She told me

Chapter 6

I'm still smiling in class the next day as I continue texting my new friend. The fear over the murdered girl still hangs over the class but I feel pretty okay. I know for a fact that things will go back to normal soon. There's only so long that a tragedy can derail the curriculum.

Miss Laughlin sets her books down on the table and opens one of them, "We're going to learn a new concept today, so I need all of you to pay attention."

I put my phone in and open my notebook to take notes. Honestly, I'm not worried. Physics is one of the subjects I can actually sail through with minimum effort. I zone out as she goes on and on, but I'm jerked back to reality when she closes her book with a thump, "Amelia, can you tell me what the formula for torque is?"

Mia looks like she has no idea what's going on in the class, but Miss Laughlin doesn't move on, "Mia, do you have the answer?"

She doesn't reply, she just sits there frozen. Miss Laughlin studies her, "meet me after class." She then turns her attention to me, "Lucas?"

"It's radius into force into angle between force and the lever arm"

"Very good Lucas, you seem to be catching on quickly."

I nod, feeling pleased. I don't get compliments from teachers very often, but it seems like this town has actually made my life better. Finding a dead body, aside. I have PurpleQueen to talk to and Cathy to listen to, I'm not flunking any classes yet and I feel content after a long time.

When I walk into the study room, Mia is right there in her usual spot. She doesn't even look up as I walk in and somehow, I feel sorry for her. Against my better judgement and with a vague feeling that I'm going to regret it, I walk up to her, "hey".

"Hey" she says tentatively.

"I can help with Physics" I reply, "I like the subject and I think I'm pretty good at it".

She stares at me for a second, looking like she has no idea what to say, "uh thanks" she pauses, "I can help you with biology".

I shake my head, "how do you know I'm bad at biology?"

She grins, "I don't, I just know I'm really good at it".

Involuntarily, I smile back, "do you want to start right now?"

She looks down at the page in front of her, "Sure, can you tell me what the fuck a torque is?"

I laugh, "we definitely have a lot to do".

She gestures to the book in front of her, "be my guest".

I sit down and flip through her messy notes before shutting the book, "Let's focus on learning what torque is first".

Fifteen minutes later, she knows the answer and I'm feeling a sense of accomplishment. She puts her book inside her backpack, "I gotta go, you coming?"

"In a minute" I say, pulling out my phone. There's a notification from PurpleQueen and I type out a reply.

I don't sense Mia's presence anymore and I realise that she has left the room. I sling my backpack over my shoulder and read the long list of messages in the chat telling me about the new video game she got.

I walk out and almost bump into Cory, he looks distracted and though a part of me wants to ask him what's wrong, another part of me just wants to go home and get started on the new Netflix series that is based on one of my favourite games.

He solves the dilemma for me by blocking my way, "Did you know that Miss Martin gave Maya detention? She didn't even do anything, I swear that teacher does this on purpose. We were supposed to go for a movie date today and now I had to sell my tickets to Trevor."