In Memory of Reed Fray

Seven

Things changed after Viola broke down in front of Reed. He stayed away for a few days and she honestly thought she scared him away. It was crystal clear for the both of them that Viola was broken beyond repair, that whatever happened to her in the past hurt her beyond belief. But if she was honest, Viola actually did miss Reed’s constant pestering. It didn’t seem right to go another day without him tailing around. But she jinxed it, somehow. A week after, Reed was back to his usual annoying self. It was as if he never saw Viola break down in front of him.

And so Viola was back into hideout again.

“You do know that I know this school like the back of my hand?” Reed’s voice floated in the serene garden, “And that people here would answer my questions in a heartbeat.”

Viola rolled her eyes and chewed her burger silently. Reed sat down beside her and was quiet for a moment. They both ate in silence until Reed placed his burrito down and pulled out something from his bag. He didn’t say anything at first, he didn’t even show it to her yet. But Viola knew it had something to do with her. And maybe with her breakdown the other day.

“When I was young, I had this thing about being a detective,” he started, “See, my Dad always read this detective books. Mystery novels. And every time he sets it at the coffee table and takes a quick nap, I would read it too. I imagined I was the detective, that I was the one figuring out who the bad guy was.”

Viola stared at him, wondering what the hell he was talking about. But Reed didn’t seem fazed, he seemed to be content in reminiscing his memories, “Once in seventh grade, the pet hamster in our class died. It wasn’t because it was overfed, nor because we didn’t feed him. It wasn’t because of fatigue either. Somebody killed him. And I was determined to find out who.”

“I went all detective crazy. Mia thought I had gone crazy. In the end, I didn’t find out who it was. I ended up thinking it was Skylar though. He got detention and was grounded. He was pissed at me for a week, so pissed he locked me out of our room. Mia told me it was the price I paid for being so ridiculous.”

“You cared for that hamster that much?” Viola couldn’t help but ask.

Reed chuckled, “Of course not. I just wanted to feel what it felt like to be a detective. According to Mia, if I did turn out to be a detective in the future, I would end up making a lot of enemies by locking up innocent people. So she took it upon herself to teach me to be a better detective. See, her Dad was one.”

“And did she?”

“Yes,” he was quiet for a moment, “Before she killed herself.”

Viola stared at him, “Reed, I’m so sorry.”

He flashed her a smile, “Don’t be. It’s fine. And we’re not gonna talk about her. We’re gonna talk about this.”

He finally showed her what he was holding. Viola stared at an old, battered yearbook of Benjamin High, “What has that got to do with anything.”

He didn’t answer her directly; instead he thumbed through the tattered pages gingerly and finally stopped. He then placed it on her lap. Viola stared at the page he turned in. If the page was coloured, blue eyes would be staring right back at her. Luscious brown hair, radiant smile, it was a young Elena Evans, well Morgan at that time the picture was taken.

“She looks like you,” he said softly.

Viola looked up from the image, “She was my Mom.”

“Was?” he repeated.

Viola closed her eyes. Images of her mother flashed before her. How she would cook her favourite breakfast for her during her birthday or how she helped her pick an outfit for her first day. She was a young mother, got pregnant with her at 20, had to drop out of college but she was perfect as can be.

“The Rose’s, they’re my foster parents. My Mom died when I was 12.”

They were both quiet for a while, both staring at Elena Evans face when she was seventeen. Viola looked a lot like her Mom, same blue eyes, brown hair, hell even the nose was the same. She was the exact carbon copy of Elena and she knew that. Her Dad told her that every day.

“I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.”

“And your Dad?”

It was more difficult to talk about her Dad than her Mom. She was twelve when she died, she had five years of practicing the same lines. But with her father, it was a different story. Murder. Accusations. Court trial.

“He died this year,” she answered quietly, hoping he wouldn’t press on.

Again, he was quiet and then he turned to her and offered a small smile, “You went through a lot of crap huh?”

Viola couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t even ask. Reed looked at her, the boyish smile on his face. He took away the yearbook on her lap and took both of her hands. Viola froze the moment he took her hand and brought it closer to him. But she couldn’t pull it away. The warmth of his hand, it was the kind of heat she’d been longing for.

“Stop avoiding me, Viola. You need a friend. I’m willing to be one. Hell, even Tori Garcia is,” he said quietly, “You need someone to lean on.”

“I lose everyone,” she whispered, the cold, bitter truth rolling out of her tongue like poison.

“I promise you, you won’t lose me.”

Viola stared at him. His grey eyes held the sincerity and warmth that she had been craving for since summer, “Then promise me another thing, Reed Fray.”

“What?”

“Don’t fall for the damsel in distress.”

“You know you have got to stop zoning out in these things, Viola.”

Viola looked up and met Toby’s brown eyes. He then turned to the piece of paper that he was writing on, “And just admit, you like being my detention buddy.”

Viola rolled her eyes. Toby wasn’t actually annoying, he was actually the one that kept detention interesting. Sometimes he’d talk back against the teacher, or make paper airplanes, or scream that there was a troll in the dungeon. And he really did the last part and it couldn’t even be more funnier than that.

When detention was finally over, Viola stalked off towards the front doors of Benjamin High. A few moments later, Toby was walking with her side by side, “Hey can we talk for a moment?”

“Toby,” she started, thinking of an excuse.

He rolled his eyes, “Clary.”

Viola froze. She looked at Toby. His brown eyes were warm but she could see that there was something else in there. She didn’t want to say anything, but she knew that her initial reaction gave her away. Toby stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his black hair was falling, covering his eyes. He was looking at her expectantly.

Sighing, she tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, “10 minutes.”

Toby started walking out of the building and Viola followed. When they reached the garden, she felt her heart swell. This was the place she and Reed used to have lunch at, after she agreed to be friends with him. This was the place where he told her that he had fallen for her, under the blanket of the stars while everyone was dancing because it was Homecoming.

“This is your place, right?” Toby started, “Yours and Reed’s?”

Viola looked at Toby, wondering what was going on his head. Why was he pushing? And then, a sudden fear crept into her, what if he was the killer? “Why did you call me Clary?”

“Because that’s your real name right?” Toby said quietly, “Clary Evans. You used to go to Westview High back in California before you moved in this little town in Seattle. You were the only cheerleader who was never tan-kissed and though everybody teased you about it, you didn’t give a damn and you managed to be cheer captain in sophomore year.”

Viola felt dizzy. How did Toby know all of those things? Could it be possible? She stared at him. He didn’t have the same build as the killer. But all she ever sees of the guy is his silhouette and those hazy memories when he drugged her while he was murdering her father.

“I can’t believe you don’t remember me,” Toby said shaking his head, “While every popular kid used to bully me, you didn’t. Even when you were cheer captain. You didn’t use your power against people who were inferior to you. When the football team was throwing me around the hallway, you told them that they were jerks.”

Viola had a vague remembrance of a lanky figure being pushed by the football team during her sophomore year. It had pissed her off because he was so defenceless and they were big bullies who had nothing better to do. She had threatened to tell their coach about it, threatened to strip them off of their football privileges and they knew that she could do it, her father used to be big in the school.

“Toby Dorscher,” she whispered, “Tobias Dorscher.”

He smiled, “Yea, now you see why I prefer to be called Toby.”

“But you switched schools during junior year right?”

He scratched the back of his neck, “I did. My parents got divorced and I moved with my Dad to New York. He married his mistress and she and I, we didn’t get along so he shipped me here to live with my Mom and brother.”

“Oh,” she said quietly but felt a sense of relief to know that he wasn’t a killer, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yea, we were never the perfect family,” he said, “But I’m more sorry about what happened to your Dad. He died in an accident right?”

She closed her eyes. They had covered his murder by an accident. The court trials had been kept quiet until she was found not guilty of the crime. The media had told everyone that Dr. Evans had a fatal accident. What kind of accident it was, people never knew but they all mourned that loss of a good man nonetheless.

When she looked at Toby, she felt it again. The despair and pain rippling in her heart. She swallowed, “He was murdered.”

Toby blinked, not knowing what to say, “I-,”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

They were both quiet for a while. A warm breeze blew and enveloped Viola. It felt like a hug. She thought of all the loved ones she lost. Maybe this breeze was Reed, hugging her because he was proud that she told someone else. That she was letting people in. He used to say that she needed not to close herself off of anyone, that people were willing to help if she’d let them.

“Thank you,” Toby said after a while and Viola looked up to him, confused, “You stood up for me from those bullies, even when they were your friends.”

“That was a long time ago,” she said softly.

“I just never had the chance to say it,” he said with a shrug, and then nudged her sideways, “So you and Reed Fray huh? You did have a thing for golden boys even then.”

Viola couldn’t help but laugh, memories of her past life coming at her. She used to hate remembering her past because all the memories that came to her were bittersweet. How the people she used to laugh and have lunch with, looked at her with pity but kept their distance, knowing what she had become. She wasn’t the golden girl anymore, she wasn’t Miss popular; she was an orphan.

Viola smiled at him and it had been a while since a real smile crept up her face, “How come you never approached me with what you knew?”

“You and Reed were pretty tight. I was bad news when I came here,” he said with an amused chuckle, “But now things are different and us California kids have to stick together, don’t you think?”