Jacqueline || BWWM

Chapter Thirty Nine

Out of all the words Hazel just uttered, the name Teresa King stays with me the most, solely because it makes me wonder: was it a coincidence that she gets targeted just years after my parents? The chances that her attempted assassination and my parents arson had anything to do with each other are very slim, I'm aware, yet I still can't stop myself from wondering.

I agree to blame it on the fact that Terea was my mom's best friend. Maybe the person that hired to shot at Teresa was the same one that hired the people involved in ending my parents and little brother's lives.

I still my voice to a somber whisper. It's never been easier to make myself look sympathetic: Teresa was like a second mom to me during Jackie's life. Even though my memory of her is sketch, my image of her remains to be of a woman who always had a plate of cookies on the table when I came home with Whitney. The millionaire she become in the years after my parents was unknown to me until now. "Does anyone know why he tried to kill...that girl?"

"Yeah, but it's not clear to the public. Everything that went on with them is kinda hazy, unless you were there. According to Tyrel, the only difference between Teresa and the human dracula is that she doesn't indulge in sexual activities with her victims."

Confusion drowns out every thought I have as I turn back to my locker. The Teresa I knew growing up was a living, breathing angel. The idea that she could be anything less unthinkable, but not unquestionable, even if it was proposed by a killer. Lin's life and this one has taught me that the people we least expect to be rats, are usually the ones that turn on us. "Is that why he tried to kill her then? Because he felt she was a bad person?"

"Basically. Teresa claimed that she didn't know a thing about what he was talking about: she'd never once killed a person. The court believed with her, and sent Tyrel to live in this mental hospital right outside of Helena."

"They didn't question her? Just sent him on his way?"

"As I said earlier, it's all very hazy, but yea, basically."

I close my locker, and lean against it for a second. Something doesn't add up, yet I can't define why. "Hypothetically speaking, wouldn't it be illegal for them to do that?"

"Yeah."

Hazel allows me a minute of quiet silence to take in all she's just handed me, and I couldn't be more grateful for it. For the first time since I decided to make this life's purpose figuring what happened to my family, I finally feel like I'm making progress. I'm taking the steps I need to find my who and why, and it feels so good. Just knowing I'm on the right track spreads a warm feeling throughout my stomach. It makes me feel like my parents are looking down on me from heaven with pure pride and love. Nothing makes me happier than that thought. I close my eyes for second, hoping to make the feeling last longer.

Today is my lucky day.

I feel fingers on my arm before I hear him, or see his face. "Hey, you ok?"
Finn's pleasant green eyes meet mine with a questioning twinkle. I relish all the tingly feeling that swirl within all of me, as I nod my head up at him.

Hazel mumbles something about her mom, and I think I wave to her, but things involving her all sort of drifted to the back of my mind when Finn appeared.

"Good." I look away from Finn's arm to watch his fingers slowly climb up and down my arm. Goose bumps appear all over, and it's hard to keep my embarrassment in check as he steps closer. I'm forced to look up at him again when my back hits my locker, not even a full step back later.
"What's up with the shyness?" Finn whispers, bending his head so that his lips meet my neck. My lips pop open in shock as his arm leaves my mine to grip my waist.