The warm morning air brushed over her skin as her eyes fluttered open. Streams of light came through the slits in the open blinds that no one had bothered to close. Arder rolled over in the bed, hiding her eyes from the brightness. She guessed that school was probably about to start, yet she wasn't in any hurry to get up. When a loud knock sounded throughout the apartment, the redhead moaned in frustration and let her feet find the floor.
"I'm coming," she yelled to whoever it was. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and started towards the front door."Lexie?" she mumbled, seeing her friend outside. She wondered how Lexie had known that she would be at Sophie's, and if the girl had gone to Arder's house first. Leaning over the railing, Lexie stood looking down at the roads below. Swinging the door open, Arder wrapped her arms around herself."Hey, what are you doing here?" she greeted.Lexie looked over her shoulder and made her way inside without waiting for an invitation. "Sophie called, told me someone had to get you to school," she said.Shaking her head, Arder walked into the kitchen and flicked the coffee maker on. "How much time do we have to get there?" she asked, watching the obsidian liquid drip down into the pot. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she glanced over at her friend."We're already late; it's eight-thirty," Lexie stated bluntly, grabbing a seat at the table. Arder sighed, pulling out the cord of the machine. She had no time to wait for it to finish, so she poured herself a cup of what had been made.Gulping down the scorching liquid, she pulled an elastic around her unwashed hair. "Give me five minutes to get dressed," she called behind her while running to the guest room.She pulled open the first drawer of the old dresser, where a few pairs of jeans and a tee had been left behind from her last visit. Grabbing the striped shirt and the darkest pair of pants, she hurried into the bathroom. Without so much as a glance in the mirror, she changed and headed out to where Lexie waited."Let's go," Arder prompted, grabbing her coat off the back of a chair. The metal stairs ringing as they stomped down them, Arder smiled and said, "Thanks for coming all the way here.""Let's just try to get to school on time tomorrow," Lexie laughed, picking up the pace.Nearing their destination, Lexie went quiet. "Hey, is that him?" she questioned, staring ahead. Arder followed her gaze to the gates, where she had met Grey for the second time. She saw a boy enter the school yard, but it was too quick for her to tell."I'm not sure, I couldn't see him," Arder said. She grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her along. "Let's go catch up." They reached the boy's side just as he was pulling the door open. "Grey?" Arder called out. Letting the door fall shut, he turned around to face them."I didn't think you were late this often," he joked. Arder shook her head, the side of her mouth turnedup in a smile. She stepped up the few stairs until they were leveled, Lexie trailing after her."Yeah, I slept in. You seem to be late more often than I am though," Arder retorted before gesturing towards the other girl. "This is my friend Lexie."Grey nodded at the blonde. "I think I'm in your English class." Scratching his shoulder, Grey glanced uncomfortably behind him.Staring at the ground for a moment, Lexie tilted her head in thought. "I remember that, you were late," she teased."Maybe I'm not late as often as I thought. That is, compared to you," Arder laughed. Grey smiled sheepishly in return and tucked his hands into his jacket pockets. "What class do you have?" she asked."Math, I think," Grey replied, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper with his left hand. "Room 302," he read."That's with Ms. Scott, right?" Arder inquired. She hadn't bothered remembering the room numbers; just their locations.Flipping the paper over, Grey nodded. "Yes, but I haven't been to the class yet."With the chilly air still surrounding them, Arder reached past him for the door and entered the school. "Okay. I'll see you at lunch, Lexie?" Arder asked her friend, who followed her into the building.With a smile, Lexie nodded. "Nice meeting you," she said to Grey before taking off down the left corridor."Our class is just down this way," Arder said, heading down the hall opposite to Lexie's. Arder stared at him as they walked, confused by his attitude. All the times they had talked before she felt something more uptight about him. Something mysterious. Now he was acting very different, more friendly in a way.Stopping beside him by the designated classroom, Arder peered through the window on the closed door. She could see Ms. Scott giving a lecture, so she decided to wait until the teacher was done speaking."What are you waiting for?" Grey asked. Twisting the knob, he pulled the heavy wood open. Ms. Scott stood behind her desk, watching over the mostly silent class with eyes sharper than a hawk's."You're late," she spat. "Take your seats."Arder mumbled her apology and walked to the first seat at the back of the room. The desks being arranged in rows, Grey sat in the one to the left of her and dropped his bag on the floor. To her right was quiet Natalia, who she usually sat with. Next to Grey was another girl, who Arder didn't know well. She had been seated there for the last few classes and helped Arder every once in a while with her math.The teacher nodded and picked a binder off of her desk. "Where was I?" she asked herself. "Right, you all can just get started on page 47," she instructed, closing the book. Arder dropped her own bag to the floor and pulled out her textbook. From the corner of her eye, she watched Grey do the same.The room quickly became noisy after that. While all the students got into groups to work on the math assignment together, Arder just worked alone.She was good at math, but she could tell Grey was better. He had already finished, and she was still stuck on the last question."Do you want some help?" Grey offered, noticing the confused look on her face. Arder nodded as she watched him stand up and lean against both their desks. She didn't turn from her paper, but she could sense his presence behind her. Arder knew how close he was by the way she felt like she couldn't breathe."Oh, this one's not hard. Just read this." Grey flipped the textbook page. "It explains it better." He then backed away and returned to his seat, as if the near proximity hadn't affected him at all.Arder took a shaky breath. She didn't understand why she felt like that around him; like a boa constrictor was wrapped around her lungs. "Thanks," she managed to say, gesturing to the textbook.He smiled and nodded before turning back towards the front of the room. Arder quickly finished her work and patiently waited for the bell to sound. When it did, she put her things in her bag and turned to talk to Grey."Wher-" Arder began, before realizing that he had already disappeared.Everyone except Arder had left the classroom. She tucked her bulky green binder into her bag and zipped it shut. The hallway was still cluttered with people pushing and shoving their way through, but there was one thing that stood out. Grey was standing on the other side of the hall, staring directly at her through the sea of bodies. Arder made her way across to where he was. "Don't you have class?" she questioned.He nodded before stating, "I need to tell you something." Arder studied his expression, trying to figure out what he was talking about."What is it?" she asked. Her eyes widened as a thought crossed her mind. "Is it about Cyrus?" Grey shook his head. "Can we go outside?" She hesitated, unsure of what this was about. Curiosity taking over her, she obliged and followed behind him.Outdoors, the wind had stopped blowing. Arder could still feel the grip of winter in the air around her, but she wasn't cold. She jumped up onto the frozen concrete wall and sat down."Arder, you
Grey felt horrible; he was sick to his stomach. Everything about this girl made him want to stay. He wanted to throw away what he was told to do, pretend it wasn't the reason why he met her.He could feel her tears staining his shirt. In his eyes, the truth about her father wasn't a big deal, but that obviously wasn't how she saw it. Grey had so much more to admit to her, but in that moment he knew it would break even the strongest of spirits.He moved his hand up to Arder's head and stepped back to look at her. "We should go," he said, brushing her bright hair away from her face.She too stepped back from the embrace, seemingly embarrassed. She nodded and started towards the back entrance, wiping the tears away in the process. "Grey?" she asked, once they were outside."I can take you back to school," he told her, scanning the yard to make sure they were alone."Could you take me to the cafe?" she asked, following his gaze around the property. The short oak trees surrounding them
Arder felt torn apart, as if someone had taken a part of her. Her mother took her entire life and called it a lie, she missed who her mother use to be. This wasn't the woman who raised her. That woman would have told her a long time ago and she wouldn't have been so harsh.Arder crossed the Cafe grabbing Lexie's attention. Lexie smiled at the sight of her and stood up. "Where were you? I couldn't find you at lunch," Lexie asked. She was clueless of what was going on and Arder debated telling her a lie. The lies were building up all around her, like infinite walls she could not break.She sunk into the chair opposite Lexie and tore a piece of one of the pizzelles that was on the table. She sighed, it was her favourite dessert and she had been craving them all week. "I went home," Arder said vaguely."Why? Did something happen?" Lexie questioned. Arder tugged her wild curls together and tied them back behind her head into a short ponytail."I talked to my mom," she admitted. Lexie stare
The clouds blocked the moon creating a dark shadow, everything felt pointless in that moment. She didn't know why she was walking to the factory, all she knew was there was no where left to go. The abandoned buildings on the street looked beautiful with the shadows dancing across them. They had uneven levels that created an artistic feel to them and the glass that littered their front lawns were like the loneliness that Arder felt. She took a moment to sit on the curb next to one of them, and just watched. She could see the silhouettes of the few birds flying across the sky and a tipped over metal garbage can rustling back and forth. A woman wearing a bunched up jacket and only one glove looked up from behind it. A few gray hair strands peaked out from under the light blue hat she had over her head. Arder jumped up and continued to walk, not wanting to disturb her further. "Arder?" A voice asked, making her jump. She spun around to see Grey standing in the middle of the street.This
The weather the next day was like that single moment before it starts to rain. The window was fogged over from the small heater Sophie left in the guest room, and all Arder could see was the dark sky. "What time is it?" Lexie asked, turning over and covering her face with the blankets to block out the light. Arder smiled, thinking about how late they stayed up the previous night. "It's almost nine-thirty. We should go help Sophie," she replied. She walked away from the window, an odd feeling that she couldn't quite decipher overcoming her. She shook it off and walked into the bathroom to get changed. Choosing dark green jeans with patches over the knees and a plain white shirt to wear under her leather jacket, she yelled, "Are you up yet?" over her shoulder.Arder could smell the scent of fresh coffee wafting up from the cafe, and she quickly ushered the other girl into the bathroom to change next. "Okay, just give me a minute," Lexie said."I'll meet you downstairs." The smell of
Arder felt like she was drifting through a dream and that she would wake up at any moment. Sophie was yelling, but it was all background noise. And then the sirens came, slowly getting louder and louder, waking her up to the reality of what happened. Her mind was screaming, and her fist clenched around the knife. This was what killed my best friend. The phrase ran through her mind at a million miles per hour, and it destroyed her. "What do I do?" she asked Sophie. The flashing lights of the police cars were fast approaching, and Arder was the one holding the murder weapon.Sophie shook her head. "Just give it to me," she instructed. She snatched the knife from the redhead's hand and ran out the back door, only to return moments later. "There was no knife. You never saw it," she said, eyes wide and hands shaking. They were committing a crime, and they both knew it. Arder nodded from her seat on the floor. The image of Lexie's broken body just steps away was the worst she could think
Arder hadn't left Sophie's guest room in four days. The colour that was once in her life was gone. She had never woken up during the night because she was never asleep. Everything seemed pointless: every breath, every word, every blink of the eye. She couldn't even rely on Grey, who had never returned her call. "Arder, I'm going downstairs," Sophie called through the door.Arder didn't reply. She just sat silently, staring out the window. The sky was a light blue, and it seemed like a perfect day to be outside. At least, it was for everyone else-- not a single part of her wanted to leave the room. "Your mother's coming over today," Sophie said. Arder looked behind her at the closed door."Why?" she asked. There was no answer for a few moments, making her believe that the other girl had already left. She turned her attention to the phone on the desk in front of her. No one had called, not even Lexie's other friends."She said she wanted to check on you," Sophie finally responded. Ar
"Why?" Arder asked. His question confused her in ways she didn't want to admit. Nevertheless, everything became uncertain the second she saw her best friend lying cold and bloody in that bathroom.He shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought that if I were you, I'd feel better knowing the person who did it was locked up." The girl hesitated, her hand feeling heavy in his. She told herself that there was no need to ask anymore questions, that she could trust him. "Well, hopefully they will soon. They might have some of the killer's DNA, actually," she said. She carefully watched his expression for any signs of fear, but if he knew anything, he certainly didn't show it. His expression stayed stone cold, almost angry. He stared straight ahead. "That's good." "Where were you all this time?" she blurted out. The question had been nagging at the back of her mind for every second of those four days. It had caused suspicion, and she hated it. Arder looked down, seeing her hands shake. He to