"I don't get why I am the only one being interviewed, I've told my story multiple times. I have told at least three different detectives now. Why aren't they here? Ask all of them! My story hasn't changed. The one you need to be interviewing is..." I became silent. I knew he had done it and now the sound of his name disgust and scared me.
I used to think of him as a sweet boy. Now I knew his truth. But Why her and not me? Her life was going for her. She already had gotten accepted into her 1st choice college. She had a talent agent getting her gigs every other week. She had the best grades in class and was a shoe in for valedictorian. Why was it her that died and not me? It was my idea. My game. My phone. My boyfriend who killed her.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
5 months earlier
"No, I refuse to kiss him." Vanessa demanded shaking her head.
"Common Vanessa! Your boyfriend isn't even here! Just kiss and don't tell!" I said and nudged her in the shoulder.
"No, mine isn't, but yours is. Did you forget he is the one I'm going to kiss?" She looked at me with concern. I knew that she was my best friend and he was my boyfriend but it seemed normal. I mean if it doesn't mean anything then why does it matters. If only I would have known.
"Just get it over with, I'm fine." I waved my hand for them to go along and do it. She sat there and surprisingly Brett was the one to lean in.
At first I was fine with it, but then I saw something in his eyes just before he kissed her. He obviously was more into her than into me. But maybe I just made it up in my head. I tend to do that. I could tell they were making that kiss longer than usual and it was making me uncomfortable. Greer looked at me and then at Vanessa and Brett.
Greer was one of 'The five,'' along with Vanessa, Claire, Samantha, and myself. Greer was the girl who didn't have to do anything. Her parents spoiled her. She was the only daughter so you would have expected it. She had beach blonde hair which was almost always perfect and her eyes were green like an emerald. She was also the tallest of us and extremely lanky from her height, which makes for awkward dancing.
Samantha just sat there fiddling with her hands. She occasionally bite on her nails when she felt uncomfortable as to what was going on; we've tried multiple ways to get her to stop, but she just naws on them like a teething puppy. She was usually the quietest of the five unless you put a drink in her hand then you can imagine only the things she does.
I cleared my throat, they just ignored it; Brett placed his hands on Vanessa's cheeks, deepening the kiss. "Okay," I practically shouted, the two quickly broke the kiss.
I looked at Vanessa who was breathless and then at Brett who just looked dumbfounded. What the hell did I just see? I know Vanessa wouldn't try to break me and Brett up. Or I at least thought. Brett put his arm around my shoulder and looked at Vanessa with a grin.
"You're a lousy kisser Cortez." He gave Vanessa a smirked and fixed his hair. He liked to have a little swoop in the front.
"Shut up you asshole. You know you loved it." She gave one of her cute laughs and smiled at him. I could tell by her laugh she was being flirty, but I knew she was joking; however, I wasn't so sure about Brett. Then all of us sat in discomforting silence.
"So I heard that new guy, Conner, is coming to school." You know it's always Claire to break an awkward situation, her hazel eyes gleamed with slight excitement.
Claire was the social lite of the five of us. Claire always knows what's going on with anyone and everyone in our town, which really isn't that hard considering the population was 7,500 people. She was actually the one who invented what we are doing tonight.
Every year a weekend before school starts we go out and spend the night at Claire's parents' vacation house out in Blue River Forest. Usually it's us five but this year the boys decided to drop by and drink some beers with us for the night. We all decided it was fine, seeing as everyone's senior year was coming up and we needed one last hoora' before the school year that possibly meant losing each other.
Of course Greer was down for having cute boys here and Claire was too. I was okay with it because Brett had come along just to see me. He might have also added he wanted to have some free booze and get a little alone time with me, or maybe Vanessa.
But Claire was right. There was a guy named Conner coming to our school and of course that is the rage of the high school because we never get new kids. The tendency is to get kids with a record or a past of big achievements; however, no one really knew anything about Conner. But when we get new kids who are mysterious and no one knows anything about them they all jump to conclusions on what kind of guy he was going to be.
The math geeks believe he is a six foot, brown headed, algebra genius. The jocks think he is going to be a muscular guy who can tackle three guys at a time. The preps think he is going to be a new social figure for the town. I, on the other hand knew these were all lies; I didn't tell anyone but I knew Conner from a few years back.
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It was the summer of my sophomore year, my parents wanted to celebrate my father's promotion from his shittiest job to his less than shitty job. Being an automechanic doesn't have a lot of perks in this town, but two towns over is a town with a humungous population and not so many skilled workers. We all went to Tennessee, as a family (me, my parents, and three younger sisters).
My family and I were walking one of the streets, tourists were absolutely everywhere. Somehow this guy managed to get my attention, he stood in one of the stores, he stood about six foot tall with chocolate brown hair, a square jaw line, and brown eyes peered through his curly, shaggy hair. The guy caught me starring at him and flashed me a smile.
I felt my phone vibrate, slowly I pulled it out of my pocket and saw it was a text from Brett. Him and I had been talking for a few weeks. "Listen, I know you're away, but I just can't wait until you get back. Will you go out with me?" Without really paying much attention to what was said I sent yes back to him.
"Okay, we're trusting you all to come back to the hotel by 11; we made dinner reservations that we can't really cancel, and there's no point in keeping you all cooped up in the hotel room all day," My mom explained as this guy and I continued to stare at each other as tourists occasionally cut off our vision of each other. My parents soon left, leaving myself and my sisters, who are only a year younger than me, standing there; luckily our hotel is only a block away.
"Mom and dad are using that as an excuse to go and have sex," one said with a giggle. I looked at my triplet sisters in shock as the other two joined in with the giggling.
"I'm going to go into this store," I said motioning toward the store the guy was in. Slowly, I walked over to the store I could feel eyes on me. Mainly because I was dressed in my best wear and this was just a rundown corner store.
I looked for the mysterious guy who had been looking at me, no where to be seen. I walked past the narrow aisles, my purse brushing against the shelves. I looked down and saw a cockroach making me jump and pushing some boxes onto the ground. I could see a old man starring at me with disapproval. What the hell did I do to him? I picked up the boxes and set them onto the shelf as neatly as possible.
I decided this was a bad idea so I made my way to the store door and still the guy was no one where to be found. As I opened the door there was suddenly a hand around my wrist. Startled I tried to pull away but the person just pulled me in, I was close to him. I looked up and it was the guy eyeing me from earlier but instead of my face now it was my chest or at least I thought he was. He took his other hand and stuck it in my purse.
"Excuse me that's my Coach purse you are touching." I stated, snapping out of my gaze. Quickly I fought to get out of his grasp, but his grip only tightened.
"Shhh," he whispered, motioning to the old man who was watching us. I could feel his hand rummaging through my purse.
"What are you-" Slowly the guy pulled out a box. "H-how'd that get in there?" I quickly stammered.
"It fell into your purse when you bumped into the shelf," he replied as he released his grip. A sly smile pursed across his lips, "Hmm let's see here, 'I heart Nashville snow globe' I sure hope you didn't break them when you jumped."
Slowly, I looked at the old man who was attending to the now becoming soaked boxes. He noticed me looking at him and began to move over toward us. The guy placed the box on a shelf and grabbed my hand.
"Run!" He shouted as he pulled me behind him as we ran out of the store and straight into a crowd of people in the streets. I looked behind us, only to see the old man angrily watch as we ran away.
Soon enough, we stopped running and sat down on a bench. "Thanks for helping me back there," I spoke heavily as I tried to catch my breath. The guy nodded his head, as he breathed heavily himself.
"No problem," he said breathily. I sat and watched as people walked by us, some rushing to get to a specific place on time others just taking in the scenery. "My name is Conner," he finally said once his breathing had become normal.
I swallowed the hard dry lump in the back of my throat. "I'm Shaylyn," I replied pushing my brown hair out of my face.
We continued to sit there as my phone vibrated, slowly I pulled it out of my pocket. "You have no idea how happy you make me," it read. I sighed as I looked at Conner, he looked at me concerned as I just placed my phone in my pocket once again.
"Everything okay?" He asked his brown showing concern. I nodded my head and forced a smile.
"Yeah, just a guy from back at home." Conner nodded, leaning back on the bench and clasping his hand together.
"Oh so a boyfriend?"
"No," I sat there in a long pause. "Well, kind of, not really. He's not really the kind of guy to be in a committed relationship," I explained. Conner nodded yet again.
"If you wouldn't mind, I could possibly escort you around town today. A beautiful girl like you shouldn't be running around this place by yourself."
"Oh, so you're a local?" I asked looking at him as a smirk perched across his lips.
"No, I'm a tourist. My parents own a cabin the next town over, so we're here every break from school I have." I nodded my head. "Well, what do you say? I know some good places to eat."
"Alright, but no funny business. Okay?"
"No funny business," Conner replied, holding his hands up. Slowly Conner stood up and took my hand, helping me to my feet and not letting go as we began walking.
We walked a couple of blocks to a little diner, Best Italian Cafe & Pizzeria, it didn't look like much. I began to question why he had taken me here. "Just trust me," Conner spoke as he opened the door. I slowly walked in, it wasn't much different from the outside small, but cozy.
The waitress took us to a table, Conner pulled out my chair for me before I sat down. I smirked and think to myself how Brett would just walk to a table he wanted rudely and sit down like I didn't exist. He would pull out his important cellular device ,to keep in contact with his friends, and ignore me as he texted away. I push the memory aside and focus on the warm feeling inside knowing that I'm actually on a real date with a real guy.
These last few years have been a big change for me. Two summers ago I wouldn't have been getting any male attention but now since my chest has popped out and I have grown taller contributing my weight evenly I have herd more than a few whistles. I've grown into my face and let me just say that puberty has done me well.
"Do you guys know what you want to eat?" The waitress asked before she even took our orders for drinks.
"We'll share a calzone," Conner replied.
"And to drink?" She asked through her smile, her black hair pulled back and a few strands lined her thin face.
"I'll have a water," I quickly stated before Conner had the chance to order for me. Conner looked over at me with a smile.
"I'll have a sweet tea, no lemon." The waitress nodded her head, taking the menus I didn't even notice Conner had in his hands, and left. "Okay, Shaylyn tell me a little about yourself."
"Uh- I'm from northern Wyoming, I have my sisters are triplets, I have a small group of friends I hang out with." I looked around, thinking of what to say next. "I don't know what else to say. What about you, Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome?"
Conner leaned back in his chair as the waitress brought us our drinks. Slowly he picked his up and placed the straw to his lips, taking a sip. "Well, I am from North Carolina, I run track at my school and I play on the chess team as well. I-" I cut him off with a small chuckle. "What?" He asked looking at me surprised. He cocks one eyebrow up almost like he had been training his face to do that on command for years. Still he wears his attractive face while doing so.
"You are a jock and you play chest?" I questioned. I couldn't help but imaging a runner with nerd glasses and a vest.
"I'm not a jock per say. I just do one sport, and I'm pretty badass at chess," He replied with a laugh. I shook my head with a laugh. "Why is it so surprising to you?"
"My school is your stereotypical high school you fit into one clique and that's it." I pick my lemon of the side of my drink and squeeze it into the water. I bring my straw around in a circular motion in my glass to from a tiny tornado in my drink.
"Well, that's no fun. Multiple cliques allows you to meet more people, and allows for some fun college recommendation letters." He looks at my drink and then back toward me with a side grin placed on his face.
"You have this all thought out?"
"Pretty much," Conner replied taking another sip of his drink.
The waitress brought us our calzone. We slowly ate the monstrous amount of food as we sat and talked about ourselves. Conner had an older brother, who chose to stay home for this trip. He hasn't had a permanent home for eight years, his father's job requires them to constantly move. Conner is in my grade, but is ten months older than me. He also told me he played football, but didn't enjoy it as much as track.
"Thanks for bringing me here. The calzone was really good. But I think I should head back to my hotel. I'm afraid I might be lost and I might as well start the search now." I leaned over a little to get my debt card from my purse. Once I found the piece of plastic I got the bill and slid it in. He looked at me with a curious look. He then proceeded to pick the card out of the bill and hold it between his two fingers in front of me.
"Last time I checked I was the man here. There is an old saying from where I live that a gentleman pays for the 1st date. And trust me I'll get you home when needed Some days you need to be rebellious. Do things you want to do, you know?" I take the card back and put it into my wallet. I can't help but feel another tingle inside me. This feeling made me want to smile from head to toe.
"Yeah. Thanks" I say in a quiet whisper almost mumbling. But it is true. I'm always going along with my parents rule. Watch out for your sisters. Be home by 9:30pm. Don't go hang out with any boys we don't know about. But here I am. With a boy I met in a corner store slowly falling into him. Maybe I'm to be just that. Rebellious.
Once our meal was finished and we paid for the meal, we began to walk around the town again, holding hands. It's so funny that I met this guy only but a few hours ago and we are walking down town like a perfectly happy couple. I swear I haven't smiled this much since Brett gave me those flowers for Valentine's Day. I feel a pang of guilt but push it out of my thoughts. It would be nice to have a few hours where I feel like a normal teenage girl.
"Really!" I say in the middle of laughing. "You really super glued your teacher's bag to the desk"
"Guilty as charged," He does a slight bow and laughs. I lean against his shoulder and breathe in his scent. He smelled like clear water and sweet tea. I picked up my head and looked at him. His eyes are a very unique color like a dark brown with a hint of hazel. "But hey it's ok. I didn't get caught. For right now I'm just the perfect angel to the bitch." I can't help but put in a small giggle
"You know what." I squint my eyes as I look into the sun and then at him. My vision is still blurry from a second ago.
"What?" He asks this question calmly as he stares into my eyes. Or at least I thought he was staring at me but then when my vision clears I realize he has taken a stroll down my body. He places his eyes on my chest for a minute, then my mouth, then my eyes.
"You are right. I need to do things that I want. Rebellious. Forget the rules."
"Oh really?" We were still holding hands when he dragged me to the side down an alley way
"What are we doing?" I questioned as he locked his eyes on mine
"I know this house we can go to. My brother used to take his friends there all the time, he showed it to me our last trip up here." He puts more emphasis on friends than any other word in the sentence.
"Is it safe to go into?" I asked looking at him almost scared to know the answer.
"It's perfectly fine. One of his friend's parents own it and they've been renovating it but stopped because it was too much money to constantly be down here doing the renovations, so they're just saving up money before they finish it." No parents. A boy. A girl. Rooms. it adds up but inside me I decide to take a major leap. Become a girl I didn't know was really me. The one I hid all these years.
I nodded my head, agreeing to enter this unknown building. He took me a few roads over and to this house, the windows still had tags on them, there were ladders on the porch. Conner opened the large front door and went inside, pulling me with him.
"Stay here," he spoke. Soon he left the room, I looked around at the dry wall and half hardwood floors. Soon enough Conner came back with a blanket and spread it out on the hardwood part of the floors. He held his hands out. There was a case of beer in his hand and a pillow in the other. I think about sitting down but he sets the pillow down and grabs my hand to lead me toward the back of the house. When we reach the last door of the house he opens it and it reveals a beautiful back porch and a perfectly lighted backyard with a fountain in the middle. The fountain wasn't working but it was still pretty.
"Wow," I say in awe. "This garden, its amazing so beautiful" I look to my left to see a pretty light blue porch swing.
"Like you almost, but your working and more beautiful" he looks into my eyes and I feel the heat coming up to my cheeks. I look at the ground and then sit on the edge of the porch. He sits next to me and offers me a beer. I look at it for a second about to turn him down but instead I take it and pop the top off. I take a small sip and then another and another until I realize that I'm already done and need another. He happily offers it to me. He is still on his one.
"So, why aren't you home fondling your boyfriend." I blush at the sound of boyfriend but I process the thought through my mind. He means Brett.
"Well I was forced to come up here. And technically on Vacations its like a break from your life so as of right now I have no boyfriend. He doesn't exist." I smile and look at him the sun blinding my eyes. When my eyes adjust I notice again he is looking me up and then staring into my eyes.
Before I know how to process what is happening he slips a hair that had fallen loose from my face. I look at his lips biting mine. He then slips his hand behind my head and leans in to kiss me. But things get real fast. He has me against the wall of the pack porch wandering my body, hands on my hips. he proceeds to put his hand under me and lift me up. I wrap my legs around his waist and he carries me to the room where the pillow and blanket is. He sets me down and then walks over to the blanket.
"You okay?" He looks concerned. He must have noticed it is my first time being any intimate with a guy. He looks at the blanket and then me stretching his hand out to join me. I can either deny him and run away or I can be the girl I want to be. But I cant process the decision with this alcohol in my system
I nodded, slowly walking over to him and accepting his hand. Slowly he kissed me, after a little while his hands began to wonder my body. Conner began to undress me, my breath was heavy as he began to kiss my neck. Our bodies pressed together feeling each breath the other took. He brought his hands up under my shirt and to my shoulders and threw my shirt to the ground. I then without out thinking grabbed the top of his jeans and brought him closer. We didn't have anymore space but I needed more. I undid his belt and he took it out of the looms. He drops it on the ground. items of clothing start coming off faster. Shirts and pants laying across the room. I take his head off my neck and look at him in the eyes
"Do you trust me?" Conner asked ,it was breathy and in my ear. I only nodded my head. Something inside me tells me that I shouldn't be that easy to give my trust freely but for once I want to feel free. He kissed my jawline and made his way back to my lips. We made out for a little while before he began to kiss his way down my body. Holding my legs he kissed the inside of both of my thighs. With trembling legs I gave myself to him.
-------
Brett and I have actually been together since that day, I actually didn't realize we were together until I had gotten back to my hotel room and was going through my messages. No one knew about this except for the four girls, I told them at our truth or dare party before that school year started. Luckily, for me we aren't supposed to talk about what happens at those parties.
I looked over at Brett who flashed me a smile and leaned in to peck my lips. "Well, speaking of Conner, he's been at football camp. He's a pretty cool guy from what I've picked up from him, and I invited him to come tonight, ya'know to kind of welcome him," Brett soon explained.
"That would have been good information to know earlier," I replied. The other girls had this glimmer of hope that he'd be the mystery person they all wanted.
"I didn't see why that would be a problem, I had completely forgotten to mention it. I figured you all would be cool with it."
"Oh, no it's fine. I just don't know if we have enough drinks," I signaled to the near empty case just from the few of us that were there. Brett kissed me, just to get me to shut up before I could continue on.
"It'll be fine, we have plenty. Speaking of I'll go get some more before the rest of the guys show up," Brett said getting off the couch and then leaving the room.
"I'm going to go help him with the drinks," Vanessa stated as she got up and left. We all sat there in silence, occasionally sipping on our beers. Low voices came from in the kitchen, Greer coughed breaking the silence.
We continued to sit there until Brett and Vanessa came back in with more drinks. "When are the rest of the guys getting here?" Vanessa whined as she sat back down. "I want to get started."
"Conner is almost here, and the rest of the guys are just getting off of work," Brett replied after looking at his phone. We all then began small talk conversations in small groups just to pass the time.
"So what's Conner like?" Samantha questioned as she picked at her nails. I looked at Brett who rubbed the back of his head.
"He's a cool guy, I don't really know him too well, which is part of the reason I invited him tonight."
"What does he look like?"
"Uh- I don't feel comfortable talking about guys like that."
"You're an ass," Samantha stated as she finally left her nails alone and crossed her arms. I zoned out of the rest of the conversation. Something about Conner coming made me unsettled, I had a bad feeling just resting in my stomach.
There was a knock on the door to the cabin, I quickly snapped back into reality. "Come in!" Claire called. I heard the door click open an foot steps came through the cabin. We all anxiously, some more than others, watched for the person to come through the hallway.
Conner soon rounded the corner and the girls all gasped. He slowly walked and took the available seat next to me. Brett wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into him. Conner glanced at me through the corner of his eye, I gave him a half smile. Soon enough a group of footsteps were coming toward the living room.
The rest of the guys soon came into the room. "Let's get started," Vanessa said with a smile.