For Nevermore Season 1

the news, sister, and the rumors are all over the place.”
    “Like what?” Noella was hoping to hear something that might make sense of the confusion.
    “I don’t even know where to start,” Mako said. “Since no one knows anything, everything sounds equally ridiculous.”
    “Give me the worst of it,” Noella said.
    Mako raised one eyebrow. “Worst I heard is that you killed two people, then tried to get rid of one of the bodies before the police got there.” Mako quickly added. “Like I said, ridiculous. And it’s not like anyone actually believes that. They just like to say things like that because they suck.”
    The bell rang. Noella hugged Mako goodbye and headed to biology. As she passed the connecting hall, she saw Sam and Becca walking, hand in hand.
    Sam called out, “Noella!”
    Noella kept going, pretending she hadn’t seen him.

    **

    As hard as it was for Noella to believe, the remainder of her school day passed with little incident. As the day pressed on, many of Noella’s fellow students found the courage to ask her about what had happened. It took her until the day’s third bell to realize she already had the perfect response.
    “I can’t remember a thing, and it hurts too much to try.”
    That seemed to shut everyone up, both students who meant well, and those who didn’t. Somehow the news had missed the part about her attacker being burned alive. Thank God for small miracles. Noella figured the sheriff’s department must’ve had a reason to keep the details from the public, or maybe they’d done it to protect her. Either way, it was a blessing, and a pleasant surprise.
    Sam didn’t show up to either of their two classes. Rumor was that he’d gone home sick. Of course, Becca also coincidentally went home “sick.”
    At first, Noella was annoyed that they might be spending the day together playing hooky. But then she felt relieved not to have to see either of them.

    Mako had violin practice after school, so Noella took the bus home alone, and everyone left her alone. She stepped from the bus, ignoring the whispers behind her, then slowly approached her empty house, glancing across the street and wondering how she could have possibly thought she saw Dante staring at her through the window.
    Randy’s cruiser was gone, even though he should’ve been home. She entered the house and found a note on the table:

    “ Got called in. Gonna be at the station late. You’re on your own until Josie gets home. Try not to make any bad guys disappear. HAHA!”

    Randy ended his note with one of his smiley faces wearing a trucker hat, to let Noella know he was only teasing. Noella rolled her eyes, crumbled the note, and tossed it in the trash. She walked to the fridge to pour herself a glass of chocolate milk and saw the pink Post-It with a note from Josie:

    “ Remember: Monthly Appointment with Dr. Foster Tuesday 9:00 a.m.
    Don’t Forget!
    xoxo
    Josie”

    Noella gulped. What should she tell Dr. Foster this time? What could she tell him?
    She shouldn't say anything, she decided. Her meds were finally working. There was no reason to make things worse, or make anyone think she was stuffing any more crazy inside.
    Noella poured her chocolate milk, then took it to the living room, sat on the couch, and turned the TV to VH1 and an inexplicably hypnotic episode of Behind the Music where Vanilla Ice was trying to explain how he didn’t steal the main riff of “Ice Ice Baby” from Queen and David Bowie. No matter how hard she tried to turn the channel or turn the TV off, she stay tuned through segment after segment, not even flipping channels when the commercials came.
    Noella watched a few more TV shows, the entire time, unable to concentrate for long on anything. She held the cordless phone in her hand, running her finger up and along the handset, debating whether or not to call Sam.
    She felt bad for blowing him off, and wanted to apologize and make everything better. If he were really sick, it would be nice to call and cheer him up. But if he were just skipping school to hang out with Becca, then Noella would feel foolish. Besides, who needed cheering up when you were dating a cheerleader?
    Should I call?
    She picked up the phone and dialed the first three numbers, but the doorbell rang and stopped her thumb on its way to the fourth.
    Noella felt a chill, probably just anxiety from a day’s worth of stares and a week’s worth of terror, then tossed the phone on the couch and walked