It was Friday the 13th, which meant the day was going to suck by default.
And it did. Especially since it meant that it had been over a week since Miren went missing. Or rather, since Miles went to "visit his fam bam in Toronto".
Of course, most of the school was rather unaffected by his departure. He was a new student after all, and that fact wasn't hard to forget. Well, for most people. But most people didn't include Levi.
Miles' desk was right in front of his in AP US History. And although they were fortunate enough to not have some assignment from hell handed to them by the devil teacher herself, it was only a matter of time. When Ms. Cowdry entered the room, the atmosphere instantly became dismal, if not borderline hostile. She frowned as she moved to the Promethean board.
"Mr. Ellison still hasn't returned?" she sounded more compassionate than she usually did, which took the students by surprise. As they blinked at her like she was an enchanted unicorn or something, she rolled her eyes. "Are you going to keep staring at me or enlighten me? I'm not above offering a timed essay." There was a collective groan as Levi lifted his hand.
"I actually spoke to Dr. Edsel and he said that that Miles' grandfather's funeral was pushed back a few days," Levi said. Though he had little faith that this was the truth. "He should be back Monday."
"That's good to hear." She began writing on the board, and that was that. Levi's eyebrow lifted slightly. He knew Miles was one of her best students, but so was he. And when he had to miss a week for his debate finals last semester, she barely acknowledged his departure or return. His eyes widened. Was Ms. Cowdry somehow involved in this conspiracy?
Before he could do anything with the realisation, Cowdry started playing an educational video. In celebration of Black History Month, she started discussing the Black Panther Movement and the report that would go along with it. As his mind wandered off to consider this whole debacle, he heard Parker yawn. His eyes narrowed on his friend. Naturally, Parker had something to do with this, right? He was there when Penelope kissed Miles. He was also friends with him. And although this connection seemed as directionless as the rest of his in conclusions, it was still worth pursuing.
The hour dragged on like dripping molasses, with Ms. Cowdry assigning a ten-paged-report like he had expected. Yay.
"Where's Miles when you need him?" Parker offered with a cheeky grin as the students began to clear the room. "Who knew he was the recipe to Cowdry's lack of student sympathy?"
"Your guess is probably as good as mine." Levi pulled his backpack over his shoulder. "Have you been in contact with him? I know he's probably occupied with the funeral and all, but I need to give him some time-sensative details about Student Administration and the Pre-Med Society."
"Nope," Parker admitted as they began to exit the classroom. "But like you said, he probably needs some time to process the news. I know I was a wreck when my grandfather died."
"I don't know...do you get the sense that something doesn't entirely add up?" Levi carefully said over the small crowd of their peers. "I mean, I saw what happened between you, Penelope, and him. Are you still even with her? Are you sure you didn't have Miles 'sent away' for making out with her?'" he said with air quotes. Parker scoffed.
"You're almost as bad as Olive," was his reply as they crossed the hallway. "And I don't like talking about my relationships."
"Try relationshits," Levi humored. But Parker didn't look particularly amused. "And if you don't come clean, I'll just pry. And you know I succeed at everything I put my mind to."
"Then why don't you try to mind your own business?" Parker challenged. "Miles and I are fine. Obviously, Penelope and I aren't, but that doesn't mean I don't care about her." The one-minute bell began to chime, but neither senior quickened their pace as they left the building. "You got an invitation to Jemma's birthday bash, right? Maybe you'll find a girlfriend and she can distract you from whatever you're trying to do right now. Later."
As the homecoming king shrank in the horizon, Levi couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine. He wished it were just the cold, but he knew better. All of these seemingly unrelated events were just part of a puzzle.
And slowly, but surely, the pieces would come together.
***
"Where the hell does this go?" Penelope said, pointing to a giant heart-shaped piñata with an arrow through it. "And what did I tell Chara about Valentine's Day themed decorations?"
Artemis rolled her eyes as she opened a container of tablecloths. "It's a piñata. Not rocket science. Besides, standing around isn't helping us get this done faster. So why don't your take up your beef with Chara, and then get to work?" she replied, pointing a thumb in the other girl's direction. She was talking with Klondike and a guy who appeared to be the owner of Prism, the club they were currently in.
"I actually think it's quite genius," Theodora admitted, descending from her step ladder. She examined the "Keep Calm and Fuck Valentine's Day" poster she had just hung to make sure it was straight. "Jemma will love the anti-Valentine's Day theme."
"She better," Penelope said almost bitterly. "Do you know how many love letters I got? I can't wait to read them!" She was beaming before she remembered that her company was tragically single. Her lips pursed in contempt. She had to stop being so shallow. "Don't tell me you guys didn't get anything?"
"I got a dozen anonymous carnations," Artemis disclosed, her face spoiling slightly. "But honestly, I would have preferred nothing. If Soren is still interested in me, then I'm really concerned about his mental capacity to accept rejection." She tied the end of a golden balloon. "It's only a matter of time until he tries to kill me."
"Don't say that." Theodora shook her head. "You should be glad that he still loves you. Jeno dumped me completely out of the blue. Is it sad that I was hoping he'd get me something?" Some tears lined her eyes, but it was hard to tell whether she was more frustrated with him or herself. "Does he like another girl? Is that it?"
"Probably," Penelope said matter-of-factly. Artemis glared at the gremlin of a girl. In typical holier-than-thou fashion, Penelope just scoffed. "What? We're her friends. If we can't be honest with her we might as well be as bad as Jeno."
"Like you're the poster-child for honesty," Artemis retorted, folding her arms. Sure, it was a bit of a hypocritical move, but she never boasted about how great she was. She knew she wasn't a good person, but she was much closer to goodness than Penelope.
"If you watched my video, you'd know that my sins have been repented." She dusted her hands off as if she'd actually done something that resembled work. "And what about you? Aren't you off brewing some Hindi spell with Olive to bring Miren back from the dead?"
Artemis' mouth parted, but she could find no words. In less than a week, Nurse Caldwell would be back in. If the woman spoke the magic words they were looking for, then yes, there would be some possibilityâhowever slightâthat Miren could be alive. And somehow this idea was as uplifting as it was terrifying. She shook her head.
"Olive isn't trying to make you look bad," she began slowly, carefully. "She just wants the public to have a better idea of who she was. If she really was sick, we should know what she was suffering from so we can bring awareness. Face it, even though you were a real bitch to her, you probably know the most about her. And standing in the way makes you look bad and prevents you from having a say."
"If it were possible for me to look bad, it would have happened already," Penelope countered, her eyes of ice clearly as cold as her heart. "Don't forget that I forgave you for cheating with Parker."
"Just like I forgave you for bullying Miren," she said simply. She wanted to say that her forgiveness meant nothing to her, but it wasn't wise to obliterate their friendship. Not yet.
Penelope shrugged, picking up a "Cupid is Stupid" poster from the table. "It's not like I was responsible for the little water spill at the Rising Scholar assembly." Her eyes shifted to Theodora briefly before returning to Artemis. "Let. It. Go."
"The croquembouche will be ready to pick up tomorrow for the party," Chara said as she walked up to the girls. She felt the hostility between them almost immediately. "Um, Artemis, why don't you help me with the party favors?"
"It would be my pleasure." Once they were out of earshot, next to the bar area that had bottles of hopefully non-alcoholic beverages, Artemis pulled Chara by the arm.
"Since when did you become Penelope's personal bitch?"
"Since she discovered a secret I'd rather not tell." Chara rubbed her eyes with her free hand. Even if she had been invited to the party, she didn't know if she'd be able to stay awake for it. "Don't worry, it's completely unrelated to the video." She paused. "Well, the other video."
"I'm sorry." Artemis turned toward the other girls. Penelope was texting away, and Theodora was struggling to put up the gold streamers. They were in the clear. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Nothing aside from blackmail," Chara said with a small smile. It deflated the instant her eyes landed on Penelope. "But I have to give it to her, that bitch knows how to bounce back."
"Only because she doesn't care about who she hurts. Even if Miren's dead." She shook her head. "I still can't believe she's dead."
"I don't know what to believe anymore."
"Is it weird that sometimes it still feels like she's alive?" Artemis didn't know what she was doing. Truthfully, she felt just as dead on the inside as the girl in question. And trying to read Chara's expression for a clue or something just seemed as pointless as it was wrong.
"It really hasn't been that long if you think about it," Chara offered almost passively, placing some electric candles along the windowsill. She sighed. "I just didn't think things could get anymore fucked up after that." She looked up at the junior. "By the way, Olive wants to use me for her documentary. I would have said no, but something told me you'd want me to do it."
"I guess I do." Artemis bit her lip. "I'm just a little skeptical about what good can come from it."
"That's the spirit."
"I'm sure I'll warm up to the idea once I stop feeling so hopeless." She offered the girl a faint smile. "Which is why you're coming to the party. Jemma would have invited you, and you are responsible for arranging itâcroquembouche and all."
"God, I hate that word."
But Chara could easily think of a million other things she hated. Like the fact she was still lying to Artemis. Or that Penelope had an indefinite hold over her.
Still, all of that paled to the reality that even if she came clean, she had no idea where Miren wasâor if either friend would ever forgive her.
***
When Jeno heard a knock on his door, he was probably just a little too anxious to answer it. But when he opened it, whatever was left of his broken heart shattered beyond recognition.
"Why the glum look for?" Jemma said teasingly as she waltzed inside. She plopped on his bed, dumping a boutique of red carnations on his nightstand like flowers disgusted her. "I have no idea why anyone likes you."
"Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you."
Jemma gave him a curt smile before her eyes landed on Miles' side of the room. "Where'd your roomie go? Did you kill him?"
It took everything to hold in his joint rage and irritation. With a sigh, he shrugged as passively as he could. "He had to leave for his grandfather's funeral in Toronto. Said he'd be there for a week."
"That's a shame. I came over to invite him to our party. He didn't RSVP to my email." She pursed her lips, but she was laughing demonically on the inside. She didn't know if Miren and Jeno were truly an item, but they had definitely broken up. Kicking her legs playfully, she began to consider what had happened. After all, it had to be interesting. When Jeno cleared his throat, she snapped out of it, her eyes narrowing on her brother.
She couldn't remember the last time he cried, or if he was even capable of looking completely affected by something, but there it was, the look that confirmed that leprechauns existed. If she weren't his twin, she might have felt relatively unfazed by it, but instead her heart ached for him. Damn it. She hated feeling feelings.
"If you really regret breaking up with Theodora that bad, I'm sure she'll find it in her heart to forgive you," she said, rising to her feet. "I don't know why you insist on being a rock. You can let people in, you know."
"I was better off when I didn't," he told her, forcing himself to look more passive than he felt. "I'll get over it. No need to concern yourself."
"We shared a womb, everything that concerns you concerns me." She stood in front of her brother now, offering him a hug. "Get in here, little bro."
"Not until you get it through thick skull that I'm the oldest. And I'm not going to your dumb party." Without warning, Jemma hugged him. He fought the urge to break free.
"Of course you aren't," she said sarcastically, releasing him. "And it's senior year. You need to at least pretend to have a life. Especially now that your nerdy friend is gone." She was already at the door when she spun around, narrowing her teal eyes at him. "Just don't make the same mistake again." Then she was off.
Her concluding words didn't leave much of a mark on him. Rather, it just reminded him that everything he didâeverything he was doingâwas wrong. He was tired of wallowing around in his own self-pity, tired of being scared about Miren's whereabouts. No, she was a smart girl; she could handle herself, wherever she was.
And at the very least, he could handle the person responsible for her disappearance.