Chapter 8
470 Words
At 12:30 sharp the next day, Jeffrey called Emily and I into his office. It was perfectly organized, everything a dull gray. I sat down on one of the chairs in front of his spotless desk. He started talking immediately.
“My investigation revealed quite a lot in this case. I checked the security cameras, and found several excellent pieces of footage.” He turned his laptop around to show an image of a girl in a cheerleader’s uniform in front of Emily’s locker. She was holding a black sharpie and bolt cutters.
“Do you recognize this girl?” Jeffrey asked.
I leaned in close to the computer. The image was pretty low quality, but I could make out hot-pink highlights in the girl’s black hair. I nodded.
“That’s Valentine Parkinson. She’s the head cheerleader at our school.”
Jeffrey clicked to the next image, this one of a girl with blond hair. I shook my head. “I don’t recognize her.”
Emily squinted at the figure. “I do. Her name’s Amy. I don’t know her last name.” Jeffrey clicked to another image, then another. Altogether, there were seven images, including the three guys who had attacked Emily. Jeffrey closed his laptop.
“You’ve been very helpful girls. I’ll be at school tomorrow, and I’ll send you my findings over email. You’ll be back at school on Thursday, correct?”
We both nodded.
“That is when I will be conducting my first set of interviews. I would avoid these seven individuals if you can.” He cautioned.
Emily snorted. “Yeah, we were totally buddies before this.”
Jeffery continued, seemingly not noticing Emily’s comment.
“I’ll be assigning an officer to each of you as protection, just in case anybody tries anything funny. They’ll meet you at your house and walk you to school. They’ll stay with you for the entire day, then walk you home.”
Emily leaned over to me. “I feel like a celebrity.” I smiled. Jeffrey, who was still ignoring our comments, stood up and opened the door for us.
We walked out into the hall, and Jeffrey shut the door behind us. Man, that guy’s friendly.” Emily said when we were out of earshot of Jeffrey’s office. I laughed. “But seriously. He’s so weird. I mean, I’ve met people serious about their job, but that guy’s on another level.”
I nodded.
“Maybe he just really wants us to be safe.”
“Or maybe he’s a Vulcan.”
- Writer
