Free Lizzy Gardner #2_Dead Weight by T.R. Ragan

Sacramento often, but when she did, she tended to keep both eyes wide open.
    Inside the school building, sitting at the front desk, was a woman with long shiny black hair. Her center part was a cleanly shaved three inch wide strip down the middle of her head like a newly paved street slicing through black tar. The thick frames of her dark-rimmed eyeglasses matched the color of her hair. Her lipstick, on the other hand, was blood red. There were so many shocking elements to the girl that Lizzy didn’t know where to look or where not to look. She didn’t want to be rude and stare, so she shuf led through her purse instead until she found her notepad. “I have an appointment with Lori Mulcher.”
    “Th-that would be m-me,” the girl said. Her lip twitched and then her left eye did too, but she didn’t come to her feet or make any kind of gesture that would prompt Lizzy to head to a meeting room or a quiet place where they could talk.
    Lizzy held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Lori. My name is Lizzy Gardner. I have some questions I’d like to ask you about Diane Kramer.”
    The girl’s right shoulder jolted upward and Lizzy had to stop herself from jumping back. Clearly, Lori had a severe tic. The young woman began to grimace. Both of her eyes twitched. She made a yelping sound right before she stood. Her hand lung out and smacked Lizzy in the chin and nose.
    An elderly woman sitting at the desk behind Lori Mulcher gestured for Lizzy to take a seat in one of three plastic chairs by the entrance.
    Lizzy took a seat, and then found a tissue in her backpack and used it to dab her nose. It was bleeding. Damn. She packed her nose with tissue and bent her head back to stop the bleeding. She pretended to admire the popcorn ceiling, which was clearly a health hazard.
    Lizzy knew she only needed to be patient with Lori. She’d had a friend in high school with Tourette syndrome who had the occasional lailing limb and a mild facial tic. Lizzy always defended her friend, making sure the girl knew she could relax around her.
    It wasn’t long before Lori collected herself and led Lizzy to a private of ice. Lori didn’t talk about the bloody nose; there was no reason to, and they both left the incident in the past where it belonged.
    “Are you working with the police?” Lori asked, her stutter hardly noticeable.
    Lizzy waited for Lori to sit before she illed the lone chair in front of the severely scarred wooden desk. “No,” Lizzy said in answer to her question. “Diane’s sister hired me to look into the matter. I was told that you and Diane were close. Is that true?”
    Lori shrugged. “We saw each other every day, if that counts for something.”
    “Did you two ever go to dinner or lunch together?”
    “Are you asking me if we’re lesbians?”
    “No,” Lizzy said, although the girl now had her wondering just that.
    “Andrea, Diane’s sister, told me that you and Diane were best friends.
    That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.”
    Clearly, Lori Mulcher was not happy answering questions about Diane, which struck Lizzy as odd. “I don’t mean to be rude,” Lizzy said, “but I was under the impression that you and Diane were close friends. If that’s true, then I would think you would want to help me and her sister find her.”
    “If Diane was my friend, don’t you think she would have called me by n-now?”
    So that was it. Lori was angry with Diane for running off. “That’s true, Lori, but this is exactly why Andrea is worried about her sister. I know Diane was depressed, but why would she leave her good friend and a job she loved?”
    “Who told you sh-she was depressed?”
    “That’s the story going around, you know, because of her weight.”
    Lori waved a hand through the air as if that was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. She grimaced, too, and Lizzy readied herself for an episode, but nothing happened.
    “She didn’t care about her weight,” Lori said, “not until she joined