Who Killed Sarah Foster?

23. You Are Very Insensitive

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George Wayne stared at the young boy at his door. He couldn't believe his eyes. He thought his little girl was this social outcast who had no friends and yet there he was, Calum Foster, star quarterback and senior of Greenfield High and son of Robinson Foster, a very powerful politician, though George was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of him staying over with her at his mother's.

What if he did something to his precious little girl?

But Leah had convinced him saying that they weren't going anywhere else and Calum was going through a tough time with his little sister's death and they connected over it because obviously she too knew the pain of losing a sibling to suicide. As worried as George was, Linda convinced him that Leah needs it and that they could always call Janet and make sure they reach there. Girls her age went out during weekends all the time and she was only going to her grandmother's. And also, the whole town knew Robinson Foster and from what they knew, Calum was a good boy and a good student so he suppressed his worries and let his daughter be.

Calum stared at the older man nervously. George realized he was staring at him for too long and took a step to the side.

"Come in.. Calum, right?"

"Yes Sir." He nodded and walked in, George leading him to the living room.

"Leah said you will be here at seven." George said, looking at the clock which said quarter to seven.

"That was the plan but I ended up leaving home a bit early." Calum pursed his lips, reminiscing what exactly had made him leave so early in the first place.

His father was home, forcing his mother to attend the election campaigns with him. He was standing for the Meyer position this time and he had gotten over the death of his own kid fairly quick. Emma Foster, his mother on the other hand, was bedridden, inconsolable and refused to talk to anyone. She was broken. She blamed herself for the death of her kid, saying if she hadn't gone to the spa that day or had taken Sarah with her, she would have been alive.

She wouldn't even let Calum see her. It was safe to say that the death of his younger sister had broken his family and created distance between its members.

Calum sat down on one of the chairs facing the fireplace, the wall above which was adorned with a portrait of a very happy family. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne looked like the luckiest couple on earth. They had one arm each on their son, Michael Wayne, who looked like a smart, happy and social kid. Calum's lips curled up in a smile when he saw the grin on Leah's face. She looked so happy, her eyes shining. Now she was so dull, even when she chuckled or laugh. She had literal light in her eyes but they looked so dead. She looked so dead. It was like she was just existing for the sake of existing.

In the years he had seen her, she never looked happy. She always looked tired and fed up of everything. It was only when she talked about her paranormal stuff or was sassing him did she have this spark to her.

"She got the prettiest princess smile." George said, noticing that Calum's eyes were fixated on his daughter's childhood picture.

"It's a shame I never got to see it till date." Calum whispered, looking up at George with wide eyes, realizing he sounded like some weird boyfriend.

George chuckled, kind of satisfied that his daughter's princess smile was still reserved to him.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Nothing." Leah answered as she made her way down the stairs. Calum jumped to his feet. "We are leaving."

She had a duffel bag and her backpack and for once, not a hoodie and her hair was up in a ponytail. Calum was surprised; he had never seen so much of her face before.

"Call me as soon as you get to grandmother's." George instructed.

"I will I will, where's mom?" Leah said, looking around. Her mom was there when she had come home. She had taken off early from work because of chronic back ache and now she was nowhere to be seen.

"She went to the store to get some stuff." George rolled his eyes. "Insisted that she got it herself."

Leah nodded. Her mom was as eccentric as the rest of her family so she really didn't bother trying to figure out what in the world was going on in each of their minds.

Calum and Leah took their leave and got into his car.

"Your dad seems nice." Calum said as he pulled out of the driveway.

"Thanks, I got him sixteen years ago, came fully updated."

Calum looked over, suppressing the chuckle that itched at his throat. She was one sassy human.

"So, why did you pretend to be this silent freaky person all your life?" Calum asked. "From what I saw in the last few days, you are pretty chill."

Leah shrugged, her eyes on her phone. "I thought it would be weirder and more questionable if a more popular and social person kept having fainting spells and fits and stuff." Calum looked at her questioningly. She pointed at him and spoke. "I have fainted about twenty times in the last three years at school. How many of them did you know of?"

Calum nodded. "One. That one, last week where you ran into a wall." Why was she so freaking smart and had a reason behind every single thing that she did?

"I didn't run into a wall. I just hosted your sister's unstable ghost for a brief second, the impact of which had me losing my consciousness." She rolled her eyes. "Long enough to give me tachycardia but also figure out where her body is."

Calum felt the lump form in his throat. Leah was very blunt about everything, probably because she was used to death and ghosts and possessions but Calum was new to this and the dead person in question was his sister, so he found it extremely painful.

At the mention of his sister's death, he kept going back to that moment when he looked up and saw her rotting body hanging.

"You are very insensitive." He muttered, cursing himself for saying it but not being able to stop himself.

"I know. I was going to apologize." She sighed.

He nodded. Maybe she was just impulsive, not thinking before she spoke, but at least she admitted her faults.

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