"ashlynn..." josh whispered out, a tear falling from his eye and off the building.
"don't you see, josh? she was the problem, not you! she was an indecisive bitch, and she could just hurry up and pick me over you! now, our problem is solved, right?" cassandra smiled, and it was genuine. this disgusted josh.
"no. i'm done with you. i-i'm calling the police a-and turning you in a-and-"
"that wouldn't be wise. you'll be put in jail right there beside me." cassandra reasoned. she was right, and josh knew that. saying nothing more, he sprinted at full speed for the rooftop door. cassandra beat him to it, though. they both ran down the stairs and just as josh was about to walk right out of that building to the police, cassandra grabbed his arm.
"excuse me, sir? a- a girl, maybe in her twenties, she just jumped from the roof. i don't know what happened, but my boyfriend and i were going up there for a date under the stars and we saw her jump. please, sir, call the police." cassandra actually sounded convincing. josh was puzzled, but her glare at him told him he should shut up if he liked living. he didn't know nor did he want to find out what she was capable of.
the man behind the desk nodded quickly and ran off somewhere, probably to a phone that could call 911 and not just the other rooms of the building. cassandra peered over the desk to see if the man was gone, then in one swoop she grabbed josh's arm and bolted for the door. luckily, there was no one else in the lobby at the moment as it was pretty late at night.
cassandra let go of josh's hand, grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked him straight in the eyes.
"i don't know you, you don't know me. you have never met someone named cassandra, we are strangers." with that, cassandra sprinted off and was out of josh's view before he could even ask why.
that was the last he had ever seen of cassandra.
|-/ |-/
the next morning, josh got a cab to tyler's house. he knew tyler would want to know from him before the news told him.
josh texted tyler and told him he was coming over, so he didn't waste time with knocking and walked right in.
"tyler?" he called. he walked into the living room and saw tyler and jenna, blankly staring at the tv. there, was a woman standing in front of the building ashlynn was pushed off of.
"yesterday at 12:30 a.m., it was said a young couple told the front desk that a woman jumped off this building, and authorities rushed to the scene immediately. the girl was identified as ashlynn connors, and her death was thought to be that of a suicide. the young couple left after reporting the crime, and the cameras of the building surprisingly didn't get a shot of either of their faces, it seems they were moving to avoid showing their faces. ashlynn was-"
tyler reached for the remote and quickly turned off the tv, but he still stared at it.
"she's dead...?" tyler whispered. for the first time in a while, josh saw tears coming from tyler's eyes. "josh, they've got the wrong girl, right?" tyler looked at josh desperately along with jenna. josh shook his head.
"it wasn't a suicide." josh told, sitting next to the two on their couch. "ashlynn was murdered.
"then tell the police! t-they have to know! th-they'll catch whoever murdered her and-" jenna rambled.
"jenna, it wasn't how you think. it was cassandra." the two gasped. "she ran away before i could get her and turn her in, she's long gone by now."
josh the proceeded to tell the whole story to the two, their jaws both hanging open.
"she.. she tried to push you off a building?" tyler stuttered. "that cunt." he growled. josh was taken by surprise at this, as tyler never swore around people. like, ever.
"we can still turn her in! we know her name, what she looks like-"
"jenna, you know we can't do that." tyler interrupted. "she'd too good. she'll blame it on us, or she'll kill us next and get away- it's just too risky. we have to just leave."
"you're saying we just ditch and forget about ashlynn and move on with our lives? like she was never there in the first place?" josh questioned hysterically, getting up and starting to pace the room.
"i don't want to loose you guys... we have to-" tyler was cut off by a small sob. "we have to leave. we'll go back to columbus, act like this never happened."
"i can't. i loved- i love her. i can;t just forget the girl i fell in love with."
"so you'd rather turn yourself into the police for assisted murder?" tyler was almost shouting as he stood.
later that day, they began packing. later that month, they left. a year later, they were already settled into their new homes.
josh had never let ashlynn from his mind, but, the less and less she was talked about, the less he could remember of her. he's barely grasping what she looked like, and her voice is too distant to recognize anymore.
his love was slowly slipping from him, and he knew he couldn't stop it. so, he let it happen.
josh forgot ashlynn altogether.
|-/ |-/
