If Looks Could Kill - Vance Hopper

seven

Vance and I didn't speak about what happened on the roof after he came back into my room. Instead of him usually climbing under the covers beside me, he grabbed more blankets from the closet and folded them on the floor.

He slept on the ground next to my bed and didn't say a word to me after he bid me goodnight.

I wasn't angry, just confused. Did he regret what happened?

The next morning when I woke up, Vance was gone. After immediately making sure his clothes were still in the closet, I sat up and went to my vanity, looking through my jewelry box for a nice bracelet to wear with my outfit. I couldn't find it, so I just wore the silver watch Mom gave me last year for Christmas.

When I went downstairs, Mom had set the table with breakfast. It wasn't something I was used to. We sat at the table like a family. A real family.

When I walked to school-Jeremy refused to drive me because he was giving all of his friends a ride-and saw Bruce's missing poster on one of the streetlights I stood there, staring at it, for ten full minutes.

Now, I'm sitting in the principal's office telling the police officers about the last time I saw Bruce.

"I don't know," I shrug. "I hugged him, then went upstairs. That's it."

"You didn't hear anything strange after that, in your neighborhood? No speeding vehicle? No screams or shouts for help?"

I shake my head. "Bruce doesn't even live in my neighborhood," I tell them. Are they stupid?

"Right."

They excuse me and I walk, miserably, back to third period.

I sit down in my regular spot near the back of the class. Vance hasn't talked to me at all today. He hasn't even looked at me.

Good. My head tells me. He's a waste of time and effort.

Shut up.

Bruce was grabbed. He's probably dead by now.

I bury my face in my hands. What if this is my fault? What if Bruce was grabbed and it's my fault, and he knows it, and now he hates me?

Mr. White is explaining reptiles and how their cells differ from mammals. I hate science but I'm good at it.

When the bell rings, I swing my bag over my shoulder and start towards the door. "Miss Hoffman? Stay for just a moment, will ya?" Mr. White stops me. I turn around. Vance brushes past me, his eyes linger on mine for a split second before he walks out the door.

"Is something wrong?" I ask.

He hands me a sheet of paper. It's the assignement that we did at the beginning of class.

"64%." He winces. "That's not normal for you, Anna."

I study the page. "I'm sorry, Mr. White. My mind was elsewhere, it won't happen again."

"I'm sure it won't," he grins at me and I walk out of the class.

Vance is waiting for me when I walk down the hall to the cafeteria. "I heard that. The hell is wrong with you?"

I stay silent. I tutored Bruce when he was failing science last year. What would he say if he saw what just happened?

"Hey. Anna. I asked you a question."

"Oh, now you wanna speak to me?" I crumple up the assignment sheet and throw it in one of the trash bins.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know damn well what I'm talking about."

Everyone looks glum in the halls. I'm not the only one who misses Bruce. His friends are all talking in a corner, sorrow expressions plastered on their usually bright, cocky faces.