Heart of a Fool pt. 1

A flurry of crisp leaves brushed against the student body president’s tear-stained face as she marched through the inner courtyard of Ravencroft Highschool, made a sharp turn at the fountain, and continued on towards class 1-B. She removed her glasses and wiped her eyes as she pushed her way past the other students in the halls, ignoring their awkward glances. She stopped in front of class 1-B, adjusted her shoulder bag, took in a deep breath, and exhaled a low growl before she opened the sliding door so hard it almost came off the tracks when it banged against the stopper. Everyone in the classroom stopped eating their lunches and fixed their gazes in the girl’s direction — all — except one.

In the far corner of the classroom, one black-haired girl lazily flipped through a manga despite the commotion. Her two friends sitting next to her snickered to themselves as the newcomer to the classroom pushed her way around the desks until she was standing right in front of the girl reading the manga.

Flip.

The black-haired girl just turned the page, not even so much as glancing at her teary-eyed visitor.

The teary-eyed girl clenched her fists. “Y-y-you… Y-you… YOU SELF-CENTERED — EGOTISTICAL — BACKSTABBING — BITCH!”

The whole class gasped.

Flip.

The black-haired girl turned another page in her manga.

“W-WELL? AREN’T YOU GOING TO EXPLAIN WHY YOU DID IT, HUH? WAS ALL THAT TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU CARE A LIE?”

The black-haired girl briefly glanced up from her magazine. “Oh, hello Annie. What brings you here?”

Annie’s face morphed into a cold glare. “Doooo NOT play dumb with me, Yuna.”

Yuna closed the manga and turned in her desk towards Annie. “Play dumb?” She said in an exagerated tone. “Annie, you are the one making a fool of yourself in front of everyone by spouting baseless insults at me.” Yuna pulled a small flat box from the shoulder bag hanging from her desk, opened it up, and removed a pair of disposable chopsticks from one of the compartments before breaking them apart with a tiny snap. “I’m afraid if you need something from me you are going to need to be more specific. Care to enlighten me what your problem is?”

Annie bit her lip and looked around the classroom. “I-I… I…”

“Yeeeesss?” Yuna plucked a piece of omelet with her chopsticks from her bento and popped it into her mouth.

Annie turned away from Yuna and promptly left the classroom sobbing to herself.

“WOW Yuna,” said Yuna’s redheaded friend. “You didn’t even need to defend yourself, you scared her away with your presence alone.”

“I know right?” said the brunette sitting behind Yuna. “So what’s your next move, Alana?”

Alana played with her red hair in a flirtatious manner. “Wellllll… I’m going to give Zach about two weeks to totally get over Annie and then I’ll swoop in and make my ‘first’ move. What do you say to that Kylie?”

The brunette snickered. “I say keep me posted about all the juicy details. Although, what if they get back together in those two weeks? What then?”

“They won’t get back together,” Yuna said picking through her lunch. “Trust me.”

“My god,” Kylie said. “What did you do to Zach?”

“A good magician never reveals her secrets,” Yuna said with an evil smirk.

“Thanks again for helping me out with this,” Alana said. “I was worried this would have had a completely different outcome. Everything should work out now, that is unless you plan on stealing Zach all for yourself.”

Yuna flicked the little dice charm on her shoulder bag. The two small cubes with the letters A and J on each of the ones faces clicked together as they swung back and forward. “Huh? Heck no, big sweaty jock is most definitely not my type.”

“Then what is your type?” Kylie persisted. “Jeez, I swear, you draw in glances from sooooo many guys and you completely blow all of them off. I mean, I’m glad you do because I would hate to have to compete with you but you must be attracted to some… one…” Kylie peered at Yuna, who hid her face with her bangs. “OH. MY. GOSH. You already have someone don’t you?”

Yuna popped another piece of her omelet in her mouth.

“I can see you blushing under there,” Alana teased. “Come on. Give us something.”

Yuna swallowed and cleared her throat. “It’s complicated.”

“Oh-ho,” Alana said. “Is he already seeing someone else? Well, that shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

“No.”

Kylie gasped. “Did he reject you?

“No.”

“Then what? You can’t just say it’s complicated and leave it at that. Give us a little more.” Kylie crossed her arms waiting for an answer.

“It has nothing to do with petty high school drama,” Yuna said squinting her eyes, “You two may like the thrill and excitement of moving from guy to guy but I just think it is absolutely exhausting. There is more to life than being constantly reminded about how sexy you are or how beautiful your smile is. So I will make this absolutely clear. My love life is NONE of your business.”

Kylie and Alana frowned.

“Sorry Yuna,” Alana said. “We just want to know your secret is all. How do you keep yourself so together? You know?”

“I keep my priorities straight, that’s all.”

“For someone who is so skilled with dealing with people you sure are a stick in the mud,” Alana said with a pout causing Yuna to raise an eyebrow. “I-I mean. You are cool don’t get me wrong. What I am trying to say is…”

“Just leave it be, Alana,” Kylie interjected. “So, I overheard my dad talking to one of his fellow detectives. It turns out they found another body in an apartment not too far from the hospital. What does that bring the count up to, ten?”

Alana covered her mouth. “Ewww. Do you need to bring this up while we are eating?”

“Similar to the others then?” Yuna asked.

“Well… the location of the bodies varies a little bit, but most of them were found at home in bed. The state of them has all been varied too. Some stabbed, others hit with a blunt object, and at least one of them was set on fire but this last one was mutilated beyond recognition like it was crushed by a steam roller. The one connecting factor is all of them were determined to be asleep at the time of their deaths. What’s REALLY weird is there is absolutely no sign of anyone else being anywhere around the crime scene at the time of their deaths OR any other signs of damage. Like the one found burned in bed. The body was burned but the bed was completely untouched. My dad is amazed at how well the killer is at covering their tracks but this is like on another level.”

“Can we stop talking about this please —”

“One second Alana.” Yuna interjected, “Is there a connection with age and gender?”

“Not really, all victims ages range from teens up to people in their thirties. As for gender, it’s an even split I think — five guys and five girls. At any rate, it is probably not a good idea to stay out too late and to make absolutely sure you lock your doors.”

“Ok class. Lunch is over," Mr. Lawless as he entered the classroom with coffee in hand.

“At any rate,” Kylie whispered. “Be careful on your way home. Speaking of which, there’s a new frozen yogurt shop that opened in town. Maybe we should all go there together after school.”

“I am totally down for that,” Alana said with a big smile.

“Sorry, I can’t,” Yuna whispered, “There’s something I need to do on the way home. Tomorrow?”

“Fine,” Kylie said with a pout.

*****

The trolley rolled down the track, heading for downtown.

Yuna sat in silence staring off at orange and yellow leaves on the trees moving past her field of view as her mind drifted. On her lap was a small gift neatly wrapped with a bow on top. Yuna ran her finger across the bow and sighed. She looked back out the window again and her blood ran cold.

Across the street from the trolley tracks an apartment building with a police barricade around it. Police and people in white full-body suits were moving about the building. Yuna stared on as the scene drifted past. She felt a sudden chill before being startled by the trolley’s whistle blow.

“Ok, everyone. We are now at Ravencroft General Hospital Station. If this is your stop please disembark now,” said the conductor.

Yuna fixed the hem of her uniform skirt, grabbed her gift and her shoulder bag, and vacated her seat. She stepped out into the station which was a cold concrete corridor underneath the hospital. Yuna tightly covered herself with her blazer, before stepping on the escalator to the hospital lobby. She made her way through the lobby to the front desk.

“Ummm… I’m here to see Arthur Jones.”

*****

“HOLY CRAP! Labyrinth Legacy isn’t supposed to launch until the end of next week!” Arthur said, pulling the last bit of wrapping paper off of the game case. How did you get this, Yu?”

“Hello, did you forget my dad is a game designer? He was on the production team for this one and managed to get an early access copy for me to give to you.” Yuna smiled sheepishly. “Last time I visited you were talking about how excited you were about the game so I kept it a secret that my dad was on the team for this project.”

“Thanks! You’re the best! Unfortunately, my console needs to charge so I will have to try it out later tonight,” Arthur said placing the game case on the table next to his hospital bed. “But that doesn’t matter because you and I have so much to catch up on. You haven’t visited in a while. How has your first year as a high schooler been? Have you made any new friends?” Arthur sat up in his bed and folded his hands, his black skin made a stark contrast against his light blue hospital sheets.

“Yeah, I made two good friends Alana and Kylie. We like to hang out after school every now and then. You could say the three of us form the popular group of Class 1-B.”

“Huh, that’s not like you.” Arthur tilted his head and raised an eyebrow behind his glasses. “You were always the shy type back in middle school. What changed?”

“Guess I found my confidence is all.” Yuna shifted her weight onto her other foot.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, everything is fine.”

“How has your mother been. Is she getting better? I know she took your grandfather’s… passing… very hard.”

Yuna broke eye contact with Arthur and looked over at the window at the sunset. “No, she’s been drinking even more lately. I can’t even remember the last time I have seen her sober these days.”

“Oh… I’m sorry. Is your dad doing ok at least?”

“He is dealing with it the best he can but I can tell it has been weighing on him more and more every day.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Yuna said turning back to Arthur. “It will be fine. Besides, I came here to see you. How have you been lately?”

Arthur held his hand flat and teetered it back and forward. “Eh. It has been so-so. They still haven’t been able to diagnose my condition. Although, it’s not progressing as fast as it was anymore. So at least there’s that. Unfortunately…”

“Yes?”

“The doctors are not even sure if I will make it till next Summer.”

“What?” Yuna walked over to Arthur’s bedside so that she was right next to him.

“They estimate I have about six months if that.”

“I-I don’t believe this. I thought-”

Arthur shook his head. “They don’t know what is causing it. My body is just shutting down for no reason. Some days I feel perfectly fine and other days I feel like I was hit by a truck.”

“There has to be a reason. The doctors will find that reason and they will fix it.”

Arthur smiled. “Hehe. You’re cute when you worry you know that?”

Yuna stepped back. “I’m serious AJ.”

“I know you are, Yu.” Arthur laid back in his bed. “And so was I the last time you were here. I am still waiting for an answer by the way.”

Yuna stiffened up. “AJ… you know how much you mean to me… I just.”

“Can’t date a dude on his death bed?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Sure it is. You are afraid to get too attached and that when something happens to me you will be left alone.” Arthur shrugged. “I can’t say I blame you. Unless of course you just don’t find me at all sexy in this hospital gown.”

“AJ… please don’t put me in this position.”

Arthur frowned. “Are you seeing someone else then?”

“No… I just… can we not talk about this?” Yuna stepped away from Arthur and crossed her arms. Arthur stared at her, surprised by her sudden hostility.

“Ok then,” Arthur said. He looked outside at how dark it has become. “You should hurry on home. Your parents will be worried and the news says it hasn’t been safe outside lately.”

Yuna looked out the window and then back at Arthur. “Yeah…” Yuna started walking back to the door. “Hey, I’ll text you when I get home, ok. I hope you feel better.”

Just as Yuna left, Arthur got a glimpse of the dice charm on Yuna’s bag. “I’m already feeling a lot better,” he whispered as he played with his dice necklace with the initials YS carved on them.