I woke up tired, almost sick, with a lousy feeling lingering in my stomach. It was a Tuesday, my least favorite day of the week. I only have class 3 days this week, so today is my free day. Thankfully, I have all day to rest before Brian's big party tonight. Since Brian isn't my favorite person on this planet, it took my friends almost a week to convince me to attend this function. I would much rather stay in bed and watch my favorite show, but It's time to start leaving the house again. Ever since the incident, I've been nonexistent, and I didn't plan on coming out of hiding anytime soon, but I want to be there for my friends. For some odd reason, I couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom, it was the same feeling I had before the incident. 

"If you tell anyone what happened, I will kill you. Don't doubt me, Kara".

His voice haunted my every move. Because of him, my dreams turned to nightmares, and my overflowing confidence vanished into thin air. Getting out of bed, I went downstairs to get some breakfast. I'm fortunate enough to have very supportive and protective parents. However, sometimes, they become overbearing, like this morning when I told them I was going to a party. 

"Are you sure you want to go, sweetheart?"

My mom expressed concern, "Just because your friends are going to these things does not mean that you have to." 

I wasn't doing this for them, I was doing this for me. As I was getting ready to go to my best friend Rachel’s house, I couldn't help but think about one word. Revenge. I wanted to get back at him, I wanted him to know what it felt like to be living in constant fear and not be able to tell anyone what happened. My life had changed entirely that night Max's red Jeep Wrangler drove into the lake. My life completely changed when we found out that Max was inside the car, and my heart was shattered when he failed to surface from the water. To make matters worse, the whole town believed Brian when he blamed me. 

"Kara had been with him the whole night."

"I was there; she was forcing him to drink."

"She let him get behind the wheel, and look what happened."

Lies, Lies, Lies

Because of him, I had to go to court, I was investigated, they checked my phone, and I was on house arrest until proven innocent. Everyone was teaming up against me. The bullying kept getting increasingly worse, so I switched to online school. The only people who believed me were my parents and Rachel. It's sad how people believe what others are saying instead of questioning my character and asking themselves, would I, Kara Parker, commit such a horrible crime against my boyfriend?

I knew Brian had something to do with it; they were brothers, and Max was his best friend. But then, one day, it clicked. When the truth finally came out. Brian had asked me to lunch; he wanted to talk since the investigation had resurfaced. The evidence added up, and Brian needed to cover his tracks faster. Soon enough, all of this would catch up to him, and until then, I will wait. The old me would've been terrified to meet up with Brian; after all, he is a psychopath. But the new Kara was ready to face him. 

"I did it because it was supposed to be you and me, Kara. He took you away from me. And it hurt even worse when you chose him over me. Do you realize how that made me feel? So, ever since that day, I have vowed to myself that I would get you back somehow. Sadly, it had to end this way, but what can you do?" Brian expressed calmly. 

"What do you mean get me back?"

"We have been best friends since pre-K, Kara; you were my first kiss, love, and friend. I thought it would be you and me forever, but you felt differently. Ever since you started dating him, you have never paid attention to me anymore. I let it slide for a long time, but I was done.”

"So you purposely killed your best friend, who was also my boyfriend, as an act of anger instead of just talking to me about it? Are you serious?"

"I had thought about it for a while; stuff like that is planned. I thought I would feel sad about the situation, but I'm happy. Now I have you back, and we can be together." 

She ran to the bathroom in a sprint, still shaking from his confession. Kara pulled her phone from her pocket to listen to the evidence. The thought of recording their interaction scared her even more than the conversation. She couldn't tell anyone she had this evidence because he couldn't find out. She wanted to know how long he would cover up his tracks and get what he wanted. Opening the recording, she realized she turned on her camera too soon. However, in the background, she heard a conversation between 2 guys. One of them sounded like Brian. She heard him talking to another person, saying that he was the one who messed with Max's car breaks. He was expecting a minor scare, not a tragedy. Who was he talking to? There is no reason for Brian to go around telling random people this information. 

As Kara exited the bathroom, a strong fist connected with her stomach, and sudden shooting pain traveled up her abdomen, causing her to fall forward. Before she could hit the ground, someone grabbed her and pulled her limp body into a closet. She didn’t have time to process the event because, all of a sudden, her eyes connected with Brian. 

“ I know you have a video of me Kara, delete it. Right now.”

“ No”

“ No? What do you mean no? Give me your phone.”

Searching her pocket, she found exactly what she was looking for. She knew the hot pink pepper spray her older brother gave her would be useful someday. Spraying him in the eyes made it so Kara could break free. She sprinted out of the house and straight to the police station. 

As she arrived at the police station, she was immediately taken inside and covered with a blanket. Officer Smith was a family friend and was always looking out for Kara. Luckily, she was dealing with a good cop because the next thing she knew, it had been four hours of intense questioning and confessions, one after another. The cops had left to get Brian from his home and shut down the party when Kara decided to whisper the truth. 

In a soft tone, she said, “ I was the one who killed Max. I killed Brian before I left his house to come here, so if you're looking for him, you probably won’t find him.”

What really happened that night?