In Memory of Reed Fray

Three

Sklar racked his brain on how he could talk to Viola alone. He doesn’t know where she lives and the idea of stalking her seemed creepy and way out of his league. He can’t ask information from the school staff; hell even if he knows the secretary would willingly give it to him. There would still be the possibility that she would tell. He can’t ask the other students, it’s pretty obvious they don’t have her number. People just know her as the girl Reed Fray was chasing and since his brother called dibs on her, no one bothered to ask her number and girls thought she was weird.

Of course, there was Tori Garcia. But the thought of asking the Filipina wasn’t appealing. Especially when he had humiliated her back then. They were new to high school and Tori was shy and kept to herself and Skylar had thought of her as such a prude and nerd. And so he set up this bucket of slime, manipulated her to go to it before pasting a rude comment on her back and before he knew it, the entire Benjamin High student body was laughing at her. The old good thing his prank did to her was that it brought the feistiness of the Filipina out.

“Hi big brother,” Willow greeted, her long blonde hair falling perfectly on her shoulders. Sky knew his little sister was pretty, everyone in his family seemed to be blessed with the good looks, that’s why he was so damn protective of her at school.

“Hey,” he murmured, hands fidgeting on Reed’s black journal.

Willow eyed it, “Isn’t that Reed’s? I’d see him write on it when I hang out his room.”

Skylar nodded, “Yea. I’m trying to figure things out.”

Willow’s eyes widened and he saw the fear in his sister’s eyes. He quickly stopped playing with the notebook and focused his attention on her, “Willow, I’m not gonna get myself killed. I promise.”

Her eyes narrowed, “I want you to promise me you’d stop with it.”

It was too early to stop. He didn’t have any bits of information except that Viola was connected somehow. But still, he can’t stop because he had to bring justice to his brother’s death. Looking at his sister though, he knew that she would self-destruct if anything happened to him.

“Okay,” he whispered, the lie coming easily from his lips. He watched as she let out a breath of relief and launched herself at him.

She looked up at him, eyes bright, “Can we watch a movie?”

He smiled at her, “Sure. Let’s go bring Sophia too.”

“No bike then?” she asked hopefully.

Sky rolled his eyes, “Yes, no bike.”

At around 9 pm, Skylar still felt restless despite the day’s activities. He had watched a movie with his sisters, drove around town, played with Sophia at the park, visited Nana Fray at the nursing home, but still,he couldn’t shut his body down to sleep. Something was gnawing inside of him and he knew that he had to talk to Viola.

He stared out at his window which showed Tori’s room. It was funny how their rooms were parallel to each other. He had no other choice but ask her. But Tori Garcia was privy about things and she was loyal to her friends. Well, at least that’s how he sees her. Sighing, he messed up his brown hair. He had to show Tori the journal.

He opened his window and grabbed his fishbowl. His fish had died about a month ago but he still hadn’t bothered to throw away the bowl and it was still filled with pebbles. He started throwing the pebbles at Tori’s window.

Clunk.

Clunk.

Tori Garcia opened her window fuming. She was only wearing shorts and a black tank top. He tilted his head and checked her out. Hey, boys will be boys. She crossed her arms, “What?!”

He grinned sheepishly, “I need to talk to Viola.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, “She’s not here.”

“I know that,” he replied in a boring tone, “I want her number.”

She raised a brow, “And why do you think I’d give it to you?”

Skylar crossed his arm, “I’m Reed’s brother. She can trust me.”

“You may be Reed’s brother but you’re nothing like him,” she said, her words cold like ice, “I don’t deem you as trustworthy enough.”

He narrowed his eyes. Her words hurt, it was obvious. He moved closer to the window and leaned out, his face near hers, “Don’t you know anything about people? Psychology says everyone is different from each other. Even a set of identical twins.”

“Gee, I didn’t need to hear a fact at this hour,” she said monotonously, “Now, stop bothering me or Viola, Skylar and go f**k some w***e to pass your time.”

She turned around but Skylar quickly grabbed her hand, “Listen, Tori, I want to know who killed my brother.”

“And you think Viola knows?” she asked in exasperation, pulling her hand free, “She’s grieving just as you, Sky! You haven’t seen her. She’s broken. Nasasaktan siya, same as you.”

“I don’t know if she knows! All I know is, she’s connected somehow!”

Tori stared at him in disbelief, “Look, you and I don’t know what happened with Viola’s past. Maybe Reed did. And Mr. Carson. But whatever it was, it broke her. And it was Reed who saved her from her wallowing depression. I don’t think she’d want to get him killed. As far as I can see, mahal niya si Reed.”

Sky was quiet for a moment, digesting everything Tori said. Though he can’t understand her native language, everyone knew what mahal meant. Rubbing his hands on his face, he grabbed the notebook, “Step out of the way.”

Tori did as told and he swiftly landed in her room. She looked at him like he was crazy. He sighed and handed her the notebook, “Just read it.”

Tori began reading Reed’s journal as Skylar paced around the room. His brother also knew that Viola had felt something for him but he didn’t know that it was love. Now, with Tori’s words, it seemed that Viola did love him. Sky felt his heart strain, if there was anything in the world he knew that Reed wanted, it was to be loved back by a girl he loves.

“Nako, kawawa naman pala si Viola, kaya pala ganyan siya,” Tori said and Skylar stared at her in confusion and so she translated what she said.

“I still need to talk to her,” Skylar said, looking at Tori’s dark eyes, “I have to ask her what she possibly knows.”

“But you’ve read what Reed had written,” Tori argued, “Viola’s not one to just trust someone in a heartbeat. You have to earn it.”

Skylar stared at her, “That’s where you come in.”

Tori shook her head, “Viola doesn’t view me as a friend as I view her. As I said, you’ve read what Reed had written and he mentioned about her not even viewing me as a friend. Look, we have to gain her trust, Sky.”

“We?” Skylar repeated, staring at her, “There are no we in this situation, Tori.”

She glared at him, “Just a moment ago you needed my help. Now you’re saying that this is a one-man operation.”

Before Skylar could retort, they heard footsteps outside Tori’s bedroom and a knock. Tori quickly pushed him inside her closet, not caring if he’d be cramped in, “Open.”

“May kasama ka ditto, Tori?”

“Ai, wala ho. Nag uhh, practice. Yes! Practice. Napra-practice lang po ako. Project ho namin sa English.”

“Eh mukang boses ng lalaki eh,” Skylar assumed that it must’ve been her father that she was talking to. It did sound like a guy. Through the crack of the closet door, he watched as Tori gave a careless shrug.

“Or maybe I’m just very good at acting,” she said nonchalantly. It surprised him how the girl could lie easily, “Matulog na po kayo, Pa. Don’t worry about me. Goodnight!”

It took her about five minutes before she opened the closet door again. Skylar basked in the faint light of her room as he watched Tori let out a sigh of relief, “Malapit na tayong ma-Alaska dun ah.”

He just stared at her weirdly. Of course, he knew nothing about their language and it irritated him how she continued to speak it when he could barely understand a thing. He had felt lost when she was talking with her father earlier, the same feeling he gets when he’s in French class. But at least the teacher translated what she says at the . Tori doesn’t.

“Could you please stop talking in your language in front of me?” he said gruffly, “It’s kind of insulting because I have no idea what you’re saying.”

She gave him a cheeky smile and oddly enough, he found it cute, “Whoops. Sorry. I keep forgetting that you can’t understand a thing.”

“Whatever,” he said, sinking on her bed, “What were we talking about earlier?”

“About the fact that just moments ago, you didn’t mind using me as a part of your investigation and then a moment later, you refuse.”

He shrugged, “It’s dangerous.”

She laughed without humor, “And when did you care about me?”

“I don’t,” he replied impassively, “But I wouldn’t forgive myself if you died because of my idiocy.”

Tori raised a brow, “The bad boy has a heart.”

Skylar glared, “I’m not that cold-hearted. I wasn’t raised like that. Now, thank you for the information that you shared though it’s barely of any use.”

He headed to the window and was about to swing out, “You know, I am capable of protecting myself.”

Skylar turned around slowly, dark eyebrows raised, “Really? A girl like you?”

Tori’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t say anything. She took something from her side table, a dart, as Skylar realized and swiftly threw it on the dart board. Bull’s-eye, “So you have great aim, big deal. I don’t think darts can save you from whoever murdered Reed. From what I saw, he’s pretty ruthless.”

Again, Tori didn’t say anything. Instead, she went straight to the huge picture frame of an Asian woman and clicked it open. Skylar raised his brows, that was cool and he didn’t expect that the Garcias had something to hide. He took a peek at what was inside, his eyes widened and he stared at a smirking Tori.

“Don’t look at me like that, we’re not a murderer. I didn’t kill your brother,” she said directly, “It’s for self-defense. My great grandmother, she lived at the time of the second world war. She thought that she needed to defend herself and not just rely on men. She was a feminist, I think. She taught herself how to throw and when she got married, thought that everyone in the family needed to learn it.

“And how does that explain why you have a row of knives hidden behind a picture in your bedroom?” he asked in exasperation. You can’t exactly blame him for being like that, he had humiliated the girl and she could’ve gotten revenge by slashing him in his sleep.

“My family passed down this skill to all of its descendants,” she replied with a shrug, “I had to learn it. It would come handy if you let me help.”

Skylar crossed his arms and shook his head, “Hell, you’ve just shown me your aim and those knives. For all I know, you’re just a show-off. Or maybe you’re just crazy.”

She scoffed, “You’d be surprised of what I’m capable of.”

Skylar shook his head and turned around, “Just, have a good night, Victoria.”

But before he could even climb out, he heard a swish and something pass just shy above his ear, hell, he could feel it tearing strands of hair and then when he looked, a knife was stuck right on the wall near his head. He wanted to turn around and gape at the girl, knowing that she was the one who did that. But he didn’t want to lose even an ounce of dignity.

“Think about it, Fray,” Tori said smugly, “You might need my help.”