The Art of being Strangers

xiv.

Marigold and I got an A on our art project. Somehow, a lot of people either got an F or were asked to re-do the project, mainly because they painted random pictures that weren't theirs. I never actually thought I will be this proud of myself for getting an A at Art. Somehow, we got lucky because I still had my camera in my backpack, since Friday. I had forgotten to take it out of the backpack when I arrived home, and I'm glad I did. When the teacher called us to the front of the class to show the painting, she also asked to see our reference picture. Marigold's face turned white. She was probably thinking I left the camera home – which was what I was supposed to do, but as the forgetful person I am, of course, I totally forgot about it. I excused myself and went back to my seat to look through my backpack. I was relieved when I found the small camera. I went back to the front of the classroom and showed the teacher the photo I had taken on Friday. She asked if I had taken it, and I nodded. She was pretty amazed.

When the bell rang, Mari told me that she and Ansel won't be able to join me for the lunch break. I asked her why and all she said was that Ansel wanted to talk to her alone, so I just agreed to hang out with them later. I was surprised that I didn't quite mind spending the lunch break without them. Perhaps I had missed spending time alone with Basil at school. As if he knew I was thinking of him, Basil appeared, possibly waiting for me, and leaning on the doorframe just as I was about to leave the classroom.

"Hey," he greets me.

"Hi," I reply.

"How come you're not with Marigold?"

"She said Ansel wanted to talk to her alone, or something like that."

"Well? What're you waiting for?"

"What do you mean?"

Basil shrugs. "Let's see what they're talking about."

"No way. What if it's personal stuff?"

"Then we'll leave. Simple."

I scratch my neck. "Fine. But if they're not talking about something that could be a clue, I'm leaving," I warm him.

"Fair enough," he shrugged.

I sigh and leave the classroom, Basil following me. I had to stop giving in to his plans. It's not like it wasn't a good idea to listen to whatever Mari and Ansel were planning on talking about, because it could possibly help us a lot with identifying the killer, but Marigold asked me to let them have their time alone – which isn't something that she usually does. That was what made me wonder if we should spy on them. I let my thoughts slide and stopped, trying to think about where they could possibly be.

Of course, Marigold didn't mention where she'd be meeting with Ansel, but I had an idea of where they'd be. We first checked the halls to be sure, but when we saw no red hair sticking out, I was positive they'd be outside.

Before we started being friends, I always saw them outside in a corner, through the window. I told Basil about it, and he agreed we should check outside.

"Shit," I mutter.

"What?" Basil asks.

"I see them, but there aren't any trees or anything I could hide behind," I point out.

The plan we made before going in the yard was easy: I just had to hide behind a tree or something – not too close to them, but not too far either so I could hear them – so they couldn't see me.