Simon Death High (15 page)

“Your pocket is lighting up,” Michael said
to Linda.

With a smile, Linda dug into her pocket and
pulled out her cell phone. Her smile instantly dropped and she
looked up at Hannah and Michael.

“I thought you left your phone at home,”
Michael said. “So, you had it this whole time?”

“Um...I didn't know it was here.”

“Who is that calling you?” Hannah nagged as
the phone wouldn't stop ringing. For the first time, not being
afraid of Linda, Hannah snatched the phone from her. “What?” she
dropped the phone to the cement and stared at Linda. “Why is Lucy
calling you?”

Linda hurried to pick up her phone as she
saw Tyler walking toward her. “Um, I'm not sure, but I have to go.
I have a plane to catch.”

“Um...okay? I also have a plane to catch,
but I would like for us to have a moment together...” Hannah said
awkwardly. “So...bye?” she said as Linda continued to walk
away.

“Yeah...we should get something to eat,”
Michael said.

Tyler began to shout after Linda, but she
didn't stop for him. He shouted for her to stop running, but she
continued anyway, ignoring him.

“Tyler what is wrong?” Hannah said. “Is
everything okay?”

“No, it's not okay...” he said.

Linda sped down the street with tears
flowing down her eyes. Drinking was bad for her, and she knew it.
She knew she lost control, she knew she had a bad past. But,
nothing...
gosh nothing
...could explain what being out of
control did to her.

Lonely Linda never knew how she was when she
would drink, let alone mess around with drugs. All she knew was the
next day everything would be normal. But, if Linda was already a
violent person when she was sober...no one could imagine how
terrible she was when she was under the influence—maybe even like a
devil.

With tears flooding her eyes, Linda paused
at the green light as a new text message came. She expected it to
be Michael or Hannah. She opened it, ready to delete it...

I know you were in that video too. I
can't wait to
spit
on your
grave.
-
Lucy

Epilogue

Please read
below
to send your
thoughts to Blair Burden
[email protected]

Trust your friends because that's all you
have
. Best friends—everyone has at least one in their lifetime.
They're supposed to trust each other, have each others back, and
tell secrets. But, what happens when you and your friends are the
major suspects of various murders. It would drive you crazy,
right?

Although, we may not want this to happen in
our town, it can. We all see the stories on the local news about a
sociopath going around and killing various people. Lots of times it
happens in small towns such as Simon, Idaho, which by the way, is a
very pretend town. I wanted to base a story in the life of teens
and also behind the scenes of life of being accused.

The Characters
:
Linda was the sassy one of the group. If it weren't for her, the
whole gang would fall apart. Although, she was easily hated for
being super nosy, her instincts were right on point. I wanted
Linda’s character to be short and simple. She had a drunk crazy
dad, which led her to attaching to guys (i.e. Tyler and Adam) for
attention. It also gave her freedom to do whatever she wanted, like
get involved in figuring out the town's murderer, which led her to
Hannah.

Hannah seems to have the perfect life but
she doesn't really. Her father who lives in California went to
prison, and she is living in a broken home. She doesn't speak much
of her mother, mainly because they don't have a solid relationship.
It seems though if it weren't for Hannah's disappearance for six
weeks, a lot more cheerleaders would have died.

Michael was like the dad of the group. He
never wanted anyone to get into trouble and his main goal was to
get his life back on track. Sometimes it seemed like he cared about
all of them, but in reality he was only worried about his own butt.
Because he knew if his friends go down, he does too.

Lucy was the innocent looking one. She was
smart, listened to her friends, and didn't want trouble. But, she
was also crazy.

Tyler as you may know by now wasn't even a
teen—he was undercover. He knew what was best for the gang, but he
used everyone to solve the case. Although he may have liked Linda a
little, he didn't care about the end result. Just as long as he
could leave boring Simon.

The Mystery
: A lot
of secrets were revealed during parts of the story. But, if you
read between the lines, you may have already knew. For example,
Tyler being undercover. It was said that Tyler knew how to read
people and not like normal people read body language. Then, it was
said that undercovers were all over town—wink wink. Also, when
Michael spots Tyler going into the police station—did you think,
why would he be at the police station?

Lucy's mental illness was given away in the
very first chapter—well, not exactly but I gave some hints. For
example, the part when a bottle of pills fall out her bag and she
claims they are for menstrual cramps, but then later says she never
had pills for that purpose. Then, when Linda is roaming around in
Lucy's closet she reads a prescription bottle that says Clozapine
(it's an antipsychotic for schizophrenia).

The Ending
: By the
last page, you know that Lucy is the one who was attacking
cheerleaders. But, it seems like they are still a little uneasy
about the whole situation. Firstly, they have no idea who called
911 when they were in the gym. And the only recognizable person was
Adam. Lastly, Linda realizes that Lucy is going after everyone in
that video. Little does everyone know, Linda is in that video.
Remember, Linda mentions earlier on how she was so under the
influence during that trip. She also never remembers what happens
when she is either drunk or high.

Linda has a guilty conscious and maybe a
part of her thinks she can get away with it. However, she tells
Tyler to re-watch the video. He does and realizes that the most
gruesome part of the video involves Linda. The sadder part is,
Linda doesn't even remember doing those things to her best
friend.

She gets the last text. And she knows that
this whole time, Lucy knew about Linda during the hazing. But, why
did she wait so long to go after her. Maybe because they are best
friends. Or maybe because she was saving the best for last.

It you mean a lot if you emailed me your thoughts at
[email protected]
Here are some questions to consider,
1.
Who did you first accuse of being the murderer? Why? 2. Where you
shocked by finding out who really was the murderer? 3. Any more
thoughts?
Send your long or short
response.

For more information on up
& coming novels, visit official
website
.

If you enjoyed
Simon Death High
, read
another novel from Blair Burden called
Reasons for Recovery
. An uplifting
novel about a teen named Cassie (yes, she “guest stars” in this
story) who learns the meaning of life.

A suicidal teen who
suffers from cutting feels as though her life is being controlled
by those who are not relevant to her life anymore. She goes through
a love triangle, deaths, and saving a life to finally realize her
purpose. You can click
here
(over 10 links) to
find various links to this novel.

Website