BITTERSWEET

Chapter 22

I saw myself at the party. I was looking for Alex. But Luke came before me and started shaking me by the shoulders. Do you believe I can do this? He asked me over and over again. Maybe I'll do it to you to make you believe. He shook me so furiously, my inside wanted to come out. I tried to get out of his grasp. But he kept his grip on like iron. I tried to scream but no sound came out of my mouth. He kept his smirk plastered on his face. Every part of my body told me to run or I'll end up like Genevie. He is not gonna be merciful to me. Maybe he'll do even worse.

But his blue eyes, I've known them for so long. They turned into complete black. His face turning sinister. The Luke I knew was gone. Standing before me was a hound like creature with Luke's smirk pasted on his lips. He opened his mouth and gave a shrill cry.

I jolted awake as my alarm went off. I've had this dream for the last two nights since the party. I tried to make myself believe, this will all be over. But my dreams come back when I'm in my bed and drifted in sleep.

I got ready for school and head downstairs. I saw gramps reading a newspaper on the couch while trying to listen news from the TV. Granma put a plate of toast in front of me as I sat down on the table. I shook my head at her.

"Then what do you want? We have left over spaghetti from last night. Want me to heat it?" granma asked me.

"No. I'll get the cereal." I get the Froot Loops packet from the shelf over the counter.

"You're gonna rot your teeth with all those sweet things," granma took the pack from me and handed me the plate of toast. I broke out in a grin to show that all my teeth are flawless and she laughed out.

I was pouring milk over the bowl of Froot Loops when gramps said, "Look, it's the news about Luke. And there's that lady agent." The camera flashed to a prim and proper agent Savvaro. She looked quite content and a lot younger in that navy blue suite.

"We've tested the blood beside our second victim, Bradley Steven Cooper and the strands of blonde hair found near Alex Cove. Both matched perfectly with our suspect Lucas McFrey's DNA. On the other hand, there are perfectly strong motives for him to go for such extent. He is not admitting everything yet, but he is not denying either. On the other hand, we have not found the brand or the drugs. We have sealed the Cove mansion. We believe he had hidden the brand in the house. From tomorrow, we will start our search." The camera paneled back to the reporter.

Next, there was a clip of Mrs. McFrey crying in the police waiting room, the very place I sat yesterday. Mr. McFrey was talking to his lawyer who was sighing from time to time.

"It seems the McFrey family did not see this coming. Lucas McFrey, a popular kid, athlete, adored by everyone. Was it really possible for him to assault three people only on personal terms? Or is there a graver secret?" The reporter let the words sink in and then cut the clip.

*********************

We were sitting on the gym for principal hay to make an announcement. It was the day for the election of senior president. But what happened throughout the weekend shook everyone. I guess no one was in the mood for this anymore.

"Good morning. We are very sorry to declare that on Friday night, Mr. Cove was victim of the branding assault at his own house. But luckily, his dose of drugs were comparatively lower than the other. He gained consciousness last night around 10. I know none of us are in a mood for the election. But I went to visit Mr. Cove last night, and he requested me to elect a president. So in order to respect his wish, here we are."

Noah and Cecil was standing on both sides of principal Hay. He stood down and offered the podium to Cecil.

"I am a normal teenager with her academics and co-curriculums. If I am elected president today, I will create a council of the best minds and offer academic help to those who seek. I will also work for converting the cafeteria lunch into healthy diet. I will offer service to anyone in need and work to make this school a better place for us. Thank you."

The crowd gave a big round of applause for her. Her speech was very good. The points she made out made me worry about Noah. But I was surprised to see that Cecil made such a small speech. Usually the speeches are at least half an hour long.

Noah got up to the podium and looked straight at me. I gave him two thumbs up and h grinned. "Students of Evergreen High. Recently, we have faced some serious threats no only in school but also outside. It has now become a matter of safety. So, I would like to offer a request to my humble opinion." I looked at Noah and tried to catch his eyes to tell him what the hell are you doing? But he went on, "Even if I lose today, I would request you to work for issuing a school bus for us. though our town is very small, it will ensure security of the students. Even though the culprit is behind bars, it will be a precaution."

For a moment I thought he was going to point out some fault in her speech. That move only lowered your status and didn't help at all. But the way Noah described his goal, the crowd is already loving him.

"And as for the healthy diet, our cafeteria already serves boring healthy food except for few days a month. My proposal is to install a vending machine in the school." The principal was eyeing him, definitely not satisfied. "A smoothie vending machine. We could ask MallO's to open a branch here. It will be delicious and healthy at the same time. It will also reduce the amount of junk food in people's lockers." The crowd snickered and principal Hay was impressed.

"I hope you all have a good day. Thank you." The crowd went wild as he stood down from the podium.

Principal Hay started saying, "I have a feeling that the balloting would be serious waste of time. All in favor of Cecilia Monroe, raise hands." A lot of hands shot up. But not more than half. WE could clearly see that the majority was staying put. Principal Hay let our a chuckle and said, "All in favor of Noah Flickermen, raise hands." All the teachers and even principal hay raised hi hand at this. I looked around me with my hand stretched upwards, he won by a landslide.

When principal Hay exited the gym, the students were all congratulating Noah. I was lost in a pool of cheering students and couldn't find my way to him. When I finally got the chance, I ran up to him and smacked him on the head.

"What was that for?"

"For not telling me about your speech. Do you watch politics all day?"

"No." He smacked my head.

"Ouch."

"For being there always," he grinned and pulled me in a hug. I pinched him hard on his neck. He immediately let go and said, "Always have to get the last one eh?"

"Yep." I grinned at him. "I heard Alex woke up. Wanna go and visit?"

"I was thinking about that. Genevie's there too. We could go visit her too." Noah seemed lost in thoughts. Genevie's response was null. Her heart rate was very slow. The doctors are tensed for losing her any moment.

"Yeah, we should visit her too. We should have done that before," Noah said again.

"Uhuh," I couldn't find anything else to say.

We left the gym and headed for our locker. Skyler stampeded towards me and blocked our path. "Alex has woke up right?" In response I only nodded.

"We should visit him. He might have some information on who attacked him." Noah and I glanced at each other.

"Okay first, we call it intel when we are dealing with crimes," Noah stated the obvious fact, "Second, the DNA matched with Luke, remember?"

"Do you guys believe that there is nothing else in this case?" I remember the reporter saying this morning, Or is there a graver secret?

"Even if he did this, there's more to this in this story. We need to know everything." I was struck in awe by her words. "Look, Luke might not be that interested me. I kinda have a crush on him. But apart from that, Luke helped me a lot. He helped me become Skyler. He was the friend when I was a nobody. For that I owe him."

I remembered the time when she was new in town. She lived in Luke's next door. She wasn't at all in this Queen B posse. She was a lonely girl. But she worked her way up and is now one of the most popular girls. Luke was the friend she had. No wonder she tried to defend him.

"Doesn't it strike you odd that he got his hands on a deadly drug, where he never took drugs in his life. Suppose he came in contact with a dealer, how do you explain that he suddenly gets a lot of money? Agent Savvaro said the drug was very expensive. And he had to buy several vials." I was pleading at Noah with my eyes. Please, let's get the full story like we always do.

"You have to skip practice today, " he told me and then turned to Skyler, "Bring Ivy. We're going after school."