Through the years I had made a name for myself. I was the quiet girl that stayed by herself and didn’t care what others thought. I had moved to Texas halfway through freshman year which didn’t make it any easier to make friends but I didn’t really care about being alone. It made my mom sad when I sat by myself at lunch and stayed home all the time so when the new girl came to town the summer between freshman year and sophomore year she did everything she could to make sure we became best friends.

“Lyla, remember you have lunch with Claire today,” my mom shouted up the stairs.

“Do I really have to go? I don’t understand why you care so much about me and her,” I responded but my tone became more sassy as I spoke and my mom slowly began to lose her patience.

“I am not going to argue with you. You are going to lunch and you will at least act like you are having fun,” she said. I could tell my mom just wanted what was best for me but it was hard to be a teenager with her breathing down my neck.

I went to lunch and I didn’t even have to pretend like I was having fun. I genuinely enjoyed hanging out with Claire. So much so that I invited her to come to my birthday dinner on Saturday. My mom was thrilled. I had never had anyone at our house before, better yet for my birthday dinner.

That was 8 months ago. Since then, Claire came to my birthday dinner, family dinners, vacations and all my important life moments. We hung out everyday that summer, sat by each other at lunch and talked on the phone whenever we weren't together which was not very often. We became so close that when she went missing I cried so much my tears started to burn the skin around my eyes and didn’t leave my room for 2 days. None of it made sense. She wouldn’t run away, she had a great family, me and was doing great in school. She couldn't have been kidnapped. She was too smart for that and we live in the middle of nowhere. The worst thing that happens here is someone's cow escapes. 

Claire went missing in April and the cops didn’t start investigating until the end of May. They just assumed she was another girl that ran off because she got mad at her parents or because she wanted to be with a boy. The cops didn’t know her like I did. That’s why I started my own investigation. She was a good person and never would have left without saying goodbye. As much as it hurts to think about the only logical explanation I have come up with is something really bad happened to her. 

I knew the most about Claire so it was easy for me to rule things out. She didn’t run away and if something bad did happen her parents weren’t involved so I started asking questions. I found what questions made which people uncomfortable and worked from there. By the end of my 3 week investigation I had 3 names left. Mr. Brown, our creepy gym teacher that had shown interest in Claire since the very first day she moved here, Noah Anderson, Claire’s boyfriend that she broke up with 2 weeks before she went missing, and Emma Little, who had been more jealous of Claire than I had ever seen anyone be jealous. 

By the time I had finally convinced the cops to open an investigation I had ruled out Noah. The day Claire went missing was also the same day he was on a plane headed for New York. As much as I wanted to help the cops investigate they said I couldn’t but they promised to look over the evidence I had gathered. 

Exactly 13 days after the cops opened the investigation I was called to the office during my math class.

BOOM, the loudspeaker echoed as the sound system started up, “Lyla Foster please come down to the office with all your stuff”. I didn’t know what to expect. I had never been called to the principal’s office before.

When I got there 2 police officers were waiting for me with my mom. They told me that they had Emma in custody and her trial started in 3 days. I fell to the floor. I was so mad at Emma for taking away my best friend but I was so happy to finally have some sort of answer. 

Today is trial day. I put on my nicest dress and wait for my parents to tell me it's time to leave. At 8:07 we all get into the car and drive down to the courtroom. The whole ride there is silent and I just prepare myself for a long day with many emotions. Within 10 minutes of arriving at the courthouse Emma was brought out from some back room and the trial began. Lawyers asked a lot of questions, people cried and Emma yelled. The cops case stated that Emma had invited Claire to her house the night she went missing but sometime when she was there Emma lost her cool and most likely became very jealous of Claire. During the investigation the police found a textbook in Emma’s room with staining on it and a carpet spot turned white from bleach. All of it was hard to listen to. I couldn’t imagine how someone could do something like this to someone who had never done a single thing wrong.

After 5 hours of this the jury left to come to a decision. They all entered back into the room after what felt like an eternity holding a single piece of paper. The paper that would decide Emma’s fate.

The verdict was in… she was guilty. After trying for so long to prove something bad happened to Claire, justice was finally served. My face was on fire and red as a tomato. As much as I wanted answers about what had happened to Claire, I didn’t want it to be true. 

She was actually gone.