What Rose Above

Seventeen

". . .people will always tell you to stand up for yourself but they'll stand on the sidelines when you get punished for it. What they'll never admit though, is that I did what had to be done. What all of them wanted to do but never had the guts to do. Ain't that some shit?"

Barbara Thatcher laughed softly as she did many times throughout her interview. She tucked a long piece of black hair behind her ears, staring into the camera. Her soulless eyes were chilling. Even more chilling was the fact she talked about murder like it was normal. She was firm in her beliefs, I'd give her that. And she believed she did the right thing.

I couldn't resist searching her up after my mother's biography about her. I suppose I was right about her portraying herself as the unlikely hero. She had a hero complex as she talked. Killing her classmates was the only option in her eyes, and she had the right to protect herself.

Her words, not mine.

I couldn't fathom how she could smile like that from behind bars. She was in dull orange prison clothing. Her hair was kept together. Her personality was neat. Her and my stalkers mentality was the same—unforgiving and unregretful.

"So, this is why you wanted me to learn about her. . ." I whispered.

I clicked out of the old video on my phone and set my phone down on the bed beside me. I then yanked my earbuds out of my ears.

Mother nature was lively tonight; to the point I couldn't rest. Case in point: the soft chirps, loud and obnoxious as ever, creeping in through my window sill. There must have been a cricket or something hanging around outside.

Finally, after minutes of speculation, I mustered up the energy to approach the window. Officer's Delaney and Baring were huddled in their patrol car, minding their business as had become the routine. A single light was lit above them in the car; both of their faces lit. I surveyed the dark streets. For what reason? Honestly, it was just by nature at this point.

It was a good thing I did though because I just might have missed the dark blur blending into the side of Robert's property.

The hairs on my body stood at attention. I cuffed my hands around my eyes, pressing my face closer to the glass. The blur appeared more like a dark shadow from here. If I had Patty's or my mother's horrible eyesight, I knew I wouldn't have seen them.

It was eleven at night, wasn't it?

I checked the time.

No, scratch that. It was nearly twelve at night. And there was a random person lurking around Robert's house? I didn't think it was the man himself. For starters, Robert made it clear he was a no bullshit kind of guy. But the nail in the coffin was all the sneaking around—and they weren't sneaking out, they appeared to be looking for a way in. For someone to go through that much trouble to do that, it couldn't have been Robert.

Unless he had just done something terrible. Well, whether it was Robert or a possible intruder, I had two armed police officers sitting right outside my window who'd know exactly what to do.

"Shit," I swore and knocked on the window. The first knock went unnoticed so I tried again. It took several more attempts for me to accept that my signal failed.

I sifted through my hamper nearby, filled with dirty laundry from the past few days, and grabbed the first article of clothing I could find—a pair of gray sweats. I hopped towards my bedroom door, struggling to pull my sweatpants on, then bolted downstairs with my slippers on when I succeeded.

"Tyler? You should be inside at this hour." Officer Baring spotted me first. He frowned and rolled down the window from the passenger seat.

I huffed and puffed, approaching his side of the vehicle. "I think I just saw someone sneaking into my neighbor's house."