Song of the chapter is Pray (Empty Gun) by Bishop Briggs

-18-
-Veronica D'Rosario-
-Present-

__________________

Delmore High
22 November, 2019
5:45 pm

Autumn swindled with a touch of winter breeze in the atmosphere. Delmore had always experienced winter only after the Christmas season had passed. But it seemed like this year was gonna be different.

Of course it was; everything in this year was different.

I hugged my overcoat closer to chest as I headed towards the school. Jen had been hell bent upon sending me to the pep rally tonight. I had to give in to her pleas when she promised to make pudding for dinner.

I could never resist desserts.

Anyways, as I crossed the school gates, I caught a glimpse of Zizi , flirting with who seemed like a senior. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. She would probably forget all about him by the end of the night.

As if she sensed me passing, Zizi looked up, the teeniest of smirks playing on her lips, and whispered something in the guy's ear.

I tore my eyes away, continuing my fast pace track towards the courtyard.

Cursing her was all I could do since I knew that I could never have the courage to do something like that. My anxiety could never.

And even if I could, I would probably avoid doing it. Boys are pretty until they open their mouths.

And then it all went downhill.

Except for one boy though.

I finally got to the end of the hallway and turned left towards the entrance to the field. It smelled good; like the grass had been freshly mown. If it wasn't so gloomy and grey outside, I might've taken the time to enjoy it.

I made my way to the bleachers , trying to desperately get past the crowd blocking the way. Fortunately I spotted Himanshu, chatting with Siya and Ahaan. I reached them in a couple of steps, "Hey guys!"

Himanshu's face lit up as I sat down next to him. "You came?"

" Yeah, well Jen practically emotionally blackmailed me with the promise of pudding for dinner. I couldn't say no."

He gave me his awkward goofy smile and my heart lifted. He had this charm on me. His presence never failed to warm me up. He was like a hot cup of cocoa on a rainy day.

I could never replace that with anything.

He offered me some cashews and taking some, I looked ahead towards the field. Saina stood near the built-in stage along with her cheerleaders, practicing their routine for one last time. So Zizi was right. She did make cheer captain after Alishka.

In the centre of the field, both the teams stood , discussing their stategies. I spotted Kartik among the masses. He was busy explaining something to one of his teammates. But I couldn't spot Avinash anywhere. That was weird. Avinash was the captain of the team. He should have been here now.

" Moose, " I looked at him,
" where's Avinash?"

He looked at the field, " Dunno, he is not in the field."

" Yeah but isn't he the captain?"

" Yeah." He said, and then sensing my hesitation, he added,
" he's probably running late. Don't worry, he'll be here soon. There's still time for the game to begin."

But something tugged in me. An unsettling feeling nagged in my head. Why isn't he here yet?

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out, expecting it to be Jen to ask me to bring something on my way back home. But instead, the very familiar UNKNOWN stared back at me. My breath hitched in my throat.

" Ronnie , what's the matter?" I could hear him say but I couldn't respond.

My hands shook as I opened the text and read it. Instead of words all I could see was a gif of Avinash putting on his football gear. My eyes widened.

" Moose, we need to hurry- Avi , he....he could be-", but the words hitched in my throat. He looked at me worriedly, "Ronnie , what's the matter?"

I showed him the text. His eyes went wide just like mine. I got up in a frenzy and headed towards the field. Moose followed.

I could hear the faint sounds of Ahaan and Siya asking us where we were going.

As soon as we got to the field, we both ran towards the entry gate. As we ran like crazed people in the empty hallways, bumping into multiple people, until we reached the boys washroom and barged in there panting. Everyone stopped and looked at me in shock.

" Hey! This is the men's washroom! What you doing here, lady Macbeth?" One of the jocks shouted.

" It is an emergency-" Moose began.

" Moose, not now. We need to find Avinash." I argued.

" What's going on? " Avinash comes out of one of the cubicles. We ran up to him and breathed a sigh of relief.

" Veronica, Himanshu, what's going on? Why do you guys look so tense? Did something happen?" He asked us.

Another buzz.

' Oops , wrong guy. ' is all the text reads and I immediately knew what it meant.

My eyes scanned through the washroom again.

" Who's missing?" I asked.

" Huh?" Both Himanshu and Avinash looked at me , more confused.

" Is anyone missing? Is someone not here from your team?" I asked.

" Uh.. the team is on the field. Only some of us are here." Avinash said.

I ran out of the washroom without glancing back at Moose or Avinash. My feet pained as I ran at full pace towards the field. As I reached the gate, I spotted the entire team including Kartik, standing in the field.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

But as I took a step towards the field, a big plastic bag fell on the ground in front of me with a loud thud. I gasped at the sight.

Wrapped in the polythene bag, was the chopped off body Vivaan Dissena, the goal keeper of the school team.

My stomach churned at the sight of the red pool of blood seeping out of the plastic cover ,onto the freshly mown grass.

By now, the entire school had gathered in front of the body. I knew that because I could hear loud gasps and cries from the cheerleaders and the jocks. The principal and Coach Alvin tried to remove the students, but to no avail.

"Ronnie! " Himanshu shouted and then halted beside me as his eyes processed the situation in front of him. " Oh my god," he took a step back.

" What?" Avinash said, before stopping in his tracks. His eyes widened at the sight, " That's.... that's Vivaan's....his body...oh my god."

As if on cue, my phone chimed and so did of the rest. I took it out with shaky hands and looked up. Kartik, Ahaan , Siya, Zoya and Saina, all had their phones out.  So did Avinash and Himanshu.

Drawing a shaky breath, I clicked on the text.

"This is just first of many.
Game on, bitches."