GODS ARE IMMORTAL. EVEN IF MY PHYSICAL BODY FADES AWAY, MY DOINGS, MY STORY WILL BE FOREVER TATTOOED ON THE WORLD.

NEWFOUND ACQUAINTENCES

My road to hell isn't paved with good intentions - or bad - it's just my road. ― Carry On, Rainbow Rowell

First thing’s first: I won’t call him The Creeper. Victor Salva already patented that. And it’s too easy. He’s given us enough to come up with something better. It’s a man– ssscis-gendered…? We don’t have any suspects who aren’t… traditionally… mainstream gendered… people. And the lack of subtlety screams BOY. He knows enough about plants to handpick specific flowers for every girl in the school. He’s a twisted romantic, a little witty. He has access to a penis. I think he’s repressed. Definitely a virgin. Timid for lack of tact, not lack of interest in talking to people. But he’s observant. He has to spend a lot of time around the campus, so I’m ruling out all employees, including the young ones. This is someone who watches the way his peers interact and keeps an eye on the unnatural mannerisms when certain topics come up in conversation. This is someone without much social life to distract him, or someone with shallow acquaintanceships but no friends to notice when he’s spending all of his time on a project like this. This is an outsider on the inside. So you can call him The Botanist, The Florist, The Casanova, The Anthropologist.

I’m calling him The Wallflower.

I’ll mention the three crossed off my list first:

ANDI MICHAELS. Reasonable suspect. He has the classic profile of a common serial killer: middle-aged man, agreeable personality, eerily mundane, a little awkward. But I don’t buy it. He doesn’t fit my profile. He’s not at the school often enough to study everyone. I don’t think he’s The Wallflower. But I don’t think he’s innocent outside of this specific context. He’s worth keeping an eye on.

CHARLIE KING. Investigated. Thoroughly. Don’t want to talk about it. Too old, anyway. And too genuine. You can’t fake the patience and kindness he had that night. He’s not frustrated enough to be The Wallflower. I don’t think he’s… without secrets, but I know this isn’t his.

TERENCE LICHT. Undeniably suspicious. And I think suspecting him is what helped me build the profile. But he’s a RED HERRING. He’s not on campus enough to pay as much attention as The Wallflower has to. When he’s around, he’s always busy, and he’s kind of a big deal. With girls especially. And he’s not stupid enough to incriminate himself by making flowers an M.O. It’s too obvious.

I really think it’s a student. Specifically…

SIMON REIGN. Sure has been lonely and quiet since all of his friends left last semester. Everyone’s always talking about how he never gets close to anyone or sticks around one place for long. Kinda troubling, when you think about it. And his roommate’s never around much to keep an eye on anything weird he’s doing. He has the perfect opportunity and the loneliness to boot. And the perfect alibi, of course, is how he conveniently came out as gay just a few weeks before our ladykiller hit the scene.

DARBY CHAPMAN. Do I want to suspect my friend? No. Is my friend awkward, standoffish in social situations, foreign, reportedly anxious as a result of childhood trauma, heterosexual, and not getting any? I mean, sorry, DC, but it’s kind of hard to rule out. 

GREY CAVERLY. He has the wit and the mystery. He’s a good liar– or he is when nobody’s onto him. He’s more romantic than he lets on. He’s friendly at face value, aloof enough that he doesn’t have any close friends, and I always find him on the sidelines of campus. I don’t want to think it’s Grey. I have plenty of reasons not to think it’s Grey, but I’m worried that being breathtakingly charming isn’t exactly a valid alibi. In fact, it’s a little more worrying.

ZACH COLTRANE. The problem with Zach is I don’t know much about him, but that’s a little incriminating in itself, isn’t it? But I don’t really think he has the capacity. He’s dealing with enough of his own weird baggage, from what people say about him. I doubt he knows enough about human etiquette to leave the kind of notes The Wallflower leaves, but I can say that about a lot of people on this list. Here’s the thing: when an offbeat classmate asks me to plant-sit for him, he gets a one-way ticket onto this list.

LEVIATHAN JAMES. I guess I can thank Jonah for being the jumping-off point, but Levi’s the perfect suspect. He’s got the outcast cred down pat. People don’t understand him. They get frustrated with him. They yell at him. They whack him around. And he doesn’t understand them, either. A stranger in a strange land and a quiet watcher who’s so DESPERATE to fit in. I don’t…. I just don’t trust him.

@andimichaels

who said i love you first?

??; they’d get into an intense debate about who did say it first

who laughs when the other trips?

both; (DON’T imagine Shaylea laughing at Min Jae when he trips while wearing six-inch heels she so insistently made him put on)

who pays the bills?

Shaylea; Min Jae tends to forget

which one makes a bigger deal around the holidays?

both

who’s more clumsy?

Min Jae; he lacks the finesse Shaylea’s clearly born with

who checks their daily horoscope?

Shaylea; (she seems the type to believe in it ???)

who sings louder in the car?

Shaylea; sometimes Min Jae would just laugh and listen in fascination, but usually he wouldn’t back down as there is NO WAY he’s losing this competition

who leaves the cap off the toothpaste?

Min Jae; he’s as much a mess in this way as he is in other things

who is more up to date in pop culture?

Shaylea; she takes notes on the fashion and makeup trends, would sometimes use what she’s learned to dress up for Min Jae (maybe ???)

who insists on going to see the newest movies?

both; they often buy tickets beforehand to surprise the other and end up having more than they needed

who cries when the abused animal commercials come on?

Shaylea; she has a softer heart and is more open about expressing her emotions

who’s the lighter sleeper?

neither; spooning and lazy kisses all day everyday

who believes in ghosts?

neither; Min Jae loves to tease though

who does the grocery shopping?

Shaylea; Min Jae gets easily distracted by the sweets and ice cream aisle

who updates their facebook status more often?

both; they always end up having a public love-declaration war

17. A teasing / sensual kiss.

DEBATE & SPEECH was, if not his favorite, one of his favorite subjects, and as such, he would assist on time every time, yet always sitting at the back, with the chance to watch EVERYONE, and that included the not-so-bad-looking teacher.

Gabriel was an active speaker when it came to participation, and always gifted the teacher a little smile. At the beginning, these smiles were simple courtesy, but soon they turned intro friendly and since yesterday, his smiles were cryptic and even FLIRTATIOUS. Gabe would eat a lollipop in class, taking his time to devour it in QUITE a suggestive way anytime Andi was watching.

The bell rang and everybody grabbed their things. Gabe made some time, waiting for everyone to leave before approaching to the teachers desk. “Very nice class, professor. Thank you. About this speech we have to make… I wanted to consult you about my possible topics”, his hand laid on the desk, his fingertips slightly brushing Andi’s. “I am HIGHLY interested in the human behavior and body psychology upon different situations; for example at the moment of waking up, munching on the first meal of the day or…”, now his hand climbed up a little bit more on the other’s as he approached a little as well, “…the sensation before sexual stimuli. What happens with the body at the second right before being aroused?”, he asks now in a whisper, leaning upwards to reach the teacher’s face. His lips got to brush his as he spoke again, “any chance of helping the best student of your class with his project?”, Gabe adds and the tip of his tongue slide along the lips of the older man, the cherry candy still perceivable in both his tongue and breath.