Chapter 3The Secret Behind the Top Student's Death

How was that possible?

Why would Zachary kill himself?

My right hand shook uncontrollably.

In the dream, I used that hand to push him out the window.

"Is it true?" I asked our teacher.

Panic swept through me. I could barely hear my own voice.

Everyone turned to look at me.

Zachary was my best friend, after all.

And we'd fallen out over his exam results just yesterday.

"Do you think Zachary felt so guilty about taking first place from Julian that he killed himself?"

"What do you mean, ‘taking first place from Julian'? Julian's never come first."

"But two students who placed first have jumped to their deaths. That's creepy..."

Their whispers filled me with guilt.

Had Zachary jumped because I refused to answer his messages?

While I stood there in a daze, Daniel found me.

"Julian, was Zachary a close friend of yours?"

I nodded.

He held up Zachary's phone.

"He sent you a lot of messages last night. Why didn't you answer any of them?"

I told him the truth, then asked, "Officer Lewis, did Zachary kill himself because of me?"

Daniel studied me with suspicion.

"He didn't kill himself. Before he went to bed, he wrote in his diary that he planned to apologize to you in person today. Why would he take his own life that night?"

"Then who killed him?"

Daniel looked at me again.

Once he seemed satisfied that my grief and guilt were real, he said, "The investigation is still underway. All I can tell you is that the same person killed Zachary and Zara."

"The killer's target is clear: whoever comes first in your class."

His expression grew unreadable again.

"I should warn you. As things stand, you're the suspect with the strongest motive in both murders."

My heart lurched, then beat even faster...

He was right; even without those two strange dreams, I would have suspected myself too.

Whenever the top student died, I stood to gain the most as the student in second place.

But I'd checked the security footage.

On the nights Zara and Zachary were killed, I never left my bedroom.

I couldn't have committed either murder.

Still, I couldn't explain why I'd dreamed about them.

When school ended, I saw Zachary's mother.

For the past few days, she kept coming to the school gates, just as she had when she used to pick Zachary up.

But he would never come out again.

She rushed toward me as soon as she saw me.

"Julian, have you seen my Zachary?"

She seemed to have lost her grip on reality...

My eyes burned, but I couldn't find a word to say.

Then another woman charged over.

"Julian Nash! You killed my daughter. I know you did..."

Zara's mother slapped me across the face.

"My daughter never had a problem with anyone! You were the only one competing with her. Did you kill her so you could come first?"

Zachary's mother seized on her words. She grabbed my clothes and shouted at me.

"Yes! Zachary came home and said he'd taken first place from you. He said you hated him for it! You killed him! I know you did!"

"It wasn't me! I swear it wasn't!"

Tears spilled down my face as I tried desperately to explain. But the scenes from my dreams kept forcing their way back into my mind.

At last, the school guards arrived and pulled the two women away...