“When does the local news start, anyway?” “Pretty soon, I think. Weird to hear a shut-in interested in the news. Getting curious about the outside world?” “No, I killed someone,” I told her. “I just can’t help but wonder if it made the news.” She blinked, still looking right at me. “Wait. What?” “I ran a girl over last night. I was going fast enough to kill her, for sure.” “Umm... This isn’t just some kind of joke, is it?” “It isn’t,” I nodded. Since she was the same kind of person as me, I felt at ease telling her anything. “And when I ran her over, I was totally drunk on whiskey. I don’t have even a shred of an excuse.” She looked at the newspaper in her hand. “If that’s the truth, then it is weird that it didn’t make the news. You think they haven’t found the corpse yet?” “Well, there were some circumstances, and I should be able to get away with it for nine days. In that time, I’m sure my crime will never be noticed. I’m convinced after reading the paper.” “Yeah, I don’t get it.” She crossed her arms. “Do you have the time to be talking to me? Shouldn’t you be erasing evidence, running away somewhere, that kind of thing?” “You’re right, there are things I need to do. But I can’t do them alone. I need to wait for a call.” “...Right. Well, I’m still having a lot of doubts, but what I’m getting is that you’re a serious criminal.” “Yes, any way you slice it.” At once, the art student’s expression brightened. She grabbed my shoulders and shook me, her face beaming more than simply “joyous” could describe. “Listen, I’m like, extremely happy right now,” she said. “I feel so much better.” “Schadenfreude?”, I asked through a bitter smile. “Yeah. I’m happy to know you’re such a loser beyond all help.”