The Face on the Wall

Almost everyone in Allen National High School had gone home. Mary, Jack and I decided to stay. It was Jack's birthday and he didn't want to go home. 

We sat at the Science Building hallway where animal skeletons were hung on the wall. I told Mr. Cruz, the only security guard, that we just need another thirty minutes to finish a math assignment. It was a lie, of course. The reason we stayed was because Jack had promised his big brother Josh that he would smoke a cigarette when he reach 15. 

"Hidden cameras everywhere, kids," Mr. Cruz warned us. "A sin is a sin. If you make one, prepare yourself for the worst. By the way, you smell that? Gas. It comes and goes. Anyway, kids, enjoy doing your homework." 

 When Mr. Cruz was out of sight, Mary said: "What a weirdo. You heard the news about his wife?"

Jack and I nodded.

"He killed his wife and the other man. Adultery. Mr. Cruz doesn't like people who break the Ten Commandments."

"Smoking's not a sin, right?" Jack said, nervous. "And you know what, Mr. Cruz is lying. There are no hidden cameras in our school. He just scares students."

I looked outside the building. The night was so quiet. Cold but there's no wind. 

"Jack, I think you should wait until you're eighteen," I said.

"Jeez, Peter. You're gonna die a virgin if you're scared of everything," Mary said. "And Jack, I heard yesterday that Chloe and Luke already did IT. Smoked first and then did IT. They sinned but Mr. Cruz didn't punish them. So you're safe tonight, Jack. Just do it quick."

There it was, I could smell it. Gas. Then suddenly it was gone. Mr. Cruz was right, it comes and goes. I asked them, "You smell it?"

Mary inserted between me and Jack, and then she farted. "Yeah, Peter. I can smell it."

She laughed. Jack and I didn't. 

"I have to go," I said. "This doesn't feel right. What if there are real cameras here? If I get expelled, I'm like burning my parents' money."

"Jeez, Peter," Mary said. "Can you just stop using your brain? For once?" 

It was no use talking them about the gas. It looked like I couldn't stop them from smoking.

I was about to go home when Jack screamed. I never heard him scream before.

"A face," Jack said, his voice trembling. "On the wall. Guys, we're going home."

Jack pointed the space on the wall between the skeletons of a bat and a frog. 

I walked near it. It's real. It was a face. But the weird thing was it looked like Jack's face.

"It's just a painting, guys," Mary said. "Wait, it's you Jack. But it's black. Weird."

"Right, Mary, it's weird," Jack said. "Looks like a burned face. Let's go home now guys."

What happened next was so creepy we just stood there like frozen statues: the storage room's door opened slowly and its squeak echoed through the hallways. 

We're surprised Mr. Cruz didn't hear it. Where was he?

Mary opened her backpack and took out a cigarette and a lighter. She gave them to Jack, and said, "There, the door opened for you. Peter and I will look out here. Do it fast. Three minute tops."

"No, Jack," I said. "I feel that the devil is there. It's a trap."

"You know what, Peter," Mary was mad. "You're a fun-stopper. If you can't get out of your boring shells, then go home. I'll join Jack smoking. Meet you tomorrow, loser."

I watched them enter the storage room and then started walking to the main gate. I stopped when I saw that the chair next to the bulletin board was empty. It's where Mr. Cruz usually sits.  

I was about to go back to the Science Building to warn them for the last time, when an explosion shattered the school's silence. 

I won't go to the details of what happened to Mary and Jack's body. I still have nightmares about them.

The newspapers the next day were so harsh. They made the accident the front cover, exposing the burned body of the two students, explaining about the dangers of smoking and consequences of breaking rules. 

The part of the news that caught my attention the most was the capture below: "A sin is a sin. If you make one, prepare yourself for the worst."