Chapter 3

MARINA

Three days passed by, but Eddie never showed up to class. I heard from a few of the other students that he hadn’t been attending his other classes either, which was strange, to say the least.

“Have you heard?” one of my classmates, Annie, sat down next to me and asked. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement as if she was about to tell me a secret.

“Heard what?” I asked.

“Eddie Wilson went missing!” Annie declared.

Missing? How would that happen? I wondered. I just saw him at the club three days ago.

“That…that’s weird,” I managed to say.

“I know, right? His parents filed a missing person report and the police had been going around asking people questions. Do you think he has been murdered?” Annie looked at me expectantly as if I would know the answer.

“I don’t know anything about that,” I said.

“I figured you’d knew him well. I saw him talking to you in class,” Annie raised her eyebrows.

“Ah, well. He sat next to me, so of course, we would talk,” I let out a nervous giggle. I didn’t want to tell her I went out on a date with him.

Annie didn't say anything else and left, but I knew she was trying to gossip. I knew the type.

I started to think more about Eddie. Come to think of it. It was kind of surprising that he didn't follow me after I kicked him. He sounded angry when he was yelling behind me, but I didn't see or hear from him when I bumped into Logan. Maybe he saw Logan with me and decided to stop following me.

But then what happened? Where did he go if he didn't go home?

"Ms. Davis?"

Ms. Barns spoke next to me, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Yes, Ms. Barns?"

There are two detective police outside of the classroom who requested to speak to all the students about Mr. Wilson. Since you sit next to him, you are up first," she said.

Oh, great. What will they do when they find out I was on a date with a missing person?

I nodded then went out to meet the police officers.

I saw two men standing outside. None of them wore their uniform, but I could see their badges.

"Are you Ms. Davis?" one of them asked.

"Yes, but you can call me Marina," I said quickly.

"Alright, Marina. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?" the blonde officer said and raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, of course. Anything I could do to help." I quickly agreed.

“Great. I am detective Baker, and this is my partner Mendes. Now, could you tell us when was the last time you saw Mr. Wilson?” the blonde one asked.

Here it was, the moment I was dreading. Should I tell them about the date or hide it?

No, I couldn’t hide it. They will find out eventually and I could be in a lot of trouble for no reason. “He took me out on a date three days ago,” I said.

Detective Baker raised his eyebrows. “That was when he went missing. When did you have your date with him, Marina?”

I told them the time and where it took place. Maybe they can search the club and find clues about where Eddie was.

“Hmm…I know the place. Very popular amongst young folks, isn’t it?” officer Mendez added.

“Yes, it is. He took me there because he thought it would be more fun than going to the movies,” I said.

That’s right, Marina. You are doing a great job. I gave myself a pep talk in my mind.

“And then what happened?” Det. Baker asked.

I looked at him with confusion. “What do you mean.”

“After he took you to the club. How was the date then?” Det. Baker repeated while scribbling away in his little notepad.

“It was…fine, I guess,” I said hesitantly. I didn’t want to tell them that the date went terribly and how it ended with me kicking him and running away. What if they took it the wrong way? I omitted that detail and hoped for the best.

“Anything unusual you can remember that happened in the date?” officer Mendez chimed in.

Other than him groping me? I thought to myself. “Nope, nothing,” I said out loud.

“What about seeing someone you know? Or someone that he was closed to? Maybe one of his exes was there?” Det. Baker inquired.

Why were they asking so many questions? Did they think something terrible happened to Eddie?

I suddenly remember Logan. Maybe he saw something.

“Well, I did run into my neighbor, Logan Hill, at the club,” I said.

“Logan Hill,” Det. Baker repeated the name then wrote it down on his notepad. “I will talk with him later but thank you for your cooperation, Marina. You may go back to your class.”

I went straight to my class. I was feeling nervous.

After class, I went home. I tried not to think about Eddie, but memories of that night kept flashing before my eyes. His gorgeous blue eyes, his bright smile.

Sure, he was a perverted asshole, but that doesn’t mean terrible things should happen to him!

“About time you got here. Did you get my cereal?” my mother barked as soon as I stepped inside the house.

Oh shit, I totally forgot about the cereal. With everything happening, the last thing in my mind was going grocery shopping.

“Well, did you bring it?” she asked again.

“Sorry, mom. I had a lot going on at the Uni, so I forgot to go to the store,” I said timidly. I knew she would be throwing a tantrum right about now.

“You little shit. All you had to do was go to the store, but you couldn’t even do that. I’m so sick of you!” she barked.

I stood there silently and listened. There was no point in talking back to her. She would never let me live that down.

“I’ll go right now and buy you some,” I said.

“No, you aren’t going anywhere. Both of the bathrooms need to be cleaned. Go clean them right now,” my mother ordered.

“But I just cleaned them two days ago. So how can they get dirty already?” I asked. I knew I had just made a mistake by asking, but the question slipped out of my mouth.

“Are you trying to argue with me, you ugly bitch? You will clean them because I asked you to. If I see one smudge or dirt, I will rip all of your hair out,” she hissed.

I didn’t ask any more questions. It was better not to.

I cleaned the bathroom then went to the kitchen to cook some spaghetti and meatballs. After that, I cleaned the entire kitchen so there wouldn’t be any crumbs for her to complain about. After that, I locked myself in my bedroom and sobbed.

Why couldn’t I have a sweet loving mother? How did I end up with someone like her? It wasn’t fair.

I stopped crying as I saw something flashing on my window. Some kind of light.

Curious, I decided to look outside.

Then I saw it.

The light was coming from a camera. Logan was looking straight at me from his room through his camera.

Anger flowed inside me. Is he spying on me?

I opened the window and proceeded to yell at him.