What Was the Point of It?

Previously: The Admin makes contact and the team sorts out a theory.

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12:35 PM - Monday, November 10, 2014

Xavier Prep, Outer Richmond District, San Francisco

“The Parisi twins should be at their lunch period,” the Dean’s receptionist popped her head in from the outer office. “Should I send the AP to find them?”

“Yes — and tell him to be discreet, please.” The Dean ordered.

Jeannie perched on one of the rolled arms of the green Chesterfield sofa, trying to tamp down her anger and annoyance. Being duped by a teen girl — a teen girl she tried to show compassion to — had her screaming inside. She didn’t mind the concern she’d shown, she minded that it had been given on a manipulation. Raj pulled one of the chairs facing the desk away to situate it next to the wall opposite Jeannie; he seemed nervous, while Mark was pacing the length of the room.

“What’s on your mind, Raj?” Jeannie asked quietly.

“Same as you. Wondering what kind of weird little psychopath we’re dealing with.” This garnered a cold stare from the Dean.

“Raj, cool it.” Mark muttered. “They’re kids.”

“Okay fine, I’ll withhold judgement until the end of the interview and we’ll see who’s right.” Raj dropped his bag on the floor and crossed his leg to prop his ankle on the opposite leg. Jeannie stared at his well-worn low-top Chuck Taylor in forest green as it bounced on the end of his knee. She felt her mouth clenching and moved to weave it back and forth, trying to loosen her jaw.

“Would anyone like some water?” The receptionist offered.

“Yes, please — “ the Dean answered from behind his desk, “please bring plenty for everyone.”

Another round of minutes went by until finally a loud tone sounded signaling the end of the period. The hum of the building shifted outside the office walls, with the flow of the student body changing course in the hallways. A low-level vibration of teen high jinx and angst seemed to pulse the walls.

“Dean, Vin Parisi is here —” the boy emerged in the doorway with his slack shoulders and drooping backpack, another plaid shirt buttoned to the collar. He looked shiftily between the Dean at his desk and the rest of the room.

“Vincent, please sit down.” The Dean gestured toward the green couch and Jeannie stood to take the second chair at the desk, turning it around to face the room. Vin watched her with large, silent brown eyes.

“What’s going on? Am I in trouble?” The boy’s voice was a low, uncertain growl. He shrugged off his backpack and placed it upright on the floor in front of him. No one spoke.

“Dean, I have Angela —” the receptionist ushered Angela forward into the room. The girl looked more spindly and small than Jeannie remembered. Her shirt seemed oversized, hanging well below the hem of her sweater, which was an incongruous shade of baby pink. Angela’s own pair of brown eyes widened as she assessed who was sitting in the room waiting for her. Jeannie remembered her thick dark lashes — the way they framed her eyes with her dark brows dominating her face. The darkness of her eyes contrasted with her pale skin, making her seem waifish and romantic — Jeannie thought of the etchings in the novels of Charles Dickens. The girl seemed fragile, first standing on one spindly leg and then the other, but her eyes were quick with intelligence.

“Sit down with your brother, Angela.” The Dean commanded, and she obeyed, barely glancing at her brother. Her own backpack hit the floor and she sat primly on the edge of the Chesterfield. Angela looked around the room before settling her gaze on Jeannie, who stared back, chin lowered.

“Glad you both could join us,” Mark began from the opposite corner. He was the only one who’d remained standing. “We have a few follow-up questions — well, a few things have come up during the investigation into what happened to Alexa Thomas, and we think you both would have answers.”

“Our Dad’s a lawyer, so if you want to ask questions we want him to be here.” Vin challenged from the sofa, his eyes flinty.

“Yes, we’re well aware of who your father is —” Jeannie shot back. “If you want to call him, that’s fine. We’ll wait for him.” Vin Parisi didn’t move. “No? You don’t think he’ll want to be inconvenienced in the middle of his Monday?”

“What— what do you want to know?” Angela muttered out quietly.

“We want to know why you, Vin, joined the — what did Dash Reilly call it, the “wolf pack” on Friday night. Do you just go along with all of Tripp Hartman’s mischief-making, or were you all in?”

Vin rolled his eyes in response. “It was Tripp’s idea. He thought it would be funny so he had his mom buy the masks. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Right. It wasn’t a big deal but a girl died.” Vin’s eyes began to register fear. “What was the intent, Vin? What was the point of it? To run around and scare people or to run around and scare a certain person?” Mark stared him down, crossing his arms in front of him. Vin stared back at him tilting his chin up. “We can have a battle of wills all day, Vincent, but frankly we don’t have time for that. So, why don’t you just tell me what I already know?”

“And what do you already know?” Vin challenged.

“We know that Tripp planned a prank to scare Alexa, so why don’t you tell us about it?”

“Fine. Yeah. He wanted to scare her, but that’s all he told me about it. He thought it would be funny. I don’t know what happened.”

“Sure you do.” Mark countered.

Vin’s face contorted into a question. “What — I —”

“You put the masks on, and you started running around? Who brought the masks?”

“Tripp did.”

“And you ran around for how long?”

“I — I dunno, I mean 5, 10 minutes?”

“Did you run laps around the people or just did whatever?”

“I — I dunno.”

“How many laps do you remember running?” Vin’s mouth gaped open. “Do you remember seeing Alexa Thomas during your run around?”

“Yeah — I guess. She was wearing Seb’s jacket.”

“And when did you see her last?”

“I — I dunno, I mean we were drinking.”

“Yes, everyone was drinking, Vin. When did you last see Alexa, was it by Inspiration Point or over by the Redwood Grove?”

“I — it was dark. I — I remember her being on the trail, it was dark.” Vin stammered, eyes widening as he stared in the mid-distance trying to remember. Mark stared at him silently.

“So, it was dark, you saw her on the trail and you were running around. And that, Vin, is all you know?” Mark’s mouth turned up into a slight smirk. Vin looked up at him, eyes narrowed and nodded shakily. “Well then, you don’t know all that much do you?” Vin’s face was pinched in surprise as he now shook his head. “And I’ll bet that in the grand scheme of things, your sister probably knows a lot more than you do, doesn’t she?” Mark then fixed his gaze on Angela, tilting his head as he considered her.

“I don’t know anything about Alexa.” Angela said clearly. “I was up at the parking lot at Inspiration Point.”

“You don’t know about Alexa — “ Mark echoed.

“But you know about everything else.” Raj added quietly. Angela’s eyes darted to him suspiciously.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Raj.”

“Oh, okay.” Angela sassed. “Tell me why you’re here, Raj.”

“I wanted to meet you.” Angela considered this and burst out laughing. Her bicuspids were pointed, making her little teeth look sharp, and her laugh was hollow.

“Why would you want to meet me?”

“I want to know how you built it.” Raj’s eyes shone with admiration. Angela paused, exhaling sharply.

“What?” She whispered.

“You heard me: I want to know how you built it. You are the one who built it, right?” The girl was wary. “You’re the classic profile: a bit of a loner, extremely intelligent, talented at math and science, plus you’re into robotics and do that STEM camp for girls? It’s all there. Oh, and the stage crew angle is absolutely the piece de resistance — one of the invisible people in the wings that no one notices? It’s perfect.” Angela’s mouth went into a flat line as her chin began to tremble slightly.

Jeannie’s eyes went from Angela to Raj and she felt a slight smile forming on her face. Raj was getting to her with flattery. The girl’s eyes went soft as she looked at him.

“You mean she’s a fucking nerd.”

“Vincent, I won’t have that language in here.” The Dean countered from the desk.

“Fuck you, Vin.” Angela tossed out sharply, her head spinning to her brother.

“You’re right no one notices her, why would they? She’s a freak.”

“I’m not a freak!” She growled at him. “You’re the fucking loser — you couldn’t pass half your classes without me and you know it. You and Tripp. Neither one of you would last if it weren’t for me. Good luck in college, idiot. I won’t be around to take care of you.” Vin turned his head away from her.

“Okay, everyone needs to take a breath.” Mark said. Jeannie got up and took a few of the water bottles the receptionist had brought in, handing one to each of the twins. Angela shook with anger. Her eyes stared at the floor and then rose up to look at Raj again. He gave her a half smile.

“You built it, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” She whispered, taking a sip of water.

“Build what?” Vin asked. “What’d she build?”

“Your sister built Pr3pSF. You didn’t know that?” Mark asked Vin whose face was contorted in confusion. He turned to look at his sister.

“You did that?” His sister nodded. “You didn’t tell me?”

“Why the fuck would I tell you.” She growled. “So you could tell Tripp and have him use me like he always does? No. Thanks.”

“Use you? Tripp doesn’t even like you.”

“No, I don’t like Tripp. He’s disgusting and demented and you know it. He doesn’t even like girls, and you know that too.” Vin twisted away from his sister. “You throw me in the mix so he looks more normal, but you never for one second think about me. You’re supposed to be my brother, you’re supposed to look out for me, but you never do, Vin.” Tears spilled over and her big brown eyes shone as she looked again at Raj. “Yeah, I built it. I built Pr3pSF, and I built it for me.”