Chapter Six

Alex had a bad headache. She rarely suffered from headaches, thank god. This time, it was because of the dream. 

In her dream, she saw a boy, not much older than her, with white wings protruding from his back. He was telling her to meet him. She asked where. He told her something, but she could not remember what. She kept trying to remember it even after waking up, but nothing came to her mind. She felt like she was forgetting something important. 

Also, the police's visit rattled her. She did not hate the police, but she also did not like them either. When the police came, she thought they were going to arrest her. Her subconsciousness jumped to that conclusion without realizing that she did not do anything; she shared less than a full sentence with Maia in all her school years. 

Now, Jin came and went to Nes's room. Not that it was strange. Whenever he came, he stayed in Nes's room the majority of the time. But Alex hated it more than before. 

Gosh, my jealousy is getting out of hand. 

She focused on the news to get unnecessary thoughts out of her mind. Even CNN covered the news of the racist killer. His name was John Shelton, an American man who used to be a McDonald's server but was fired because of his racist behavior. He had a fight with an Indian woman and she complained about him to the manager. It was not necessarily because of her that he was fired. It was about time anyway. But he blamed the Indian woman and targeted Indians. He came back to his hometown and started his killings. 

The Indian killer was a bulky man. If someone killed him, it had to be a strong man. A woman was unlikely. It just did not feel right. How could a woman kill that huge man and mutilate him? 

But if it was a man, why would Maia call him her friend? Was it her boyfriend? Maybe it was a secret relationship. 

There was another theory online. What if the racist killer wanted to kill two in one night? What if he targeted two Indian kids from the same school and wanted to kill them together? Perhaps he was in a hurry and did not rape Maia because of it. But the other one got away and killed him instead. 

There were quite a few Indian kids in school. It could be anyone, including Alex, Theo and Nes. At least, it was none of them. Theo did not have the guts to kill someone. Alex hated the sight of blood. Nes might be cold, but she did not have the ability to kill someone either. 

No matter how much Alex thought about it, she could not single out anyone who could commit such a heinous crime. 

The sound of laughter came from upstairs. Nes and Jin. Alex sighed. She had to find something to distract her, or she would go mad. 

The next day, Maia's body was returned to her family. On the same day, they found out that their graduation date had been pushed back. 

Alex felt guilty for hating it. She wanted to graduate as soon as possible. 

They were invited to Maia's funeral. In Indian culture, the dead body was mostly burned and everyone watched. Maia's parents decided to bury her instead. 

Alex put on a simple black dress. She helped Theo with his suit; god forbid, he always managed to button the coat up wrong. Nes was wearing a knee length black dress, similar to Alex's. She put on a black coat over it which was extra. 

"Why do you always wear stockings?" Alex asked as Nes put on her leather boots. Nes was horrible at walking in heels. 

"Habit," Nes said. Alex had never seen Nes wear a dress and not wear stockings. Nes had a part in her walk-in closet dedicated to stockings. And another part for trench coats. She had an obsession with both. 

Jin was not invited since he had no connection with Maia. He was in their kitchen, eating beef flavor cup noodles. 

"Do I look okay?" Nes asked, standing up straight and turning to Jin. 

Her hair was in a tight low bun, like most of the time. Both her ears were adorned with multiple earrings. She had minimal makeup on. Her classic purple lipstick colored her lips as usual. She looked gorgeous. 

"Good," Jin said thoughtfully as he watched her attentively. 

Find a man who looks at you like Jin looks at Nes. 

"Come on, we are going to be late!" Theo yelled from the driveway. 

Nes was limping a little. With every step, her face twisted in agony. 

"Get to the backseat, Theo. I'm driving," Nes said. 

"Let me drive today. You hurt your foot," Theo said. 

"No. I will drive," Nes said forcefully. Nes only trusted Jin with her life, it seemed. Other than him, she would not let anyone else drive when she was in the car. 

Theo sighed and went to the backseat to seat with Alex. "Does she have to control everything?" Theo murmured. 

"Well, at least, we three have different personalities. It makes life colorful," Alex said. 

Nes did not turn the music on during the whole ride. Theo was busy texting someone on his phone. Alex kept looking at Theo to see if he was truly okay. He seemed to be his usual self. Then again, two years ago, when he committed suicide, none of them could suspect anything beforehand. 

When they reached, Maia's parents greeted them. They were the only ones from the school who were invited. 

"She talked about you a lot," her mother said as she held Nes's gloved hands. "She said you were very nice to her."

"Maia was a nice girl and a good friend," Nes said. Nes's voice sounded pretty hollow, but Mrs. Bedi did not seem to notice it. She hugged Nes and cried on her shoulder. Mr. Bedi was much more composed. He shook Theo's hand and nodded at Alex. 

"I knew your father," Mr. Bedi told Theo and Alex as he led them to their seats. Mrs. Bedi was still hugging Nes. "He was a good man. He talked about you three a lot."

No, Alex thought, Papa never talked about all three of us. He talked about Nes only.

Alex was not overly emotional, yet she felt tears stinging her eyes when Mrs. Bedi talked about Maia. It was heartbreaking to see her breaking down. 

Alex held Theo's hand and leaned on his shoulder. "It's really unfortunate to live longer than your child," Theo said. 

"That's life, Theo," Nes said. "Life is nothing if not unfortunate."