Casting Shadows

“Come on Red, we ain’t got all day.” Clem pouted as she stood at the bottom of the stairs. To her left was the kitchen, Red’s mother humming along to the oldies on station 93.4 as she made muffins. To the right was the living room, the pristine area untouched in a long time, dust collecting on the surfaces. Alexandria was above her, four steps up, hands buried deep in the book bag at her feet as she tried to find the calculator she would need for the Algebra test she was going to fail later in the day.

“I got to find it Clem. I don’t want to fuckin’ fail worse than I’m going to already.”

“Watch your mouth,” called out from the kitchen as the humming stopped and soft footfalls made the entrance serenade for Reds mother. Her name was Kathy but every one of Reds friends called her mom. She owned the same flame red hair that sat on Reds head, her figure taller and sleek in comparison to her daughter. They both had the same eyes, bigger than needed to be, and lips, full pout without trying. Everything else on Red was what she shared with her father. “Did you check the dinning room table?”

Alexandria looked up at her mother with a scowl, the woman brushing it off like second nature. Both her mother and best friend watched as she gathered the things she had spilled everywhere and chucked them back in the bag. She then proceeded to stomp down the remaining stairs, shoulder past Clem, and slid into the kitchen, which lead to the dinning room, and grab her calculator.

“Come on then, first bell is in ten minutes, I can’t afford another whopping from Mr. Chancy.” Red rolled her eyes but gave her mom the kiss on the cheek before following her friend out the front door and to the old beat up Tahoe in her drive way.

Clem was different. She’d never be normal if she tried and that’s why Red liked her. She was dressed in flower print bell bottoms today, a green t-shirt on her top with the words flower power blaring brightly in magenta pink on the front. Her hair was pulled up in short piggy tales, little balls sticking out from the top of her head. She wore matching green and pink eye shadow along with yellow eyeliner and blue mascara.

In good Clem fashion they sped the whole way there, arriving in the back of the parking lot with just five minutes to spare. Both girls booked it through the front doors just as they were being shut, making their ways to class, parting on the second floor.

Red shimmied into the doorway of her Math class just as the bell sounded. Everyone was staring at the math test, which was face down on their desks. She took her seat and pulled out her calculator, watching the seconds tick away before she could turn over the test and get it over with.


“How’d the test go?” Clem took her seat on the ground next to Red just outside the cafeteria doors. During the spring and summer they left the back doors open, permitting students to lounge in the hundred-degree weather outside rather than in the stuffy cafeteria.

“I know I got at least ten of them right.”

“Well that’s good, better some than none eh?”

“My mom is going to be so pissed. How do I easily explain that Algebra isn’t my thing? She never gave David a hard time when it came to math.” They both sat in an unsettling silence as they processed the name she had spoken. Red’s anger slowly faded as she finished eating an apple, chucking the core far out into the grass. Clem bit into her uncrustable but put the rest of the sandwich back in the package after that.

“Yeah, but David had the charm. You missed that lesson for some reason.” Clem smiled softly at Red, waiting for her friend to return the look so she knew she hadn’t spoken out of term.

“Right? All he had to do was smile and everything worked out for him.” Red shook her head with a small chuckle under her breath then sighed. She could feel the hole in her chest, the sinking sensation in her gut that wouldn’t allow her to eat dinner tonight. She packed up her things, storing the left over lunch that didn’t require refrigeration in the front pocket of her bag. Clem did the same and the two girls climbed to their feet, taking in their trash. The cafeteria was one of the only places in the school that wasn’t air-conditioned. The warm heat slapped Red in the face, the smell of sweat and food mixing together to make her stomach turn and growl at the same time.

Just as they started out into the hall, hoping to slip by Mr. Chancy so they could sit in the choir room in quiet till class, Red was slammed into from behind. She let out a grunt as she collapsed to the floor, the body on top of her squirming to get off her as soon as it landed. Her bag had dug into her back, books shifting against her spin and she grumbled in protest, pushing the weight in her off.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to trip like that… for real, I’m so sorry.” Red waved off the apology of the stranger, allowing Clem to assist her in standing as she brushed the dust and dirt off her midnight blue dress. The dress had been a present from her grandmother, a gorgeous blue summer dress that felt like silk. When she got a look at the boy who had slammed into she didn’t recognize him, his concerned face one she would forget in no time. One of the faces behind him however startled her.

She hadn’t seen him in a long time, and even then she had never seen him straight on. Every glance from before was always through a crack of the door, or a glimpse as he ran up her stairs. David’s best friend, or rather ex-best-friend was an illusion in front of her and she couldn’t breath.

“Come on Red. Mr. Chancy isn’t looking.” Red shook her head of past thoughts and nodded, allowing Clem to steer them down the hall in a frenzied fashion. They slipped into the big open space of the choir room, wiggling around behind the bleachers to sit on the back wall. Clem slid down the wall as Red dropped her bag and used the sweater tucked inside it as a mat to sit on. She reached inside her bag for the cookies she had stuffed in the front pocket only to find them crushed in the plastic, her brows furrowing angrily.

“Was that who I think it was?”

Red didn’t answer her right away. She wasn’t quite sure yet if she had seen him herself. A startling blast from the recent past. She was shell shocked.

“I just kinda thought rehab would be longer than a couple of months. I didn’t think we’d see him again in a long time.” Clem kept rambling on, her hands nervously fidgeting as she ripped the finger nail polish she had spent hours putting on, off.

“Stop doing that. You spent too much time on those nails.” Red’s voice was shaky, but Clem listened, dropping her hands to her sides. “I didn’t think he’d come back here. Not after what happened, but then again I thought Chelsea would have cleaned up, and look where she is now.”

“I heard she gives blow jobs for a hit.”

Red sent a glare in Clem’s direction, the latter putting her hands up in defense.

“Just what I heard. I’m not spreading rumors about the girl.”

“I’m sorry. It was just months ago I was friends with her. It’s hard to hear the crap about her, let alone believe it.”

They sat in silence, munching on the cookie clumps inside the bag. Red tried to think of something rational but all she could see was the red hot anger and contempt she had.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Tim, and how much I hate him.”

“You look good in that dress.” Clem pointed out the pretty blue silk wrapped around her friend.

“Compliments aren’t going to steer my thoughts away from murder.”

“Surely they can. Do you see yourself? Hot piece of ass right there!” After a second of staring they both broke out into laughter, Clem clutching her stomach as she collapsed to her side in a fit of giggles and snorts.

“We’re so fucked up.” Red brushed the cookie crumbs off her dress and put the empty cookie bag off to the side. “You know, I can’t help but blame him Clem.”

“Are we talking about Tim again?”

“We didn’t stop talking about him.”

“I clearly remember something about a hot piece of ass, but if you say so. Continue.”

“Did you read his testimony? I read it fifteen times.” Red shook her head, focusing on a hole in the brick wall. Someone had tried to drill a peep hole into the girl’s locker room only to find out that they were off by four feet. A detention later power tools were removed from the set design class. “He just left him Clem.”

“He was pretty jacked up himself Red.”

“That’s no excuse. He could have helped.”

“I don’t know Red. I don’t know about you but I’ve never been under the influence, so I don’t know what it’s like.”

“Whatever.” Red played with her necklace, glancing up at her best friend of five years. Clem gave her a reassuring smile from her position on the floor. She rolled her eyes and looked away, glancing out at the other side of the bleachers when the bell rang.