“You and I are going to be best friends forever. Promise?”
“Promise.”
___
I often recall the old times we used to spend together.
When the rain was still merry, and when society didn’t take our innocent away.
This room used to have Barbie dolls, and fake tea cups, but now it’s just piled up with laundry and textbooks.
Photos of us were still treasured in my phone, but that was all in the past.
I didn’t understand why she disappeared.
The beginning of highschool brought me the feeling of freedom.
I let myself forget about her, and blend into the crowd, but there’s no where I can escape.
“Get out of my way, freak.”
It was happening again.
I bumped into the lockers as he shoved me. I remain silent, and let them mock me.
I thought I could get through this part of my life without any trouble, but Jack Wyler came back.
He knew the Josie from the past.
Rumors spreaded out of his mouth like wild fire.
I didn’t do anything, because it was my fault in the first place.
If only I had introduced her, letting them know I wasn’t speaking to myself, then perhaps I wouldn’t deserve this.
___
The door shut behind me with a soft breeze trailing after.
I kicked off my sneakers, abused by years of wearing.
The lonely sound of the news from the T.V filled the still room.
There was no sign of living creatures.
I passed the ancient kitchen and made my way up the stairs, as the worn out wood groan under my footsteps.
My bedroom door, coated with childish stickers, was slightly opened.
I swear I closed it when I left this morning.
A quiet chill ran down my back. As swiftly as I can, I snatched a textbook out of my ripped backpack.
Swallowing the bitter bile in my throat, I cracked the door open.
Screaming with my eyes closed, I smashed the empty air.
“Hey! Stop it. It’s me!” My body froze.
I peeked open my eyes.
There she was, in her classic dyed hair, with as many colour as the rainbow.
She had her dull necklace still secured around her neck.
“Janet?” I asked, almost to myself. “Janet?” I repeated, with my eyebrows knotted.
“Yup, the one and only Janet is back,” Her arms circled around my petite body, pulling me into an embrace. “I’ve missed you,”
There was no warmth from her hug.
“What are you doing here? How? When? I--” I rambled.
“I know it’s confusing. How about we get something to eat? I’m starving.” She said, patting her stomach.
I could only nod.
She calmly rested in the kitchen, casually humming, while I stayed confused.
I silently prepared her a grilled cheese sandwich, with the fridge never opened and the scent of smoke never in the room.
A deep voice of the reporter sparked my attention at the mention of his name.
“Jack Wyler, 17 year old boy at Creek Hills High School, has been found murdered at 4pm this afternoon. Investigators told us the murder was done just an hour, before the body was found. We are devastated to hear the death of such a brave, intelligent young man...”
“Seriously, brave? Intelligent? Give me a break.” I turned my head to Janet, who’s devouring her sandwich, with no sound of chewing. “What? He bullied you, didn’t he? Don’t you hate him? Shouldn’t you be glad he’s dead?”
Shock, it was all I felt.
This was not the Janet I remembered.
She was sweet, and caring, and would never wish for someone’s death.
A piece of my happy memory shattered.
“Yeah… I guess...” I said, and unconsciously glanced down.
Maggie’s House, 8 pm.
The itchy black ink covered my forearm with those letters, constantly reminding my of the time and place for a party.
I covered it before Janet could see.
It was my chance, to finally fit in with a group.
Maggie, she's popular.
I’ve always wanted to be with people like her ever since I was little.
“Hiding something?” Janet asked, peeking her head over.
I shook my head violently.
Her mouth opened, but before she could attempt to question again, a booming knock interrupted her.
We exchanged glances, and I stepped forward to clicked open the door.
“I'm from the police station, Officer Matt. Is Ms. Josie Ly in this household?” A towering man spoke, the fragrance of gunpowder around him.
“Yes, that's me.” I answered him, my voice slightly unstable.
Janet came up beside me and placed a calming hand on my shoulder.
The officer didn't even bother to give her a glimpse.
“Do you have any acknowledgement towards the murder of Jake Wyler?” He asked, preparing his notepad.
“Yes,” I nodded. “From the news just a few minutes ago.” I balled my hands into fists, begging them to stop shaking.
“During the investigation,” A small plastic bag was pulled out of his front pocket. “We found this. And I believe it belongs to you, Ms. Ly.”
My eyes widen, and my breath hitched.
It was my necklace, shaped like a halved heart.
I reached up to my neck and panicked when I didn't feel the cold touch of the familiar metal.
Janet tightened her grip on my shoulder, faintly, as if it was not there.
I whipped my head to her necklace, still dangling gracefully around her neck.
“I---” I started.
I remember when we bought those friendship necklaces together, but as the memory started to fade, tears slid down my cheeks.
“Ms. Ly, we understand this is all very intense, but you must cooperate. I'm asking you again, does this necklace belong to you?”
He held up the clear bag in front of my face, and my hands immediately reached for it it, hugging it to my chest.
“Yes, I lost it at school today. He took it from me, when he bullied me. He bullied me! That's why he had it, with him, when he died. I'm sorry. I don't know anything else. I just need some time, to process this. After all, he was a classmate. I'm sorry. Please.”
Words scrabbled out of my mouth.
My eyes flashes to the ceiling, the floor, anywhere but him.
The sound of pen contacting with paper and the shuffling of footsteps echoed the space.
“Ms. Ly, thank you for your time and information. Take care,” He stepped out the door. “Good day.”
The door closed and the sunlight went out with him.
The necklace, it was with me, I knew. It was with me in every class, every minute.
A snicker vibrated into my ears, and a sudden realization hit me.
Janet was there.
She stole my necklace, placed it with that boy, and… and she killed him?
Fear traveled through my body, like the blood in my veins.
I took a step back away from Janet, staring down at her feet.
“Josie.” She said. “Josie, I gotta go rest a bit.” She turned around. “Do what you have to do.”
I don’t know how long I stood there, but when I opened my eyes again, the sky was already dark.
___
The early sun beamed through the curtains, on the morning after the party.
An unsettling tension hung in the air.
Both of us were sitting quietly in my room.
My hands folded on my lap, a formal expression on my faces.
“Where did you go?” Janet asked, her voice weak.
“Nowhere,” I spilled out the lie as smooth as water from a tap. “Trust me.”
“I was waiting all night, but you never came home.” She spoke with a demanding tone.
“Grocery, just grocery.” I mumbled.
Since when had I learn to tell lies?
“Don’t mess with me!” Janet was shouting now, bringing fear to my mind.
I don’t remember her ever screaming at me.
“I swear, Janet. There is no where else I could have been.” I said.
Panic rising in the pit of my stomach.
I could sense the burning anger coming off of her.
“You were at that party! With your… your new friends! You left me alone for those brats!” Janet stood up, and paced towards me. “Look at me! What good could they possibly give you? How are they better than me?” She howled, “Answer me!”
“They are not… I was… I don’t know....”
Tears threatened to fall, and I forced myself to blink them back.
“You would be nothing without me. Nothing!” Her hands gripped my face with pressure, forcing my eyes to meet her’s.
I couldn’t bring myself to make eye contact.
“Do you understand?”
“I’m sorry,” I whimpered, as I drew in a harsh breath.
For a few seconds, everything remained silent.
Her hands loosen, and I imagined them leaving painful, red finger marks on my cheeks.
“Sorry.” She repeated, slowly stepping backwards.
I placed my cold hands on my cheeks to cool down the fake burn.
“Janet...” I started.
She stared at me with intense eyes and I almost lost my confidence to speak.
“They invited me, or else I wouldn’t have gone. I just... I just thought I could be accepted. I didn’t mean to leave you, I would never leave you. You’re my best friend, right?”
She kept on staring blankly for a few seconds, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.
Suddenly, a crashing sound from downstairs broke the silence.
I sprint down, wanting to escape from her.
As I set foot on the last step of the stair, my heart nearly stopped.
“Hands up!” A man’s voice shouted.
Officer Matt, with dozens of other police with him, surrounded me with their armed guns in its position.
“I said, hands up!” He ordered.
I flinched and gradually raised my hands to my head.
“It was her… It was her...” I whispered.
“Ms. Ly, I had suspected you from the beginning, and I guess I was right. Maggie Shade has been murdered yesterday night at 8:30 pm. This, another necklace was found with her,”
He held up the evidence, this time not even in a plastic bag.
It was her half of the necklace.
At that moment, I wished so badly to run up to my room and bring Janet out for them. Prove that she was the killer.
“Your fingerprints were found on the body, on the knife, and a piece of hair identified as your DNA was there. What else do you have to say?”
“It was her… It was her...” I whispered again. A pause. “I can show you! Wait!” I exploded and the guns clicked in preparation.
“Please. Let me show you who she is!” I pleaded.
With hesitation, the officer nodded, and followed me every way up the stairs.
I pointed to the closed door of my bedroom, where she was hiding.
Officer Matt kicked it open and only the silent air returned.
She’s gone.
“She’s here. I--- I have photos.” I fetched my phone, the point of the gun never leaving me. “Here,”
My hands scrabbled through the photo album, and landed on one of my favorite.
Me and her.
Side by side, arms around each other.
However, she was not there.
My arms seem to grasp the air, my smile forced, and no trace of her existence.
“Ms.Ly?” Officer Matt demanded.
I crumbled, my body gave up.
I wanted to memorize our past. It was everything I had, the only thing I had, to keep away from the reality of the world.
Now it’s disappearing, and I have nothing to look back to.
How am I going to be happy without a happy memory?
“Don’t get me forget about you.”
I whimpered. I couldn’t remember her name anymore.
As all memory of her vanished from this world, the space around me grew into a forever night.
Without those thoughts, I couldn’t escape from my horrid life.
Without the last bits of her existence, nothing can make me laugh again.
Without my precious memory, there was no more point in living.
I took his gun, pressed it hard against my temple and pulled the trigger.
I took my invisible friend with me, to a place where memories never go away.
___
♡♡♡
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