, right? After Elizabeth rung you up, Ms. O'Brian, something flew through the window. So that freaked everyone out, and the teachers said that we all had to find a classroom to go in. So, we ran into the lab, and Elizabeth was looking out a window. Then she saw a big crowd of people. And that was about it, I guess."