Five: Kaden

After the yet life draining lesson in Chem class, I headed for the school library. Inside the library, the smell of dusty old books and a musty aroma hit my nostrils. The walls were a mustard yellow and part of the ceiling was falling apart. If I didn't know any better, I would think that this was the oldest section in the school. Old wooden bookshelves lined the sides of the room.

In the middle of the library was a circle of plastic blue chairs. Most of the chairs were occupied by other book club members. Some of which I recognized as kids I had grown up with since second grade. I could hear their various gossip among them. Two girls wearing Melody Hills High chorus T-shirts, were whispering in each other's ears and giggling. God, I hated people who gossiped like that.

When I approached the circle, all chatter died down. There was only one empty chair and it lied between one of the chorus girls and an unexpected person. Her poopbrown hair was in curls and you could still see the faint auburn highlights. She wore a black cashmere dress with a silver heart shaped necklace around her neck. It took me a minute to recognize who the girl was. Her skin was as pale as marble. Dark purple circles were under her eyes. Candy.

I remember the old Candy. She had luscious chocolate brown hair that always smelled like vanilla. She used to wear designer clothes from Paris, Rome and London. Her jewelry costs more than a Porsche. Guys would be dumb enough to fall for her, innocent giggling and bashing eyelashes. The sweet smile that could make any guy, no matter how young or old, fall head over heels for her. She was the IT girl in junior high. Then one day it all changed.

Now that I look at her, her hair looks thin as straw and looks unwashed. The familiar vanilla scent was replaced with the standard deodorant smell. Surprisingly, she still wore the designer cashmere dress although it was definitely a last season outfit. The only piece of jewelry that was worth mentioning was that necklace. Candy held on tightly to the silver chain. Was she afraid someone was going to steal it? What was so damn important about that necklace anyway?

Just then, the library's double doors swung open. Ms. Desmond walked through the doors, looking anxious, and walked over to the group.

"Sorry I'm late," she said pushing her already pulled back dark hair. "There was a bit of a mix-up with the schedules today."

I noticed that her hands were shaking uncontrollably. Was she ok? The way her anxious filled eyes scanned our faces.

"Unfortunately, we will have to reschedule the meeting for next week."

There were a few expressions that changed in an instant. Some of the other members were already packing up their stuff. One of the gossip girls on my left was pulling out her Sidekick and typing away. I rolled my eyes. Did no one appreciate books anymore? I swear some people today are just so ugh. Great, now I was sounding like Grandad. He always complained about how we never played outside in the summer air when we vacationed at his house in South Carolina.

I looked over and saw Candy wasn't speaking. She sat there staring off into space. Whatever happened to her in junior high, had completely warped her. She used to be the loudmouth of our once tight clique. Candy never stopped talking. I used to think she was going to pass out if she didn't take a breath at least once when she was talking to us.

I nudged her with my knee. She didn't even blink. That was beyond creepy. I tried again, but she didn't budge. It was like she was a living breathing statue. Here I was trying to strike up a conversation with her and she didn't have the decency to look at me.

"Candy," I said.

There was no response. Her eyes were trained on something I couldn't tell. An unfamiliar expression crossed her face. She almost looked like she had just eaten a lemon.

"Candy," I repeated. "Do you want to talk?"

Once again there wasn't a response. Now I was getting frustrated. Most people would jump at the opportunity to talk to me. Normally, I wouldn't give them the time of day but still at least I was polite about it. Candy just had that same empty lost expression.

A shrill bell rang came from the hallway. Looks like, class was over. I looked back at Candy; she sat there like a rock. I sighed and stood up. There was no point in trying to get her to talk to him. Whatever she was upset about it didn't look like she was in the mood for sharing. And I didn't have time to put up with her usual silent treatment crap.

I headed for the library's double doors when someone bumped into me. Ouch. That was the only word that came to mind. But when I saw whoever it was that deliberately bumped into my shoulder my mind drew a blank. In front of me, was a tall figure maybe a few inches taller than me. He had muscles rippling through his tight t-shirt. His golden blond reached just over his eyes. Mitchell.

"Hey," said the most angelic voice my ears had ever heard.

"H-Hi," I stammered.

Yes, I noticed I was sounding like a complete idiot. But if you were standing there talking to Mitchell, you'd understand. His eyes were like two pools of crystal blue. And there was just something about the way his hair just fell naturally into place that made tingles run all throughout my body. If Carmella were here, she'd utter her notorious phrase for me," God Mushu, you're such a flamer."

"You're Kaden Clyde, right?" His eyes sparkled with curiosity, his head tilted to the left slightly. He looked sweet.

Please don't say something stupid about my stupid name...

I nodded slowly.

"Do you have Ms. Preston's English AP class?"

"Yeah. I sit three seats behind you," I said. If I sounded like a b***h, it was because I was annoyed.

"Oh," He said shifting his feet. "Well I was wondering if you could help me with that test she's giving us next week."

I racked my brain for what he was talking about. Did we have test next week? With Audrey's death being the center of my thoughts and the talk with the principal the other day, my brain has been swarming with memories of when Audrey and I were younger, and questions without answers. Like, why someone would go out of their way to kill Audrey or who would be sick enough to do this to her?

When I looked at Mitchell, I could see he was still staring at me.He was waiting for an answer.

"Um, sure. I think I could help you with the test next week." I could feel the butterflies erupt through the pit of my stomach.

His face brightened. A relieved smile crossed his pink lips. "Great. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, definitely." Crap, I thought. I sound way to excited.

Thankfully he didn't notice. Mitchell turned back around and started for the double doors. There was something that I almost forgot. I didn't know when or where to meet him. I raced after him, pushing the doors wide open. I scanned the hallway to see he was already at the end of the hall.

"Mitchell," I called out.

He didn't answer.

I called out again, this time a little louder. He turned his back.

"Yeah," he said

"What time," I asked.

There was an embarrassed look on his face. He racked his brain thinking. God he looked so cute when he was thinking. Shut up brain.

"After school at four. In the library."

I nodded. I swear I thought I saw a smile before he disappeared around the corner. That made me feel like I was lighter than air. Last time I felt like this was when I was with... No, I couldn't think about him. That jerk was the past and I had to move forward. At least, that's what the counselor kept telling me. Besides I had bigger things to deal with then an evil ex.

I turned around and started walking down the halls, my customized converse squeaking. It was kind of quiet in the halls today. Especially since class just got out. Almost like scary movie quiet. I love watching horror movies. The way you're shouting at the idiots in the movies who are walking all by themselves in the creepy empty halls of an abandoned house. Which, ironically I was doing in the hallway.

A shudder ran down the small of my back. Just the thought of a killer following me was bad enough. Audrey's killer. That struck a thought. Audrey's killer hadn't been found yet. He or she was still out there. Watching. Waiting. What they were waiting for was something no one truly knew. Probably to find a new target. Or take Audrey's body and take it off to bury it somewhere. Stop thinking like that, I told myself. This wasn't exactly the right time to be talking about a killer when I was by myself in the halls.

I passed by a row of lockers.

Thud.

I stopped dead in my tracks. This was not good. I listened out for the sound again.

There was nothing but silence.

Whatever it was, it was gone now. Hopefully. As I continued walking, something caught my eye. It was something bright and shiny on the ground. I walked over, picked it up, and looked closely at it again. My heart immediately skipped a beat. It was a silver chain. I noticed for the first time that there was a diamond heart with the letters E+C in the middle. I could piece together that C meant Candy. But who was the E? And why was this E person so important.

There was another sound. It sounded like, a giggle? Someone was definitely down here. My heart was pounding out of my chest. Worse thing was the person wasn't that far off. I put Candy's necklace in my back pocket.

I needed to get out of here and fast. Without thinking for another second, I walked back the way I came. Screw it. There was no way I was going down there. It just felt too eerie and way too quiet. Something buzzed in my pocket. I pulled out my iPhone.

It was a text from Carmella. It read:

Where are you?

I sent her a quick reply.

By the courtyard. Y?

Almost immediately I got a response.

Can U get my notebook from history? I forgot we had homework again.

I let out a loud sigh and shook my head. Of course she did.

Fine. I'll bring it by your class in five.

Carmella replied:

You're the best Mushu!

Yeah, I knew that. I slid my phone back in my pocket and walked in the other direction. Why, of all days, did I have to go back and get that stupid notebook? I always had to say "yes." Something my parents told me to work on. They didn't want to have a push over for a son. Wonder what they would think if they knew I liked boys? I shook that thought away. In time I was going to tell them, just not right now.

I scaled the wall, searching for Mr. Peters history class. When I found room 206, I turned the strangely warm knob. The room was dark, except for the large paned windows with the blinds pulled halfway down. I felt the wall, looking for a switch, then flipped it on. Nothing. Of course it wasn't working. This wasn't an upgraded room like the other classrooms. In this room there was the antique overhead projector sitting in the corner. Instead of a white board, there was an old fashion chalkboard.

I walked in the room scanning for Carmella's notebook. Usually, Mr. Peters would keep all unclaimed items in his desk. I walked over to his ratty old wooden desk. There were various papers scattered all over the place. I recognized some of them as graded papers, pink slips and blank test papers.

There, off to the far side of the desk, was Carmella's purple notebook. Snorting, I grabbed it off the desk and walked away. What was with this girl and the color purple? As I was about to open the door, there was a sudden eerie feeling. I usually got a feeling like this when there was something very wrong. I took a few steps back into the class room and had an overview. There didn't look like there was anything wrong with the room. Other than the tacky designing of furniture, the room looked perfectly fine.

That's when I noticed the cabinet. In the corner of the room, was a tall metal cabinet. It was weird how isolated it looked from the rest of the stuff in the room. Curiosity got the best of me and a thought struck me. I walked slowly over to the cabinet, swimming through the rows of desks.

From up close the cabinet didn't look like too much. It looked beat up and rusty. There was a dent on the side. The metal handles were crooked, as if someone hit them with a hammer. I touched one of the handles. It felt cold against my fingers.

My heart was pounding for some reason. There wasn't going to be a killer inside the cabinet just waiting to pounce. Was there? No, that was ridiculous. I've seen way too many movies. It took every bit of me to tug on the handle. At first, it wouldn't budge. It felt like it was glued shut. I pulled again and this time it gave in a bit. One more time was all it took for the cabinet doors to fully open.

I could feel the color drain from my face when I saw what was on the other side. There were no words coming from my mouth. My throat felt like it was closing in. All around me the walls were coming together. The room was spinning. I doubled over in a hunch. This wasn't possible. There was just no way this could be happening. But it was and I was first to witness it.

Inside there was someone sitting there, more like slouched, with their eyes sown shut. There was a huge cut across their neck. Blood was flowing down to the floor, making a puddle at my feet. All I could do at that time was one thing. But my mind was racing. The words were there but my mouth wouldn't cooperate. Tears were streaming down my cheeks.

I screamed. Only one name came to mind. Candy.