Chapter 8

Cara dropped off at the stop that divided our blocks, waved goodbye, and walked home. Mom was putting away her shovel after clearing up some snow around her tires and was just heading in when I arrived. She waited on the front step and waved when I got out of the car.

"Nice day at school?"

"It wasn't bad," I replied. Our neighbor next door waved at mom and me on his way in with his huge husky with its thick grey and white fur.

I followed mom inside. The sitting room was warm and the smell of boiling pasta wafted from the kitchen. 

"Smells good, mom."

She smiled. "It's strawberry spaghetti. Have you had it before."

The look on my face as I halted in the process of hanging my jacket and scarf on the rack made her laugh.

"I take it you've not had it before?"

"It sounds terrible already."

She gasped and laughed. "How dare you judge my food before tasting it? It's delicious. It's my grandmother's recipe too."

I wasn't convinced but I was ready to try it and see for myself. While I went upstairs to take a bath and change my clothes, mom went back to cooking. The heater was on so the water was piping hot, thawing at my frozen fingers and numb bones. In the mirror on the bathroom wall, I noticed the redness on the tip of my nose and my ears. I'm not used to cold harsh weather but I suppose I can adapt to it the longer I stay. 

I checked my phone after my bath to make sure Camille hadn't tried to call or message me. She hadn't. But Tim and Harry texted the latest juicy gossip in San Frease.

Pulling on a pair of old cords, I went downstairs to join mom. Dinner was ready.

Mom served a plate of suspicious-looking spaghetti with strawberry sauce pooling beneath the plate. Picking a fork and glancing suspiciously at mom who nodded encouragingly I took a bite. 

It was amazing.

The cheesy sweetness of the sauce coated my tongue lightly. Mom laughed.

"I told you," she chuckled, her green eyes sparkling.

Nodding my approval of the uncommon dish I forked some more into my mouth.

She was about to dish some spaghetti for herself when the phone on the wall rang. With a deep sigh, she wiped her hands on the kitchen napkin.

"It better be Logan!" She said under her breath. "He was supposed to come help me with my van this afternoon."

She had barely finished speaking when my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. 

It was Cara.

"Hi," I mumbled between bites of creamy pasta.

Her voice was low and barely above a whisper. "They found Tessa."

"Oh, that's great..."

"Her body."

With the phone pressed against her ear mom turned to look at me, the look in her eyes confirmed that she just received the same news. Pressing a hand to her mouth to suppress a sob she shook her head from side to side.

"Now?" She listened for the voice on the other side. 

My dinner turned sour in my mom. Pushing the plate away I stood from the table.

"A-are you okay?" I asked Cara.

"Y-yeah... actually...no. I - everyone is going to meet at the Choc-It bar. Can you come?"

"I will."

Mom replaced the phone. Our dinner already forgotten, she walked over to the coat rack to retrieve her coat her scarf while throwing orders over her shoulder.

"DeShawn, if you're done eating we need to go now. They found Tessa's body." Her voice broke. "Oh, that poor girl! I wonder what happened?"

She slipped her arms inside the armholes and buttoned up the oversized coat. I was right beside her slipping my feet into my boots, my scarf wound around my neck, and my coat buttoned to my throat. The despair on mom's face made me worried.

I don't know Tessa but in a small town like WhiSare where everyone knew everybody it must hit the people hard to know one of their own was found dead. 

Mom was quick to grab her keys and head out of the door. I rushed to catch up with her.

Night was fast falling over the small, quiet WhiSare town. Outside, people were out of their houses talking in hush tones, some were walking in groups talking about Poor Tessa. Everyone was curious about her death. No one greeted like they usually did. They just solemnly walked down the street. 

An ambulance blasted its siren, disrupting the eerie silence. Then I realized everyone was making their way to the town square.

Mom got into the van and I jumped in with her. The van groaned to life emitting dark exhaust clouds but no one seemed to mind. She pulled away from the drive and rolled down the street in the direction everyone was heading.

Drops of rain were beginning to fall making the night even more desolate. The wipers on mom's van scraped unsuccessfully at the fat drops. 

On the radio, a solemn voice spoke, "Just in, after weeks of disappearance and subsequent search for Tessa, her body has been recovered. Source on the sight of the discovery of the young teenager claimed he found her body in a clump of brushes on his way to the lake. For now, residents are advised to stay off the area while authorities search for clues leading to her murder."

Mom slammed the button on the radio. I turned to her in surprise. She was crying heavily, wiping her free hand on her face frequently so she could see and navigate the nearly empty road that led to the town square.

"Mom?"

She shook her head crying even more. "I knew that girl as a child. Always so happy. To end a young life in such a tragic way! Her mother would be so heartbroken."

Something in her words made me ask, "Do you think it's suicide?"

She looked at me then looked away quickly to focus on the road again. She didn't have to answer because I could see the look on her face.

"That boyfriend of hers broke her heart. That is the only reason Tessa would do something like that."

Cara had said something similar at the bonfire.

Must be hard being in love.

I couldn't help but be concerned for mom though, even though she wasn't crying at much as before her shoulders were slumped. We arrived at the town square 10 minutes later with the town hall erected right at the center. There was a huge crowd of nearly the whole population of WhiSare around the parking area and the town hall. The atmosphere was damp with both rain and despair, not even the streetlights could disperse the gloom hanging over the square. As soon as we got out mom left to join the rest of the group hanging out in front of the hall. Logan was standing there with a couple of people, he was dressed in a brown parka. He looked up and spotted mom. As soon as she made her way to him he pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back and comforting her as she started crying again. 

When I finally made my way to them she was still clinging to him. Logan gave me an apologetic glance and continued to rub her back. Around us, many cried and hung their heads.

The depression at the moment was overwhelming. 

"Cara is at the Choc-It shop where is it?" I asked quietly in a bid to escape the wails. 

He gave me directions.

Before I turned to leave mom reached out and grabbed my arm.

"Be careful, honey."

I nodded. Her eyes were puffy and red, her nose was just as red.

I followed the directions Logan gave me and found the Choc-It bar a street away. Just like the town square, it was packed full of the entire student population WhiSare. Neon lights from the shop front illuminated the wet road and the cars and bikes packed in front of it.

"Shawn!"

Cara met me as I awkwardly made my way to the shop front. People glanced but no one showed any interest. The news of the night was too heavy to care about the new kid in town. 

Cara's eyes were red-rimmed, the veins in her temple stood out, and when she talked her voice was nasal as a result of a stuffy nose from crying so much. 

I swung my arm around her shoulder and she leaned into me hugging her arms around herself. Jeff, Nora, Moira, Liam and Kelly, some of Cara's friends who I met at lunch were leaning on the hood of Jeff's car. 

Jeff nodded at me. I returned the nod.

Though music played from the crowded store, no one was dancing, no one was laughing.

"The body has been taken to the morgue," Jeff told me. "The Mayor should be headed to the town hall now to speak to the older folks."

A beat-up truck rolled into the crowded drive. Sam's truck.

She jumped out with Gabe coming out of the front passenger seat. They made their way past the grieving teenagers outside the shop and entered the building, disappearing out of sight. 

"Have the authorities discovered anything besides the body?"

"They think it's a suicide," Cara cried. "I know it's not. Tessa would never do something like that. We were friends, I should know." She cried softly and buried her face in the front of my coat. "I had that stupid fight with her about Leo before she left and went missing. God, I feel so awful!" She lifted her head and glanced at Jeff sorrowfully. "Why didn't I listen to you? Maybe things would have been different if I hadn't fought her so hard."

"They used to be best friends," Jeff explained. "Long story."

Now I'm curious.

And my curiosity doubled when I caught sight of Kayla Storm.