“Becca, it’s not Rachel’s fault. Please don’t blame her for this.” Bobby begged.

“Oh, shut up!” Becca snapped. “Right now, you don’t have the right to tell me who I should and shouldn’t blame. Besides, I’m not just putting all the blame on her. I blame you too.”

“That’s fine. You can blame me all you want.” Bobby replied. “I know that this is my fault. I should’ve told you how I felt a long time ago. But I didn’t and now everything is crashing down on me.”

“Yeah, well I’m not too thrilled about this either. So don’t feel sorry for yourself. You’ll get over it. You’ll find someone else and move on, but I won’t. And do you want to know why?” Becca inquired, her eyes burning into his.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because unlike you, I have a heart. All you seem to care about is yourself. You don’t care that you just completely broke my heart. You don’t freakin’ care that this is going to scar me for life! As long as you get your way, you’re happy.” She shook her head in disgust, narrowing her deep brown eyes. “And no, it’s not all your fault.” she added. “It’s mine. I knew what a player you were from the very beginning. I just thought that maybe if I gave you a chance, maybe if I proved to you that you could actually fall in love with someone, then things would work out. I thought I could change you, Bobby. But apparently, I was wrong.”

“But you have!” he cried. “You’ve changed me so much! If it weren’t for you, I would probably be on a date with some girl that I don’t even like, waiting for the right moment to make out with her. And then the next day, I’d be on a date with someone else, planning the same thing. I used to be heartless, but ever since I met you, I realized that it’s ok to open up to people. It’s ok to actually care about someone. It’s ok to stay with one person. I realized that it’s ok to fall in love. And I have, Becca. I’ve fallen in love with you.”

She looked into his eyes for a moment, her bottom lip quivering, her hands shaking. “You love Rachel, not me.”

“That isn’t true. I love both of you. It’s just that I love you as a best friend. I know that I can trust you and confide in you and I know that you’ll always be there for me. And it takes a lot for me to have so much faith in a person. I just wish you could understand that. I just wish you could see how much I love you.”

“To me, you’re my soul mate, my one true love, my best friend. But to you, I’m only a best friend. And I can’t take that.”

I woke up, my cheeks stained with fresh tears. I could barely stand to see Becca like that. She looked so betrayed, so hurt. And it was partially my fault. However, one other thing I noticed in this dream was that when Bobby saw her like this, he looked just as hurt. He looked truly sorry, like he really cared for her. Like he loved her.
And if Bobby loved Becca, why would he kill her? You don’t kill the people that you love. This factor really made me doubt all of the accusations that had crossed my mind about Bobby.
But I had to consider the fact that I hadn’t yet gotten to see the entire conversation. Maybe Becca said something or did something to make him angry, angry enough to kill her. It was definitely a possibility.
Although, that left me with one question remaining: what could Becca have possibly said to make Bobby furious enough to kill her?

Thursday morning, at school, I shut the door to my locker and glanced to my right, making sure the coast was clear of any sings of Bobby. The previous night, I’d made a decision to stay away from Bobby completely. That was the best way to get over him.
When I didn’t see Bobby, I turned my head to the left. All clear. Sighing in relief, I turned back to the right to begin walking to class. But when I turned back around, Bobby was standing there. The sudden sight of him made me gasp and jump in shock, totally startled.
“Jeez, warn a person before just appearing right in front of them.” I cried, my heart rate slowly returning back to normal.
“Sorry, did I scare you?” he asked, trying to conceal a grin.
“Yeah, kind of,” I remarked. Then I remembered what I’d decided last night. Without another word, I made my way around him and began to walk off.
“Wait, where are you going?” he inquired, following close behind me.
“I have to get to class.” I told him evenly.
“The first bell hasn’t even rang yet.” he pointed out.
“Well, I want to get there a little early so I can talk to Connor before class starts.” There were two reasons behind the lie I’d just told: to get Bobby off my case and to make Bobby jealous. I hated admitting it, but it pleased me to know that I was so easily able to make him jealous.
“Oh, he’s in your class?” he asked disdainfully.
“Yep, that’s where he asked me out.” I replied with a bright grin. Bobby’s face fell flat and his eyes burned with envy, making me grin even wider. I’d never seen Bobby get jealous like this. He was always the one making other girls jealous, not the other way around.
“Why did you even agree in the first place?” he queried.
“Because I like Connor.” I stated matter-of-factly.
“Well, I like you.” he said, his electric blue eyes meeting my dark brown ones. For a moment, neither of us said anything at all. “You know, my mom started freaking out on me yesterday night, telling me to stay away from you. But I have no clue why…”
“Oh, that’s weird. I wonder why...” I said, acting as if I had no clue why she would do this. But I did. I knew exactly why his mom told him to stay away from me. My parents had told me the same thing about him. Yet here we were, talking with one another, completely disobeying our parents’ rules.
“My mom can’t decide my friends for me though. If I want to hang out with you, I will.” he added.
“Well maybe you shouldn’t.” I advised.
His eyebrows knit together in confusion, “Why not? I thought we were friends.”
“Bobby, I don’t want to be your friend. Not after everything that’s happened.” I told him.
“Is this because of Connor?” he demanded. “Listen, I’m sorry, ok? I promise that I won’t be such a jerk to him anymore.”
“No, Bobby, it’s not about Connor.” I interrupted him. “It’s about Becca.”
Immediately, his mood darkened. “Becca?” he choked out, his voice wavering. I nodded firmly. “I didn’t kill her.” he said, his eyes wide.
“I never said you did.” I replied. “I just don’t feel comfortable being friends with you given the situation that we’re in.”
His cheeks blushed a deep red as he realized what I was hinting at. “You don’t want to be my friend because I’m love with you.” It was more of a statement than a question. “I get it now.”
“I’m sorry Bobby, but it’s just…awkward.” I told him, glancing away. Before he was able to respond, the first bell rang, a signal for all students to get to class before the second bell went off. “I’ve got to go.”
Then I turned and walked off, leaving Bobby standing in the middle of the hallway, looking crestfallen.