I grabbed the spare key out from under the glossy fake plant leaves, shoved it into the lock turned the key, and hip checked the door open. I left the door ajar as I returned the key. As I turned to enter, I heard sobs. I went inside to find Mrs. Clark crying on the couch. "What's wrong?" Startled, she looked up and ran to engulf me in a hug. Smeared makeup tears ran down her cheeks and plopped onto my shoulder. "I thought she was at practice. I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I should have told you not to come today. I should have called you." "What?" "She's gone, Viki. She's gone." She grabbed me once again and cried more heavily. Sirens echoed down the street. Screaming louder as the got closer to my best friend's house. I knew what had happened in the basement closet. I was here. I watched. It was funny.
***
"Tomater…show more content… Moore?" "Yes?" "Be careful."
***
He walked in to my Physics class, and sat in Jenny's seat. Right in front of me. How dare he. Of course, there was no where else to sit in the room, but no one had sat there for over a month. Jenny's absence had been as plain as her empty chair in the middle of the classroom, but now it wasn't as clear. Was I the only one who wanted to remember? To not forget? I tapped his shoulder, and he turned around to face me, the heels of his black shoes digging into the tile floor. "Excuse me, new kid?" "My name's Justin." His southern drawl crawled across the air, and floated into my ears, sinking into my hear, and filled my stomach with butterflies. "That's nice, can you switch spots with me? I can see better from there." It was a lie, but there was no way some new kid was going to take Jenny's spot. "Sure, but I have one condition." "What?" I looked at him through squinted eyes. He might have cleaned up like one of us, but his baseball cap hanging from the tattered handle of his backpack made it clear he wasn't one of us. "Tell me your name,
