There's Been a Murder - a short story written Spring 2011

PART 1
Heidi welcomed me into her room: probably the messiest in the building. I know she’s smart and a good student, but I don’t think she knows where her thoughts are, let alone her notebook buried under her clothes. I sat at the chair jammed next to the microwave, a makeshift dining room, while she cleared off a space on her bed to sit. On the opposite side of the room, Siobhan sat cross-legged and braided her long blond hair.  Heidi sorted through her papers and folders as I searched through my laptop’s hard-drive, both of us searching for more information for our group project. It helped that she was just down the hall. When she found her articles and I had found mine, I moved myself to the end of her bed and showed her my screen.
“I’m out. See you in the morning, probably,” said Siobhan as she grabbed her jacket and stuffed her cell phone and wallet into her jeans. Purses are such a burden at parties.
Heidi barely even looked up as her roommate walked out, so I smiled to Siobhan on Heidi’s behalf. As Heidi handed me her papers she said, “So Parker, does anyone else know about what you did last week?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I was barely listening to her and there were loads of things I did last week, I couldn’t be sure what she was talking about.
“I saw you with Professor Logan.”
No. We always made sure to be secretive. “Yea, sure. I needed a rehearsing partner for my audition,” which was a fact the first couple of times, until I found myself “rehearsing” after every Tuesday class.
“You two were totally making out and his hands were all over you.”
“You have no proof, you’re crazy.”
“I came into the auditorium and had a question about the quiz on George Bernard Shaw, but I figured he was a little preoccupied with you up against the stage.” I stared at her in silence, the expression on my face probably revealing she was right. “I could tell the faculty. He’d lose his job and you’d probably be fired too. I’d probably be better at it than you anyways.”
Everyone loved David, I mean Professor Logan. Why was she so against me? So what if a professor was dating a student? It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. “No one will believe you. It’s just your word against mine.”
“That’d be true if I hadn’t snapped a picture first,” she said as she pulled out her phone and too quickly flipped to a fuzzy and zoomed in picture.
I lunged forward and grabbed her skinny little neck between my fingers. Part of me wished I hadn’t dropped out of Karate, but all I could think about were the promises of the future that he had made to me, and the life we would have after I graduated. In retaliation she pushed me onto the ground but I rolled on top and pushed my knee into her gut. All I had to do was keep squeezing and putting all my body weight into my knee, until she stopped fighting back. I stood up and stared below me. Hopefully she’d wake up soon and forget what happened, forget what she confronted me about. I packed up my computer and got out as fast as I could. I rushed down the stairs and into the car. I needed a long drive.


PART 2
“I was headed out to a party, just the girls and me in LA like every week. I grabbed what I needed and put it in my pockets and walked out with my jacket. I said ‘bye’ to Heidi and Parker and barely got a response from either. There’s really no getting through Heidi when she’s studying.
“I got all the way to my car when I realized I didn’t even have my keys. I knew I would be late to meet up with my friends, so I hurried back to my dorm. As I walked up the stairs, I saw Parker run past me. She practically pushed me into the wall and didn’t even see me as she ran past. I figured she was late for class and didn’t bother her about it.
“I opened the door and immediately screamed when I saw Heidi limp on the floor. Sure she had passed out a number of times on a Saturday night, but not like this. Her arms and body were twisted in unnatural ways. I remained in the doorway, unable to move, until a couple guys from next door were next to me. One of them, Simon, snuck around me, checked her pulse, and then gave her CPR. I always knew it would be handy to have a lifeguard next door. When Lee hung up from calling 911, he pulled me away from the door so I didn’t have to look.
“I didn’t want to say it out loud, and my head was still spinning, but when I had first left, Parker was there, and it looked like she was settling in for a long study session. I think I also didn’t want to share my thoughts with the guys because, well, Parker’s our RA. They probably wouldn’t believe me. She’s always so nice to everyone. And they probably would’ve told me that it could’ve been anyone.
“Simon and Lee stayed in the hall with me until the ambulance showed up, they were real nice and tried to keep my mind off of what was on the other side of my door.”

PART 3
“Is that all you can remember?” asked the officer in the sealed off room.
“Yes, I wish I were more help, but that’s all I saw,” she answered politely.
“No, thank you, Siobhan. You’ve been plenty of help.”