It's Memorial Day by 6pm
Teens do not kill themselves
The daily papers being delivered to the doors of home occupants, offices, and every place occupied with people had the headline before any other update was included. It was a tragic day for TownPort High because of the loss of Jolie. It had been the case that she was an elite.
Like Alex, Jolie stayed with her foster parents, due to her high IQ she was able to make a lot of friends, she got the school gold medals until she failed one day, and it changed her life.
The elite class got her kicked out, of course championed by Jake; her lack of confidence affected her studies, and she resumed the special library. On hearing the recent developments, her foster parents hated her and threatened to drive her out of their home.
Alex never met her before all these, but the image of Jolie painted in his mind was not a good one even after her death. Due to the Memorial Day activities, school was cancelled for the whole day, so he went to the neighborhood garden to get a flower as others did. The gardeners had no problem with that since it was used to honor the dead.
Outside the walls of the school the class war was suspended, but some people take it too personally. Alex wore a black cap to shade his face from the sun on a blue shirt and black pants. He held his flower tightly to his chest as he walked all the way to the cemetery, he was not alone, he had some people walked down too, some drove, some wheeled, he was not recognized as the school dumb soul by the student of his school meaning the camouflage actually worked.
When he finally reached, he saw some dropped flowers and left in a hurry, some sobbing as they dropped their flowers on a handful of other flowers, letters and other things. He went closer to dropping his, squatted. He looked soberly at all the love shown by the same people who got her there in the first place. He started having flashbacks of events before her death, the bathroom incident, the terrifying attack in his sleep, the red ball and then the book.
The book title came rushing back, and he questioned himself if it was an actual book. He placed his flower on a bouquet of white flowers and stood slowly. He tilted his neck up towards the sky, enjoying the wind passing through his hair.
By six o'clock in the evening, the light over TownPort had softened into something almost gentle. Dark clouds gathered quietly above the town square, and a light rain began to fall slow, steady, and unmistakably solemn. Umbrellas opened across the square, but no one moved away. Candles were shielded by cupped hands and glass holders; their flames tremble yet unbroken. The rain tapped softly against stone and brick, mixing with the terror that had lived in TownPort since 1995; the year seven children were lost to an unnatural cause.
Opposite the square stood seven bodiless tomb stones, rain streaking gently down their surfaces. Each bore a name and a birthdate that ended far too soon.
When the bell rang once, the square fell silent.
Mayor Elias Harding stepped forward to the podium, raindrops darkening his coat. He did not step under the cover. Instead, he stood exposed to the weather, as if choosing to share in the discomfort of remembrance.
"Tonight," he began, his voice steady against the sound of rainfall, "we gather in remembrance of the grief that touches us all."
"In 1995, TownPort lost seven children to an act that should never have happened. An unnatural cause that stole lives and shattered trust."
The rain grew slightly heavier, blurring the glow of the streetlights.
"These children were joy," the mayor continued.
"Their absence changed this town forever. And while we cannot undo what happened, we can promise again that their lives mattered and still matter."
The mayor did not fail to mention the incident that happened the day before and vowed that the cause of the death would be investigated to the last straw. Alex was with his foster family. He was not interested in the speech of the mayor rather than pondering the book he saw in his dream. His brothers squeezed tightly in the umbrella they shared. The pattering of the rain seemed to reduce gradually, umbrellas started coming down, and he could see the people around him. To his awe the most sober of people were the elites, the same family that drove her away, in avoidance to the fake remorseful cosplay he saw Emma. She was in a black shirt covered with an almost dried jacket. He handed the umbrella to one of his brothers and then walked swiftly to her.
"Hello," he started as he tapped her on the shoulder, "It's me Alex from the special library"
She turned and recognized him immediately; she gave a warm smile. "I never forget a face"
"Well, I-I-I have something to ask you," He pushed further. "Might not make sense too"
The rain resumed without any warning, her umbrella went up in respond to the fall, she turned to him, "shoot"
"What is the 1995 mystery?"
She stared at him shocked, "how did you know of such?"
"I dreamt about it."