Chapter 12

Holden

       Julian was actually really good at hiding things. After he talked to Shaw, and me, about how he had been feeling from killing Cassidy, he went back to pretending nothing happened. You couldn't look at him and think that something was wrong.

       And I really hoped nobody else found out the truth, especially the police. If they found out, Shaw would be charged for misdemeanor and there would be a very high chance that Julian would go to jail because when he was defending himself from Cassidy, he really did have the intention of killing her.

       I was honestly glad Shaw did take the fall for Julian. Shaw did get off because of the story he made up, and he knew he would have otherwise he wouldn't have taken the fall. Julian, on the other hand, might not have gotten off that easily.

       I was starting to get real tired of school. I could barely concentrate and all my classes, except for gym, were so boring. So when school finally let out, I couldn't be happier. I could just head home and sleep for hours on end.

       Every day before and after school, Jane and I walked together, so I was waiting for her at her locker. When she showed up, she said, "Hey. So, ready for the English quiz tomorrow?"

       "What English quiz?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed.

       "Uh, the one Mr. Aniston told us about before the class ended," Jane said as she opened her locker to put her books away. "You forgot already?"

       "Well, consider I have short term memory loss, I would have to say so," I said. 

       "Right, sorry," Jane said. "You want to come over and study?"

       "No thanks," I said. "Trust me, studying does nothing for me. Not even an hour later, I'll just forget everything I studied. It's fine, though. I'm almost done the school year, so I will just pass by doing all of my homework and assignments."

       "Are you sure?" Jane asked.

       "Yeah, I'm positive," I said. "I'll just spend the time napping instead. That will be a lot more effective."

       Jane chuckled. "Yeah, I'll probably nap for a bit as well."

       After she closed her locker, we left the school and started heading home but first, we went to the cafe first to get something hot to drink. Normally, I would get coffee but I wanted to nap and having caffeine in my body probably wouldn't help. So I got hot chocolate instead.

       "I seriously love living here," Jane said once we got our drinks. "The village may be small, but there are so many things to do."

       "Yeah, you're right there," I said. "It's never a dull moment in Spruceworth."

       A man suddenly walked up to us since we were about to walk by him. "Excuse me," he said. "I'm trying to find someone but I haven't been here to look, so I don't know where to look."

       "We might be able to help," Jane said. "We're both pretty new to the village so we don't know everyone yet. Who are you looking for?"

       "Some guy names Shaw Thomas," the man said. "Know him?"

       "Nope, can't say we do," I lied. I didn't know why I did, but I just had a feeling this man didn't have the best intentions. I would rather know exactly why he wanted to find Shaw before leading him to my boyfriend.

       "Really?" the man asked, clearly not believing me. "Because you seem like you're hiding something."

       "I'm not hiding anything," I said. "Sorry, we can't help you."

       I was about to walk away, but the man grabbed my arm to prevent me from doing so. I looked back at him, yanking my arm out of his grasp. "Fine, don't help," he said. "I'll find him eventually. Actually, there is something you can do to help. The next time you see him, tell him that I'm not going to let it go that he killed my little sister."

       "You're... Cassidy's brother?" I asked.

       "Oh, so you do know Shaw," the man said.

       "What? I never said that," I said.

       "You implied it since you knew he killed Cassidy," he said. "So, since you do know him, pass along the message."

       He walked by my, shoving my shoulder as hard as he could. I knew he didn't have good intentions.

       "You should head home and tell Shaw about Cassidy's brother," Jane said. "I'll be fine walking the rest of the way home."

       "You sure?" I asked.

       "Yeah, of course," Jane said. "That man didn't seem like he was messing around, so you should really go tell Shaw."

       Jane and I went in opposite directions as we headed to our homes. As soon as I walked inside, Shaw looked over at me from his spot on the couch. "Hey," he said. "How was school?"

       "Same old, same old," I said, closing the door behind me. "But you might have a problem. And by a problem, I mean Cassidy's brother."

       "What?" Shaw asked.

       "Some man walked up to me and Jane asking where he could find you," I said. "I didn't say since I didn't know why he wanted to find you, but then he said that he's not going to let it go that you killed his little sister."

       Shaw paused the movie he was watching. "Okay, but he isn't going to do anything, right?" Shaw asked. "If he had any sense in him, he would know that he can't blame me for Cassidy's death since she did try killing me. Well, at least that's what he thinks."

       "Yeah, but he's also Cassidy's brother and you know how she was like," I said. "What are we going to do?"

       "Nothing," Shaw said.

       "What?" I asked.

       "You hear me," Shaw said. "We're not doing anything. Except making even more sure that nobody finds out who really killed Cassidy. Julian's a teenager. I'm not going to let some grown man go after him."

       "Okay, but I don't have a good feeling about him," I said.

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ooh we've got a new character in the village. :o i needed more dramatic characters so WOOT WOOT.

lol

okay i need to go to bed because i have to wake up early ahahahaha bye.