chiaroscuro

10

I stick to my plan and follow Emery.

Not secretively, though.

"Lev's in my class," she said in the morning as we left for class. "You can ask him."

It's like she wants me to figure out what's going on–which makes my job much easier. Harder too, though. I don't know if Emery has some ulterior motive. Maybe she knows I'll get tired of following her and solving the case. Personally, I don't know why I'm so worked up on this case. Then again, there's a lot I don't know about myself.

We take the elevator to the sixty-ninth floor and walk to the sixty-ninth classroom.

Something's weird about this–the numbers and Emery's slight smirk. Then, it dawns on me.

Oh crap.

The sixty-ninth door of the sixty-ninth floor is covered with...explicit drawings. And hearts. Hearts. There's just hearts. Nothing else. Forget what I said about explicit drawings. I'm not a perv. I'm not looking at the other drawings.

"So you still wanna follow me?" Emery pushes open the door before I can answer.

"Welcome lovebirds!" two cheery voices yell. Two middle-aged angels stand in the front holding hands. They're both wearing name tags that look just as old as them. The one with wild brown hair and suit is Bo, and the one with soft pink hair is Boo.

The class is decorated like it's Valentine's Day. The chairs are hearts and the walls are painted pink and red. Angels sit in pairs, either gazing at each other or scrolling through their phones. A realistic human heart floats midair, acting as a lightbulb.

I spot Lev in near the front, an empty seat next to him.

Fuck.

"Uh, no, I'm with Lev," Emery says, scrunching her nose.

Guess she really is with Lev now. Wonder how long that's been going on for.

Everyone's staring at me, and at first I think it's because I look so freaky. They're probably thinking, Damn, who would even date that guy? Then I realize it's because everyone else is partnered up–except me.

Oh God, it's a class for couples.

I knew it.

"Something wrong?" Boo asks sweetly.

"Yeah, something wrong?" Emery looks at me with feigned concern. Her voice sounds sweet but it's all wrong. Like someone sprinkled poison all over her words.

"Uh–" I gulp.

I have to leave NOW. But if I leave, it means I back down. And I'm not a wimp. I'm NOT gonna satisfy Emery. Slut. But–oh fuck–why are they staring at me like that? I feel so out of place–

"Hope I'm not late!"

I feel a soft hand around mine and a scowl from Emery. The hand pulls me towards the empty seat in the front.

What the hell?

Once we sit down, I get a closer look at them. They've got soft brown hair with two cat ears sticking out and big blue eyes. They're also wearing a brown striped cardigan with wide jeans. Man, they've got style.

"Okay," Bo says, "would anyone like to share anything about their relationship? Anything, good or bad."

Behind me, Emery raises her hand.

Of course Emery raises her hand. Of course.

"Yes, Emery?"

"Well," Emery starts, "me and Lev have officially been a couple for a week." She holds up their intertwined hands and flashes me a sickly, sweet smile. "No arguments at all. It's like we're meant to be."

A week.

A whole fricking week.

Wait, when did I get here? A week ago? No, a week ago was when Gray got arrested. Is it a week counting today or a week since yesterday? Hold up–was Emery with Lev when she was flirting with me?

"Anyone else?" Boo asks, surveying the class; her eyes land on the angel next to me.

"Camrice! You haven't been here in a while, why don't you tell us about your new friend?" She says "friend" in the way moms do when a girl brings a boy over–which is a great way to piss someone off.

Camrice. So this is Camrice. Emery's so-called friend. I'm surprised Emery has friends, especially after what happened in the cafeteria.

"Just someone I met," Camrice says nonchalantly. "Better than the last relationship."

The sigh behind me hits my neck with goosebumps. I whip my head around and whisper, "Can you not?"

"For the last time," Emery says, ignoring me, "we just weren't meant to be."

"Clearly," Camrice hisses. If she had a tail I bet it would shoot straight up. "I mean the other thing."

"Other thing?" Lev speaks for the first time today. That I've heard anyway. "What other thing?" He turns to Emery. "Is this why you never talk to me about your exes? Is this why you insist on coming to dating class every day?"

I don't know what the other thing is, but I do know that Emery is in some hot water right now.

I feel like a psycho when I say it's fun watching all the drama in a class. It really is fun, though–watching people argue, knowing that you had nothing to do with it, finding out about something you had no clue about. It makes me feel better about myself and my life. Like finally I'm not the one suffering, someone else is. But it hurts when someone you love is suffering. Then it's not fun. Good thing I don't care about Emery. Good thing I'm not friends with Lev. Good thing I just met Camrice and don't know a single thing about them. New motto: don't know, don't care.

Emery glares at Camrice.

"So, Emery," Camrice says loudly, "why don't you tell them about the other thing?"

"Why don't you?"

"Why would I? You were the one who...did it."

"I," Emery shouts, "didn't–fucking–do–ANYTHING." With each word, her head moves closer and closer to Camrice until their noses are touching.

"Oh, yes, you did." Camrice pulls away. "You're–" She pauses and glances at Lev.

What does Lev have to do with this?

Meanwhile, Bo and Boo–hands still laced together–look intrigued. Can't blame them; I live for this.

"I'm what?" Emery sits back down and crosses her arms. "Go on."

"A bitch," Camrice murmurs.

The bell suddenly rings. Everyone gets up and it feels like I just finished my favorite show–ending in a cliffhanger.

"Camrice," I say.

"Yeah?" She pushes in her chair.

"Were you a witness?"