The girl on swing

Part Ten

The next morning, everyone was awake. They pretended as everything was normal. Brandon quickly left for his class while Alex are on the way to the library. Jason on the other hand had just returned from his morning jogging. Everything seems quite normal. Nobody talk about what happened last night nor did anyone seems to care anymore. On his way to the library, Alex passes by the park. He takes a look at the park. It was 9.30 in the morning. The sun shines bright. It was clear that the park has been abandoned for some time. Alex focuses on the swing. It seems as it never ages even a bit. At least to his eyes. The swing looks as if it was newly installed. No wonder his girl always chooses the swing. He forgot what others are saying that the swing was old, broken, and not properly maintained. To him, those people are missing the perfect spot to relax and unwind. Suddenly his phone vibrates. It was one of his classmates. “Alex are you going to class today? What class? Asked Alex. “We have a replacement class this morning. Can you tell prof I’ll be a bit late today” said his friend. “Alright, I’ll go right away. To be honest, I don't even know we have replacement class today” said Alex. He then rushed to his class. 

It took him almost 10 minutes to reach his classroom. It was Robotic engineering class today. Alex thought that he was already late as he spend some time wandering nearby the park. However, upon reaching his classroom, the room was slightly empty. There are only 5 students there. One of his classmates told that the lecture will be a bit late today as their lecturer are preoccupied with something else. Unfortunately, no one ever bothers to tell Alex about it. He was lucky that his classmate called him about the replacement class otherwise he will miss the class. After all, the notification was only pasted on the front door of the classroom. As he was already there, Alex took the time to catch his breath. Although it's only morning, he is already sweating. Luckily the classroom is air-conditioned. While he was resting, some of his classmates approached him. 

“Alex, we heard you have a girlfriend now, who is she?” Ask one of his classmates. It was Mona. She is the gossip queen. Everything that is to know, she knows. “What? Where did you hear that? Said Alex surprised. “Oh please Alex, we’ve known each other for 3 years now, don't hide anything from me. I know you’ve been seeing someone right. Some bird told me they always see you at the park almost every night. What are you doing there anyway?” Said Mona. “Where did you get all those rumors? There is no such thing, I'm still single” said Alex. “Arrgghh Alex doesn't lie to me, it's not good to hide from me. Is she pretty? Or Am I prettier? “Of course, you are prettier Mona,” said Alex. He was still trying to catch his breath and these women are already coming to him asking so many questions about his personal life. 

“It's okay if you wanna keep it secret for now. But I'm glad that you finally found somebody. But don't spend so much time at the park. It's dangerous” said Mona melancholic. “What do you mean? It's not like I'm doing anything bad there? We’re just spending some quality time” asked Alex. Mona is the latest person who warns him about spending too much time there. “Oh Alex, you are so dumb and naive. You never heard about what happened at the park previously before it was closed?” Asked Mona. Her face shows that she doesn't believe Alex’s innocent at all. How can he be so blind about it? It's like the most talk-about story that year. And it was passed down from seniors to their juniors every year. And this guy seems to know nothing about it. How unbelievable. “What happened to the park? I never knew? All I know is that it was closed because the maintenance was too high.” said Alex innocently. But deep down inside, he already knows that Mona will be talking about the dead body found at the park. Jason had told him about it before but he just took it lightly as a rumor to scare him away from the park. “Okay as you know nothing about it, I'm gonna tell you the story. There was a dead body found at the park. It was a girl. Nobody knew her name or at least maybe people had already forgotten her name. Rumors had it that she committed suicide because she cheated on his boyfriend.” said Mona. Her storytelling has attracted the other student in the classroom to gather around them. “Mona seriously? We never heard the story either, where did you get the story from? asked one of their classmate amused. “My senior told me,” said Mona. “But from what I know, the park was open to the public after they found the body. But it's only closed down when some students reported they saw someone at the park playing with the swing. Some students also reported that they were disturbed when they pass by the park at night. But there’s more. Some say that she did not commit suicide but was murdered and her body was dumped there.” said Mona. Everyone including Alex was shocked to hear her story. This is new. Nobody had ever said anything about the murder victims. “How do you know that? Asked Alex. There was a frown on his face. “Oh, my Alex. It doesn't make sense at all to commit suicide because she cheated. If it was the truth, shouldn't her boyfriend be the one who should commit suicide? After all, some students said it was her boyfriend who kill her out of hatred. But the truth is still unknown. She is already dead. And the police doesn't seem to be interested to investigate further.” said Mona. Her story sent some chill to the student in the classroom. “Arrgghhh it's just rumor. I heard so many versions of it, but your version is the most unbelievable one” said Alex frustrated. He doesn't understand why suddenly this kind of story pop up when he started to see Alicia. Previously no such story or rumors was spreading in his 4 years at the college. 

“Hey I'm just telling you what I know, it's up to you whether to believe it or not but don't say that I didn't warn you,” said Mona. She was frustrated that Alex seems to think that she was lying and making all the story up. Alex wanted to say something but.

”Alright class, take your seat we are already late” Their lecturer has arrived just in time. Mona and the others started to dispursed and take their seat. Alex on the other hand was still in denial. He wanted to believe the story Mona just told them but at the same time, he knew that Alicia is real. It's a bit confusing to him right now. He just stare at the window looking outside. “Alex, are you alright, why are you looking outside, I'm here in front of the class, not outside”. The lecturer's words awaken Alex from his daydreaming. “I'm sorry Prof, I'm alright,” said Alex.