I picked up the book, with no true interest in it. I just don’t want to go back to class. I flip through the pages, but it stops on page 1817. 1817. Why does that sound familiar. 1817. 1/8/17. What happe- January 8th 2017. The day Alex died.
Alex Micheal. We met back in 6th grade. We instantly became best friends. We were inseparable. We spent every second outside of school together. When I found out Alex was missing, I continued going to school, as if nothing was happening. Deep down, I knew something else was up. I spent my nights crying and praying for him to come home.
School was weird. Everyone knew how close Alex and I were, so they knew that I was having a rough time trying to think straight. As I walked through the halls or stood at my locker, people would come up to me, give me a hug, and tell me it’s going to be ok. All of my friends were there to comfort me. All but Torey. She seemed more distant. Hadn’t been coming to school. She even started crying during class. I knew they were friends, but I didn’t think that they were that close. Not even I have missed school because of this yet, and it has been 8 days. 8 days and counting.
As the days continue to pass, the stronger the feeling I get that he may be gone. Forever. It has been on the news six times now. “Alex Micheal-Missing Teen” or “16-Year Old WI Boy Last Seen 2 Weeks Ago” even “Missing or Gone?” The last one hurts. I don’t want him to be gone. I don’t even want to think of that.
He walked into class, it was the first day of 6th grade. No one knew who he was. He walked over to the table where I was sitting. “Hi. I’m Alex.” The first thing I noticed was his black eye, aaand his super squeaky voice. I don’t know the black eye is from but it’s scary. “Hi.” I’ve never been a talkative person, especially when it comes to meeting new people. He sat down to my left. As class began, he was already talking back to the teacher. He got sent to the office on the first day of school, not to mention, his first day in the Franklin District. He was weird. I tried avoiding him, but I found us talking more than I’ve ever talked before.
I don’t want to think about him. I don’t want to think about why Torey is taking this harder than I am. I don’t understand what is going on. I can’t think straight. I can’t go to school anymore. I need to leave. But how will I get home. I can’t drive. My sister has to stay in school, my mom works 2 hours away. Ugh. Guess I’m stuck here all day.
The T.V. flickers on, and I throw my backpack to the floor. Finally. It’s the weekend. No more stressing about focusing at school. Time to relax. The news turns on. “Fox 6 weather reports. Thanks Bob.” I zone out and go on my phone. I try not to check my texts, because I don’t want to see Alex’s name at the top. The last text he sent. “I’ll be there in 10.” That was sent just a few minutes before he was reported missing.
I look back up to the T.V. Great. Another report on Alex. All they are going to say is he’s missing. Stop trying to remind us all. I curl up into a ball, wrap my blanket around me, and focus on the T.V. “Update on Alex Micheal. The teen who went missing on December 30th, has now been found dead, today on January 8th.” My body goes numb. My vision blurs. My head is pounding. My breathing gets heavier. Dead? He can’t be. It’s not possible. No. This is just a dream.
My mom, sitting to my right, quickly jerks her body towards mine. She was crying for me. I-I-I don’t know. I can’t remember anything past that. I just remember hearing the T.V. in the background. “The murderer has been found, the Police have reported them to be a student at FHS, ‘friends’ with Alex, but just wanted revenge.” Oh. My. God. It all makes sense now.
“Really Alex? You’re the reason Jake and I broke up? How could you do that? I loved him!” Torey was screaming at Alex in our 3rd block that we had together. “He was going to hurt you. I know Jake. He is’t the right person to be in a relationship with.” He’s not wrong. Jake is known for being a heartbreaker. “Really Alex? Or were you just jealous?”
Torey Smith. She was mad at Alex for breaking up her and Jake Jones. She had a rough time getting over that. She got revenge by murdering Alex. In my opinion, that’s a little far. But seriously, everything makes sense. She took this whole “Alex situation” so hard because she’s the reason it happened. She hadn't been to school because she was getting investigated, and was caught. Now, it was just up to Fox 6 to let everyone know.
Now I’m standing here in the school’s library flipping through books. But one book, Sorry by Heather Grey, stopped on page 1817. The day Alex was pronounced dead. Stuck into the spine of the book on that specific page, was a picture of Alex, Torey and I. On the back was a small note. “Sorry. -Torey Smith”