Secret Murder (Short Story)


I finally see the yellow bus pulling up at the school. I’ve been waiting; actually my whole volleyball team has been waiting for about 15 minutes for this bus to come. I thought I was going to be late. As I’m on the bus waiting for Lindsey, I put my stuff on the floor to make room for her. I see a bright yellow post-it note stuck to the floor, so as one should always do, I pick it up. But before I throw it away, I should read it.
“Melany, I think I’m starting to like Shane.”
“Dude, Lindsey, oh my gosh. What is Carly going to say about this?”
“I don’t think she’ll really care, it’s not like I’m gonna steal him away from her.”
“ Okay, whatever you say.”

I immediately crumpled it up, ripped it to shreds, and threw it away. I didn’t even read all of it. I was to upset. Actually, I didn’t even know what I was, I was just unable to think, talk, or even move. When I went back to my seat Lindsey followed as she just got on the bus. She looked at me, smiled, and turned on her music as she always does on the way to volleyball practice.

We walk into the building, and I feel like I’m going to collapse. I run to the bathroom, and call my mom and ask her to pick me up because I feel sick. She doesn’t answer, so I try calling her another 3 times. Still, no answer. I try texting her, but after I sent the message, I totally forgot that she was at work. So, I go back out to the gym where we practice. I see the coach swiftly walking past me to go get something, maybe some volleyballs, I don’t really know. I stop her, and told her that I wasn’t feeling well, and had a stomachache. She told me to go get some water, and then she took me to her office in the building.

“Here Carly, take some medicine.” I pop the pill in my mouth, get a gulp of water, and swallow the pill down. As I wipe the extra water off of my face I ask, “Coach, where were you walking to?”

“I was just going to go get a headband from my car, Danielle forgot hers.”

I say “Oh. Okay.”
I start walking out the door and down the hallway back to the gym; I’m anxiously hoping time will go by fast so I can go home. Suddenly, I hear this almost sort of giggle coming from the girls’ bathroom. My feet stop, and then tiptoe by the door.

“Lindsey, I think Shane likes you, he was totally just checking you out.”

“He was not--“.
I plug my ears and run straight to the gym door, I stop to open it, but it was already opening. I stand aside to see that it was Shane and Joey!
“Uh, um, hi.” I say.

“Hey”, they both say and walk slowly out the door. My mind was racing with anger, I couldn’t take it anymore!

“Hey Shane, I hears you like Lindsey, why don’t you just marry her?” I said as I fiercely push the door open and finish practice.

“Morning sweetie.” My mom says.

“Whoa, wait, what?”

“You came home from volleyball yesterday, and at about 6:30 when you were done with your homework you fell asleep.” She says with a confused look on her face.

I don’t respond to her and go brush my teeth; I wipe the mixture of toothpaste, water, and spit off of my face. I have no idea what to wear so I throw my Las Vegas, Nevada sweatshirt on, my black sweatpants, and my brown worn-out Bear Paw boots. I throw my hair into a bun, grab a frozen Leggo My Eggo waffle and drag my backpack up to my back as I run out the door to get to the bus not realizing it’s almost 4:00. As soon as I’m out the door I see my mom standing at the door laughing.

“What mom?” As she giggles she says, “You know it’s Saturday, right?

“Ohh. Crap.”

I walk in the door, throw my stuff on the ground, and lay tiredly on the couch.

“What has been going on with you? You’ve been acting like this all week.” My mom says with curiosity.

“I just found out that Lindsey does like Shane, I was right the whole time!”

“Well. Okay, just have her come over tonight and you guys can talk about it.”

“Okay. I guess that’s what I have to do.”

I then call Lindsey, regretting that I’m actually going to let her over here, because I am super duper mad at her.

“Hey Lindsey, wanna hang tonight?”
“Sure. I’ll be there in like 10 minutes.”

I hang up, and then my mom tells me I got a letter from the school. I already know what it’s for, so I don’t bother reading it. I’ve been so caught up with the Shane situation that I’ve been failing a lot of my homework, and since thats been happening I can’t play sports from now on.

“Carly, Lindsey’s here!” my mom yells from the basement. I run downstairs almost tripping over my overly baggy sweatpants. I take a big deep breath, and open the door putting a big smile on my face like nothing is wrong.

“Hey Lindsey, just go in my room. I’ll be there in a sec.”

“Okay, get me some water please.” I grabbed myself a bowl of cereal and the glass of water and went upstairs.
“Lindsey, I heard you like Shane. I want you to tell me if that’s true.”

As she looks down she says, “Oh, um, yeah, I can ex--“

“You don’t need to, that’s all I wanted to know, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” she says happily.

“Wanna play Just Dance 4?” Lindsey says just so I don’t ask any more questions.

“Sure, why not.”

We’ve been playing for almost 3 hours now, and we’re both almost about to pass out.

“Lindsey, I’m going to sleep, it’s like 9:00, and I know it’s early but I’m still really tired.” As Lindsey is half-asleep on the floor she softly replies, “Okay” and goes back to sleep.

After being unable to sleep for a couple of hours now, I go downstairs to get something to drink. On the way down the stairs, I trip over my sweatpants and fall down the last couple of steps hitting my head on the wall. Forgetting about my drink I walk back up the stairs not knowing what I’m doing. But I eventually fall asleep.

“Good morning girls.” my mom says walking in the door.

“Huh, morning m-mom.” I say really worn out and weak.

“Where’s Lindsey?”

“Oh, I don’t know, she could’ve gone home early for like church or something.”

“Yeah, well get up and get dressed. Breakfast is cooking.”

I get out of bed slowly, stretching and yawning, and then check my phone. I have 1 missed call, and 1 message. Both, from Shane, I don’t care what he has to say. I toss my phone on my bed, and then walk to my closet; I open it up and see Lindsey inside.

“Lindsey? Get up, it’s like 12:00 and breakfast is cooking.”
She’s silent on the floor, and she looks really pale. I go down there, and check her out. She isn’t breathing, so I get my mom upstairs, and she calls 911. As the ambulance leave, the police question us. Our only answer for them is, I don’t know.
As they search the house, I think about what could have possibly happened. Did she have a seizure? Asthma attack? Anxiety attack? No, I probably would’ve heard her. I’m trying my hardest to think about what happened, but I can’t remember anything from last night. I’m just hoping that I find out soon.
After a long day at the hospital, my best friend is pronounced dead from suffocation. I can’t believe it, I just can’t. My mind just completely shut off and I just cried. I didn’t know what to tell her parents, and neither did my mom. My mom had no explanation for it, so that’s exactly what she told them. Of course, they weren’t happy, and they demanded answers.
The next day my mom gets a call from the police station. They said they found my fingerprints around Lindsey’s neck, and near her face. They concluded that I’d choked her to death. I don’t know how I could ever do such a thing to my best friend, even though I was mad for a silly reason. But now that I think about it, I guess my anger could’ve gotten the best of me. I really don’t know what to think at this point, that’s all up to the police, and judges.
About a week later, Lindsey’s parents brought me to court. I was proven guilty for murder, but not put in jail because I had no idea that I was responsible for it. The judges and authority told them that I murdered her because of over-aggression, and major anxiety. If I ‘d gotten help, none of this would have happened. They won the court case and sued my family and I for $25,000.