Human - phan

Fourteen

We awoke late and sleepy to the news that classes were not cancelled, and lessons started in ten minutes. I had the morning off so watched drowsily from the bed as they squeezed into three pairs of skinny jeans and fought over the bathroom. I kept my eyes on Phil's strained, pallid face. He looked tired. I knew why, but I thought it probably wasn't a good idea to bring it up right now. He was nibbling his lip and suddenly I realised I was running my fingers through my hair.

Look at the pair of us.

I let out a hollow laugh and Chris turned questioningly to me, but I shook my head.

I watched as Phil turned to the door, clearly psyching himself up to go out and face the world. He looked like he was about to cry.

I jumped up, spinning him round and fixing his mouth in mine. This kiss was different to the soft pecks at night or the frantic, hungry kisses in the barn. This one was long and slow and steady and I didn't even care about my morning breath. I could feel him relaxing underneath me and I only broke away when Chris cleared his throat behind us.

"Kissing's great don't get me wrong, but media started five minutes ago and now we're all late."

I grabbed Phil again before he left and pulled him into a tight hug. He looked happier, calmer, turning back to the door with a look of determination on his face rather than apprehension.

I watched him go with an ache in my stomach.

Eventually, I turned away to face a morning alone. One thing was certain: I wasn't going to waste it. I was restarting my investigation with vengeance.

I pulled out my notebook and found a page empty of half-hearted notes and doodles. Sitting cross legged on Phil's bed, I decided to make a list of stuff.

· Thursday 12th: Purple shirt guy was murdered. Brown hair, black jeans.

· Sunday 15th: his body was discovered in a building site. (I'm no forensic but I added to my expert analysis): beaten up before death, possibly died from head injury. Phil freaked out (why? Did he know him?)

This data left three minor problems:

· Where did the body go for three days

· Who was Purple Shirt Guy

· Who killed him

I considered for a moment. If he died from head injuries, then maybe the murderer hadn't meant to kill him - just batter him. That would explain the less than perfect body disposal tactics, but not the three day disappearance.

I shook my head and moved on.

· Friday 20th: Found paper in the forest: 30 Yao 22/04 (Name? Code? Date?)(poss unrelated)

I started trying to figure out where Knuckles, Jake and Gabes fitted into the picture. They hadn't even looked twice at me since Tuesday when they'd tried to attack me. That was weird. I didn't think they'd give up that easily.

Maybe I should make a list of weird things, too. Actually, I thought, my list of 'evidence' was so small I might as well add in whatever came to mind.

An idea occurred to me. With a little bit of googling, I found the local police website, and then the column of reported incidents. Turns out Chris was right: they did have to announce discovered bodies after a certain length of time, no matter how much they didn't want certain people to see them. They'd put it in small print at the very bottom of the page, but it hadn't worked.

· Wednesday 25th: Knuckles, Gabes and Jake find out that PS guy has been discovered. Stop coming to college, stop trying to kill me.

· Friday 27th: Jake is beaten up by Gabes and skinhead. A shot is fired in the forest after Jake leaves. Gabes, Knuckles and skinhead not seen since.