Girls of Portland

Chapter Seven: Harper

3 terrible long hours later, Wes and I got off the bus. He finally stopped talking to me after about an hour and a half of the ride."So um I was wondering..." Wes mumbled. The wind whistled through the fake trees next to the bus stop. I rolled my eyes.

"What?" I said in the most disgusted voice I could. 

He smiled.

"Harper, your cool, I was wondering if we could hang out some time, since we will be in the same city for a while." 

I bit my lip. "Sure, um yea, I guess". I mumbled.

"Cool, see you around" he smiled one more time then turned away. He was headed toward a minivan parked across the street.

"Wait Wes." I regretted it as soon as he turned around. 

"Can I get a ride maybe." 

"Sure, come on." As the minivan raced along the highway, Wes told me stories of his family, and his family told me stories of him. They were a perfectly normal family. Normal. What does it mean to be normal. The car stopped at a light. Across the intersection I saw a little green car with an old antenna and a peace sign bumper sticker on the back. It was Juniper's car. 

"You can just drop me of here" I said, trying to sound polite.

"You sure sweety?" Wes's mom replied. Her perfect smile lingering.

"Yup I'm good. See you around. I guess." I pulled the door closed and ran to the parking lot. As I lightly tapped on the window, her face turned to me. It was just as I remembered. 

"Juniper?"

"Get in Harper" her face plastered away from mine. I slid into a seat in the back. "How's your mom?" She asked. I gulped. My face started draining. How's yours?

After she showed me around the apartment she left to go back to her job. I was alone. Her apartment was pretty well decorated for only moving in a few months ago. She had a nice sofa, the walls all painted different pastels, and a whole kitchen. Typical Juniper stuff. I walked through all the different rooms,the floorboards creaking. Her bedroom was painted a pretty mint green and her big bed was inviting, but I had slept on the bus. One of her walls was completely covered with cut-outs from magazines, posters, newspaper clippings, and Polaroids. I stepped closer. One article caught my eye. The headline read: Mother Found Dead: No Suspects or Witnesses. I kept reading. Gwendolyn Medley, mother of Juniper Medley found dead in her office.  After many searches of the body, no evidence has been found to point to any explanation besides a bloody suicide note laying on her body. 

I stopped. I couldn't read anymore. My fingers held tight around the paper. There was a Polaroid stapled to the back. I turned it around in my hands. In the picture, 11 year old Juniper was hugging her mother at some party. Juniper was wearing a pretty yellow dress that was easy to spot next to her mother's brown pant suit. They looked so happy. My hands started trembling. My breathing staggered. Voices fought inside my head. It wasn't your fault, you didn't mean any harm, it wasn't your fault Harper, It was Juniper who finally did it, it wasn't your fault.

But it was.

I kneeled to the floor clutching the photo in one hand and my face in the other. Tears streamed down my face, turning it bright red. I was sobbing now, I could barely breath, breathing in and out only the sweat and tears on my hand. I wailed in between breaths "I'm sorry, I'm so so so so..."

"Harper?" Juniper was standing in the doorway, looking enraged.