Authors: Blair Burden
Tags: #suspense, #drama, #murder, #chick lit, #teen
Simon Death High
Simon Death High
by
Blair Burden
Text copyright © 2011 by Blair Burden
All rights reserved. Expert as permitted
under the U.S Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication
may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, without the prior permission of the author.
Smashwords Edition
There is no paperback version of this book as
of 2011. This book is FREE and if you were charged for this book,
it was done illegally.
The characters and events portrayed in this
book are fictitious and are based on characters 18 years or older.
Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and
not intended by the author.
Simon Death
High
: a novel / Blair Burden
Summary: Hannah left for six weeks but, when
she comes back, her friends believe she somehow is involved with
the murders that happened to teens at their high school.
Blair Burden official
website:
here
Reasons for Recovery
; also
based in Simon, Idaho.
Contents
Intro | Prologue
It is a rainy day outside—you know those
days when you were in school and you had to stay in the gym for
physical education—those kind of rainy days. Anyway, it's a rainy
day, and you decide to stay inside. You're all cozy in your furry
socks and you're glad you have the television to yourself. So, you
turn on the television to the local news and as expected, breaking
news isn't something sweet and innocent.
Just another teen
dead.
They probably died from drinking and driving or overdosed
on drugs—
typical dumb teens these days.
But, then you cringe and realize that is the
fourth kid that's been murdered from your high school in the last
two years. You won't discuss it at the dinner table—cause no one
eats at the dinner table anymore—and you'll stay silent about the
whole thing.
Not until you're on the local news—but, then
it's too late.
1 | Welcome Back
Lucy Jackson nearly choked on her milk
carton as she tried to drink every drop. She sucked on it harder as
some freshmen threw tiny paper balls into her mess on her head
called curls—and it didn't help that her last name was Jackson. She
swore she wasn't trying to bring back jheri curls. That was just
what happened when you're a biracial girl in moist weather.
She stuck her tongue out as a paper ball hit
her in her green eyes. Linda Wilson began to laugh, nearly choking
on her watermelon as Lucy's pale skin turned red—probably as red as
Linda’s hair. Lonely Linda had no room to laugh—
maybe she
did
. She had the right to laugh at others, since people seemed
to tease her about being the only redhead in Simon, Idaho.
Lucy stuck out her green tongue, that had
turned that color from eating too much Sour Patch Kids. “Gosh, I
cannot wait until we are out of here.”
“Just six more months,” Linda said as she
seductively crossed her legs and the bottom of her cheeks that hung
out her too tiny shorts were exposed. “College here we come.”
“If we ever make it!” Michael Rose slammed
his body onto the table and water dripped onto Linda’s tanned
arm.
“You shouldn't say that around here,” Lucy
muttered as she brushed back Michael’s dark locks, that had been
wet from swim practice.
Michael rolled his eyes, and not in a
masculine way. He gently leaned across the lunch table and removed
lent from Linda’s long dark eyelashes. “There is so much tension
these days. I think everyone should just calm down!”
Linda rolled her blue eyes, “I agree with
you one-hundred percent.” She winked and handed Michael her bottle
of lotion to moisten up his perfectly tanned skin.
“You have to remember those kids who died
had friends and family. We have to respect that,” Lucy, who was
obviously more mature than the rest, said. “It's scary when you
think about it.” She gasped as her handbag fell to the floor, and
dived to get it. All anyone could hear was the sound of pills
swimming around in a bottle hit the floor. “It's menstrual pills. I
get bad cramps.”
Linda tried not to make eye contact with
Lucy and instead stared at her own boobs that were a size too large
for her bra. She stuffed them down, as if she were packing a bag
with clothes.
Michael’s eyes grew large and the girls
looked back to see what he was seeing. They all stared in disbelief
as they expected to not see Hannah Walton anytime soon—unless on a
milk carton—and not for a good reason.
She left for six weeks without telling
anyone. Apparently, not even her teachers knew she would be gone
for so long. That wasn't like Hannah at all. From the gang, she
probably had the best head on her shoulders—well, besides Lucy.
Missing any amount of school was a big no-no for Hannah. The only
thing that she would put before school was a fashion show. And no
fashion show was being held for six weeks in Simon. And if so—it
wouldn't be worth it so close to graduation.
Hannah stayed silent as she sat next to
Michael, in her usual spot. She used to sit beside Lucy, not until
Linda said she wanted to have her back toward the jocks—for obvious
reasons.
Michael caught his drool from hitting the
table as they continued to stare at Hannah. To make sure she wasn't
a figure of their imagination, he patted her arm. She flipped her
long golden hair over her shoulder and beamed.
Linda tried to make eye contact with the
gang but they wouldn't take their eyes off Hannah. Like always,
Linda knew she had to be the one to talk first. Unlike the others,
Linda had a reputation of not only being attention seeking but
being outspoken.
“Um, where have you been?” Linda said, as
she expectantly broke the ice. “We thought you were dead!”
Hannah laughed as she put peanut butter on a
slice of bread. “What do you mean?”
Michael’s eyes got large again and then he
laughed. “Um, you've been gone for like more than a month!”
Hannah laughed again as if she were at a
comedy show, “Let's forget that happened, okay?”
Lucy held in her laugh as Michael imitated
Hannah. As if she were the mature one, Linda elbowed Lucy in the
ribs and frowned.
Linda snatched Hannah's bread, “You've been
gone for six damn months. What is going on?”
Hannah tore her face up and made eye contact
with Michael—her face reading 'handle this bitch'. But, everyone
knew Linda was Michael’s favorite. Not that he liked her like
that—she wasn't his type. And he was too afraid to handle any
bitch, if Linda. Linda wore the pants, not just in her relation
with Michael but with everyone she knew.
Hannah cleared her throat and bit into her
apple, “Well, you guys it wasn't that long. If you're worried about
me missing school—”
Linda sipped her soda, “I don't really care
about you missing school,” she laughed. “I want to know where
you've been and why you haven't called us?”
“Yeah, we were really worried,” Lucy finally
said as she looked at Michael, waiting for him to speak.
“We thought you were mad at us,” Michael
said with his eyes on Linda.
Hannah stayed quiet as she felt as though
she was being attacked. She wasn't really being attacked, but she
hated the attention. No one would be able to tell she didn't like
attention. She was always fashionable—a little too much in this
town—and heels were her best friend. She was also the head of the
school's dance team. Whether she liked it or not—attention was her
middle name.
Hannah spotted a police officer and put her
lunch back onto her tray as if she were done eating. “Can we talk
about this some other time?” she whispered.
Michael and Linda looked at the police too.
They had been on campus for the last few months ever since the
recent deaths of some seniors. The tension was high anytime the
students saw a police or a detective. The town was so small, to
even think a serial killer was out loose among them.
“Is, um...Dr. Smith still substituting for
health class?” Hannah said, as she stood up to leave.
They all frowned as she brought up Dr.
Smith—their principle. Ever since ten girls were pregnant last
year, he made it mandatory for all seniors and freshmen to take
health class. However, it seemed as though every week their health
teacher was calling in sick. And eventually, he didn't show up
anymore—leading Dr. Smith to sub.
It's not that no one liked Dr. Smith—he was
just odd. He wore the same shoes everyday—big shoes—there was a
rumor he would fill them with paper just to look cool. He wasn't
bad looking either—better than most teenagers—the girls loved
him—and if you were pretty enough, you could get away with
anything.
Hannah didn't bother for anyone's reply, so
she left without saying bye. She flipped her blonde hair, and the
smell of her shampoo awoke them. Michael had his mouth ready to say
something, but Hannah was already too far to hear.
“The bitch was pregnant,” Linda said. “She
had to be!”
“Then, where is the baby?” Michael snapped.
“She looks exactly—”
“Fake tan, blonde hair, pink lips, she is
back to the old girl we know,” Lucy said. “Maybe, she had family
problems.”
“Did you see her butt?” Linda said. “It was
huge!”
“She definitely had a baby!” Michael added.
“If not, then what did she do for six weeks?”
“Ugh, you cannot have a baby in six weeks,”
Lucy snapped, but they didn't seem to notice. Lucy had that
problem—snapping a lot. For a shy quiet girl, she sure did know how
to throw a fit. “Are you guys even listening to me?”
“That explains why she wore sweat suits
before she left. She was hiding the baby. And she didn't even want
to go to my pool party this past summer,” Linda said, as read her
Facebook status.
Lucy searched the cafeteria for Hannah,
narrowing her eyes to get a better view. “You guys are heartless.
She is our friend. She didn't want to go to your party because it
was sixty degrees outside. Everyone knows it doesn't ever get hot
in this town—”
“And?” Michael and Linda said.
“She is obviously hiding something major.
There were lots of pregnant girls at this school last year—why
would she hide that from us?” Lucy snapped.
“Unless it was something else,” Linda said,
as she lifted one eyebrow.
Lucy rolled her eyes and stood up. “I'm not
going to sit here and gossip with you guys about Hannah. I'm going
to leave.”
Lucy knew she couldn't get Michael to side
with her, so there was no point to arguing. Linda always won—there
was no winning.
Linda made kissing noises as Lucy walked
away. Although, Lucy loved them both, she tolerated them—and
nothing more.
With her purse closely under her arm, Lucy
put on her shades in the already dim hallway. She knew as well as
everyone else, that she couldn't see two feet away—but she liked to
be avoided. She could easily gone unrecognized as well. She was
average height about five foot four and the only thing that stood
out about her was her dark crazy hair—something that guitarist
Slash may have liked. And when it came to fashion—band tees,
hoodies, and jeans were her style—nothing more.
If it weren't for Hannah, Michael, and Linda
she would just keep to herself. If no one talked to her, it didn't
faze her. She wasn't too social when it came to people—she would
rather read a book.
Poor Hannah's heart skipped a beat as Lucy
entered the restroom. From the gang, Hannah and Lucy were the
closest, so, her being in fear when she saw her caught her off
guard. Lucy stayed silent as she went into a stall to blow out
boogers that had accumulated from the windy day.
Lucy squinted her eyes as she searched
through her bag for the pills that had made a loud noise hitting
the floor earlier. She thought about taking her prescription but
instead decided not too.