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three

                          GENEVIEVE ORTIZ PUSHED PAST A CROWN OF PEOPLE STANDING IN THE CENTER OF THE FOOTBALL FIELD, TRYING DESPERATELY TO MAKE HER WAY TO THE FRONT. She groaned in frustration until she spotted Alexis Stonewall chatting with Milo Thompson and Eliza Jenkins. She breathed a sigh of relief as she noted that that bitch Kayden Turner who usually hung onto Lex like she was her life support was nowhere to be found. Her black ankle boots creased the grass between her feet as she called, "Lex!"

Alexis looked up, pushing a lock of brown hair out of her eyes as she waved to Genevieve. "Gen! Over here!"

Gen reached her in a couple of steps, smiling at Eliza and Milo, who looked her up and down.  "Woah, girl, you stopped the fashion police in its tracks, lemme tell you. How has the administration not caught you?"

Gen shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. They never stop me."

Milo popped his gum, looking put out. "Right. But the second I try to wear leggings they're all, "Oh no! Ohhhh no! No sir! No way!"

Gen and Eliza both laughed, and Gen stuck out a hand to the girl. "Hey, I'm Genevieve Ortiz. I don't think we've really met."

Eliza shook it, grinning. "I'm Eliza Jenkins. Do you know what's going on?"

Gen shook her head. "That's why I came over here. What the fuck's happening?"

Milo shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me. A whole group of people came down here and immediately ran inside to get Mr. Sawyer, but there's too many goddamn kids so we can't see shit!"

"Figures," Gen huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Someone probably tried to light the field on fire again. Remember that Milo?"

Milo snorted. "Fuck yeah. It was in the paper, and then Zach Penderton got expelled. Idiot."

As Gen opened her mouth to ask Alexis whether or not she had heard anything else, a loud crackling noise sounded over the speakers bolted into the school's outside poles. She glanced over, putting her hands to her ears, and saw Mr. Sawyer, the principal, running towards them with a microphone, his face white.

"Students!" He called, rubbing the back of his neck. "There has been. . .a horrible tragedy. We need all of you to evacuate the premises immediately until we get it sorted out. All classes for the rest of the day, and tomorrow, are suspended."

A loud hoot rang out from one of the football players, and the rest of them joined in, applause ringing around huge crowd. Gen locked eyes with Alexis, shuddering. "God, that's sick."

As the principal directed everyone towards the student lot, announcing that for anyone that rode a bus that buses would be there shortly, Gen got her first real glance at what her and the rest of them hadn't been able to see.

Strung up on one of the goalposts, blood leaking from his gaping neck, was Jackson Richardson.

"Holy fuck," Milo whispered, and Gen turned away, clapping a hand to her mouth. "I think I'm gonna puke. Do you all smell corpse? Cause I smell corpse."

"Walk faster," Alexis advised, jerking her head in the direction everyone seemed to be streaming out of. "Then we can work out what the deal is for everyone tonight."

"You do realize," Milo began as they headed towards the exit out to the parking lot. "That Halloween is in a month. And someone just got murdered. What if more people die? Then what do we do? Halloween could be canceled!"

"Fuck," Gen said, staring at Alexis with wide eyes. "No way. No way is Halloween gonna be ruined."

"That's seriously what you two are worried about!?" Alexis said as they finally made it out onto the blacktop where students were milling around, talking in panicked tones. She raised her voice to be heard over the din, saying loudly, "Someone just died and you're worried about Halloween?"

"Hey, it wasn't me," Gen said, raising her palms. "That's all that matters."

"But it could be you," Lex answered, raising her eyebrows. "I really doubt that Jackson woke up this morning and thought to himself, 'Huh, I think I'm gonna be murdered today!'"

"Thanks, smart one, I totally thought that," Gen said sarcastically.

"Can we stop talking about murder?" Milo said nervously. "Look, there's Hudson. Maybe he knows what everyone's doing."

He grabbed Gen's hand and dragged her towards the black haired football player, who looked up as they approached. He shook his hair out of his eyes, grinning at Milo.

"Hey, Mi. What's up?"

Milo seemed at loss for words, and then just spat out at random, "Please fuck me."

Hudson grinned, his ears turning the slightest shade of pink. "Oh, so it's that kind of convers-"

"Okay!" Gen said, pushing Milo lightly out of her way so she was standing in front of him. "Hey, Hudson. Do you know what the plan is for tonight? Is anything going on?"

Hudson shook his head to clear it, still faintly smiling at Milo's last comment. "Um, I think Kyle said he's hosting a party tonight. Kayden was with him last I saw."

"Kayden Turner?" Gen made a retching noise. "Thanks but no thanks. Wanna ride? We're heading down to the ice cream parlor for a bit."

Hudson grinned, and slung an arm around Milo's shoulders, who looked as though he was going to pass out any second. "Sure, that'd be fun. Who's going?"

"Me, Milo. . .probably Alexis Stonewall and Eliza Jenkins."

"Cool," Hudson said, and they made their way back to girls. Alexis jangled her keys in her hand, smiling. "So? What's the scoop?"

"Party tonight," Gen said, tiliting her head so she could brush a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Kyle's hosting it."

Lex nodded her confirmation. "That means Kayden will probably be there too. Whether she chooses to hang out with me or not. . .well, that's the real mystery."

Hudson hesitated, and then said slowly, "Have you noticed anything weird about her lately?"

Lex's brow wrinkled. "What do you mean?"

Hudson pressed his lips together. "I don't know. Her and Kyle have been having issues, I think. She always looks like she hasn't slept for weeks whenever I'm around. And she never leaves his side."

Eliza snorted. "Well, duh. They practically suck each other's faces off everyday. Kayden could come hang out with Lex or anyone else if she wanted too, she just doesn't. Sounds pretty shitty, if you ask me."

Alexis sighed. "I honestly don't know what's been going on with her either. She's driving with him to school now, even though she has a perfectly good car. But they seem perfectly fine whenever they're together."

"That's what you think from an outsiders' perspective," Hudson pointed out. "I'm on the team with Becker, and no offense to Kayden or anything, but he's a piece of shit. The whole thing just seems off to me."

Lex shrugged. "Well, she hasn't talked to me about having issues with him, and I'm her best friend. I guess we gotta wait whatever this is out. And I'm sure it's just because of Halloween coming up. Kyle isn't that bad."

Gen popped her gum, tapping her foot impatiently. "Okay, I'm sorry but like, who cares what Kayden and her boyfriend do anyway? Let's go get ice cream."

Lex threw her hands up in the air and motioned them to her car. "Shit, you all. One of our classmates was just murdered and it's like we're celebrating."

"Not celebrating, just hungry." Gen said, and Milo chimed in. "At least it's not me that wound up on that flagpole. So let's enjoy the remainder of our lives that we have left, shall we?"

hey you all, sorry for the bit of slow update. writer's block came back a bit, but good news! i finished my three essays for ap lang! don't forget to vote and comment, i'll see you next time!