First Day Back....

Cassidy had been dozing most of the trip from home to school, locked away in the back seat of her parent’s suburban with her headphones jammed into her ears. She had her knees up, her arms wrapped around her legs as she stared out through the forest that bordered this small back-woods road. So many thoughts were swirling around in her mind, all of them stemming from the argument she’d had with her parents a few nights before.

“Can’t I just change schools?” Cassidy demanded as she stood in front of the pair at the kitchen table. “I mean, I don’t see what the big deal is. I can’t stand it at that place, after everything that happened…”

She hadn’t intended to get teary-eyed, but before she knew it, fresh, hot tears were slipping down her cheeks. They couldn’t really force her to go back to that place, after all that happened…after Sarah…Her parents glanced up at her face, her mother showing some compassion, but her father maintained his stern expression.

“We paid good money for you to go to this school. It’s just a few more years. You’ll get a new room-mate. That’s the end of the discussion, Cassidy.”

The girl straightened when Archer’s massive entrance sign came looming in the distance, the letters written in archaic script, with the school’s seal proudly displayed beneath the school’s lengthy title.



As they turned onto the lengthy gravel drive, Cassidy could see the long line of traffic that was steadily moving forward at a snail’s pace towards the school. Ten minutes went by, then fifteen without any movement, and Cassidy finally sat up straight, pulled her headphones out of her ears, and unbuckled her seatbelt.

“Where are you going?” her father asked, turning back to look at her.

“It’ll be faster if I just go ahead and walk to the main entrance. I can carry my things.” She replied, not really waited for a response before she pushed the door open and stepped outside. Her mother complied by opening the trunk, and Cassidy made quick work of getting her suitcase and her bookbag before slamming the trunk shut.

“You be good, darling. We’ll come see you in a couple weeks.” Her mom told her as she walked up to the driver’s side door. Cassidy leaned in to give her mom a kiss on the cheek, and waved goodbye to her dad. The man smiled a little, waving towards her, but said nothing.

Cassidy waved one last time to them before turning and making her way up the long drive, pleased to see that she wasn’t the only student with a similar idea. A handful of students were making their way up the gravel road, waving goodbye to parents and finally coming into the wide, well-kept clearing that housed the entirety of Archer’s campus.

Directly in front of them was the tech building, Facility South, where all of the science labs and the green house was kept. As she continued on past that building, she came into the central courtyard, the hub for student hang-out, where a variety of benches and statues and picnic tables lay scattered around in a disorganized fashion. This is where most of the students were sitting, standing, talking and mingling. Cassidy kept her distance from most, since there wasn’t anyone she recognized anyway.

Besides, her attention was captured by the small memorial that stood at the head of the courtyard, where the massive fountain that perched just in front of the education building continued to spray glittering water high into the sky.

Sarah’s picture was on display on an easel, and there were flowers placed everywhere, from the base of the painting to the rim of the fountain to the grass beyond. A couple students were standing in front of the picture, some of them crying, but they all stepped aside when Cassidy approached, giving her a look that was a clear expression of wariness and curiosity.

After all, Cassidy was the girl who found Sarah’s body anyway.

The memory made her shudder, a pit of nausea chewing at the inside of her.

They’d had an argument that night, one that the room-mates next door had been able to hear through paper-thin walls. Everyone knew that Sarah had stormed out of the dormitory that night, going God-knows-where. Cassidy didn’t’ follow after her. She was too angry herself, and in no place to go after her to try to set things straight. Too much emotion, not enough time to simply think about things.

When she’d gotten that text message saying that Sarah simply couldn’t handle it anymore, Cassidy felt the bottom of her stomach drop. There was the location next, that ugly renovation project to the north of the education wing. Without thinking, Cassidy had thrown herself out of the dorm room, running like mad hell to get to that building.

She remembered how dark it was, how many times she’d slipped and fallen, how many bruises and scrapes she’d received as a result. She remembered how it had felt to slip inside the frightening old building, screaming Sarah’s name and listening to her reverberating echo scream back. There had been a cry, a voice that didn’t belong to hers, and then it was abruptly cut off.

So Cassidy ran for the clock tower.

On and on the stairs went, stealing her breath away, never relenting as she wound up and up and up. She didn’t see the body until it was almost too late, nearly getting her head kicked in by Sarah’s feet.

Cassidy remembered screaming when she saw her, she remembered fumbling for her cell phone, and calling 911.

Then she remembered waking up in the back of an ambulance roughly an hour and a half later.

“Thought the Dean wanted to keep this under wraps,” she said, mostly to herself. She didn’t realize that the other students had left to go about to do other things. Did it really matter? Everyone in the entire school knew that Sarah was dead.

And the worst part was that there was a lingering few who thought that she was responsible.

Tristan and his “Family Friend” Sayid sat quietly in a large green van which was situated at the side of the back woods road that lead into the Archer’s School for Accelerated Learning. Sayid drew a long breath from the water pipe that he and Tristan were sharing. “This is some really good stuff, Triss.” Sayid said, holding in the smoke.

“The best is all I get.” Tristan responded, taking the pipe from Sayid’s grasp. He held it up to his mouth, and ignited the lighter at the end of the pipe. He took a long draw, and leaned back, closing his eyes. He opened his eyes and released the thick smoke into the van. They’d been sitting there for at least three hours it felt, though in reality it hadn’t been more than fifty minutes.

Sayid looked at his watch as another van drove by, “Aw shit, dude. I’ve got to get you to school.” He said, crawling up to the driver’s seat. While Sayid started the sputtering engine of their own van, Tristan poured his water pipe out the door of the van, and wrapped it in papers before shoving it into his backpack. He hadn’t brought much other than his worn green back pack, and a purple suitcase full of his clothes. He was already wearing the stupid outfit the school had asked everyone to wear. “Man, did I tell you about that girl, Sarah, that killed herself?”

“That’s some bad mojo to be talking about that kind of stuff, Triss.” Sayid replied, turning the key again. The van sputtered to life and he turned around in his seat, “Don’t talk about the dead, friend. It’ll rouse the spirits.” He said, motioning for Tristan to get up in the passenger seat. He dripped a few eye drops into his eyes, and passed the bottle to Tristan, “Here, you don’t need to look all toked up for your first day back.” He said, putting the van into drive and pulling onto the road.

The drive was strangely long, and the trees seemed to lean in towards the van as they drove. Of course, this could always be the drugs, but he had more of an omen feeling. Something about that girl had seemed off when she came to him that morning. The morning before she’d died. She’d been glancing through the window blinds and eyeing the door. Had she been followed? Was she worried about something? It was as if she was coming to buy drugs from him for the first time. She’d been visiting him every once in a while for the majority of the last several weeks before, and had gotten acquainted with the process. She was almost as timid and worried as the first. Something must’ve been wrong.

He heard from a friend that she was found in the clock tower. He’d been there before. On dark nights, mostly full moons when him and some friends took they Ouija boards and candles out to the site and tried to speak with spirits. It seemed like the appropriate place for a suicide, though he hadn’t expected it to be her. Something about her, he couldn’t get his mind off, was her voice. She’d sounded so calm and reserved until that morning. Something was off, and he just wished he could put his finger on it.

He’d been zoned out while thinking, and Sayid nudged him, “We’re here, get the hell out of my van.” He said, grinning. The young man’s stubble didn’t grow in on his left cheek, and it made his face look strangely off kilter. Tristan looked to his friend, “Yeah, thanks for the ride, man.” He said, stepping out of the van and onto the gravel drive. That girl passed him. That girl had been Sarah’s room mate. Maybe she’d be interested in buying some product from him. He’d ask her sometime if he ever ran into her on campus. He could feel a weight in the air, sadness. He’d heard about the monument, and decided he’d go there tonight and leave a present for her spirit, and maybe burn a little incense for her. She’d been rather sweet to him, and he wouldn’t let her forget it, even if she had passed on.

Alex St Clare

Alex's parents would not shut up. For the hour drive up here, they had been droning on and on about different academic things. At the beginning, he had been paying attention, mentally writing down the dates of swim meets, diving competitions, and other sport matches, but after that he stopped listening. His parents always talked about school. His dads low, and deep tone expressing the urgent need to become a straight A+ student, nothing below and his mothers high articulate way of pronouncing every letter of every word. They combination of the two was nearly too much to handle. Alex pulled his head phones onto his head and plugged in his ipod, blasting music so he couldn't hear his parents at all.

He had nearly fallen asleep as the car cam to a halt in the driveway of the school. His eyes remained shut, but he could tell they had stopped. Alex took a deep breathe, sighing, and looked out the window. There was a huge line of cars all the way to the front of the school. Might as well walk, he thought, seeing many other students getting out of their cars and having the same idea. One stood out in particular.

Cassidy, he realized. She had been Sarah's room mate for the past two years, becoming one of her good friends. Alex and Cassidy had grown pretty close, pretty much becoming friends because of Sarah, and because Alex hadn't had too many friends other than Sarah, he was sure he would be spending a lot fo time with her now.

Alex pulled his headphones off his ears, pocketing them. "i'm getting out." he said to his parents, reaching to open the door. His parents nodded, looking at him through the driving mirror. He got out of the car, his dad popping the trunk so he could get his bags. One was an over the shoulder duffle, and the other was a large roller suitcase. He closed the back, walking to the right of the car and towards where Cassidy had gone. His mother called out to him. "Have fun at school! Shoot some goals!" She said, assuming she knew about sports, although in reality she knew nothing. "Remember what we talked about." His father said, mouthing A+ behind his mother's head. Alex gave them a slight nod before continuing onward.

As he passed the central courtyard, many kids called hellos to him, or waved him over but he ignored them, his eyes set on what he was just seeing. Sarah's Memorial. He quickened his pace, watching the students part as Cassidy walked to hit, and parted more when he did. Many thought Cassidy had killed her, but Alex knew otherwise. She couldn't have. She just couldn't.

All the students in the area starred at them. Cassidy and Alex had been Sarah's main best friends. He looked over every photo, candle, stuffed animal, everything at the memorial. Many of the photos had been sent by Sarah's parents and were from her childhood, quite a few including him, and it made him upset. One from Sarah's 6th birthday party, when she had stuffed the cake in his face. One from when they went on a school trip to the zoo and a giraffe had started eating her hair, Alex trying to pull it out of it's mouth. A third from when they were in 8th grade and she had gotten drunk, Alex coming to her rescue and saving her before anything too embarrassing happened. They reminded him of all the times he had pent with her, good and bad. It had been most of his childhood.

I miss you Sarah, he thought.

A week wasn't enough. He didn't want to go back. He'd begged his parents to change schools. He didn't want to remember. Mattie wasn't ready to face what happened to Sarah. She was the one girl he'd actually allowed himself to fall in love with. He'd taken a chance and opened up his heart. And what had happened? Life had taken it and stomped on it. His mother was worried about him, seriously worried. All the progress they'd made when he'd changed schools and become a happier person seemed to be for nothing.

Mattie had gone back to that quiet and withdrawn boy once more.

They knew that he had to face what happened. He couldn't just run. He needed to come to terms with it all and get closure. Except Mattie blamed himself for it all. After all, surely if she was happy with him, this wouldn't have happened. That meant that it was all his fault. He should have seen a sign, or something should have went off in his mind; alarm bells something.

But nothing had.

So now, here he was standing at the entrance to the school that had once made him so happy now made him down right depressed. Sighing, he looked at the stuff he'd received regarding rooms and any changes that had been made. Why did he have to come back? Well now he was only going to do one thing. Concentrate on school. That's all.

No girls.

No friends.

Just school.

With that, Mattie headed to his room. He made no effort to greet old friends or make conversation and was grateful that most left him alone to cope. Most people probably didn't know what to say to him and so kept their distance for that reason.

Good... he thought, I don't need anyone now

But one thing couldn't leave him. The guilt, and the question: Why? What had been so bad that made Sarah kill herself? Was it something he'd done, or more to the point something he hadn't done? Who knew? He probably never would. And that hurt the most. Hadn't his love being enough?

Why didn't you tell me, Sarah? I could have helped... I could have done something...

Sighing, he dumped his bag on the bed and started to unpack his things, determined to get his mind off of the past.

“It has been far too long since we last saw each other. I suspect your ‘vacation’ went well, Mr. Cambridge,” Mrs. Rushing said while buttoning her blouse back up with nervous fingers. Her skirt was crumbled and there was a mild stain on it but nothing that could not be dealt with and made invisible.

“Spent time with my father,” the young man said while leaning against the window with his forearm prone against the glass. Jonathan was watching the students below begin to trickle back onto the school grounds and gather in a horde around the memorial.

“And how was that,” Mrs. Rushing asked him after discovering a run in her hosiery.

“Don’t pretend to be interested in me. We both know the reason you keep having me come to your ‘office’ for ‘counseling’. You sound like fool, Deirdre,” Jonathan stated while his eyes viewed a girl from above. It was Cassidy. She was to be his next victim when it came to his games with the ladies of the school. He couldn’t wait to begin it either.

Jonathan was going to be her console; the shoulder to cry one, the ear that listened, and whatever foolishness was needed in order to conquer her. Cassidy would fall to his manipulative ways no matter what level Jonathan had to stoop toward.

“Fine. Get out.”

“As you wish,” Jonathan said with a smirk and he abruptly left the woman’s office without straightening his tie. He walked down the halls with his briefcase thrown over a shoulder careless and a hand in his pocket. It was an arrogant walk and one that said Jonathan had money, status, and popularity. He owned the school and he acted like it. The boy was not afraid to flaunt his father’s name and it showed.

And as he walked through the halls of Archer’s, all he could think of was how that woman’s stench clung to him.

If there is an afterlife, a god, a heaven or hell, I wonder where you are Sarah. I wonder if you know about how many people miss you. I wonder if they'd feel the same if they knew the truth about everything you did...

Cassidy's eyes watered as she crossed her arms over her chest, sniffing hard and blinking her eyes in an attempt to clear away the tears. Man, how she wished she could have done something. Sure, that night, things were pretty rough. Cassidy had discovered something about the late Ms. Kaplan that would be sure to make people second-guess everything the girl had ever done. But Sarah had been desperate, they both had, obviously. And because Cassidy hadn't been sensitive to Sarah's pain and predicament...the girl was now dead.

Maybe it really was all Cassidy's fault.

She felt a warmth at her left shoulder, the light whiff of cologne brushing against her senses. Taking a moment to compose herself, she looked to Alex with a watery smile, reaching to gently touch the back of his arm before slipping her hand into his. She squeezed his fingers comfortingly, taking the liberty of laying her cheek against his shoulder, drawing on his comfort, and sharing comfort in return. It was nice to have him here. He didn't think she was responsible, and he'd been a support system , a close friend, a text-buddy when her parents started forcing her to go to counseling. In fact, she had an appointment for that the following afternoon.

"This is going to be a rough year." she told him quietly, her lips pursing. Glancing around at the myriad of students staring at the pair, she sighed through her nose, then took her head from off of his shoulder. Her hand remained in his, however, unless he showed signs that he didn't want to hold her hand. She would get that. She had become somewhat of a pariah.

"Wanna come back later tonight?" she asked him. "When there aren't as many people?"

She tugged at her socks, adjusting them slightly. The dress code was so uncomfortable, Hannah never did get used to it. She peered out of the window, watching the tree's idly sweep by her as she got ever-closer to the school. A shallow smile took to her face as she spotted all of her classmates, her 'friends'. She tried for a moment to hold onto that smile, but it dissipated regardless. She began remembering who these people actually were; Liars, Thieves, Perverts, Jerks...

She always tried to keep an open-mind, to think that people were inherently good, but every time she let someone in it always ended the same-

Heartbreak

She wasn't interested in it anymore, in making friends. After what happened with her brother, then Sarah... she was content with being alone.

She withdrew into herself, farther and farther every day. She was always a shy girl but she was practically a hermit now. She didnt plan on leaving her room, not until she graduated at least. Part of her wished that people would just ignore her, leave her be, but her looks and her kind attitude seemed to make people thing different. She just couldnt ever bring her self to be mean, it wasnt in her character. She wasnt one to take out her troubles on others, or even speak of them at all. They stayed caged, deep within her, begging for release.

She took a deep breath, opening the door and delicately stepping out out. "Are you sure you want to go back so early?" A suited man stepped out after her, tall and overbearing. "I never trusted this place" His voice was rough, but caring all the same.

Hannah smiled, kissing him lightly on the cheek, having to stand on the tip of her toes just to even barely reach him. "I'll be fine, frank" She took her bags from the mans, pulling them over her shoulder. "You know you're just my driver right?" She spoke looking over her shoulder, a faint giggle escaping her lips. "Bye" Her voice lingered as she entered the gates of the school.

The man smiled, still blushing from the kiss. He stepped back into the car, disappearing into the forest.

Alex didn't turn to see the face to the hand reaching out to his arm, then finding its way into his. He knew Cassidy well enough to know it was her, and recognized her hand in his. He felt her lay her cheek on his shoulder, then speaking, just loud enough for him to hear. "This is going to be a rough year." Her voice reminded him or Sarah's, oddly enough. He gave a slight nod, not taking his eyes off the memorial. He heard her take a breath through her nose, then remove her head from his shoulder.

"Wanna come back later tonight?" she asked him. "When there aren't as many people?" Alex nodded his head, taking a final look at the memorial then turning to Cassidy, his hand still in hers. He looked around at the other students quickly. He knew most of them, some used to be his friends, but things had changed. He took a sigh, then put on his 'everything's fine' face. He had gotten good at it lately.

Tristan pulled his stuff out of the van, and looked up at his friend, "I'll see you on the other side, man." He chuckled, taking a step back from the van. "Yeah, don't forget to give me a shout sometime." Sayid said, shutting the door behind his friend. The young man looked out the window of his van at the students returning to the school. He put the car into reverse and rammed into some van behind him before he quickly shifted to drive and sped off down the gravel road.

"Oh crap." Tristan said, watching his friend drive off. He checked his suitcase and back pack, and headed up the gravel road. As he passed the small memorial, he averted his gaze from the picture. It was bad luck to look at the face of the deceased. He continued past the monument and took a seat on a small wooden bench. He could almost feel the sadness coming from the crying people at the monument. It was unnerving so he stood, and continued on.

He dumped his stuff on a bed by the window in the room he was to stay in, and he wandered down to a bench on the path to Cooper Hall from the Eastern Facility. He drew his legs up into a criss-cross applesauce position, and closed his eyes. His mind was reeling from the drugs he'd just done, and he needed a moment to calm down. "Center yourself, Tristan. Center yourself." He whispered to himself. He could see something in his mind. A person. They were running. From what? He concentrated on the person, and could see... something.. He opened his eyes slowly, and took in the trees around him.

"Maybe it'll be clearer tonight." He sighed, closing his eyes again. All he saw was darkness now, which was good. The drugs would wear off soon, and he'd be able to talk to whoever he needed to speak to clearly.

Cassidy did her best to give Alex an encouraging smile. What good was her comfort to him? He was hurting as much as she was. It surprised her that he was even remotely interested in letting her get as close as she was.

She supposed everyone reacted to grief differently. He was leaning on her, she on him. She hoped that, after all was said and done, after the grief had dissipated to remembering the good times, then they'd still be able to get this close...maybe closer.

She squeezed his hand, ignoring the fact that he was looking to the others as the others watched the pair. She ignored the fact that he was putting on his false smile, the illusion of peaceful acceptance, and knew that he was merely doing it for the sake of the others. She'd seen the real Alex, and he'd seen the real Cassidy. Felt nice, knowing that she didn't have to pretend with him.

She was about to open her mouth to say something when her pocket vibrated with a text message. Alex's pocket vibrated at the same time hers did.

Furrowing her brow in confusion, she reached into her pocket to retrieve her cell phone, flipping it open and hitting the icon that opened the message for her to read. Unknown number.

Her eyes widened.

There, in glaring white letters, were the words 'I'M STILL HERE!!!'.

"The hell?" she whispered, releasing Alex's hand and looking back at the sender. An unknown number. It probably didn't matter at all. But that didn't mean it didn't send a chill down her spine as she read it.

Little did she know that everyone who knew Sarah Kaplan was receiving a text message at the same time, with the same haunting message, and from deep within the woods that surrounded Archer's, someone snapped their cell-phone shut, with a 'MESSAGE SENT' indicator flashing across the screen.

They smiled.

He had been watching her for the past hour, his brown eyes meeting her green ones in the rearview mirror. She’d pretended not to notice at first, but as the ride continued, it was harder and harder not to return his gaze. He was pretty attractive, really. For a cabbie, anyway. She wondered what he was like: if he had a family, if he was in school. He seemed pretty young to be driving a cab, but then again, the majority of the cab drivers she’d had the pleasure to interact with barely knew English. This one was refreshing.

According to the ID tag that hung from the rearview, his name was Eddie. He’d picked her up at her parents’ house because her parents had simply been ‘too busy’ to take her back to school… just as they were ‘too busy’ to pick her up at the start of this mandatory break… and just as they’d been ‘too busy’ to even have one meal with her while she’d been home. The house didn’t feel like home. It never had. But then again, no place really did. It was a good thing Ellie knew how to call a cab and make macaroni and cheese… it wasn’t like her parents would have the time to do anything for her anyway.

When she’d gotten into the cab, Ellie had put her earbuds in so that she wouldn’t have to make idle chitchat with a complete stranger. On long drives like this, cab drivers seemed to want to talk. Talking was the last thing Ellie wanted to do. Ever. However, this driver… Eddie… the way he was looking at her in the rearview… Well, it just piqued her interest. She caught his eyes in the rearview and held them, a tiny almost flirtatious smirk on her lips, wondering how long it would be before he looked away, keeping his eyes on the road like a good little driver. He held her gaze longer than she expected. When he looked away, she pulled the earbuds from her ears and leaned against the door, bringing her feet onto the back seat, slipping her hand down to pull the hem of her skirt up slightly.

“So, your name is Eddie?” she asked, immediately regretting it. She’d never been good at conversation, and flirtation wasn’t something at which she considered herself particularly skilled.

His eyes met hers again, but then his hand lifted to adjust the rearview mirror slightly so he could see her legs better. “Yeah,” he nodded, shifting his eyes back to the road.

Ellie tried to think of what to say next, but came up blank. Instead, she stared out the far window, watching the world rush past, taking her back to school. She didn’t want to go back. Hell, she didn’t want to go in the first place… but her father had insisted. He insisted on Ellie’s attendance at Archer’s Academy for Accelerated Learners… but mainly because he overheard the Kaplans talking about it being the school to which they were sending their daughter. And, in her father’s circle, one must never be outdone.

“Was that Cage the Elephant?” his voice permeated her thoughts and she looked at him questioningly. “That you were listening to earlier? Cage the Elephant?”

Ellie looked down at the mp3 player in her hand, brows furrowed. He’d heard her music? “Yeah,” she nodded. She glanced back up to him, and judging by the side of his face, he was grinning as he reached for the CD player in the cab and turned the volume up on ‘Always Something.’ She smiled and leaned her head back against the window, closing her eyes and mouthing the lyrics.

’It’s always something, before the late night. Around the corner, there’s always something waiting for you. Can’t hold the hands back, can’t make the sun rise. It’s always something, you know it’s always something.’

And it was always something, wasn’t it? Here she was going back to a school she hated... but then again, was it any better to be invisible at school than it was to be invisible at home?

“I’m digging this song right now,” Eddie offered. “I like the key… it’s different.”

Ellie looked up at him again and nodded. “Yeah, it’s alright.” Why had she wanted to talk to him again? Oh yeah… because for once she didn’t feel invisible. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to look at her. The attention was nice.

Ellie looked down at her phone, wishing someone would call or text her so that she could look like she had friends or something, but the entire ride, there had been nothing but silence from her phone. She didn’t really have any friends that would call her anyway…. At least she could pretend like she was tapping out a text. She moved her thumbs over the screen for a few moments before noting the time. Surely everyone was already at school… not that they’d notice that she wasn’t… But she still hated being late, even if the place she was late to was not someplace she wanted to be.

“So, you go to Archers?”

Ellie nodded, crossing her arms to emphasize her cleavage and inwardly smirked slightly as he adjusted the rearview again. “Yeah,” she nodded. “Not by choice.”

He chuckled, his eyes meeting her chest before lifting to her eyes in the reflection. “Wasn’t there a girl that died there just a few days ago? Did you know her?”

And just like that, Ellie shut down. Once again, Sarah Kaplan had to ruin everything for her. Just when she thought she might have a chance with someone actually being interested in her, up pops Sarah… go figure. Ellie shifted her legs down, pulling down the hem of her skirt as she did so. She also uncrossed her arms and popped her earbuds back in. “She’s dead,” Ellie muttered and turned her music back on, this time flipping on ‘Labyrinth’ by Oomph. Loud German metal filtered through her ears and she looked out the window, ignoring Eddie the cab driver with the roving eyes the rest of the way to the school.

--------------

When they arrived, the cars that had once been in line in front of the gate had since cleared. Eddie hopped out to help Ellie get her suitcase from the trunk. “Hey, listen, I’m sorry if I offended you. You seem like a cool chick… when you need a ride home again, call my company and ask for me…”

But Ellie was already walking toward the school after having pressed a handful of money into his hand. He stood a few moments, watching her walk before shaking his head and getting back into the cab and driving away.

Ellie lugged her suitcase through the courtyard, ignoring everyone she saw. Over by the fountain, she noticed a makeshift shrine set up for the dearly departed and she rolled her eyes. “Jesus,” she whispered to herself. “She killed herself… it’s not like she’s a freaking martyr or anything. God, you people are weak…”

Her phone vibrated in her hand and she looked at it strangely. It didn’t do that often, so she stopped right where she was and flipped open the text message.

I’M STILL HERE!!!

Unknown number.

It was probably meant for someone else… mis-texted to her by accident. Happened all the time. After all, her number was extremely similar to Sarah’s… go figure, right? Definitely a mis-text. She nearly responded back with a 'wrong number' text, but instead, Ellie’s eyes slipped over the pictures and flowers, the students standing around and uttering whispered phrases of sadness. Again, Ellie rolled her eyes and continued toward her assigned room. “Yeah, you sure are,” she muttered to nobody. “You sure are.”

Alex almost ignored the text, but since Cassidy's had rung at the same time, and when she looked she had gasped, he guessed it was strange. But why would they get the same text?

He reached into his pocket, pulling out his large, square phone and pushing the button to awaken it. The screen read 'New Message', and bellow it in all caps, 'I'M STILL HERE'. A gasp escaped Alex's lips. Who? Could it be? But it couldn't, could it?

But if it was her, if it really truly was from her he would be overjoyed. Confused, and scared and curious, but overjoyed. Alex's eyes fluttered onto Cassidy, giving her a quizical look and turning his phone so she could see the message, seeing other students staring at them still, trying to make out the text.

Ale lightly took Cassidy's arm in his hand, pulling her a few feet away from everyone's eyes. A few other students came up to them in a group, trying to talk to them, but he shooed them away, looking deeply at Cassidy. Had she gotten the same text? From an unknown number?

Ok, so, realistically, what was the likelihood of all of this?

She read the message over a couple of times, looking between it and the number, and attempting to place any kind of familiarity. She noticed that Alex had flipped open his phone, acquiring a look of surprise that wasn't unlike her own. She saw confusion, and what looked like a spark of hope. She stared.

What was the honest likelihood of them receiving the same text message? Lo and behold, he flipped the phone around, showing her the message that mirrored the one on her phone. She was about to say something when he took her arm and drew her off to the side.

"Someone's playing a sick joke." she told him, understanding the look in his eyes almost immediately. "Really. Sarah..." her voice choked off, cheeks flushing for just a moment as a flash of Sarah as Cassidy had last seen her fluttered before her mind's eye. "Someone got a hold of all of our numbers and decided to send this out. It isn't funny, and I'm not going to give it any stock."

She said all of this even as another student, a girl that Cassidy vaguely recognized came walking up to the pair.

"Did one of you send this to me?" she asked with a lifted brow, her gum cracking between every other word. Cassidy shook her head, idly gesturing to her own phone.

"I got the same message. So did Alex." she replied with a shrug. The girl gave them both a look that said she didn't quite believe them, before lifting her shoulder in a shrug, deleting the message in the same motion, and turning to walk away. When Cassidy turned to look back to Alex, she thought she caught sight of another girl walking in the distance, someone Cassidy knew from a few classes they'd taken together.

She also knew that the other girl was her new room-mate.

"Tonight," she told Alex. "I'll meet you back here? After hours? We can just kind of..talk?" She searched his eyes for a moment before slipping her arms around his waist in a hug, then went off to go meet up with Ellie.

"Hey!" she called, slowing her jog and beginning to walk apace with the other girl. "I'm Cassidy. I think we're going to be rooming together, so I just...wanted to introduce myself before-hand..."

Headphones. Ellie was wearing them. Cassidy smiled a bit nervously and hoped that she wouldn't have to repeat herself.

Moving toward her room, Ellie was suddenly aware of someone speaking to her. While the voice didn’t override the music from her headphones, she had caught it early enough to pull one of the earbuds from her ears and catch the majority of the words. It didn’t slow her pace as she walked toward the room, though, lugging her suitcase behind herself. She glanced at the girl from the corner of her eye. “I know who you are,” she said after a moment of silence. “We’ve had classes together.” But she’d introduced herself… which meant she had no idea what Ellie’s name was. Go figure.

Stopping outside the door, she turned to look at Cassidy, weighing her words carefully. “I’m Ellie,” she introduced herself, fairly certain that the girl would forget in time.

Yeah, she knew who Cassidy was, alright. Sarah Kaplan’s best friend. Ellie almost chuckled at the absurdity of it all. She would never get away from Sarah’s shadow, would she?

As she opened the door and moved inside, Ellie glanced around the room. “So, did you get that paper done for English? Or do you think that Mrs. Sweeny will go easy on us what with ‘recent events?’” She bracketed the last two words of her question with air quotes. Small talk was never easy for her, but the last thing she wanted to talk about was Sarah.

After leaving Mrs. Rushing’s office, Jonathan meandered through the halls, taking up shop at a window in a stairwell. From this vantage point, he could observe the other students milling around the makeshift memorial set up for Sarah. Specifically, he had his eye on Cassidy. As he watched her, his mind began to wander.

She hadn’t been half bad in the sack. Granted, she wasn’t the best. Inexperience and uncertainty did not lend themselves to the confidence he generally preferred. But she’d been so damn eager to please him, and that made it very worth it for him. Very worth it indeed. He looked over the memorial dispassionately for a moment before looking back to Cassidy. Seeing her hug another guy, he leaned closer, narrowing his eyes. Oh ho! Competition in this game? Fabulous.

Trying to ignore the lingering scent of Mrs. Rushing’s unique perfume, he contemplated his game plan until the buzzing of his phone drew him from his reverie. Annoyed, figuring Dierdre was texting him to apologize, he pulled the phone from his pocket disinterestedly and stared down at the message. ‘I’M STILL HERE.’ Unknown number. Interesting. Which past conquest was this? Deciding it didn’t matter, he locked his phone and slid it back into his pocket, looking back out the window to notice that Cassidy and the guy she was standing with were also looking to their phones. Curious, he looked closer and noticed that a few people in the crowd were doing the same. The brunette chick he’d slept with last year. And that redhead weirdo.

Noticing that Cassidy was on the move, he decided that now was probably a very good time to intercept her. Especially after spending so long at Sarah’s memorial. Surely she’d need a compassionate shoulder to cry on. Straightening his collar, he made his way out to intercept her, only to find her in conversation with the aforementioned redhead. Great.

“Ladies,” he greeted, affixing his most winning (yet sincere) smile.

Alex St. Clare

Cassidy had done the same as him, re reading the text over and over, a flash of emotions striking her face. As he showed her his phone, the look of surprise on her face told him they had gotten the same text. A small smile of confusion came onto his face as she looked up at him, understanding his thoughts of Sarah being alive. "Someone's playing a sick joke." He heard her say, although it didn't register in his brain. "Really. Sarah..." He heard ehr voice stop, but he had stopped thinking, understanding, processing. "Someone got a hold of all of our numbers and decided to send this out. It isn't funny, and I'm not going to give it any stock."

He wasn't listening. What if she was alive? What if he could find her, he could save her and bring her back. Out of the corner of his eyes, he seemed to see someone come up to Cassidy, asking her about the message, then leaving.

"Tonight," he vaguely heard. "I'll meet you back here? After hours? We can just kind of..talk?" He didn't reply, but as she quickly wrapped her arms around his waist, Alex was brought back into the present, wrapping his arms around her for a moment, nodding his head, then he let her go, watching as she ran off to some girl. Ellie, he thought, remembering the girl Sarah's mom had made Sarah play with as a child. He knew the two didn't seem to like each other much, but whenever he had been with them, he made sure to smooth down the situation.

Alex smiled slightly to himself, beginning to walk aimlessly about, ending up seeing someone who he had never spoken to, but he knew who he was, thanks to Sarah.

Tristan Smith

Tristan opened his eyes as his phone buzzed, and pulled it out. His eyes scanned it slowly, and they widened.

IM STILL HERE

is what it read. He blinked, and wiped some junk off of his screen. He checked the contact. Some unknown number. "What the hell?" He muttered, glancing down the pathways. No one was walking this way just yet, and maybe he could smoke a quick roll. He slid his hand into his ratty back pack, and pulled out some roll paper, wrapped around a fair amount of marijuana. He lit it, and took a long drag before letting it out. It felt good, almost right to be back in the forest with his precious leaves. He felt like someone could see him, and quickly tossed the blunt to the ground and crushed it under his foot. He had plenty more where that came from, so it was no big deal to waste. He kept his foot over it as he listened to the footsteps.

Some guy was walking towards him, after a few blinks he focused on the boy's face. Alex Saint-whatever or other was the boy's name. Sarah had mentioned him once or twice, he seemed to remember. "Evenin', what brings you out to this neck of the woods, Alex?" He asked, his voice slightly scratchy. He raised an eyebrow, and moved his back pack in case Alex wanted to sit. That was what you did? Offered a seat? He didn't know why he mentioned Alex's name, it would probably make him look like some kind of stalker. Though, if Alex new Tristan, he'd know that Tristan knows about everyone in Archer's.

He made sure his back pack was on the side facing away from Alex, in case he was a snitch. He hated snitches. Luckily, it wasn't too hard to plant evidence to get kids expelled. Poor Zachery Tenorman.

Alex St. Clare

Alex saw Tristan move his backpack to make space for him, but it probably also could have been to hide it. Not like it matters, he thought. I know what Sarah got from him. "Evenin', what brings you out to this neck of the woods, Alex?" Tristans voice was rough and slightly scratchy, probably because of the smoking he must have just done, the smell remaining in the air. Alex shrugged it off, and took a seat next to Tristan on the bench, trying to think about how to phrase his question.

"You got the text too, didn't you?" He asked, turning to face Tristan. "From the unknown number?" Alex didn't know why he thought Tristan would be honest to him. They barely knew each other, but if he had been thinking the same thing as Alex, maybe he would feel the need to be honest. Or maybe he sees me as a potential client, a voice in Alex's head said, but again, he shrugged it off, knowing that was part of the snobby side that we doesn't like letting out speaking.

So far, so good. Mattie thought.

He'd been in his room for some time now and hadn't been interrupted by anyone. He could be in his own little bubble for a while longer too, hopefully. Mattie just didn't want to be interrupted by anyone. His head was buried in this years math book in hoping that the equations would dislodge Sarah from his mind.

That was his current problem. Sarah was continuously on his mind. She hadn't left his mind. Even solving math equations had her voice in his head, talking to him, asking him questions. Part of him thought that he was going insane. And then he felt his pocket vibrate and he frowned. No one except his parents had his number due to changing his number, and surely they wouldn't be texting now. Or maybe they would be. They were really worried about him.

I'm still here

He dropped the phone in shock before scrambling to pick it up and find out who sent the number. It was from an unknown number. But that could be one-- no it couldn't because only his parents had his number.

Sarah? Could Sarah have found a way to contact him from the afterlife?

Maybe he really was going crazy. Shaking his head he decided to delete the text. He was going to drive himself insane. He was already overcome with guilt over the whole situation. He didn't need idiots sending random text messages to him now. He just wanted to get on with his life and try to cope with losing the one girl he'd allowed himself to love.

Sarah.

Tristan scratched at the stubble on his face, while Alex sat. He looked like he was thinking, maybe he knew about the text. Tristan had assumed that some loser had gotten his number from one of his clients and had texted that to him. He looked off into the forest across the path from him while the two sat in silence. When Alex mentioned the text, Tristan almost coughed up his lung. "Wait, you got that too?" He asked, looking over at Alex. He was surprised, originally Tristan had thought it was just a prank on him. Someone went through a lot to get their numbers. "Who else got it? Everyone on campus?" He asked, supposing it was a forwarded message.

Tristan ran his thumb along the edge of his charms that he kept on his backpack. Who would be that awful to send that kind of message after one of their fellow students had died? A student who was well known in the community by everyone. Tristan hadn't known Alex other than a picture he'd seen on a bulletin in the hallway that Sarah had told him about, but if he knew about the text, maybe they had been pranked by the same person. Two people could track a number better than one.

"Who do you think sent it?" He asked, coughing some more.

Alex St. Clare

Alex glanced at Tristan nervously as he coughed, but shrugged it off again. Said affects, he thought, remembering why drugs had never been his thing. "Not everyone got it. I don't think. Just people close to her" He couldn't bring himself to say Sarah's name, even though he had said it so many times before. The words of reassurance he had been forced to say to people from his town made him sick.

Yes, I am fine. Thanks for you wishes. Oh yes, Sarah always thought you daughter was great. Never been better. Oh yes, I'm struggling through it, but I'll be fine.

The words seemed to be endless, all fake and lies. Nothing made sense anymore, especially this. "Well, it could've been anyone." The slightest smile came to his face. "I'd say if we get someone who has good equipment, they can find the sender in about half an hour. "

It was that awkward moment where she knew that the person she was talking to was merely humoring her for no other reason than to humor her. When Cassidy looked at Ellie, all she could see was this stern, guarded look behind her eyes. It made the other girl nervous, especially since she didn’t know Ellie all that well.

Then, when it became really apparent that Ellie knew who she was, Cassidy felt that familiar surge of embarrassment for not having recognized this girl. Strike one, it seemed. She was about to open her mouth to speak, to say something to rectify her major social blunder, when Ellie suddenly asked her about the paper in English Comp.

“I did, actually.” She said with a slight lift to her brows. “And if I know Ms. Sweeney, it’d take hell and high water for her to decide to give us some kind of lee-way on homework.

It was true that she was Sarah Kaplan’s best friend at one point, but the last thing she wanted to do was talk about the dead girl too. There was so much drama behind the pair of them, stuff that the vast majority of people didn’t even know about. It made her nervous to dwell on it for too long. So, she didn’t. Her hand fished into her pocket when she remembered that text, flipping it open and scanning over the words.

Almost angrily, she hit the ‘delete’ button.

“Well, since I was an idiot and didn’t remember your name, can I make it up to you by getting you coffee before class starts?” Cassidy asked, giving Ellie a small, but genuine smile.

”Ladies.”

Oh, there was a voice she knew she wasn’t ready to hear.

Turning slightly, she watched as Johnathan approached, all self-important and confident like everyone knew he was. She licked her lips, her steps slowing as he approached, and lifted her hand in a slight wave.

“Hey John.” She said, offering him a nervous smile. “Um…Ellie and I were just heading off to class. Maybe..we could catch up later?”

Or never.

She looked around for Alex, realizing he’d disappeared to talk to someone else, and then shifted to look at Ellie. “Coffee then?”

Tristan nodded, and then shrugged, "I don't really want to find out." He said, leaning against the back of the bench. He looked out into the woods for a moment, "I feel like if we knew, there would have to be a second death, and that's just bad luck." He said, placing a hand on his lucky charm. He ran his finger along it, feeling the rough edges. It was a small silver coin that a very close friend had given him. If he lost it, he didn't know what he'd do. Tristan hadn't felt particularly close to Sarah, but he guessed they could be considered close. It's not like he- well, she had any feelings for him.

"Are we supposed to be anywhere, or are we free to hang out for the day?" He asked, placing his backpack on his lap. His hand slid into it, and he withdrew a pen. It was a Ballpoint M precision pen. One of Tristan's preferred pens for writing, and cleaning out water pipes. He wrote down a few notes on his hand, and slid the pen back into his pocket. He had written down directions back to his dorm. Normally when he grieved the dead, he would use some heavier drugs, and the directions always helped him find his way back. "Are you going to visit her tonight?" He asked, looking at him from the corner of his eyes. "Or are you going to wait a day or two. I suppose it could be a little crowded tonight." Tristan didn't think that at all, but he wanted to be alone there. He could always concentrate more on the deceased if he was alone.

"I think we are free," He said, starting to blank out. He thought about Sarah's old dorm. He thought about the nights that happened every so often when she couldn't sleep, and had called him to make her feel better. But mostly, he thought about the fun times they had spent there. Watching movies, sitting on the couch drinking hot chocolate in the winter. Sneaking inside through the window. It had been the home of many of their best times at school.

Alex flashed back into time when Tristan asked him a question. "Actually, I was planning on going." he said, unsure why exactly he was asking. "But, if I'm going to add full closure, I want to go around to other place special to her. Know what I mean?" He asked, turning to face him.

Lifting an eyebrow, Ellie looked at Cassidy. Coffee? Ellie glanced back toward the room she would be sharing with Cassidy and shrugged. “Sure,” she agreed. Her agreement was not because she actually wanted to have coffee with the girl… but more because she didn’t want to go into their shared room just yet. There was nothing that made her feel more trapped than the small shared dormitory rooms… and always with a roommate that wanted to talk… or that pretended that Ellie didn’t even exist. Always that. No middle ground.

As Ellie’s eyes moved over to Jonathan, she considered him for a moment. Despite the fact that he seemed to only have eyes for Cassidy, he had included Ellie in that plural greeting, hadn’t he? She looked between the two of them for a moment before taking a step back. “If you’d rather have coffee with him, it’s okay,” she muttered, tugging her sleeves down.

Blown him off. She’d blown him off. That was unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. Hiding his frown behind a confident grin, Jonathan positioned himself between Cassidy and the mostly empty hallway, resting a hand against the wall and leaning, taking up most of the corridor and effectively blocking her path. “Ah, Cassidy, I was wanting to speak with you.” His eyes never left her face. Instead, they bored into her own eyes, ignoring Ellie completely. “I wanted to offer my condolences. Nasty business, this stuff with Sarah. It just doesn’t make sense. You know, that night, I was walking through campus, and I swear I saw—“ He trailed off, shifting his eyes to Ellie before clearing his throat. “Well, I’ll tell you later what I saw.” His eyes lingered on the awkward redhead for a few moments before he straightened and removed his arm, allowing the two access to the corridor again, once more staring intently at Cassidy. “Please, come see me when you have a moment. There is something I would like to discuss with you.” One more pointed look to Ellie. “Alone.”

Cassidy nodded, but not necessarily because she wanted to go. She was willing to agree to just about anything if it meant getting Jonathan away from the pair of them. "You have my number." she told him, stepping back and glancing to Ellie.

"Uh, later."

She started to walk away, glancing at Ellie to make sure she was still following. As they walked, side-by-side, Cassidy kept her thoughts to herself, if only for a moment.

"Look...this isn't easy for either of us, but since we're sharing a dorm room we're going to have to establish a couple of things so we don't end up wanting to kill each other by the end of the semester." It wasn't hard to tell that Ellie was uncomfortable. Cassidy wasn't all that eager either. She would have preferred to be in a private room. "I mean, I'd like for us to be amiable, at least, but I won't bother you if you don't want to be."

She knew Ellie was the loner type, from what she'd gleaned from Sarah. In fact, Sarah hadn't much liked the girl, something that surprised Cassidy.

She couldn't help sensing that there had been mutual dislike.

Jonathan chuckled quietly. “Yes, I have your number,” he muttered, allowing his eyes to roam over Cassidy’s body as she walked away. “I definitely have your number.” As they disappeared around a corner, Jonathan ran a hand through his hair and turned to walk the other way, whistling to himself as he began planning.

Ellie fell into step beside Cassidy and dug her hands deep into her pockets, her shoulders hunched up as she listened. “Amiable,” she repeated, falling silent for a few steps. “Look, I’m not the type that enjoys slumber parties and gossiping and telling secrets and pillow fights and whatever else you normal girls do. It’s not my scene. I’m not looking for a friend, so don’t feel like you need to try to force yourself to like me. Previous roommates have found that pretending I don’t exist seems to work pretty well for them.”

"Well, I'm not going to ignore you, but I'm not going to paint your fingernails and play dress-up either."

She swallowed.

"Sometimes, it feels better knowing that there's someone out there to be lonely with."

She shifted her gaze to the ground, picking up a hand and running it through her hair. "But, like I said, wont' force anything on you."

A small snort escaped Ellie and she stared straight ahead as they walked. “Yeah. Like you’re lonely.” The scoff and disbelief was impossible to ignore.

A sudden flare of barely suppressed anger made her breath cut off in her throat.

"Oh, thank God. I thought I was going to have a boring room-mate who couldn't read my thoughts."

Rolling her jaw, she wordlessly stalked past Ellie, disappearing around the corner and on out of sight.

So much for the coffee date.

-----

Later on, Cassidy had her phone in-hand during class, shooting off a text to Alex that she felt was a necessary one to send.

Meeting up with Jon later since he asked. Going to the run down building. Meet us there around midnight so I don't have to suffer him by myself?

She breathed a sigh, sending the message and snapping the phone shut before tilting her head back against the back of her chair.