brothers.

22~ First Session

My afternoon reading was interrupted when I heard feet approaching me. I looked up, finding Thelma, Kate, Blanche, and Alma staring at me.

I leaned back, a bit startled. "Uh... hi." I stuck a bookmark in the pages and put the book down. "How'd you guys...?"

"W-we ran into each other in th-the hall," said Kate.

"Oh. Okay. Um... what're you doing here?"

"We, uh..." Thelma glanced at the others. "We heard you found out."

Oh. I nodded. "Right."

"We w-were wondering if you wanted s-some comp-pany," Kate said.

Company? I'd gotten used to being alone. The library was sort of like my sanctuary. But I couldn't say no, could I? Reluctantly, I agreed. "Yeah, sure."

They sat in the sofas around me, setting their bags down. "What are you reading?" Blanche pointed at the book on the table.

"Oh, just something I found." I showed her the cover: 'Miracle'.

"Ooh, I love that book! I read it in middle school."

"Really? This is my first read."

"It's great. Did you get to the part where-"

"Shh- don't!" I held up my hand. "Don't do that."

Blanche stopped, brows quirking. "What?"

"You're spoiling the book for her," Alma said obviously, chuckling.

"Oh. Sorry."

"She always does that. Last year, she spoiled Starrider Academy 2 for me."

"No, she didn't!" Kate exclaimed. "Are y-you serious?!"

"It was an accident!" Blanche defended.

"Guys, keep it down. We're in the library, not the cafeteria." Thelma discreetly nodded at a group of students nearby, who glanced at us with annoyance from their study table.

"Right. Sorry."

Looking at the study group, I noticed them nudging each other and whispering, glancing at me a few times. I sighed and looked away.

I could still hear them. 'Isn't she that ghost girl?' 'Oh, yeah, Amy's evil twin. She's so creepy.'

A hand waved over my eyes. I blinked, realizing I'd fallen in a trance. "You good?" Thelma asked.

I looked back at the study group. They'd returned to their books. "Um... yeah."

"Thinking about everything?"

"Sort of." I sighed. "Honestly... I don't know if I want to be here anymore."

"What do you mean?" Blanche asked.

"I'm thinking of going to online school."

"What? No!" Thelma reached over and took my hand. "We can't be besties if we don't see each other!"

"I'm thinking about it. The reason I came to school was because I wanted to find out why people were staring at me all the time. And now I know. And I wish I didn't. Everyone sees me as this horrible person."

"They don't really see you as horrible," said Alma. "They're just a little creeped out. I mean... look at it our way." She motioned to her and Blanche. "We weren't super close to Amy or anything— we maybe had a couple classes with her, but that's it. Amy was basically well-known because of her brothers being on the football team. They were always so... chaotic. Made people laugh and gossip." Alma chuckled, a bit nostalgic. "Amy was really outgoing and sweet... you know, really likeable. Then she told everyone she had cancer, and she left... and she died."