Chapter Four

Only two people called me Ria. Mikey and Dillon. Dillon was like another brother to me. He was Mikey’s best friend who was at our house more than his own. Me and him never talked much, so I didn’t really know him too well. I called him my older brother and he called me his little sister, but that was only because how close he was to Mikey.

Three years ago when Mikey had first started going to this school they had gotten really close. They were almost all ways causing trouble in class. Those two together were a teacher’s worst nightmare. Eventually the Principal had switched tehm to different classes so no teacher had to deal with them both at the same time. He could separate them in classes but he couldn’t separate them in lunch or after school or on weekends.


I watched motionless as Dillon sprinted across the hall over to me. Once beside me he wrapped his arms around me. He wasn’t crying at the moment, but I could tell he had been. Now I knew something was up. The three years I had known Dillon I had never seen him cry. He had never hugged me this tight either.

“I can’t believe this happened…” His voice was soft and gravelly, like he was choking back tears.

Guilt swelled inside of me. I had done something so bad that it made Dillon cry. I needed to apologize. Even if I hadn’t found out what I had done, I needed to apologize for whatever it was. Maybe Mikey wasn’t pissed off, maybe he was crying too…

“Dillon, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I did, but I’m so sorry I did it.” Dillon stopped hugging me. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me a couple times. He was glaring at me. I could tell he was really trying not to cry.

“You didn’t do anything. This is not your fault. Mikey-If anyone is to blame it’s me, I should have noticed, I should have done something to stop it. Don’t blame yourself.” Then he broke down.

The door to the school entered and two people slipped in. I stared at them. They were too busy scanning the school to notice me. One was a lady. And one was a man.

The lady had a calm expression on her face. She had blue eyes, short brown hair that was pulled back except one thin strand, thin eyebrows, a pointy nose, and thin lips. She was overall very thin and pale. She looked like a very soft and kind woman. If she wanted to she probably had a lot of strength she could unleash.

The man was different. He was tall, tanned, and very bulky. He had a round face, thick dark eyebrows, short fuzzy dark hair, a round nose, and rosy cheeks. Right now he seemed very annoyed. He opened his mouth and muttered something. I strained my ears trying to hear.

“I hate suicide cases, always the same. People crying today but tomorrow they’ll be off partying. Ugh. Especially in high school.”

The lady glared at him. Then glanced at me, noticing I was watching. Dillon wasn’t paying much attention. He was trying to recover. She nudged the man. They turned and started walking towards us. The lady was now wearing a very polite, sympathetic face. The man appeared to be trying the same expression. With his round features and bushy eyebrows it wasn’t working.

“Hello.” The lady said stepping forward, her voice sounded almost silky.

“I was wondering if you two could tell me where I could find a Maria Vessey.”