Deadly Hallows [Complete]

Chapter 4: Bad Boy

My hands gripped the lunch tray tightly as I made my way through the crowded lunch room and toward the table that Mindy and her friends were sitting. I tried to ignore the stares that I got as I passed people by. I knew that they were whispering about Sophie and I, about how we looked alike, or about how they thought I could be next. There were so many rumors over the last few days it was hard to keep track of which ones I had already heard or were brand new. 

I heard one boy, Alec, comment yesterday that I should keep vigilant from now on. There wasn't a threat in his words, I could see the worry in his eyes. I had grown up with Alec, and almost everyone else in this room, except Mason. I shook my head, I didn't want to think about Mason or how the kids in school were worried about me for being the next possible victim. We still weren't sure what happened, so the whole town was cautious, everyone was trying to watch each other's backs as well as their own, but that could only go on for so long before someone wasn't paying attention when they should. Just like Sophie had done.

I took a deep breath, trying to recollect myself. I didn't want to think about my resemblance to Sophie, or anything that had to do with her. Mason was right, I needed to let her rest in peace, and stay out of it. I couldn't do anything to give her justice anyway, I was just a teenager. What did I know about solving murders? Just because I read them, and watched police officers solve them on television didn't make me an expert. The police would do their job and catch her murderer soon, if they ever found lead that was. 

From the discussion I had over heard with my mom on the phone last night with Mrs. Dawson, there weren't any leads. If she wasn't careful, Mrs. Dawson would single handedly panic the town and we may never find out who killed Sophie. I hope we would, she deserved to have whoever killed her found and thrown in jail. Maybe even receiving the same punishment as he had given Sophie, but that always stirred up too much controversy.

I placed my tray on the table in the empty spot next to Mindy and took a seat. Of all of the people at the table, the only person who even acknowledged my presence was Mindy herself. She glanced at me and offered a small smile, before continuing to talk with her other friends. She never minded when I sat with her, rather than choosing to sit alone, and she always tried to involve me in her conversations. I was thankful for that. Especially on days like today when I didn't want to be alone. Even if I wasn't actually friends with Mindy's friends, sometimes the aimless chatter about their lives and their superficial problems were comforting. It made me feel normal.

Normally, if I didn't sit with them, I would take my lunch into the Creative Writing classroom. The teacher, Mrs. McCarthy, didn't mind, but didn't encourage it either. Luckily after she noticed how shaken I was after the confrontation with Mason she had let me sit in her class. I never messed with anything. I sat  in the back of class with my headphones on while she searched her pigsty of a desk for her students papers. At one point she had lost all of their essays, so she gave them all A's, even the ones who didn't turn it in. How could she know who didn't turn them in if she lost them?

Today was one of the days Mrs. McCarthy didn't allow me to eat there. Her door was shut, and locked up tight. I had tried to get in before coming down here, but to no avail. So know I was listening to one of Mindy's friends, Caitlyn Collins, was talking animatedly about an episode of some show she had watched last night. With every word, she twirled a lock of her light brown hair around her finger twice. It was a habit of hers that I had always found annoying, but to everyone else it was perceived as 'cute'. Caitlyn was a nice girl, but there was something missing. She wasn't all the way there, mostly in the common sense meaning of the phrase. She tended to rely on her looks for most things. She was pretty, with naturally thick and curly hair that hung to her shoulders. Her eyes were brown and almond shaped, and her skin was a natural olive tone which I envied her for. But she was the only one of Mindy's friends who wouldn't act like I didn't exist whenever I sat with them, so I accepted her for what she was. As far as I was concerned, she was a good person in my book.