I guess it would be best to start my story from the beginning, but where exactly to begin is hard to say. I guess I could say we were all best friends, all of us trusting each other. Kathey, Kristian, and me, we were like The Three Musketeers, but we were girls. Something told me this year would be different; but, then again, life with us was never exactly normal. Our personalities totally clashed, but that’s what made us such good friends. Kathey was more the standoffish type, and she usually was just there, lying low on the radar. Kristian was the typical ditzy blond with more than enough pep to go around, yet she was just morbid and stupid enough to fit in with us. Then there was I and there is not much to say about me. In general, I am just someone looking to fit in and stand out at the same time.
I guess it began when we were starting our sophomore year of high school. As always, none of us really wanted to go back to school, but we did anyway. Once again, we came to a collapsed high school. Construction had finally stopped, and the place still looked like crap. I was thinking this to myself when Kristian came and stood at my side, “Hey Steakhouse,” she said as she stared at the school “school is crappy.” “The building and the classes” I replied sarcastically. “Yeah, got any chocolate?” The real Kristian was prevailing now, Kristian the chocolate addict. “No, Kristian is that all you can think about?” “Yeah,” she said with a huge grin on her face. We continued talking like normal about summer, boyfriends, and music…typical switching of topics at any second for no apparent reason. Before we knew it Kathey had came and joined in as well. This was just another typical morning at FCHS. “Hey, you guys, there is a party going on tonight! Any one up for it?” Kristian pointed this out to us about a million times. She would never go to a party alone that was just a cold hard fact about her. She was just that way. We decided to go with her. What could one last party do before school really started? It wasn’t until later we found out exactly who was throwing it, or none of us would have gone. When I said we found out later, I mean when Kristian’s sister dropped us off at Nick’s trailer. Nick was Kristian’s ex-boyfriend. He was most likely the first one to be doing keg stands. Kristian wanted to go, though so we did the only thing we could and followed her to the back, by the pond. Something gave me uneasiness when I first stepped into the yard. The second the music hit my ears, my senses went in all directions. Something just gave me one of those gut feelings that something was not right. In spite of my felling though I kept walking. I couldn’t exactly just walk home, the nearest highway was at least four miles and there was another four or so more to the outskirts of town, and I lived quite a ways from there. So I was just stuck there. Even if this was one of the strongest feelings I had ever had before.
Everyone was a little tipsy by the time the event that changed everyone’s life forever actually happened. Something so etched in my memory forever…we were all hanging around the pond. Some people were actually daring enough to swim in it. Kristian was one of those brave people. Kristian wasn’t a big drinker, so no one even thought about it; and even if she was, everyone was too drunk to think about it any way. I was dancing with Stephanie and having a good time. Nick always had good music. Just as the last song stopped and another began, Kathey came running up to me in hysterical panic. “Have you seen Kristian? I haven’t seen her in about an hour, and she is not in the pond! I haven’t seen Nick lately either, I am getting worried.” This statement gave me that kind of chill that runs all the way down the spine and back up. Nick had a history of violence and somehow the vision of that mixing with the alcohol didn’t help that chill.
Kristian was like putty in Nick’s hands, though. She knew letting him control her was wrong, but she loved him enough to ignore her instincts. This had proven as a hazard for her, but she didn’t care. He had covered her with bruises and burns that not only hurt her physically, but also made the light that once shone in her dim and almost non-existent. She had stared cutting because of him. When she showed him what he had pushed her to doing, all he did was say that she had ruined his life. I hated her when she was with him. She still loved him, and we knew that, so almost instantly we began to ask around. No one had seen the two for a while. This made me even uneasier. We casually walked around for a while, but still we found no trace of Kristian or Nick. We were walking past a patch of woods when we finally heard Kristian and Nick talking. We both listened closely for any sign of what was going on. “Kristian I love you. If you don’t love me then I have to do this. Don’t you see?” “Nick just stop! Just leave me alone; anyone could see you. You will never get away with thi….” Kristian voice slowly trailed off. We ran toward the sound of her voice hoping we were not too late. “KRISTIAN!!!” “Help me someone,” she replied. The next few things that happened were all a blur to me and before any of us knew it, Nick was doubled over on the ground. Kristian was crying as she ran for us. “He tried…and I killed…” she was making no since at all, but somehow we knew exactly what she was saying. The police showed up and questioned all of us about exactly what had happened. I had no idea how Nick survived, but needless to say he did. That is all I have to say. “No further questions, your honor,” “The witness may step down.”