Who Killed Macy Thatcher

1

August 5th;
Eight months till the accident...

   The sun was still stuck on it's summer high, drenching the Earth with an icky warmth. Sweat glistened across Macy Thatcher's shoulders, shimmering as she stretched her muscles. She was a strongly built girl, but her figure still held a feminine shape. Her posture was proper and tall, flourishing in her pride and self confidence. Her skin was glazed with a light caramel glow, the tan having settled in from the months she had spent under the sun. When she adjusted one of the straps to her bathing suit top, a hint of her previous skin tone shone through. This gave away the color of her winter complexion. Her brown hair had collected a hue of honey from the sun, a color that showed itself whenever she moved her head. 

   "Are you going to get in or just stand there and stretch like you have a yard full of boys watching you?" A voice questioned from behind the sun-kissed female. Macy turned and flashed a bit of an impish grin at Belle Jordan. The girl was the twig of the two, taller and smaller built through and through. She also wore a healthy tan, her silky black waves cascading over her shoulders as if she had just fixed them in place. Everything about her posture breathed laziness, from her drooped shoulders to the small folds of her stomach from her slouched position. She slowly raised a hand to push her large sunglasses back to their proper place on her nose. The size of them caused them to continuously glide down her nose, but she had grown so used to them that she no longer even thought about it when she adjusted them. She quirked a carefully shaped brow as Macy dove into the pool, sending up an arc of water. She watched the other girl swim below the surface of the pool, all the way to the shallow end. When she finally popped up she sucked in a greedy gulp of air, having jumped in so suddenly she hadn't given herself enough time to properly prepare for the underwater swim. Still, it had been no problem for Macy, she was built for swimming. 

  "Are you going to join me today, or just lay there?" Her voice was as expected, soft and pitched to add a strong feminine touch to it. It wasn't squeaky like Belle's, though, but instead it remained smooth and gentle. Belle rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses and picked her magazine up off her lap, returning her scrutinizing gaze to the clothing on the glossy pages. 

   "I'm fine staying dry." Was her simple response, trying to stop the discussion before it even started. Macy was known to be very persuasive. If she got her mind set on getting her friend in the pool with her she would definitely get it. 

  "But it's so hot out! How are not sweating buckets?"

"Ladies don't sweat." Belle swiped the page she had finished scavenging over so she could read the next. "Besides, I'm looking for back to school clothes. It's not long before we will be going back to school, after all." 

"You've got me there." Macy lifted herself out of the pool with ease, water running off of her form to dampen the hot concrete. "Do you have any more magazines? I think I should look, too." She tilted her head to the side, ringing her wet hair out a bit. 

"In my room." Belle replied as she slowly got up, "I'll go get them. Just dry off and get comfortable." She slipped back into her home, already going off in search for all of the magazines she could find-- both in her room and outside of it. Macy sat herself down on the lawn chair next to Belle's. She glanced over at the still open magazine, spying a romper that had been circled with a red sharpie. Macy smiled to herself, she knew Belle had already read and reread all of the clothing magazines she had received in the mail the past few weeks. She was a bit of a clothing fanatic,  always having a well-packed closet. Though she was also quick to get rid of any clothes she no longer liked. At least she was efficient when it came to her shopping addiction. Macy's cheek rested on her own shoulder and her eyelashes flickered a bit. She could already feel the summer heat seeping back into her body, drying the water off of her body. At least now the heat wasn't entirely unpleasant. The only bad thing about the heat was it was making her eyelids heavy and her mind foggy. If Belle didn't return soon she would surely fall asleep. After a few more minutes she reconsidered the thought of a nap, deciding it wasn't such a bad idea. What would she be missing out on, anyways? She could always just go discover the clothes in person. Though Belle might be upset she had searched for all of her magazines for nothing, Macy would make it up for her by inviting her to go shopping with her. So Macy allowed herself to drift off to sleep, knowing she was in safe hands while at Belle's. 

   Shortly after Macy passed out, Belle finally exited her house. A small stack of newspapers weighed her arms down a bit. She took one look at Macy and scowled to herself, mentally scorning her friend for falling asleep. She walked over to her lawn chair and dropped the magazines on the ground. Even with the loud "smack" of the catalogs, Macy did not budge. She didn't even shift in her seat. Belle scoffed and crossed her arms, "You have got to be kidding me." She grumbled as she plopped down on her lawn chair, pulling her magazine back into her lap. She turned her pages fervently, a little pissed that she had done something for her friend only to come back to that very friend passed out. "Whatever." She rolled her eyes to herself, calming down a bit. She glanced back over at Macy, studying her peaceful face. "At least you're an ugly sleeper." Belle mumbled quietly with a small smirk, turning her attention back to her magazine.