She sat there. Her bed was cold, the blankets wrinkled, and the breeze blew the curtains around. She thought, and she thought, and she thought. She thought back to that day. The day she did nothing. She thought back to that day. The last day she saw her best friend. She thought back to that day, and she realized that she should’ve done something. She didn’t do anything. She just stood by and watched. She was a bystander. These thoughts flew around and around through her head. They engulfed her, ravished her, consumed her. She wanted to make them go away but she couldn’t. They wouldn’t stop. She started to picture that awful, dreadful day in her head.

She was walking toward the local middle school soccer field. In the distance, she saw what looked to be two people on the field. As she drew nearer to the field she could easily make out what the people looked like. The taller of the two was a man, mid-thirties, and he was well built. The smaller of the two was a young girl, about the same age as her. The girl had blonde hair, blue eyes, and looked very much like her best friend Charlotte. The two turned and she could now see their faces. It was Charlotte. Charlotte was being grabbed and dragged by this man. She was fighting back, but the man was stronger. Charlotte noticed her walking toward the field.

“Audrey! Audrey please! Please help me Audrey!”, yelled Charlotte. The man covered her mouth, and he looked up at Audrey. The evil could be seen in his eyes. Audrey stopped walking. She just stood there, staring. Staring at the man dragging her best friend away. Staring at Charlotte fighting for her life. Just staring. Audrey took one last glance at Charlotte, and started walking again. She didn’t want to risk her life. She didn’t want that man to get her too. She didn’t want any of that. She just kept walking. Little did she know that she would never see Charlotte again.

Audrey sat home alone that night, wondering if Charlotte was okay and if she made it home safely. She called Charlotte’s cell phone. No answer. She called again. No answer. She decided to text Charlotte instead. She sent her a text. No reply. An hour passed and still no reply. Audrey’s mother came home shortly after.

“Audrey! I have some news for you.”, her mother spoke hesitantly. Audrey could tell it was bad news just by the tone of her mother’s voice. It was that I-have-bad-news-but-I-don’t-want-to-call-it-bad-news tone of voice. The last time her mother used that tone was the night Audrey’s father was killed. Audrey sat there, mortified. She knew the news was about Charlotte.

“Oh no!”, Audrey said to herself.

“Audrey.”, her mother walked into the room. “They found Charlotte’s body under the bleachers at the soccer field. She was killed darling. I’m so sorry. I will leave you alone.” Audrey started to cry. She knew she should’ve done something. How could she be so stupid? How could she be so selfish? So ignorant? She started to think to herself.

“What if I had done something? Would Charlotte still be here or would I be dead too? I guess that doesn’t matter though. It’s over. I didn’t do anything. It’s my fault. It’s my fault Charlotte is gone and it is my fault that the man got away. It’s my fault that all of this happened. Why am I so stupid? This could’ve been stopped. I shouldn’t have acted like a bystander. I should’ve done something.I saw evil and I did nothing. I didn’t realize that I said yes to that evil until now. I could’ve changed what happened.”

Audrey heard a loud banging noise. Boom, boom, boom. It echoed through her head and brought her back to reality. She looked at the clock. Tick, tock, tick, tock. All the noises were getting louder. She felt more guilt now than she did before. If only she stood up for Charlotte. If only she took the risk. If only she wasn’t just a bystander. Maybe Charlotte would still be here. Maybe that man would be in jail, never to be seen again. It’s too late now. She should’ve acted when she had the chance.