𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐀 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

XXIII

"Do you have the key?" I ask Xander, looking over my shoulder to see if anyone's around. It's almost time for Hendrix Academy's yearly Christmas Charity Event, and most of the staff are helping prepare for the ball.

"I do." Xander says, but kicks open the door anyway.

I stare at him. "Seriously? That was so unnecessary."

"No, it was very necessary. I feel like James Bond in this tux, sneaking into the file room." He says, trying to flip his bleach-white hair.

I walk in and start searching immediately.1990, 1991,1992,1993,1994, ah, there it is. 1995. I take out the file, and start searching through the contents; students, grade averages, statistics, fundings—yearbook.  I take that out along with a list of students. I search until I land on V and the first thing that comes up above Henry's fathers name, Kai.

"Has he asked you to be his date to the ball?" Xander asks me from the doorway, keeping watch just in case.

"No," I say, distracted. I search for his schedule, but the handwriting is a tad confusing. I start searching for Adelines too, and put them side to side. They had English lit together. So Kai had to have crossed paths with her at some point before the day he killed her.

"Good, because I'm accepting your offer." Xander tells me as I take a picture of their schedules side by side.

"You don't already have one?" I ask him. Xander, though he never dates, has multiple flings. I'm sure someone else had asked him.

"None that I like." He tells me. "Plus, this is like pissing on my territory." I glare at him for his choice of wording. "You were my best friend way before you had stopped hating each other."

"If you call me territory, or say you're pissing on me again, I'm going to stab your dick." I tell him, giving him a sweet smile before packing the files back where they were.

He leans against the door, watching me. His hazel monolid eyes light up. "Keep the threats up, it'll make him jealous." I roll my eyes before we head out, locking the doors behind us.
—----

I massage the shampoo on my head, rubbing my roots to make sure it's seeped in. I close my eyes as the hot water washes the product out of my hair and eyes, but when I open them again, I scream.

There's blood all over. On the glass walls of the shower, on the floor, the faucet is a smooth red. The water that I thought was cleaning me, is staining my skin. I hurriedly get out of the shower, wrapping a towel around myself, trying to get the blood off. Get it off get it off get it off. This is when I catch my reflection in the mirror. She stares back at me, her expression unfazed. A contrast to my hectic one. "You didn't listen." She says. "They told you; You love him, he dies."

"He knows." I tell her–myself? "He knows, and he still wants me."

"He's suicidal, of course he wants a tragedy." She rolls her eyes. "You're a compulsion to him, Jane."

I shake my head. "No."

"And what about the second thing they've told you?" She asks. "What about that? Are you going to ignore that warning, too?"

"Whose they?" I demand from her. I want to know who is warning me, and why they think they know how we'll end. "The fortune tellers?"

She sighs. "You don't believe the threat? Just look at how Adeline turned out."

My brows knit together. "What about her?"

"Her and Kai. Both dead. A reoccurring theme, isn't it?"

"That's not fair," I tell her. "What Kai and Adeline had isn't the same as what Henry and I have."