#tgom ch3

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     The alarm on my phone went off at five in the morning the next day. I groaned in annoyance as I turned it off, angry at whoever invented alarm clocks... and time... and the concept of needing to do anything, ever. Though that was only after I turned it off, I may or may not go into fight or flight everytime I hear it.

       I knew I'd go right back to sleep if I didn't get up immediately, so I begrudgingly pushed the covers off my body. Cold autumn air sent shivers across my skin, and upon noticing I'd awoken, Benny began to yell at me for breakfast. Seems my parents were already gone for the day. Already out of the house before 5 am, and I barely ever see them in the evenings, too.

       I rubbed my eyes and grabbed the clothes I set out to wear that day, and went to shower after giving Benny his food. The bathroom we had wasn't the most spectacular around, but it wasn't really a bad one, either. Just kinda eh. I guess that's how you could describe everything in this town, just eh... though most people might say ew instead.

       When I got out of the shower, I decided to dry my hair before doing anything else, as I normally do. When I was done with that, I pulled it into a high ponytail, and got dressed. Same, but different, black turtleneck, grey leggings, and the same black boots that I wore yesterday evening.

       I made some quick toast for breakfast, gave Benny some head pats, and I was off out the door. When I stepped out into the front porch of my house, the atmosphere around was the same as it always is. Slight rain, grey sky, and chilly winds. Walking though my northern neighborhood, over the bridge, past the houses, it was quite a walk. I was going to be in such good shape by the end of the year.

          Arriving at school was the same as the day before, though I did feel a lot more relaxed knowing what to expect from it. My day then went on as one would expect a school day to go, that is until fourth period came around.

      When I walked into my history classroom, Mr. Marshall was sitting at his desk turned away from the door. There were currently three kids in the room, one of which was Dominik reading a book. He looked up, his eyes moving from the paper to me. I watched as his jaw dropped, surprise immediately entering his face as he briefly covered his mouth with his hand after a small gasp.

      His reaction towards seeing me made me scrunch my face in confusion. "Uhhh... what?" I asked. He got out of his seat and walked up to me.

      "Where did you find that necklace? Where did you find it?" He whispered frantically, pointing to the necklace I was wearing, the one that I found yesterday evening.

      "Uh, up by that giant old house on the hill... why?"

      "Oh sh-hoot!" he whispered loudly, "Deadass? You're lying. No. You found Stella Humphrey's necklace!"

      "What? Who... who's Stella Humphrey?" I asked, a little louder, which caused Mr. Marshall to turn around in his seat. Some fellow classmates coming into class also seemed to take notice, but they appeared to not show much interest besides the quick glance.

      "Yo, she found Stella Humphrey's necklace!" Dominik said excitedly the second he noticed Mr. Marshall's attention was now grabbed. Mr. Marshall looked excited now, too.

      "But who is Stella Humphrey?!" I asked again. "And why is her necklace so important? She a famous person, or something? I don't get it!"

      "Join the history club and you can find out." Mr. Marshall said, and stood up from his chair, "May I see it?"

      I was really confused, but took off the necklace and handed it to Mr. Marshall, placing it in his hand. He examined it, "This necklace dates back all the way to over a hundred years ago," he said in awe, "I can't believe the condition it's in! It's practically brand new aside from all the dirt." Then the bell rang, signaling the start of class. "Do you mind if I hold onto this? Just for right now?"

      I shrugged, "I mean, sure, it's not mine." I took my seat, and he got on with his class. When Dominik and I were heading to fifth period, I was practically begging him to tell me who this girl was... but then I remembered. "Wait, I recognize that name... that was one of the names on the graves that are by that big house on the hill."

      "Wait– you actually went up to the house?!" He quietly exclaimed in disbelief. "Are you nuts or something? That place is boarded up with caution tape and warning signs and you STILL on your first DAY decided to go up it?!"

      "Well, I mean, yeah, I was out walking and I was curious. What are they gonna do, find me walking around a road and arrest me?"

       "Yes! People can and do get arrested for being up in the northwest woods too close to the mansion. I would know, Cam and I have all the stories. Did you actually get through the fence?"

       "Oh, no, no, no, I'm not that stupid. It was lying on the other side of the fence, or gates, or whatever. I didn't jump it, it was just sitting in the ground within arms reach. anyone could've grabbed it, honestly. Just stuck my hand right through the bars and it was there. I don't get why a necklace that's apparently so important would be that easy to take, it doesn't make sense. That's why I was so confused."

      "Yeah, that is pretty strange, but still. I'm glad Cameron wasn't with you, he's been dying to get into that house since we were kids. He would've definitely jumped the gate right then and there. That impulsiveness is gonna get him killed one day."

      "Can you tell me who she was now? Please?"

      "Yes, yes, alright. Her last name is Humphrey, obviously. Back in the late 1800s, the Humphrey family was the source of income for this town. They lived in that big mansion on top of the hill, where you found the necklace, obviously. They were rich, and the two brothers who founded this town loved them because of it. Stella was the 6 year old daughter, I'll have to show you some paintings and all, but there was this whole mystery involving the mother. People think she murdered her family. I think we mentioned it briefly yesterday?"

      "Yeah, holy shit." I said.

      "More like un-holy shit, but yeah. People think their souls haunt the mansion, and typical small-town horror stuff like that. People used to try and get inside, where they would then report back to us. Some of the submissions have really weird things in them, but others, we're pretty sure are fake. It's a real-life mystery movie in this town, but it's all just speculation, not too much proof, but it's there. It's kinda complicated, you'd need some backstory."

      "Oh, I am totally joining this club. I've loved this stuff forever, this is practically a dream come true!"

      "Good, you'll have fun here. Mr. Marshall's first year teaching was last year, when we were sophomores. He got to know Cam and me, and he actually started teaching because he wanted to find others who believed in this stuff. Most adults didn't, they thought it was just our teenage minds going wild, you know, the usual. He felt sure he could find some younger people who would be interested in the mysteries, while also getting to teach at the same time. Luckily world history was his favorite subject, so he could do it. This is how he found our group, and maybe, you didn't find us, you were led to us. That sounds like a conspiracy-like reach, but Cameron can explain it all." He said as we finally approached the computer room.

      We took our seats next to Cameron, and Dominik explained a bit about what happened the previous period. He looked surprised and excited, but then again, Cameron always looked excited. I knew that much just from my second day.

      "Dude, holy shit. That's like an ancient relic! You said Mr. Marshall has it rn?" He said, actually saying the letters RN, as if he were writing a text.

      "Yeah, he asked if he could hold onto it for a moment, which implies he'll be giving it back, but I don't know what he would need to borrow it for in the first place."

      "He likes to collect things. He probably wants to at least have a picture of it or something. Either that or he just said that so you'd give it to him." Dominik said.

      "Well, I guess there's no point in wondering about it. Do either of you know where the sign ups will be Thursday?" I asked.

      "During lunch in the cafeteria," Dominik said, "the meetings'll be held in his room. I doubt many people would want to sign up, so hopefully it's just us and we won't have to hide anything from other members. That, and they'll be such a nuisance if they're there. We'd have to hold fake meetings and suffer through them to get to the good stuff."

      "I'm excited." I said.

      "Oh, trust me, we all are, dude. This is the year I'm finally gonna make progress on this, just you wait! Oh, I can see it now, Cameron Johnson solves the Humphrey family murder mystery! They'll all see I wasn't crazy, I'll show them! HahaHA!"

       "Cameron, buddy," Dominik said, "when you were a kid you put tin foil hats in people's mailboxes to protect them from an upcoming alien invasion."

       "Hey! Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it never will! My next bet's on 2021! I hope I'm in space while it's happening, that would be so cool! I'll be fighting aliens and shit."

       "... Right." Dominik said, changing the subject, "So uh, Kimi will, unfortunately, also be in the club, and all that, but not officially as she's a middle school student. As much as Kai hates her, he needs to have her around, and I understand. She's all he really has left."

      "How do those two even fall into this group?" I asked.

      Cameron answered, "Kai and I used to be on a baseball team together when we were younger, so we became friends from that. I only really know Kimi since they were close and she's his sister. We both quit freshman year... He and Kimi were never the same after uhh... after a thing happened. They took an interest in all the paranormal stuff from me. I know Kai can be quiet and brutally honest, and Kimi is really unpleasant to be around, but try to be patient with them." he said, and the teacher spoke to start the lesson.

      The rest of the day was fine. Dominik and Cameron talked with me at lunch, and we got to know each other a bit better. I took notice of Kai's absence.

      "Why isn't Kai here?" I asked.

      "What, you think we're his babysitters, or something?" Cameron said. "He and Kimi miss school a lot. And even when they're here they often choose to be loners and ignore people."

      "Lots of people seem to be quiet and distant here." I said, "I've never heard a cafeteria room so quiet before! But I guess I've only ever heard one, before. I bet Libby would've been super loud in hers."

     "Who?"

      "A girl who was one of my old friend's younger sister. She was wild. And she would've loved this lunch, too." I said as I looked at the tacos people around the room ate, "She had such a weird obsession with tacos. It became an inside joke where everyday she would apparently ask her friends if it's taco Tuesday, and it was the first thing she'd ask me anytime she saw me. She actually went missing almost a year ago now."

      "She went missing?!" Cameron said, "how?"

      "I dunno. She and her friend, Jacob, just never returned home on Halloween, so we all just assumed they were murdered or kidnapped. They were only 14. We don't know for sure yet, and I think the police are still searching, just probably not as intensely as last year. Last time I talked to her was at her older brother's birthday party, the one who was my friend. I knew her kinda like how you know Kimi. I know if she was here though, she would definitely say something weird, because she was weird..."

      But not as weird as Ms. Hogg.

      There was something off about that woman, but I couldn't quite describe what. She's just the type person who gives off weird vibes for some reason, even if she looks perfectly normal and fine. I didn't have gym class today, so that meant I had her for both 8th and 9th period. When I stepped into her classroom I was greeted with a bitter chill and the faintest scent of... metal? It was certainly unpleasant.

      In the back of her classroom she had all kinds of weird things. They weren't strange or uncommon for a biology teacher to have, but it just creeped me out nonetheless. If it were some other teacher, I wouldn't question it, and probably think it was cool, but it all just rubbed me the wrong way, with the atmosphere and all that.

      Sitting on shelves behind glass windows were pinned bugs, animal fetuses in jars, real stuffed animals, skulls, all that kind of stuff. There was even a jar full of "pig eyes" according to the label. There were chicken feet, disembodied animal heads, it was all so unsettling. I felt like they were watching me. I shivered, and felt the need to look back at them while I walked to my seat.

      She started the class after a few minutes, and began to speak in her old, gruff voice about our midterm project. Basically, instead of taking a test for our midterm exams, we were going to be working on a project throughout the year, that would be due by early May.

      We were instructed to choose between three different options, listed on the sheet of paper she passed out, along with further instructions:

Option 1) Collect, pin, and label twenty different types bugs.

Option 2) Collect, preserve, and label 15 different types of plants/flowers.

Option 3) Kill a small animal, and bring in its skull.

      That last one caused me to make a face. Did I read that right? That's absurd! I shivered a bit more, and was quite unnerved by it being a school project. Who's allowing this? I told you, this woman has weird vibes and I don't like it!

      This was going to be a group project, so that meant we had to pick partners, and be in pairs of two. Naturally, everyone but the new girl found a partner really easily. Great. I dreaded having to be paired with someone, because usually when you're forcefully paired with someone, it's you and the one kid who doesn't contribute anything to groups projects, hence why they have no partner.

      Well, either that, or, you have the odd group of three. But unfortunately for me, the second was closer to the outcome. There was one girl who was having a bit of a problem, the same girl who pushed me in the hallway yesterday. I could immediately tell these girls were the typical "popular" crowd by the way they talked and argued with Ms. Hogg. I'm not one to judge, but I was dreading the fact I was most definitely going to get paired with one of them.

      The girl who pushed me was really tall, but that could just be because of her really high high-heeled black boots. They had to have been like, five inch heels, and they went up into her long black skirt, that went down below her knees. She had on a light pink shirt that fell over her shoulders, and a headband of the same color.

      She was your typical pale, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who was over the top to garner attention and damnit it worked, because I was looking! Her blonde hair was so light it was almost white, and the length went to her shoulders. I didnt think a stereotype so accurate could exist in the real world! But then again, I suppose stereotypes exist for a reason.

      She wanted to form a group of three with two of her friends who were too bland and boring for me to bother describing. Again, typical popular girl appearances. The difference between them and the blonde girl was that the blonde girl looked rich and way too over the top (though it could've just been those boots because damn wtf).

      She was very insistent about wanting to be with her two friends, but Ms. Hogg wasn't having it. After quite some time of arguing, she was forced to group with me, as she was the one complaining the most, and I was left without a partner. Just was I expected. Great. I'm already the social weirdo, I was not looking forward to being picked on by some mightier-than-thou, peaked-in-highschool mean girl.

      Ms. Hogg went on to explain the project in more detail, and what we would have to be doing for each of them. That covered the whole first period, pretty much. For the second period, we were allowed to have free time, which I was thankful for as I happily plugged in my earphones to listen to music.

      I did notice the blonde girl talking to her friends, while sneaking occasional glances at me, but I paid no mind to it. It's not worth my concern when there's nothing I can do about it. When the bell rang I went to leave the classroom, but not before the blonde girl had a quick word with me.

      She pulled on the back of my shirt, and tugged me back a bit, "I hope you know how stupid you are talking to those kids, I know you talk to them," She said quietly, sounding like a threat, "They're crazy and give this town a bad reputation. Don't further it." And with that, she walked off, her big heels gracefully, and loudly, tapping against the floor, echoing just as they had the day before.

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