“Oh my god, Liz, where have you been? Did you see my text?” Charlotte hisses at me before I’ve even made it through the door. My mind has been hazy with dark thoughts—memories.
Slipping out my jacket, I hang it on the hook and grab my apron. “Yeah. Thanks, by the way, like I needed more nightmares,” I scorn her.
“The shops have been buzzing about it all day.”
She seems too hyped talking about a murder. It’s like a carnival showed up in town.
“I knew her, Char,” I tell her, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck to elevate an ache there.
Grabbing my upper arms and forcing me to face her, she barks, “What?”
“We weren’t friends.” I shrug from her grip.
“How did you know her?”
I push past her, making my way to the front of the shop, busying myself with wiping glasses over and stacking the shelf. “She’s from one of my classes,” I inform her, sensing her eyes burning into the side of my face. “We sit next to each other,” I add.
“Shit, Liz.” She blows out a breath, resting her hip on the counter. “I can’t believe you know her.”
“Knew her,” I correct.
“Do you need to talk about it?”
“No,” I snap, pushing her back through the door into the hallway. “Isn’t your shift over?”
“Yes, it is,” Jeff barks from his office.
“Fuck off, Jeff. You need to get the heat fixed or I’m not coming in tomorrow,” Charlotte shouts back. They’re like an old married couple who resented each other but knew they needed each other at the same time.
“You don’t come in, you don’t get paid,” he grunts.
Rolling her eyes, she folds her arms across her chest, making her tits spill from the top of her shirt. “So, she was in your class? That’s so creepy. Maybe you know who killed her too.” Her eyes widen with the realization.
My heart drops.
“Don’t look.”
“Killed who?” Jeff grunts, leaning his weight against the doorframe of his office.
“Nosey much?” Charlotte glares at him.
“Who killed who?” he asks again, ignoring her.
“A girl was murdered last night,” I tell him. How does he not know when everyone else seems to? Charlotte pulls out her cell phone and holds it out to him, showing the photo she sent me earlier. He squints, devouring the image.
“Damn,” He shakes his head. “What a waste.”
“Pig!” Charlotte hisses, echoing my own thoughts.
“She’s hot.” He shrugs.
“It’s a dead fucking body, you sicko,” she berates, curling her lip.
Holding his hands up, he raises a brow, “I’m not the one with the photo on my phone.”
“Can you delete that?” I grab her phone and hit the trashcan icon.
“You know her?” Jeff asks me, folding his meaty arms over his chest.
“They were friends,” Charlotte lies, a giddiness to her tone.
“We weren’t friends.” I narrow my gaze on her.
“That’s because you have no friends,” Jeff retorts, chuckling to himself. Dick.
“I have friends,” I bite back, my mind searching for the truth in my words.
“Invisible ones don’t count.” He full-on laughs.
“Is this funny to you?” I sneer.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s an asshole.” Charlotte slings her arm over my shoulder and walks me away from him.
“We’re friends, right?” I ask, hating myself for needing reassurance of our friendship.
Jack seeps into my thoughts.
“It’s okay, Liz Wiz.”
Her mouth twists up, and she follows me back to the front of the shop. “Are you kidding? We’re best friends.” She smirks, bumping me with her hip.
My stomach twists at her words. Best friends.
Jack.
Jack.
Jack.
“You sure you’re okay to work today?” Concern puckers her lips as she eyes me. I follow her gaze to my hand where I’m scratching at the scars there.
My mom flickers through my mind.
So much blood.
Why did this have to happen today of all days? This day was already stained in blood. “Do you really think her killer is someone I know?” I find myself asking.
“Where’s my son, cunt!”
Her hand slips into mine, squeezing. “I hope not. Whoever did that to her was evil.”
I knew evil. I’d been in a room with evil incarnate. He eclipsed the sun, stealing the light from my beautiful life and plunging my world into darkness. He stole everything from me. “I’m going to stick around for a little while, maybe have some food on Jeff.” She winks, releasing my hand. I have an overwhelming urge to wash her touch from my skin, but I don’t. Instead, I nod. She knows I would never ask her to stay even if I needed her to.
Exhaustion follows me around like my shadow as I clear the last tables of the night.
The hushed whispers about Abigail mock me the entire day. I can’t escape her death. Charlotte finally gave in and left after crowding me all damn day. Abigail was just a girl I sat next to. I didn’t even particularly like her, so getting sympathy for her death makes me feel like an attention-seeking phony.
I restock the drink fridge, grabbing myself a soda to stop the hunger pangs. I can’t face food. The overhead bell dings despite me flipping the closed sign a few minutes ago. “We’re closed,” I call out over my shoulder.
Silence.
“Hello?” I poke my head around, but the place is empty. A figure moves in my peripheral, making me startle. The men’s room door closes with a soft thud, and my stomach dips. Jeff is in his office filing paperwork. I’m not entirely alone, I remind myself as I round the counter, giving a semblance of safety with the barrier between me and whoever went into the restroom. It’s probably just a student with earbuds in. I chew on my nails, waiting
