It's not the most normal thing to walk into a classmate's apartment and step on a corpse. But I did it. Of fucking course I did.

Xavier Clark has a subscription to the school newspaper, but he hadn't shown up at school. So the newspaper staff decided to send me, its ace sports reporter and most antisocial member, to drop it off at his apartment.

It was a fact of life at Marylane High that Xavier lived on his own after running away when he was eight. No wonder he was so badass.

I knocked on his door. Nothing. The apartment was dark. I knocked again. Nothing still. I reluctantly tried the door. It wasn't locked. I took a breath and pushed it open.

There were no lights on. I slowly navigated the dark sitting room, calling his name every other step. I reached a staircase. Glancing around as if I were going to get caught, I climbed up. It was still dark, and I tried to ignore the raging roar of a revved mower engine outside. I couldn't see my feet if I tried.

There was a slight strip of light coming from a flickering lamp on a desk. As I neared it, temporarily mesmerized, the picture of a young Xavier with his arm around a slightly rounder girl, both in swimwear was visible. The Polaroid photo was the central component of a large bulletin board. I turned it over. The back read, 'the day I first realized that I love Mona'.

I set it down and stepped forward.

Then, I felt something elevated and solid under my foot. I raised it quickly, and my eyes focused on the shocked and open-eyed face of Xavier Clark.

I waited for him to blink. I waited for him to hop up and cry, "What the hell are you doing? You scared the shit out of me!" But that didn't happen. He didn't move. He didn't breathe.

Xavier Clark was dead.

I didn't pause for it to register. I clenched my fist and allowed a single tear to fall before making my way outside.

A black-haired girl in simple pajamas pushed along a reluctant red mower. There was no mistaking her. The girl from the photo. Mona.

I approached her, shouting slightly, "It's Mona, right?" She nodded, letting the mower go, causing the awful sound to stop. It was silent for a moment. "I-is there something wrong?" She asked meekly. "He's dead, Mona."