Obsessive ~ Noah Foster [1]

Chapter Two// Screw the Bylaws

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"Are you supposed to like your friends in high school? "

--Emma Duval

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"Okay, class, we have a new student today. Miss Arielle Collins." Mr. Branson said, cheerily,smiling at me. As everyone turned to look at me, I felt my heart drop. I hated attention. When people looked at me... it was scary to me. My anxiety kicked in, and I felt like there was something wrong. I did a small wave to the class, and hoped they'd forget about me. "Hey, wait, you're Nina's cousin, right?" Jake Fitzgerald pointed at me, his mouth in a small smirk. I mentally face-palmed. I smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh, my God." A student called out. "You look exactly like her." Another said. "I am so sorry." I looked down at my desk, and tried to drown out all of the kids talking at once. "Okay, class. Let's not overwhelm her." Mr. Branson walked towards my desk, which was in the front, and patted my desk. "Sorry for your loss." He whispered. I nodded, and smiled up at him.

"Alright, guys. Phones down." Mr. Branson huffed, sitting on the edge of his desk. "But, the Brandon James GIF put us on the map, Mr. B." Jake protested. "I mean, we've got, like, seven of the top ten trending hashtags right now."

"You know, maybe you should focus more on your studies and less on Lakewood's web-buzz." Mr. Branson suggested. "Who can resist the murder selfie?" Jake pointed out. "Which... is what the killer is counting on." Noah said from beside me. Everyone, including me, turned to look at him. "Alright, Will Graham, what is this killer's design?" Mr. Branson shifted on the desk, and focused his attention on Noah. "Well, murder's a lonely game, you know. I mean, say you're the killer." He pointed at Jake for example. "You sneak into Nina's house, you skulk around and scare her, and then you kill her. Boom! But, then what? You take a victory lap around the pool? You just stand there, watching the blood spread out in the water, thinking your crazy guy thoughts?" Noah went into full detail. "Creepy monologue alert." Brooke Maddox said from behind me. I decided to jump in. "So... what you're saying is that maybe it's good that nobody's watching?"

Everyone in class turned to me, and I regretted speaking. "Exactly, yeah!" Noah said to me. "Oh, we have words from our new student. Already joining the debate?" Branson pointed finger guns at me. I smiled, feeling my cheeks heat up. Good thing, Noah saved me. "Uh, it's the age of Instagram and Youtube and Tumblr, I mean, we need to share these things or it's like it never happened." Noah explained to me. He was talking to me. I thought he'd hate me forever. "Riley, phones off." Branson told her. "Hey." I felt Brooke tap my shoulder lightly. I turned slightly, and looked at her. "There's this basketball game tonight... to get your mind off things... I was wondering if you wanted to come with us." She offered. "Uhm..." I muttered. "Great. We'll pick you up at six." She cut me off. I didn't speak after that. I turned back around. "Sorry, Mr. B. My friend from St. Mary's just texted." Riley Marra explained. She was always so sweet, it didn't make sense why she was friends with Nina. Or Brooke. "A girl that goes there died." Riley said. I blanched. Another death? "No way? Who was it?" Brooke asked. "How'd it happen?" Jake asked. "It doesn't say." Riley said, shaking her head. "Um, I'm sorry to hear that, Riley." Mr. Branson sympathized. "Uh, why don't we get back to--"