Past
SHE SASHAYED INTO the school; her head was held high, hazel eyes glimmering with excitement, curly red hair bouncing on her shoulders in wavy lengths. She knew that today, maybe...just maybe she could get through to Larson and at least find out the reason he ended their relationship for seemingly no reason.
She missed him for many reasons, but solely because Ariel did not want to know that the last two years of her life and that all the memories she made with Larson were for nothing. She didn't want to admit that she let a simple boy waste her time. It all boiled down to her sitting on her bed with angry tears rolling down her cheeks as she pondered on the many reasons her relationship went south.
When she arrived at her lockers with the obvious swivel of heads and flutter of eyes as they widened in shock and or rolled in jealousy—she placed in her combination and pulled her locker open and proceeded to shove her bag inside carelessly, her gaze interlocking with her reflection in the compartment mirror hung upon the metal door.
After she was done giving herself a one over, she grabbed her Spanish book, frowning in distaste at her completely random schedule. Ariel had only one class with Larson and that was geography. She despised geography and would seek guidance from Larson when she either wasn't paying attention, writing notes or just didn't know anything in general. Now that they're broken up, she's failing—in her terms—falling below a b-average.
"Hey chica! You're looking hot today. Any guy that you're dressing for in particular?" Evelyn's chirpy voice bellowed into Ariel's ear as she appeared within her line of vision, her thick brows wiggling tauntingly. Ariel barked in laughter, "shut up, Eve." Evelyn threw a hand lazily over Ariel's shoulder as she beckoned her down the hallway, a sly grin temporarily plastered onto her pale face, "is it perhaps for Tobias?"
Ariel's boots squeaked against the recently polished tiled floors as she halted in her footsteps abruptly, her head swivelling in Evelyn's direction within a millisecond. Her smile was momentarily nonexistent. The mere mention of his name gave her the urge to haul Evelyn across the hallway and out of her sight. But instead of resorting to physical harm, she forced a smile, "I don't like Tobias, Evelyn. Quite frankly just the sight of his face makes me sick to my stomach."
"What!? Everyone likes Tobias." Evelyn whisper yelled in disbelief as they made a sharp turn to their left, disappearing into another corridor. Ariel chuckled through gritted teeth, "I dressed like this so that idiot Larson can see what he left." At first, Evelyn had failed to respond as her footsteps came to a screeching halt. She narrowed her head upwards to meet Ariel's gaze.
"Larson huh?" She questioned. Something glistened in her eyes but before Ariel could comprehend it, Evelyn grabbed her shoulders, spinning her away from the direction in which they were headed, "I forgot something in my locker, come get it with me quickly and I'll walk you to class."
"Class is about to begin Evelyn and you know I don't like being late." Ariel yanked her hand from Evelyn's vice grip, failing to see the fact that her best friend was currently preoccupied with the events unfolding a few feet away from her. Pressed up against the metal blue lockers was a certain dark curly-haired cheerleader, her fingernails digging into the brown-haired boy's arms, his own tangled in between the hem of her blue cheer uniform. Their lips were exploring one another, uncaring of the eyes that penetrated through them.
When Ariel finally realized that Evelyn was distracted, she took this opportunity to escape as she pivoted on her heels. Evelyn reached out towards her in hopes of blocking her view from the sight before their eyes but it was too late. Her red boots slammed against the tiled floors as she came to a screeching stop.
The sound was deafening.
Her heart struck against her chest rapidly. The notebook which was once perched up under her armpit toppled to the floor with a loud thud. Yet, the sound never made it to her ears as she listened tentatively to the thumping of her heart and throbbing of boiling blood beneath her skin.
She took a step forward, her sharp nails slicing through her arm as she began to process the sight unfolding under her smouldering gaze.
"Pain is my only solace. Think of it like my drug. I'm addicted to it. Why? Because I'd rather hurt myself than hurt others. That way, I can apologize and not feel bad about it. Because I understand. I understand why I do what I do."
Evelyn tugged her back at her side, "don't go, I know you'll do something you'll regret, Ariel." She ripped her hand from Evelyn's grip. "Regret?" Ariel's maniacal laughter sent chills rippling through Evelyn's body. "Know something about me and don't ever forget it, Evelyn. Whenever I do something, I never regret it." The sight of Ariel was that of someone unaware of their surroundings. Unaware of the world continuing to spin on its axis.
She was lost. Lost somewhere within the muddy morass of her intricate mind. But just as quickly as the moment came, it withered like the petals of a thorned rose. Ariel snapped back to reality, finally making sense of what she was witnessing. "I'm going to kill them. I'll kill him first, then I'll kill her. Or better yet, I'll kill her first and make him watch, and then I'll kill him."
Ariel's tone of voice had remained passive the entire time. It didn't climb an octave higher as if she were joking or waver as an indication that she was nervous. Her demeanour, her bloodshot red eyes, her aching arm, her bloody nails...she was not joking.
"Ariel, please. They're not worth it."
She could feel the fiery impulse pulsating within her to run across the hallway and rip Lewis out of Larson's arm. But if she did that, she wouldn't stop there. She'd make sure that by the end of the day, they both knew why Ariel chose to harm herself than others. "Just–let's go." Evelyn dragged Ariel down the hallway, but the moment Larson and Lewis was out of sight, she slipped out of Evelyn's arms, ignoring her friend's shouts of protest as she scurried down the hallway.
Once she was sure she had lost Evelyn, she barged into the nearest washroom and finally broke out into a rage induced sob. Ariel crawled into one of the stalls and slammed the door shut behind her as her body ached in pain. She dug her nails into her arm and bit down on her lips to conceal another wave of cries from breaking free. Ariel Campbell does not cry. Not when she gets hurt, not when she doesn't get what she wants, not when she's frustrated, nor when she's disappointed.
Ariel Campbell does not cry.
But...
For the first time in her life, she was for days on end.
All because of Larson freaking Styles.
Present
"Where are you going?" Janet asked as she occupied herself with the dirty countertop. Ariel climbed into her black knee high boots and hurriedly threw a scarf around her neck before acknowledging her mother, "out, with a friend." Her mother stopped then turned towards her with a wary look plastered on her face, "friend? Who? I hope they're not Tobias' friends."
Ariel rolled her eyes. "I'm going out with Evelyn and Parker. You remember him right? Tobias' best friend, actually his only real friend." Ariel replied as she retrieved her car keys from the ceramic bowl sitting atop the island table. Her mother shot her a look of disapproval as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Honey, why are you still getting yourself involved with–with..."
"With who, Tobias?!" Ariel interjected. Janet slammed the table cloth onto the counter, and though the loud bang of her knuckles connecting with the tiled surface echoed through the kitchen, it hadn't fazed Ariel whose expression remained nonchalant.
"You know you shouldn't be doing this to yourself. The things that boy has done, you don't deserve to be in the middle of it. I just think you should let go of his friends and focus on schoolwork or something and not that boy." Ariel's fingers hovered dangerously close to the length of her arm. She leaned against the wall and breathed in deeply, willing herself to not sink her nails into her skin.
"Well mother, I don't believe anything the police or media has to say about that boy. That boy is my boyfriend and he had nothing to do with the murder of those girls. He was framed, you know that. So please, spare me the motivational speech because his friends don't reflect him and there's nothing even negative to reflect because he's not the guy you think he is! He's a good guy, stop trying to convince me otherwise."
Before her mother could reply, she marched out of the kitchen and exited the house swiftly. Once she was outside, she zipped up her winter jacket and hastily slipped into her red convertible. Ariel relaxed against the cold leather seat and inhaled once again, hoping that the lack of oxygen circulating through her system was the reason behind her irritability; it wasn't.
Her eyes momentarily fell onto the seat beside her where Tobias once sat, hands on her knees squeezing it softly as they sang along to a song on the radio on their way to wherever the road took them. He would turn towards her once in a while and smile, complimenting her on how beautiful she looked that night and would squeeze her thigh once again as she mumbled a quiet thanks, still blushing at his compliments, despite the fact that they've been together so long.
Ariel shook her head lightly, still disbelieved that Tobias was no longer at her side but locked away from the rest of the world. From her. She pulled out of the driveway of her house and drove away...heading towards someone she was reluctant to meet.
Lewis Chandler.
~~~
Lewis fiddled with her sweaty palms as her eyes bounced to the door of the cafe and back to the cup of coffee on the table. The only appearance she had been longing for was that of Ariel's. Sure Lewis and Tobias weren't the best of friends but part of her felt like it was her duty to speak up if it meant helping his wrongful conviction. Trapped within her thoughts, Lewis hadn't realized that Ariel arrived until the red haired girl's shoes came into her line of vision.
She peered up and offered Ariel a nervous smile to which Ariel responded with a frown. Without a word, Ariel sat opposite Lewis, already regretting her decision of coming here. "Hey," Lewis exclaimed and Ariel nodded her head in acknowledgment, a grimace slipping onto her lips, "hi."
"You came."
"I didn't come for you nor Larson. I came for Tobias," Ariel clipped. Lewis understood that. She didn't expect anymore or less. Tobias was the priority. Right? "Uhm, do you want some coffee? It's really cold outside and I can get you one." She asked, hoping that Ariel would take her peaceful gesture as a sign to relax. Ariel pondered on it for a while and later nodded her head nonchalantly. "Sure, why not."
Lewis shot up from her seat and wobbled towards the counter. Ariel could detect the nerves reverberating off of the brown haired girl in waves: her fiddling fingers, her sweaty palms and face, her irregular breathing. Ariel had already seen it all within the split second her eyes travelled across the length of Lewis' body. Why wouldn't she be nervous? When she's accusing her ex boyfriend of murder.
Lewis ordered two black coffee's. She had always known it was Ariel's favourite because in the first month of her relationship with Larson, Ariel was the only thing he'd talk about. Her likes. Her dislikes. Her quirks. Everything. Lewis knew more about Ariel than she knew about Larson. And that fact bothered her a lot.
When she was handed two cups of coffee—one of them being her second—she made her way towards the table and sat down opposite Ariel before sliding the cup towards her. Ariel stared down at it and quietly thanked her before bringing it to her lips and taking a sip. Lewis expected her to comment on how she knew she liked black coffee but it didn't bother her since she knew the least she would get from Ariel is a nod and a lop sided smile.
"So let's cut to the chase here. You believe that your boyfriend has something to do with the death of the girls that my boyfriend was framed for." Ariel stated, emphasizing each word deliberately. Lewis' head jerked forward, almost robotically. It wasn't a natural reaction. They both knew that.
"My ex-boyfriend. . .correction. His behaviour has, uhm plummeted? I don't know how to word it. Things were going great the week before the bodies were found, and the actual night that I think they died, we were supposed to go on a date but he cancelled and said he had some important things to take care of. I was pissed obviously and I would ask him what was the important things but he'd just shut me out and snap at me whenever I asked. His body would literally stiffen beside me and he would just. . .Shut down."
"So you think he knows something about them or. . . because it just sounds to me like something is bothering him, which is most likely you. But it doesn't really connect to those girls." Lewis swallowed the rage climbing up the walls of her sanity. She sighed, she had already anticipated Ariel's passive aggressiveness and denial. She was prepared for it all but yet it didn't make the situation any easier. "How does Larson even know them?"
Lewis leaned forward as she cleared her throat, "last year there was a science fair and Larson's project was going to be on display for our school so I went with him to support him, you know. And one of the girls were there. I don't know which one exactly but I definitely saw them talking. I don't know if they became friends after that though."
The connection wasn't strong. It was actually laughable. But it was something Ariel would have to work with for now until she found reliable information.
"Larson and I didn't just break up for any particular reason."
Ariel's permanent scowl deepened. "What does that have to do with me or any of this?" Ariel snipped harshly. She didn't mean to sound harsh, but being in Lewis' presence was stirring memories Ariel had hoped would remain buried. Lewis knew that not only was she accusing Larson of murder but she was doing so to someone who knew him like the back of her hand.
She didn't expect any less of a reaction from Ariel. "He broke up with me because he caught me snooping in his room." She mumbled as her eyes flickered away from Ariel. "I was trying to figure out why he was behaving so weird and then, I found something but before I could take it he–he came in and snapped at me, he was livid. He began to scream at me, shouting at me to get out of his house and I–I."
"Come on, Lewis. Spit it out!"
Lewis' eyes flickered shut as she suddenly flinched. "D-do you remember the statement the police released? That one of the girl's underwear missing?" Lewis asked.
"Yeah? So what?"
"And remember that both Maria and Kayla—I don't know if it's just a coincidence—but they both had same colour hair like you, red hair?"
Ariel nodded her head once again and watched as Lewis pulled out her phone and unlocked it. She swiped her finger across the screen before placing it on the table and sliding it towards Ariel. "This is what I found in Larson's room when I went snooping but didn't have time to get a hold of it because I heard him coming so I took a photo."
Ariel's eyes widened. The sudden urge to find her arm tucked into the warmth of her jacket grew ten folds when her eyes settled on the photo displayed on the screen. Lewis who was still fidgeting in her seat stared back at Ariel, equally as agitated. However, unbeknownst to either of them, those were for two different reasons.
But one thing remained a fact: Lewis provided evidence and it was staring straight into Ariel's burning eyes.
It was a photo of a white laced pantie, decorated in splotches of blood, and placed beside it as if it were done on purpose was the one thing Ariel could not ignore...
A lock of red hair.
~~~