Cupid's Guide to Murder

Chapter 15: Keep Your Friends Close

The grey metal of Natasha's locker was almost gone from sight, covered by flowers and posters. A way for people to pretend as if they loved her; as if they had a loss to feel for.

The truth was, most of them didn't know Natasha. Maybe they had heard her name before but couldn't quite place who she was or passed her in the hallways as they rushed to get to class before the bell rang, headphones dangling out of their ears.

Maybe they heard her laughter, twinkling like little bells, as she shut her locker door but forgot the sound as soon as they kissed their significant other or washed their hands.

Maybe they even saw her, saw the wisps of her hair that always would escape her ponytail, looked at how she ducked her head over her notebook and noticed how her foot would tap whenever she answered a question in class.

Maybe they saw her, but they never truly did.

There was one person who was different. She brought flowers to Natasha's locker daily, not to show everyone she cared, but because she had lost a piece of her.

Cari Parker. Natasha's only friend, the person who grew close to her after Natasha stopped being friends with the rest of us. I hadn't seen her since the Vocal Love showcase. Overnight, she was no longer like any other senior.

I wondered how she felt knowing her best friend was gone, without so much of a goodbye. Here one moment and then gone the next, as if she was nothing but the memory of a silhouette.

Cari stood there with a piece of paper in her hand. Sheets of the same paper were thumb-tacked to the walls, with a photo of Natasha and cursive writing underneath inviting the school to the candlelight vigil to commemorate her. I assumed she helped post the signs.

Against my better judgment, I wanted to talk to Cari to see how she was doing and if she had any answers. I didn't know why it was so important to me to discover what happened to Natasha when the others moved on.

"Vigil time." Luce's voice carried down, and I flinched at the sudden noise. She observed me with curious eyes, folding her arms across her blue dress. "Whoa, you're on edge."

I thought about telling her about going to Mrs. Ryan's house yesterday and what I had found in Natasha's room, but I didn't. If there was one thing I learned, it was that things were better with fewer people involved.

"Just scared," I said.

Luce nodded in silent understanding. "Ready to walk into a vigil filled with fake people who will probably look at us like we're killers?"

"Every high schooler's dream." I cracked a wry smile, linking our arms together.

Blending into the rest of the students wasn't too hard, thankfully. Most of the seniors were there, but there were also freshmen, sophomores, and juniors that had never met us, so it wasn't like we were wearing any tags across our foreheads that said suspected murderers. We found our friends on the East side of the bleachers.

Taylor glanced at us as we sat down, her blue eyes shining.

I looked away, remembering the last words we had spoken to each other and the fight that had erupted in the hallways. We hadn't made up yet, and something told me she was still upset.

"Hey," Justin whispered. "A couple of my teammates wanted to see that new Randall Feller movie after the memorial. You down to come?"

"I don't know if I'm in the movie-watching mood," I said.

"But this is about a zombie apocalypse, and it's supposed to be good." When he saw my small forced smile, his own dropped. "Alright, well, I bought the tickets already, but I can just give them to someone else."