His World, not Mine

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I couldn’t stop pacing back and forth. The detention room didn’t feel like a classroom anymore. It felt contaminated. Like the air itself had changed.

John’s body was still there.

Paramedics moved around him, speaking in low, urgent tones. The school nurse stood nearby, tense. Cameras flashed as the sheriff’s team documented everything, his body, the floor, the desks.

A crime scene.

That word echoed in my head.

A crime scene.

From where I stood, I could see Principal Clarke speaking quietly with the sheriff. His face was hard. Cold and angry.

I looked down at my hands, and blood was still there. Dried in some places fresh in others. My stomach twisted. I was the only student still inside everyone else was gone.

I didn’t even remember when they left.

A paramedic approached me slowly. “Hey,” she said gently. “Are you okay?”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

She softened her tone. “You need to calm down, okay? Go clean up. Breathe. You’re safe.”

Those words didn’t feel real. I nodded anyway. I stepped out of the room, my vision blurred with tears I couldn’t hold back anymore.

Then I saw them Cash, Missy, and MJ. They rushed toward me immediately.

“Oh my God, babe…” Cash said, pulling me closer.

MJ wrapped her arms around me. “You’re okay,” she whispered. “You’re okay.”

I wasn’t. “He… he died,” I stammered, my voice breaking. “He was coughing blood and then… he just…” My words dissolved into tears.

Missy rubbed my arm gently.

Cash pulled out wipes from his bag, handing them to me. “Come on,” he said softly. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

We all walked toward the restroom. We were halfway there when I saw Adrian and Jane. They stood in the hallway like none of this had anything to do with them. Like someone hadn’t just died.

Jane didn’t just hiss; she smiled. A small, cruel curve of her lips as she looked at the blood on my sleeve. “Red is your color, Emma,” she whispered as I passed. “It matches your scholarship status. Both are permanent stains.”

Cash stepped in front of me, his eyes snapping. “At least her soul isn’t as ugly as that vintage Chanel you’re failing to pull off, Jane. Move.”

Jane’s expression darkened. “I don’t take words from gay boys.”

Cash rolled his eyes and kept walking as if she wasn’t worth it.

When we got inside the restroom, I washed my hands over and over again, but the blood wouldn’t come off easily.

My clothes were stained too, but I didn’t care about that.

“What could have killed him?” Missy asked quietly.

No one answered.

MJ turned to me. “Emma… what exactly happened?”

I explained everything from the arguments, to the coughing and then the blood. The way he collapsed, the way he just stopped.

Cash leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “Maybe he choked,” he said lightly. “People choke all the time.”

Missy shook her head immediately. “This isn’t going to be simple.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

Missy didn’t just say it, she whispered it like it was a death sentence. “John wasn’t just some student, Emma. He’s the sheriff’s son.”

My stomach dropped. What?

“I don’t think his dad is going to believe this was natural,” she added.

My breathing quickened.

“Natural?” I repeated. “You think… this isn’t natural?”

I felt it again the panic was sharp and rising. “I’m going to be a suspect,” I whispered.

“No, you won’t,” MJ said quickly.

Cash exhaled. “Realistically?” he said. “Everyone in that room is already a suspect.”

My heart dropped, then I remembered. The message. My hands started shaking as I grabbed my phone. I opened it and scrolled but nothing. I frowned and scrolled again. Nothing.

The video was gone, the messages gone. Like they never existed.

“What’s wrong?” MJ asked.

“The message…” I said, my voice unsteady. “It’s gone.”

Cash frowned. “What message?”

“I got a message last night,” I said quickly. “And another one after… after John died.”

They stared at me, they were confused. So I explained everything about the video, the texts, and the threats.

Heavy silence followed and I was feeling uncomfortable.

MJ spoke first. “You got messages like that last night… and you didn’t tell us?” Her tone wasn’t angry, just disappointed.

That hit worse.

“I didn’t think… it just… I didn’t know…” I swallowed. Now it sounded crazy even to me.

Missy spoke gently. “It could be a prank, Emma. People do things like that here.”

I stared at her, “A prank?” I said quietly. “Is John’s death a prank too?”

No one answered.

Cash finally sighed. “We can’t connect the two yet. We don’t even know how he died.”

I nodded slowly trying to hold onto that, trying to believe it. Maybe it wasn’t connected and maybe it wasn’t about me.

When we finally stepped out of the restroom, the entire school had changed. Whispers everywhere. Students gathered in clusters. Everyone knew.

Things spread fast here.

Paramedics wheeled John’s body out covered. Detectives headed toward the principal’s office while the sheriff walked out furious.

Then the announcement came again.

“Emma Fosh… Matt… Chloe… please report to the principal’s office.”

More names followed, names I recognized from detention. I felt scared. Cash pulled me into a quick hug.

“Good luck,” he said.

I nodded and walked away.

Students sat outside the office, they were all silent and avoiding eye contact. No one spoke.

We all knew this wasn’t just questioning, this was an investigation.

Principal Clarke stepped out. “It won’t take long,” she said calmly. “The detectives just need to ask a few questions.”

One by one, names were called. Chloe went first. She was the girl with headphones who ran to help me call the school nurse.

She came out minutes later as if nothing had happened. Then others and then Matt.

“Emma Fosh,” Principal Clarke called.

My heart pounded.

“Come in.”