Back to the Dream Page
Chapter 3
"Oh my God!" Brenda screams as she reads the front page she stole from John while they were spending time in the morning in Brenda's car before school began two days later.
"What?" John asks with an alarmed tone in his voice.
"Look..." Brenda says, pointing to the paper, tears streaming down her face.
John quickly scans the page and pales at reading the words. "Come here sweetie," he says, pulling his shaking girlfriend close to him, wrapping his arms around her, and trying to calm her.
"Gail... How could she be dead? I just saw her Saturday night!"
"Shh... Bren, it's okay. Maybe this isn't about Gail."
"It is! I knew something was wrong but I couldn't figure out what. Read me the article."
"No, you can't handle hearing it right now."
"John, I need to hear it. What happened?"
John lets out a sigh and begins reading Brenda the article, flinching as even more tears well up in her eyes as every word he speaks becomes more and more gut wrenching. "She was found in a dark corner of a local night club by some people a few hours after the murder was committed. The victim was stabbed ten times in the back and has cuts along her arms. What seems to be the final blow to murder the young woman though, is a big slash across her throat. The community is disturbed by how this could happen in such a public place and the nightclub has been shut down temporarily for investigation and a tightening of security. Services for the young woman, a high school senior belonging to a private high school in the East Bay, will be held on Wednesday."
By the time he finishes, Brenda is sobbing into his neck. 'How in the world can I help her?' he wonders, staring helplessly at the normally cheerful girl he has known so well. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her as close as he can. He tilts her head up and looks down at her, gently wiping away the stream of tears traveling down her cheek. "Everything is going to be okay Bren, I promise."
"If it happened to Gail though, it can happen to any of us."
"Shh... I will never let anything happen to you, I promise," John says before kissing his girlfriend lightly on the lips. "Weren't you on the outs with Gail anyway?"
"What do you mean?"
"I thought that you and Gail weren't on good terms."
"We weren't the best of friends but we were civil. I can't believe she's gone!"
"Neither can I. The school is going to be one hell of a mess now. Come on, we have to go into school now."
"No, I don't think I can."
"Yes, you have to. Come on Bren, I'll be here with you each step of the way."
Brenda reluctantly nods her head and allows for John to help her out of the car. Melinda instantly sees Brenda crying and runs to her. "What's wrong Bren?"
"Mel, Gail... She's gone," Brenda gets out.
"WHAT?"
"Melinda, Gail was murdered at a club on Saturday night. We just read it in the newspaper," John provides.
"No! That can't be true!"
"It is unfortunately."
"Oh God..." Melinda gets out before Jenilee and Missy come running over with tears dribbling down their faces.
"Did you guys hear about Gail?" Jenilee asks.
Bren nods her head and wipes a few more tears away.
"It seems so unreal. We were just with her on that same day too. She can't be gone!" Missy exclaims.
"Unfortunately, she is. The police are even here, interviewing people who knew her and such. It's rumored that they suspect one of her peers did it or something like that. I don't know if classes can even be held today with all the police all over the place," Phil says, joining the group and wrapping comforting arms around Missy and Jenilee.
"Excuse me, can you seven please join the other students in the main gym? We're having a school meeting there right now," Mr. Gammon, a Physics teacher at the school, informs them before moving on to another group of people.
"Well, here goes nothing," John mutters as he leads the group through the entrance of the main gym with Brenda still close to him, snuggling as close as she can to his side with his arm wrapped around her waist.
'God I'm so thankful I have John around in my life, even if he does cause heartache,' Brenda thinks as they sit down and prepare for the unknown to begin.
"It is with a heavy heart that I stand in front of you all. By now I'm sure all of you have heard about the unfortunate death of Gail. The counselors are all available to listen to any of you if you need to talk. The police are on campus today to interview people. The school and police would appreciate all of your cooperation. The bell will ring in a few minutes and you all should report to class. Please, be safe in all that you do. The entire staff here cares about all of you. Have a good day," the principal concludes, dismissing everyone to class.
"Well, that was comforting," Phil mutters as he gets up from his seat.
"Anyone really going to talk to the counselors?" Jenilee asks.
"I think I will," Missy expresses.
"We better get to class," Mel says, heading off to Bible as Literature.
"I guess she's right. Let's go," John says, wrapping an arm around Brenda and walking her to her class.
While sitting at a sewing machine an hour later, Brenda hears the intercom come on. After a few seconds, the voice of one of the assistant principals comes on and says, "Good morning. Due to the low moral today, school has been canceled. Please vacate the campus as quickly as possible and be careful of your surroundings out there. At this point, school will be in session tomorrow though. Have a good day."
'This can't be a good thing,' Brenda thinks to herself as she picks up her backpack and heads to her locker. There, John is waiting for her.
"Can you believe this? It's out of a dream come true!" he exclaims.
"I guess if you call having one of your friends killed in order to get a day off from school a dream come true, you're right. I don't think so."
"Oh cheer up! I have to finish up working on the index for the yearbook though, so I have to stay on campus. At least I have the chance now to get it done. I'll call you later, okay?"
"Sure John. I'll see you later."
The two embrace and part their separate ways. Once John is in the yearbook room, he discovers that the editor of the yearbook as well as Ms. Wilson are present. He nods a brief hello and gets down to business. An hour after solid work, the computer circuit goes on the blitz and shuts down all of the computers, including the one John is working on.
"John! What did you do?" Ms. Wilson demands, walking over to him.
"I didn't do anything. It probably is just a short circuit or something," John tries to explain.
"Then why are the lights on, huh?"
"I meant in the computer circuits or something like that."
"Well you better get working on fixing it. That's why you are computer editor. If it isn't fixed and everything isn't recovered by the time I return in an hour, your grade is going to suffer. That isn't a threat either John, it's a promise."
"That's not fair though Ms. Wilson."
"Life isn't fair John. You are such a screw up. I don't even know why I put you back on staff this year."
"Because you knew that I would do the work."
"A chimp could do the work that you do. Now get on it. I meant what I said," Ms Wilson concludes before heading out the door.
'What a witch! I swear to God, she's going to get what is coming to her soon enough,' John thinks before hearing his name being called. Hoping it is Brenda, he turns around with a smile on his face but sees it's Tiffany in a jean skirt that must have been six inches above her knees and a shirt that is so tight it, left nothing to the imagination.
"Hi John," she purrs, slinking over to him.
"Hi Tiffany. How are you?"
"I'm good, now that you're here. Where's your girlfriend?"
"Home by now, I think."
"Perfect. How'd you like to go out for lunch? I was hoping to catch you here so maybe we could have one of our talks, like old times."
"I don't know. I have to fix this problem and fast, so I can't leave right now."
"Oh yeah? What seems to be the problem?" she asks, leaning over him to look at his computer.
"The circuit is down. I have to fix it up."
"Well, there isn't anything you can do now, is there?"
"There has to be. Excuse me," he says, getting up to examine the circuit box. For the first time, he notices that he is all alone with Tiffany, seeing that everyone has left. Once at the box, he examines it and realizes that a cord had come loose. He turns off the power and plugs the cord in, switching the power back on with a sigh of relief as all of the computers come back on. 'Thank goodness I saved that index before that happened. How did that happen though?' he wonders.
"Well, since they are all fixed, can we go get lunch now?"
"Sorry Tiffany but I have to finish my work otherwise Ms. Wilson will kill me. Maybe another time, okay?"
"John, there are plenty of guys who would jump at the chance to have lunch with me."
"Then maybe you should find one of them. I already have a girlfriend and I have work to do which is currently more important to me than what you think of me. Have a good day Tiffany," John says, sitting down and getting back to work. A few minutes later, he hears the door slam and lets out a huge sigh. 'I never thought that she would leave! Brenda would be furious with me if she ever found out about that little invitation. I probably shouldn't tell her. Speaking of, I wonder what she is doing today..."
"This is so hard to take in," Jenilee says, wiping away yet another tear.
"No kidding. Are you sure that your parents are okay with us gathering at your house Brenda?" Ann asks.
"Of course. They understand we are all upset over Gail's murder. I still can't believe that we will never hear her obnoxious comments ever again though," Brenda responds.
"Or her tickling, or her 'the snake is going to bite you!' jokes," Melinda adds.
"Life just isn't going to be the same ever again," Jenilee says.
"Why don't we turn on the TV? The evening news is on and we can maybe get an earful as to what else is happening in the wonderful world out there," Ann suggests.
"Sounds good," Brenda says, picking up the remote and turning the TV on.
"Today, on the Evening News on Channel 7, the murder of a high school senior in the East Bay and a murder that is suspected to be linked to it all in just a few minutes," the news anchor woman announces before the screen fades out to commercials.
"Another murder? This is a nightmare! Who could it be that would be linked to Gail?" Jenilee asks.
"Okay, now this is just getting crazy. What is this world coming to?" Melinda asks.
"Both of you, calm down. We should wait and see who it is before jumping to hysterics, okay?" Ann says, trying to settle both of her friends down.
"Sure Ann."
A few minutes later, the news comes back on and the anchor woman says, "Unfortunately, it seems that yet another murder has been committed within a time span of three days. This time, it is a teacher at the school where eighteen-year-old Gail attended. The teacher has been referred to Ms. Wilson and is apparently an English and Yearbook moderator at the East Bay high school. She was found dangling from a tree near the main street, strips of film choking her and duct tape over her mouth. It also appears that she was cut up in several places, just enough so that the cameras, which were placed right under her, were covered with a pool of blood. No suspects have been announced at this moment. In other news..."
Brenda turns off the TV at that moment and stares at everyone else. "Ms. Wilson? That can't be. John was working with her this afternoon."
"Did you ever think that John could be the killer?" Ann asks.
"Don't be ridiculous Ann. I know you may have something against him but that doesn't make sense."
"He always had a bad relationship with Ms. Wilson and Gail. It would make perfect sense."
"Ann! I can't believe you would say that! If only you-" Brenda begins before hearing the phone ring. "Excuse me."
Brenda picks up the phone and says, "Hello?"
"Brenda! Did you hear what happened to Ms. Wilson?" John asks in a rush.
"Yes, I did. I can't believe it."
"Neither can I. I left school probably only an hour before it happened. It could have been me on that tree!"
"John, calm down. Are your parents home?"
"Yes, why?"
"I just want to make sure you aren't alone in that house of yours. I don't think anyone should be home alone right now."
"I'll be fine Brenda. Nothing could possibly happen to me. Listen, I have to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow at school, okay?"
"Okay. Good night John."
"Night Brenda. I love you."
"I love you too. Bye," Brenda says, hanging up the phone and looking at her friends.
"I swear you two are getting sickening!" Jenilee exclaims.
"Well, I still think he could be a suspect," Ann says before Brenda could respond to Jenilee.
"Well Ann, there is no evidence as of this moment. Until then, let's leave it alone, okay?"
"Whatever Brenda. I have to go home now though. I guess I'll see everyone tomorrow?"
"You bet," Melinda says. "I think we all should head home now before any of our parents worry."
Jenilee nods her agreement and the three of them say their good-byes and drive off their different ways.
After picking up things on the floor, Brenda lays down on the couch and stares at the ceiling. 'God, if you are listening, please keep the loved ones in my life safe. I don't know who the killer may be but it is really close to home now and I'm scared. Please don't let this be a real life version of Scream. I don't think I could handle that at all. Just please, help me get through these hard times and give me the strength to continue on in this scary world of ours. Amen," Brenda concludes, allowing for her eyes to close as she drifts off to sleep.