Symbiotic

Chapter One

Eve wasn’t really surprised that she was the last to find out about the dead girl from school. Blair Young. Fellow art student. She’d once asked Eve about colour theory. And now she was rotting six feet deep.

Eve startled herself with how easily the thought sprang to her mind.

That’s probably not a good sign. Someone sign me up for counselling, I’m losing my marbles

She stared down idly at the sketch in front of her, chewing on her pencil. It was supposed to be a phoenix, but at the moment it looked more like a crow that had been run over by a truck. Sighing, she started to erase and re-sketch the piece – for the umpteenth time. Maybe she’d actually get it right this time.

She jumped as her headphones were yanked out of her ears. Turning to rebuke the aggressor, she realised it was Chase Bancroft.

The tall-well-built boy was leaning forwards with an annoyed expression. Eve rolled her eyes; she really didn’t care for his antics right now.

“What, did I look at you funny?”

He jerked his thumb towards the front of the room. “Teach wants you to answer a question, art freak. We’ve been sitting here waiting for you to notice her for five minutes. Wake up.”

Eve flushed deep red. Oh. Grimacing, she turned back to face the front. Mrs Clarke, she now saw, was leaning against the board with a wry smile.

“Good of you to finally join us, Eve. Why don’t you share your insight with the rest of the class, and tell us what themes you think Shakespeare was trying to convey?”

She shrugged. “It’s about forbidden love. What else can I say about it?

“So can I assume you’ve actually read the play already??”

“Everyone knows what Romeo and Juliet is about,” she grumbled, not wanting to admit that she hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

Mrs Clarke nodded, writing ‘forbidden love’ down on the board.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is why you always read the material. While Eve’s not wrong, per-say, what’s clear to me is that her understanding of the work we’re covering is rudimentary at best. So would you like to tell us what you’ve been so distracted with recently?”

No way was Eve showing them all that dumb drawing. She’d rather tear it up.

“Um… I was actually just thinking about Blair.”

It wasn’t a lie, technically speaking. Mrs Clarke’s gaze softened like a switch had been flicked, and for one glorious moment she had nothing to say.

“Oh. Well, it’s understandable that you’re upset about recent events. Do you need to schedule an appointment with the school counsellor?”

The thought made Eve’s gut twist a little. While she was sure she had issues aplenty, she didn’t really feel like talking about them.

“No, I think I’ll be ok.”

Mrs Clarke nodded. In an attempt to diffuse the now darkened mood, she looked around the class for a new – and hopefully less traumatised - victim.

“Ah, Ms Amor. Any thoughts on this topic?”

Roxie Amor looked up from her phone, which was unconvincingly hidden under her desk. Her hair was twisted into tight braids that fell down her back, and she had to be wearing at least ten pounds of makeup. Eve couldn’t say she liked the look. Straightening her posture, Roxie spoke in a clear voice.

“I want to say that as well as the forbidden romance thing,” she gestured at Eve, “Shakepeare was also trying to make a point about the terrible things that happen when you let anger control your actions.”

Mrs Clarke hesitated, chalk in hand. “Elaborate.”

“Well if the Montagues and Capulets had been able to put their grudge for each other aside, the kids would never have died. Right?”

A harsh ring sounded, making the students at the back of the room groan and cover their ears. Mrs Clarke acted as if it wasn’t there.

“Interesting thoughts, Roxie. I’ll be glad to hear more about this next lesson. And you, Eve. I know you’re going through a lot right now, but try not to let your grades slip. Ok?”

Eve nodded, already halfway out of her seat. She put her folded drawing in her pocket, and slung her bag over her shoulder as she almost ran from the room.

She had barely made it into the hallway when a younger student slammed into her on some mad dash down the hallway. Cursing, Eve called out after them.

“Watch where you’re going, kid! Almost knocked me over,” she grumbled as she dug around to retrieve her headphones. She pulled them out, only to realise they’d become a tangled mess while in her bag. As other students started to amass behind her, she started walking and pried at the delicate cords with her fingernails. She passed by Roxie, who had gotten caught up with several other students and was now chatting. Chase seemed over-eager to get her attention, bounding around like an excited puppy. Eve finally got her headphones untangled, and turned her music up just loud enough to block out the incessant screams of teenagers who were very happy to freed from the shackles of school for the day.

As she neared the school’s gate, she stopped. At the front of the school, right next to the gate, stood a single tree. It had been there for as long as anyone could remember. On most days, there was little of inherent note about it.

Today, however, that tree was decorated with hundreds of letters.

Taking a step closer, Eve realised almost immediately what she was looking at. Every single letter was addressed to Blair. Some of them were simple, one-word notes; others seemed to be pages long. At the base of the tree, several students had also left flowers.

As Eve stood there, an uncomfortable feeling she couldn’t place grew within her. On an impulse, she started rummaging in her pocket.

She used a clear space on the tree to flatten the paper out, and stuck her simple phoenix drawing to the tree with a sliver of tape.

Satisfied, Eve took a few steps back- and almost fell over someone.

“Oh crap, I’m so-“

Turning, she cut her apology short when she saw the expression on Roxie’s face. She wasn’t angry, but sympathetic.

The taller girl nodded towards the tree. “You mentioned her in class today. You knew her, right?”

Eve crossed her arms. “Kinda. I took art with her, spoke to her a couple times. We weren’t really friends or anything.”

Roxie shook her head, a few stray braids falling into her face. “Doesn’t mean you can’t be upset about everything. It’s still nice that you left something.” She nodded at the phoenix. Eve raised her brow.

“Uh, how did you know that was mine? You been standing there a few minutes or something?”

“Yeah, I’m totally stalking some random art freak. No, dummy, I saw you drawing it in English.”

“Figures,” Eve muttered. Roxie’s expression softened, and she pointed at a short note written on lavender paper.

“If it makes you feel any better, this is mine.” While Eve wouldn’t admit it aloud, the admission did make her feel more on even footing with Roxie. She read over the note. A few sappy words about heaven and fate, nothing all that interesting. But she was sure it had meant a lot to Roxie when writing it.

Roxie took a shaky breath. “It’s just so sick. She was so nice, you know? So pure.”

Eve nodded. “It’s, uh, it’s pretty messed up.”

Seeming to finally notice Eve’s discomfort, Roxie backed off.

“Anyway, I gotta get home. I’m sure you do, too.”

“Uh huh.”

They continued to stare at each other for another awkward moment. Then, blessedly, Roxie turned on her heel and strutted away.

Eve left the school and started crossing the road. Catching something in the corner of her vision on her way across, she looked over to see a dark figure standing in the middle of the road.

She considered just walking away, then decided that something about this situation didn’t quite sit right with her. Taking a few steps closer, she called out.

“Hey! Hey bro!”

The figure did and said nothing. She tried again.

“Dude, you awake over there? Don’t wanna get hit by a car.”

They ignored her once again, remaining in place as if they were nothing more than a*****e mannequin. Eve threw her hands up.

“Whatever, I guess,” she muttered under her breath as she continued on her normal route home.

Behind her, the figure continued to stare right at her as they had been since she’d left the school gate. Then, without a word, they followed her down the street.

As soon as Eve unlocked her front door and stepped inside, she was greeted with the sound of some preacher on tv and the pungent smell of roasted garlic. If she listened carefully, she could just barely make out sounds from the kitchen over the sound of whatever religious program was the catch of the day.

She took slow, careful steps towards the stairs. As long as she was quiet enough, she might still make it. She placed one foot on the first step.

“Evie darling, is that you?”

Great. She must have been too loud when she was opening the door. She flinched, and called out.

“Hi Mom. Is Dad home yet?”

“He’s on his way. Oh, come in here so we can talk properly.”

Sighing, Eve made her way into the living room.

Her mother was ironing clothes in the kitchen, positioned just right so that she could also see the tv in the living room. Eve couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

“That’s my Mom, multi-tasking like a boss. Must be where I get it from.”

Upon seeing her daughter, Mrs Verbeck set the iron down and waddled towards her. Before Eve could escape, she was pulled against her mother’s bosom in a firm hug.

To her credit, Eve tried as hard as she could not to tense up at the touch. Mrs Verbeck made a disapproving ‘hm’ noise.

“Evie, you never hug me back. I feel like you’re not happy to see me.”

“Don’t like being touched, Mom. You know that. Nothing personal, I promise.” She still threw her arms around the older woman briefly before pulling away.

“How was your day?”

Her mother beamed. “It was great, honey; thank you for asking. I ran into Vicki’s mom at the shops; do you remember Vicki? She’s going to Yale next year.”

“No way. Vicki with the braces?”

“Oh stop, she hasn’t had those in ten years.” Mrs Verbeck tapped Eve gently on the shoulder as if to rebuke her, but the effect was dampened by the fact that she was struggling not to giggle.

“But yes, Vicki with the braces.”

Eve took a step backwards. “Well that’s cool. Anyway, I gotta head up to my room. Lots of homework, you know the drill.” She turned to walk away, but her mother called after her.

“If you think you can get away without telling me about your day, you’ve got another thing coming Missy.”

“I didn’t do anything, Mom. Just a normal, boring day. Anyway, I’ll talk to you at dinner. I should really get started on all this.”

“Ok, if you’re sure. Dinner’s at seven!”

“I’ll be there,” Eve called over her shoulder as she made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. A relieved sigh made its way past her lips as she closed the door to her sanctuary.

The smell of turpentine hit her, familiar and strong. Even so, she lit up a stick of incense before making her way further into the room. She nearly tripped over a jar full of paintbrushes, reminded herself to clean up, then collapsed in a heap on a fluffy, paint-stained bean bag that rested in the centre of the room.

Closing her eyes and leaning back, she forced her tired brain to try and come up with ideas for her end of year art project. She had tons of time left; it wasn’t due until almost October. But she knew that if she didn’t get a head start now, she’d end up procrastinating most of that time away.

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by a buzz on her hip. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she realised she had not one but two new messages on social media.

The first one, as expected, was from her friend Vanessa. Apparently the reason for her unforgivable absence from school that day was that she’d picked up a cold. Eve couldn’t exactly blame her; she’d missed school last Friday for the same illness.

The day, as it turned out, that Blair’s body had been found.

Deciding she’d rather not think about that just yet, Eve checked out the second message she’d received with a large helping of curiosity. If anything, she had been expecting a confused art student who wanted help with the assignment. But as it turned out, the message was from Roxie.

Hey, so it’s me. You’re probably confused.

She messaged back.

‘A little, yeah. Care to explain? Wait, don’t tell me. I was so riveting today that you just had to get to know me?’

Haha

Seriously though, I can’t explain right now. Too much typing. Can we meet?

Eve glanced at the door to her room.

‘Not right now. Mom won’t let me out this late. Before school tomorrow? Parking lot?

That works. Seeya then.

Eve dropped her phone to the bean bag and sat up a little straighter. Roxie didn’t take art, so she guessed confusion about the assessment was out of the question.

Huh, weird.

Standing up, she started to change into some more comfortable clothes. Just as she was pulling a sweat shirt down over her head, she heard a very loud and very strange click.

Pulling her shirt fully down, she ran to the window. Her head was spinning.

Was that a f*****g camera?

She spent a good long time inspecting the area outside her window, but she couldn’t see anything. She didn’t know if it was just too dark, or if she was imagining things. She certainly couldn’t see any people standing around who might’ve snapped a cheeky photo.

Eventually, when no one appeared from the bushes and admitted to their dastardly crime, she decided to let it go. It was probably nothing, right? She’d been reading too many crime novels.

But as she walked away from the window and towards her computer desk, she made sure to close her curtains. Just in case.