Chapter Text
The door to the office slowly creaked open as Detective Shapiro let herself in. She checked to be sure no one followed her before she clicked the door shut behind her and locked eyes with the teenage boy sitting nervously at her desk in a dark blue Hatchetfield Nighthawks shirt.
“Kyle Clauger, is it?” Shapiro asked, flipping through the thick case file in her hands.
“Yes,” the boy answered quietly.
“Good morning, Mr. Clauger,” Shapiro nodded as she sat down, leaning back in her chair because she knew that it was going to be a long day. “I assume you already know why I brought you in today. Do I assume correctly?”
“Yeah, I know,” Kyle answered sheepishly. He was a strong-looking kid, and he played for the high school football team. Theoretically, he shouldn’t have been scared right now, but Shapiro’s harsh gaze had Kyle shaking in his seat.
“Then I don’t need to waste time on an introduction,” Shapiro pulled pages out from her file. “Maxwell Jägerman is dead. You knew him well. I need you, Kyle, to tell me your side of the story,” she leaned over her knees and pointed to him with her pen. “And if you promise to tell me nothing but the truth, then this shouldn’t take long at all. Sound good?”
“Okay,” Kyle agreed.
“Good. Starting from the very beginning, Kyle,” the energy in the room shifted as Shapiro readied herself to listen to this kid’s truth. “Back in September.”
“Okay,” Kyle repeated. “Max, Jason, and me were the last people outta the locker room after practice, when Max saw that Spankoffski kid…
XXX
“Hey, four eyes!” Max called down the hallway. His voice made Pete jump and instinctively press his back against a row of lockers to protect his backside. “Care to explain why your pimple dick is on my turf after hours?”
Max jogged towards the nerd, who stayed frozen in place. Jason and Kyle weren’t far behind him. Pete winced as he realised he was surrounded by Max and his goons. He desperately wished he could phase through the lockers behind him and disappear.
“Well?” Max threw his arms out in question. “Speak, fuckface!”
“I-I’m just wai—waiting for someone,” Pete stuttered out, avoiding looking Max in the eyes. “I’ll go now, I-I’m sorry—”
“Not so fast, bitch!” Max shouted as he grabbed onto Pete’s shoulders the moment that he tried to escape and slammed him back into the lockers. “I need names. Who told you that you could be here? Huh?”
“Ste-Stephanie,” Pete said quietly. He scrunched up his nose instead of fixing his glasses with his hand, too afraid to make any sudden movements.
Max scoffed and took a step back. “Stephanie who? ‘Cause I know it wasn’t Lauter that agreed to hang out with a loser like you.”
At that, Pete straightened up a little. “Well, m-maybe you don’t know Steph as well as you thought you did, Ma—Max…”
Pete should’ve been more prepared for Max slamming his body into the lockers again. He could feel it now, and he knew there would be bruises the next day.
“What the fuck did you just say to me, Spankoffski?” Max spat Pete’s last name like it was a curse.
“Hey, man,” Jason spoke up, bouncing his weight from foot to foot as he usually did. He locked eyes with Kyle, who was just as nervous-looking as Jason. “Listen, if Steph says she’s cool with the kid, shouldn’t we be, too?”
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t ever wanna get on Steph’s bad side,” Kyle added, scratching at the back of his neck.
Max whirled around and glared at them. “Shut the fuck up , dickholes!” Max stormed forwards, making both Kyle and Jason back up instinctively. “You don’t make the rules! Steph doesn’t make the rules! I make the rules!” Max was screaming in their faces, towering over them despite not being that much taller. “I get to choose what happens to this nerd in the stupid fucking glasses!” He pointed behind him. Right at the empty space where Pete used to be.
“About that,” Kyle stared at Max’s finger pointing at nothing. “The kid is gone.”
“What!?” Max growled, cursing out Pete as he whipped his head around, searching for the nerd he was about to beat up. Just as Max expected; Pete was running down the hallway towards the nearest exit. The kid had been medically exempt from gym class for years. His pigeon-toed feet were nearly tripping over themselves. Max pointed at the nerd and sicked Jason and Kyle on him like they were his dogs.
“Get ‘im!” Max shouted. The three jocks chased after Pete and gained on him quickly, successfully cornering him in the courtyard before he could escape off campus.
“Let me g-go!” Pete squirmed in Jason’s hold, only to be shoved directly into Max’s stronger grip.
“Not that easily, bitch,” Max manhandled Pete, pushing him every which way like a little toy. “What’s a creep like you doing with Steph Lauter, anyways?”
“I to-told you! She invited me,” Pete struggled. His voice was cracking on every word in a panic.
“Haven’t I told you nerds to stay in your fucking lane? You stuttering little shit,” Max’s sneakers scuffed against the concrete as he dragged Pete along, pacing a small area of the courtyard. “I thought you were supposed to be one of the smart ones.”
Max shoved Pete down onto his knees and drove his foot straight into Pete’s chest. Pete gasped and nearly collapsed in on himself as the air was knocked right out of him. While he was choking, Max balled up the collar of his sweater and lifted him back up, only to land a punch to his face, knocking his glasses off.
Pete cried out in pain so Max cheered in victory. Jason and Kyle laughed alongside him, pretending not to be internally cringing at the horrific stream of blood coming out of Pete’s nose.
“Is something wrong with your fucking brain, bitch?” Max asked, but Pete was too disoriented to reply. “Or do I need to knock it back into place some more?”
Max let go of Pete’s collar and used both of his hands to throw the dizzy kid backwards. Straight into the concrete stairs leading up to the gym doors. Pete’s head hit the bottom step with a sickening crack and his body went limp.
“Never talk to Stephanie Lauter ever again, you fucking loser,” Max shouted, stomping on Pete’s discarded glasses and cackling at the feeling of them crunching between his shoe and the pavement. “Am I right, boys?”
Jason fought to keep his brave face on as he nodded in agreement, but Kyle’s eyes were glued to Pete’s body lying still on the concrete.
“Uh, Max?” Kyle started, wincing at the horrifying glare Max gave him. “He’s not moving…” Kyle hesitantly pointed at Pete.
“What—” Max started before he realised what Kyle was talking about. He had smashed Pete’s head against the stair hard enough that Pete wasn’t waking up, even as a small puddle of red started to pool around his head. “Whatever! Let’s fucking go!”
Jason and Kyle didn’t know what else to do, so they ran away with Max and left behind Pete’s motionless body for someone else to find later.