In Memory of Reed Fray

Nine

When the bell rang signaling her free period, Viola made her way to Mr. Carson’s office. The last conversation she had with Skylar still bothered her and she had been dying to talk to someone about it. Dodging the students who were in a rush to get to class, she still somehow managed to bump into someone.

“You have to stop bumping into me,” Toby said with a grin.

Viola managed to smile back. Since their last talk, they had grown more friendlier with each other. She didn’t have to tell him things because he knew, well maybe she told him how her father died but despite that, she didn’t have to explain anything to him. Scratch that, he didn’t force her to explain things to him.

“So where are you going?” Toby asked as he fell in stride with her.

She shrugged, “Free period. I have to go see Mr. Carson though.”

“Wow,” he said and she turned to look at him, “You’re into older men now?”

Viola laughed and pushed him playfully, “No. It’s just that my foster parents thought it would be helpful if I have someone to talk to. About my troubled past.”

“A psychiatrist,” Toby said after a thought. And then he stopped and stood in front of Viola, blocking her, “But you have me now. What do you say we skip the remaining period and have an early lunch?”

“C’mon, have lunch with me! We’ll stay on school grounds if you don’t want to head out,” Reed pleaded, eyes glinting mischievously.

“And how are we gonna have that scrumptious lunch you were talking about earlier?” Viola asked, eyebrows raised questioningly.

A boyish smile spread across his face, “You’d be surprise with the connections I have in this school.”

“Viola?”

She snapped back to reality and instead of the pair of grey eyes she had grown to love, brown ones stared back at her, “Sure.”

He grinned and took her hand and pulled her out of the doors. She waited for any sparks or warmth to flood through her when he touched her but there was nothing. Maybe Toby Dorscher is supposed to be just her friend and Reed Fray was another story, “I thought you were a bad boy here, how come it’s not a motorbike?”

Toby laughed, “Skylar Fray is already sharing the bad boy status with me at this school. I don’t think he’d like it if I’m also a bad boy with a motorbike.”

When they arrived at the diner and ordered their lunch, Toby turned to Viola with a serious expression, “You zoned out earlier, it was another memory of Reed, wasn’t it?”

Viola smiled sadly, “Yea. When you asked me to cut classes, I remembered him asking the same thing but you know, it was lunch time.”

“Ah. Reed Fray didn’t allow you to see the pleasure of cutting?” Toby replied with a smirk, “He did seem like a goody two shoes.”

“Hey!” Viola scolded but a smile crept up her face. She really liked Toby’s company. They would talk about their old school, memories from when they were younger. It was nice to have someone who shared the same childhood as you. He was witty, smart, and charming and funny in his own nerdy way but he would never compare to Reed Fray.

“How did you manage to get this?” Viola asked, staring at the array of Tupperware Reed had in his hands that were filled with all kinds of delicious food.

“You know we have a supervisor in the cafeteria,” he replied and opened one Tupperware and both of them grinned at the sight of pizza, “He sets up this soup kitchen every Christmas and nobody helps except me. Well, Mia used to and I sometimes drag Skylar but it’s me most of the time.”

She smiled at him, the smile that was shy and sweet and made his heart flutter, “And this place?”

He looked around. They were at the rooftop of the school which had been kind of turned into a garden. It was supposed to be a greenhouse but the school couldn’t fund the project anymore and so they turned it into this, “Austin told me about it. Skylar knows about this place too. But he prefers his own hangout area.”

Viola nodded and they both ate. Reed would ask her about things, her childhood mostly and then share his own ridiculous stories about him and his siblings, especially Skylar. It made Viola long for her own siblings since the only closest thing she has was Nate, the son of the Rose’s and they barely saw each other before.

“You know, I want a big family,” Reed said, looking at her with a smile, “Five kids. Like us.”

Viola raised a brow, “Make sure your wife agrees with that first.”

“Don’t you?” Reed said, a charming smile on his face. Viola rolled her eyes. She was used to Reed’s playful flirtations. Reed then stood up, wiping his hands on his pants, “Dance with me?”

Viola stared at him, “There’s no music.”

“We can make our own, now c’mon.”

Viola stood up but didn’t make any other movement, “You know. With the setting, it’s gonna be like the Troy and Gabriella moment and you totally stole that line from The Notebook.”

Reed playfully slapped his hand to his forehead, making Viola giggle, “Drats. I thought it would work or that you were the kind of girl who just loved the cliché.”

This made Viola smile, “Don’t you have another thing up your sleeve?”

He walked to the edge of the rooftop and then sat, his feet dangling dangerously. He turned to Viola, “Well, c’mon!”

She hesitated for a moment and he saw it, “Just trust me.”

When she was settled beside him, she was surprise with the view. They had the full view of the football field and the forest that expanded and hell, they basically had the entire view of the city, “If you don’t take some risks, you might miss the beauty of something.”

She stared at him, his grey eyes staring ahead, bright and beautiful, “You really see life as something beautiful huh?”

“And you don’t because of the pain you’re feeling,” he replied softly, “The fight is between you and the pain. Show it who’s boss.”

“Ms. Rose!”

Toby and Viola were back before lunch could’ve been over and they were headed off to their next class, Toby walking her to it. They both turned to the voice of the faculty member and Mr. Carson didn’t look too happy, “You didn’t come to our session earlier.”

Before Viola could give a reply, Toby beat her to it, “It was my fault, Mr. Carson. She was with me.”

“Ah, I see,” Mr. Carson said. He didn’t look too happy, “So the two of you are friends now?”

“Yes,” both of them answered.

“That’s a good thing right, Mr. Carson?” Viola asked hopefully.

“Yes. Of course,” Mr. Carson replied, a smile making its way to his features, “Mr. Dorscher, can I have word with you?”

Toby flashed Viola a surprised look, “I’ll see ya later, then.”

Viola headed off to her next class then. She had a nice time with Toby. As usual, they’d talk about the people they used to go to school with or sometimes they’d just talk about the people in the school they were in now. But Viola couldn’t stop her mind in wondering off to Reed. Those grey eyes were hard to forget.

She went through her class like she normally did, never really paying much attention. Memories of her past used to bother her, now it was memories of Reed Fray. How he made her smile, how he cracked the corniest of jokes, how he used his wit as a charm, his kindness too was overwhelming. Even when she didn’t really want to admit it to anyone, his death still hurt.

“Viola!”

She turned and saw Tori. They hadn’t talked for a while and she hadn’t bothered her in a whole either. But it was dancing season and Tori might have been busy practicing, “Hey Tori.”

She was surprised when the Filipina launched in to hug her, “We haven’t spoken in ages!”

Viola patted her shoulder awkwardly, “Yea, we haven’t.”

When she let go, Tori still had the beaming smile on her face, “I’ve been so busy. Tell you what, how about we catch up tonight? Have dinner at ours?”

Viola was about to answer but something, or rather someone, caught her attention, “Is that David Carlton talking to Mr. Carson?”

Tori followed her gaze, “Yes. I didn’t think he has issues to be dealt with a psychologist.”

When Mr. Carson pulled out his wallet and handed a wad of cash to David, Tori and Viola looked at each other, “Okay what the hell was that?”

“What the hell are both of you looking at?”

Both girls jumped and turned around to see Skylar, “How long have you been standing there?”

He ignored Tori’s question, “I asked first.”

“David was talking to Mr. Carson.”

Skylar furrowed his eyebrows, “I didn’t think he has issues to deal with. Not even talk about college. He’s hell-bent on getting into Berkeley.”

“And then Mr. Carson gave him cash,” Tori added.

The two girls were about to point to where David and Mr. Carson were but the two guys were already gone. They were about to ask Skylar any possible explanation about why Mr. Carson was giving David money when Toby entered the scene.

“Hey Viola,” he said with a bright smile.

Viola greeted him back and Skylar groaned, “Don’t tell me that you’re friends with him? Oh come on. And you can’t be my friend? Or just help me? Even when it’s uncovering the truth?”

“Dude what are you talking about?” Toby asked.

Viola didn’t respond, instead she walked off but the three others followed. Groaning she turned to them, “Skylar, I’m sorry. But I don’t think I can help you.”

“You know that’s bullshit,” Skylar said, glaring.

She heard Tori scold him but she ignored all of them. When she opened her locker she screamed. A dead ferret was inside her locker. It was white but its fur was matted with red, its blood most likely. The three were by her side the moment she screamed and Skylar plucked something out of her locker, a note.

I hope you like my gift, my dear. I was going to give him to you alive; they did say they would make nice pets. But I see you’ve made another friend. The boy. Fair warning, my dear, he might end up like the pet you were supposed to have. Or maybe like the other guy.

“We have to inform the teachers,” Toby stated, staring at the ferret with distaste, “If this is someone’s idea of a practical joke, it’s obviously not funny.”

“No,” Tori said, face pale as she stared at the dead animal, “Whoever did this has access to the school. We have no idea who it might be. Maybe he’s faculty or staff or a student.”

“Tori’s right,” Skylar finally spoke. His grey eyes were filled with a fire of determination as he stared at Viola, “The note. There was another guy. No one had died besides Reed. No one was murdered besides him. What I said is no longer a hypothesis. It’s the truth.”

Viola was shaking. Of all the things she hated to see, it was dead animal, hell, she was afraid to see anything dead. But Skylar’s words rang the truth. It was no longer a theory. The guy who killed her Dad was the same guy who killed Reed Fray. Yet again, the killer had killed someone close to her. And whoever the killer was, he was in their midst. He could strike again anytime and if Viola’s guess was correct, Toby would be the next victim.

“Okay,” she said, her voice shrill with fear, “We’ll figure this out.”