For the first time, Lyra realized just how loud all the other students in her school could be.

For at least the fifth time in the three minutes since she'd seated herself at an unoccupied table in the corner, she glanced up in irritation, her concentration broken. Each time, she feared she would find a policeman approaching her, handcuffs in hand. Just the thought made her shiver. 

Of course, she knew her fear was completely unfounded. No one would suspect Mr. Johnson's death had been supernatural. As long as she was careful and never used the Death Note again, people would just assume the man had a fluke of a heart attack. 

"Not like you to sit all alone, Lyra."

Practically jumping out of her skin, Lyra jerked her head toward the source of the words. Richie - her partner at the school dance - sat down across from her. She suppressed the urge to tell him in no uncertain terms to go away. Girls were expected to be tearful and scared when something like this happened, not angry.

"What do you want?" she asked, disgusted by the defeat in her voice. Richie's grin faltered. A small triumph. 

"You just looked like something had you down," he said. "I thought maybe you would want to talk about it. I'd still like to be friends."

Lyra glared. Richie's excuse for not going out with her after that dance had been that he wasn't looking for a relationship, but just someone to hang out with. Apparently, he had a girlfriend a few cities away. He could have mentioned that [i]before[/i] inviting her along. 

Still, it wasn't like Richie was anything special. Lyra had only gone out with him to see what a dance was like. The problem was that he had [i]rejected[/i] her. She was a princess! No one was allowed to do that! 

"My brothers were giving me a hard time yesterday," she lied, taking a bite of potatoes. "I don't want to talk about it... just leave me alone."

"Fine," said Richie, frowning, "If you change your mind, I'm always willing to listen."

Lyra's eyes followed him as he walked away. Richie Carter... it would be easy to be rid of that jerk forever. 

No! That would be stupid. Everyone knew she hated him. If people realized she hated everyone who mysteriously died of a heart attack, someone would be suspicious for sure.

But... the Death Note could kill in more ways than one. If she could arrange a scenario where there was a clear culprit, she should be able to escape suspicion. That shouldn't be so hard. The only real problem was a prickling in the back of her mind, a silent voice begging her to reconsider. 

Fine. Richie would live another day. But if he ever bothered her again, he was dead meat!