Whispers in the Dark by Chase J. Jackson Read Free Book Online Page B

there by herself.
    â€œWhy, hello, Mr. Ramirez,” she greeted me as I sat down.
    â€œWhy, hello,” I said back.
    â€œHow are you enjoying the school?” she asked.
    â€œI’m still getting used to it,” I admitted.
    â€œCali getting on your nerves yet?”
    I laughed. “Yeah, she’s about there.”
    â€œYeah, she’s full of life. Little Miz Popular. Everyone knows her dad around here,”
Denise explained. “He owns a few dealerships in the area. Ripping people off left
and right. But her family is pretty well off.”
    â€œOh, yeah?”
    â€œYeah. Her dad puts so much money toward this place that you can’t even say nothing
to her,” Denise continued. “That’s the power of a dollar, I guess. Cali and her friends
are a bunch of little mean girls, but every school has them. Let me see, you have
that little wannabe comedian Dorian in there too, right?”
    â€œYeah, he’s in there too,” I told her.
    â€œHe’s been in trouble and in the office a few times,” Denise informed me. “I tell
him all the time that he’s not funny. See, it’s certain ones you can say that to
because their parents don’t put any money toward the school, other than tuition.
So you can get away with it. Remember that.”
    â€œYou mean to tell me some of these parents put more money toward this school, other
than the tuition?” I asked.
    â€œYeah, of course,” Denise replied, looking surprised that I didn’t know that. “These
parents put money toward the construction of new buildings and the renovation of
the older ones. Whenever we have events, I know which parents to go to, because I’m
the one writing the letters.”
    â€œSo all of these kids’ parents have money?” I assumed.
    â€œNot necessarily,” Denise corrected me. “There are certain ones that are on scholarships,
and they don’t have to pay anything. But you have to be accepted into the gifted
program for that. You remember how the gifted program was at Newnan. It’s just like
that here. The twins are taking a few gifted classes. I believe you have them, right?”
    â€œI do,” I told her. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about them. What’s their story?”
    â€œYou thought they were a little different when you first saw them, didn’t you?” Denise
asked quietly.
    â€œYes!” I exclaimed. “They walked into the classroom, and it’s like all the kids stopped
laughing and talking and just watched them.”
    â€œWell, Raven is a sweetheart,” Denise explained. “I’ve talked with her a couple of
times. She’s a little more outgoing than her sister. I haven’t really had a chance
to speak with Robin. She doesn’t say a whole lot.”
    â€œYeah, there was an argument about some students going missing,” I informed her.
“Well, Dorian said something about his friends going missing and blaming the twins
for it.”
    Denise cleared her throat and her expression changed when I told her that. She slowly
took a sip of her drink.
    â€œDo you know anything about that?” I asked, anxiously.
    Denise nodded her head. “Let me give you the story behind that. So, the twins’ first
year here was last year, same as mine. There was a student here named Jason, who
used to pick on them all the time because of the way they looked. I know this because
Raven would come and talk to me about it. But there was nothing we really could do
because Jason’s parents put a lot of money toward this school. So I would tell Raven
to just ignore him, and that Mrs. Ramsey would have a talk with him. Well, that never
happened. So Jason kept bullying them, and you know when one kid gets away with that,
others think they can do the same thing. So this girl named Ashley started saying
little comments here and there about the twins, too, in class. Raven came to me