Vice Principal Mann leans against his desk in an attempt to look casual and nonthreatening. Echo Williams sees right through it. He is tapping his foot on the ground and chewing his lip, like he wants a cigarette. That and the police officer tip her off. She sits on a couch in the corner of the room with two other seniors. All of the seniors, it seems, are getting interviewed by either the vice or the principal. Echo doesn’t care for most of the people in the room, but when she sees Oliver Kwan enter the room, she keeps her gaze off him.
“Now I know all of you knew Jack Woods. He was a good kid, always in high spirits—”
Some of the kids start laughing at that. Echo glances at Oliver, who is watching her. It frustrates her.
“Come on, now,” the vice says. “That’s not in good taste. Pay respect to your classmate and be conscious of who you might be offending. Jack had a lot of friends.”
Echo finds it strange that the kid who got in trouble more than anyone else for possession and being high in school is suddenly being remembered for all the friends he had. Friend is an odd word to her. It seems to take on new meanings every day.
Oliver is staring at her again.
“Over the summer, an investigation took place,” the vice goes on and that gets everyone’s attention. “We’d really appreciate if anyone who was especially close to Jack could step forward so we could ask you a few more detailed questions.”
Everyone shifts around in their seats. A jock, Dan Rigby raises his hand, but speaks without waiting to be addressed.
“Are you saying someone killed Jack Woods? Are we suspects?”
The vice takes a breath and turns to the police officer. “Maybe you can explain.”
The officer steps forward, clearing his throat. “Hello. I’m Officer Greene. Now we’ve been looking into this matter for a while. As it appears now, Jack Woods overdosed on a kind of drug that’s found in prescription sleep medication. Normally, the drug alone wouldn’t cause a reaction like this, but it was mixed with copious amounts of alcohol. The combination of the two substances sent Jack into a coma, that he never came out of. It is possible that Jack Woods may have done this to himself by accident, but we know there were a lot of people at his house that night, so we need to speak with anyone present that night, and any of his close friends to see if they can help us put the story together.”
That definitely puts a damper on the room. Echo looks at everyone’s faces. She recognizes most of them from the party. Almost every senior was there that night, but none of them want to own up to it. That she understands.
“Well if none of you want to come forward at the moment, we’re giving our cards to all of you, in case you decide to step forward. We’ll also be asking your teachers if they know any of you to have been close with Jack, so don’t be worried if you get called out of class one day to speak with one of us. We haven’t ruled out the possibility of suicide.”
“Jack wasn’t depressed,” Toby Lightly, the student president, says. Echo had barely noticed him in the back of the room.
“Does that mean we can count you as one of Jack’s close friends?” Officer Greene asks.
Toby hesitates a moment before answering. “Yeah, I knew Jack pretty well.”
“Thank you Toby,” the vice says. “Everyone should take Toby as an example here. Don’t be afraid to come forward and say something.”
Toby nods back at the vice.
“This is a very serious matter, and we need all of you to act like the adults we know you are,” the vice finishes with. “Now you may all go to your first class.”
Echo stands and breezes out of the room, and Cameron Elliot jumps up to go after her. As she opens her locker, he sidles up next to her.
“Hey, Echo,” he says.
She doesn’t look at him. “Yes?”
“Are you okay?” he asks.
Now she brings her icy gaze onto him. “What?”
“Um…” He loses his way for a moment. “You just looked a little upset in there. Wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Yo, Cam,” Dan Rigby calls from across the hall. “We got class, man.”
Cameron takes a step back, but keeps his eyes on Echo. “So…Are you okay?”
Her face is blank, but she watches him closely. “I’m fine.” She turns away. “Thank you.”
Cameron smiles. “Cool. Okay, catch you later.”
Then he hurries after Dan.
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