There he sat looking aimlessly out the window. I honestly don’t know how he can have the nerve to just sit there and act like nothing happened. Lacey was right when she said he was a complete and total jerk, and per usual I ignored her. How stupid can I be, the wretched snake ruined my junior year in barely four months and I’ll never be able to fix it again.

“Hey charlotte!” Lacey called from the table where we always sat at lunch. Lacey has been my best friend since fifth grade. We used to take turns pushing each other off of things on the playground and somehow that led us to compete in everything; we’ve been friends ever since. Anyways, I walked over to the table of chatting girls and rowdy boys and sat down next to Lacey.

“Hey Char, did you know that there is a really hot guy in my gym class. And by the way TOTALLY hot while workin’ out!” You could practically see her drooling. “I can’t quite remember his name, he’s new to school ya’ know?”
“Hey,”Ryan pouted “And what am I? Chopped liver?”

“No! I bet you you look just as hot when you workout too.” Lacey gave him a quick peck on the lips “Besides, I just meant that she should at least be looking, not many guys like that turn up out of the blue on a daily basis.”
“Excuse you. I don’t need to be looking for anyone because I don’t need anyone to be happy.” I hate that I have to clarify that I’m an independent woman and my best friend thinks I’m weak and need a boyfriend to be happy
“Hey Char, you should learn not to talk out loud while you’re thinking,” she giggled. “ Back to the main topic, you should grab him while he’s still hot and on the market”. We continued chatting through lunch like any normal day.

It wasn’t long before homecoming arrived. On that magical night, I met the snake. At first Logan seemed like any other normal eleventh grader, just like the rest of us. He seemed so sweet in the beginning, but I guess the saying is really true; you can’t judge a book by its cover.

The darkened gym was lit up in twinkle lights and there was tulle wrapped around the upper railings. The theme this year was swan lake and it was absolutely enchanting.
“Hey Char, wanna come dance with Ryan and I? We were planning on heading to the mosh pit over there, it looks like fun.”
“Why not, I mean otherwise I’d end up sitting here while all you boring people were grinding on each other.” I set my punch down on the table and walked over to the happy couple. Ryan and Lacey have been dating for a little more than two years. Ryan, although not much of a talker, was the kindest most sincere kid in our school. Over the years the three of us have always been together. Lacey and I made a pact that if either of us had a boyfriend that we would always be there for each other and never put our boyfriends before our friendship.
“What types of dance freaks do we have this year?” I asked amused as I veered out onto the dancefloor. ‘More like bouncing from one foot to the other, kinda like a toddler who has to go to the bathroom.’ I thought to myself. Looking around I could see: some kids doing silly dance moves, while others were crowd surfing in the moshpit. Occasionally, you would see a few couples scattered throughout staring into eachothers eyes and not paying attention to anyone around.And lets not forget those in the perimeters just standing there blankly watching everybody else.

“Oh you know, the usual, boring people and boring dances. But thats okay, ‘cause we’re here to have fun and I’ll make sure we do.” The mischievous glint in her eyes should have been a warning to all. She fished her phone out and marched her way up to the DJ in the blink of an eye. She handed him the phone and pointed to the song that she wanted.

Moments later our favorite song came on, the one we learned the dance to years ago and I couldn’t help but smile as she giggled her way over to me.

The people around us gave a weird look before forming a circle while we dance to the upbeat old song that we loved so much. It was so much fun that by the end Lacey had to stop and get a drink.That's when he approached me.

“That was awesome!” He shouted over the loud music,”You can really dance.”
“Thanks.” I shouted back. “I’m Charlotte, and you are?”
“Logan.” He smiled at me. “I actually came over here to ask you to dance, so, would you like to?”
“Umm--” I couldn’t finish answering him because I received a shove from behind. There was no doubt in my mind who it was.
“She’d love to!” Lacey exclaimed excitedly with a quick wink in my direction.

We spent the rest of the night dancing and chatting. Sometimes we even sat with Ryan and Lacey.
The next few days the entire student body was still on a high of sorts. Romance was in the air and it seemed like I was starting to come down with the symptoms. Logan was walking with me to every class and texting me whenever we had a spare minute. He and I even went to the park after the football game on Friday. Looking back at it now it obviously was a bad idea.

'After such a long week, I am completely exhausted.' Friday night rolled around and Lacey and I are heading to the football game. Our team sucks, but we still go and make fun of everyone there; it was our tradition since freshman year. From the top corner of the bleachers we could hear a majority of the conversations that went on.
“Harshing on our own team, now, that’s not very nice Charlotte,” The hot breath made my freezing ears tingle.
“You must be Logan, I’m Lacey. It’s nice to finally meet you, Char has told me ALL about you, you know.”
“Really now,” he smirked at me as he settled down next to me on the bleachers. ”Actually, we’ve met already. I believe it was you who hit me in the back of the head with a dodgeball.” I could see the amusement in his eyes.
“That’s kinda the point of the game, good job Lace!” I cheered.

“She was on my team,” He deadpanned. I looked over at Lacey who blushed and quickly looked the other way. She stood up from her seat.
“I’m gonna go get some hot chocolate, you want some?” she was already slipping down the stairs when I processed what she had said, I was too busy thinking about how hilarious her face was.

“GRAB ME ONE!!” I hollered from over the railing.  I saw her give a quick thumbs up before disappearing into the sea that is the student body. I turned back to Logan who was staring at me intensely. His next few words shocked me.

“Do you want to go out with me sometime next week?”When I looked into his eyes I couldn’t quite tell what the hidden emotion in them was. The look was desire but they were cold and dead. It sent chills down my spine, that look was absolutely possessive.

For the next moment or so my mouth was glued to the floor in confusion. “Charlotte?”
“Sorry, umm, sure I guess. Sounds good.” 'GOD! I sound like an idiot! I was mumbling like crazy and he probably thought I didn’t want to go out with him or that I didn’t care.'
“What sounds good?” Lacey asked upon her return with two steaming hot chocolates.

“Charlotte and I are going out and I asked her if she wanted to ditch right now.” he said  maliciously with a smirk on his face. The look on her face stabbed me in the heart it hurt so much. I didn’t know what to say at that point. I mean I knew I had to correct him, that he had only asked me out and said nothing about the park. I couldn’t bring myself to form the words. I could see Lacey boiling with anger that I would ditch her without even telling her and before I knew it she was screaming.

“You LIAR! Your the one that made me promise,and now it’s you who’s breaking it!” Her anger was to be expected, the absolute explosion not so much. She spun her heels around and started stomping away but not before dumping my hot chocolate over some poor freshman who happened to be in her path.

After hurricane Lacey left, I turned my attention back to Logan fully intending to chew him out for lying to her like that.

“What was that fo--” he cut me off with a kiss.
“Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to go to the park for a walk with me, I figured you would want to. Was I wrong?” he pouted and smirked at the same time, how could I say no to that?

“No, but next time let me do the talking. Lacey really takes things to heart and isn’t afraid of holding a grudge for an eternity.” I explained trying to be lenient because he obviously did not know Lacey would be like that. And with that, we left the corner in the direction of the park.
 
That was the last time Lacey and I spoke, that night where I did the one thing we promised we wouldn’t do to each other; let our boyfriends come before our best friends. In hindsight that was possibly the most stupid thing I’d ever done up until this point.

Winter break was coming up quickly and I couldn’t be more depressed. All my friends refuse to talk to me because of my boyfriend. My boyfriend refuses to let me try and make things up to them especially Lacey.
“You’ve always been there for them, and with Lacey you were a third wheel right?” I nodded my head in response. The hot, salty tears streaming down my face were starting to burn from coming in contact with the skin on my cheeks that was now rubbed raw. My throat was too soar to make a sound, if I opened my mouth all that would come out were sobs. “And they can’t even be happy for you that you’ve found happiness. I don’t know if thats how its always been with your friends, but in most friendships that’s considered a bad sign. If they can’t support your decisions I don’t think you should be friends with them anymore” he rubbed soothing circles into my back as I sobbed more. With his logic, I don’t think I could argue at all. He made me feel safe, comfortable and loved, unlike my friends who at the first sign of trouble ditched me.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I mumbled into his chest.
“If they were really your friends they’d be here with you eating junk food and having pillow fights.” He chuckled at this thought and continued to rub soothing circles into my back.
I looked up at him and gave a pitiful looking smile “Is that what you think girls do at sleepovers?”
“Of course” he boasted, “What else would you do?”

“Well at mine, we actually do eat junk food but then we go watch horror movies and then we read and go to bed.” We continued the afternoon talking about myths of girls and guys that aren’t true and the ones that are.

That was the time I thought I realized Logan really cared about me.

It was officially the day before Christmas eve, December 23rd, and I was giddy as a three year old on Christmas morning. Later today, I was going to the park to hang out with Logan and exchange presents. I still haven’t told my parents about dating Logan. I plan on doing it later today. I’m slightly hoping that the two of them will be pleasantly drinking their second or third glass of wine, they might be more susceptible to the idea of a boyfriend.
It was almost twelve thirty when I finished getting ready. I grabbed the small snowmen wrapped box and shoved it into the big hobo bag that I always carried.

“Mom, Dad!” I hollered while running down the steps. “I’m going down to the park.”

“Wait a second Charlotte Anne Tiscar! Don’t you want to watch movies with your family? It’s the holidays and you should spend time with your family.” My mother was standing in the kitchen doorway. The blonde woman was normally very lenient when it comes to what I do, but when it came to the holidays she simply just wanted to spend time together as a family. One year we literally sat in the familyroom with hot chocolate, watched a bunch of Christmas movies, and yet the only words spoken the entire night were my dads.”Do you guys want more hot chocolate?” We would only nod in response.

Dad appeared behind mom with a glass of milk in his hand.”Sweetheart, let her go. It’s not like its Christmas Eve.” He turned his gaze toward me “Char, tonight we’re watching movies starting at 6:00 PM sharp. You can leave if you’re back by then, okay?”

“Thank you, Daddy!” I cheered exiting the front door, heading straight for the park by the edge of town. I couldn’t wait to see my boyfriend.

That day I was so excited to see Logan, but unbeknownst to me, he was not as excited. I still miss my parents, I haven’t seen them since that day. That snake wrapped himself around me and squeezed every good thing I had left out until I was no more.

‘I’ve been waiting for hours! When is he going to get here?’ The park bench I sat on was getting colder and colder by the hour. I soon decided to text him.Why I didn't do this earlier when it was an hour after the agreed meeting time? I don’t know. I whipped out my phone and scrolled down to his name.

‘Where r u? Its been 3 hrs since u said u’d be here.’ I texted quickly; the freezing air was nipping at my fingers the few seconds that they left their gloves.

A few minutes later I heard footsteps coming down the snowy path. There he stood in black jeans, flannel and a thin fleece jacket. His ears covered by headphones as he slowly trotted down the path.
“LOGAN!” I jumped off the freezing bench and ran into his arms.

“Hey,”He said nonchalantly.
“What took you so long, I’ve been waiting here for hours. We don’t have long before I have to go home.” He continued to just stand there and stare at me as I rambled on pointlessly.
“Sorry, my phone died and I got lost walking here.”

“You walked here! It’s freezing out and you’re barely wearing a coat.” I sound like a mother scolding her child.
“It’s fine, but, can I borrow your phone; I need to text my father, he’ll probably be worried.” The way he was talking scared me a bit. He was doing that thing again where he is cold and emotionless.

“Sure” I was somewhat skeptic of his intentions but, nevertheless I unlocked it and handed it over. I turned around to face the frozen pond.
“Hey Charlotte?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want your present?” At that point I turned around.
“Sure!”

(9:00 PM at the Tiscar House)
“She’s three hours late.” My mother stated.

“You’re right, I’m starting to worry.Maybe we should call the police?” My father replied.
“What if she got lost? Or she ran away?” my mother started breaking out in tears. “Maybe she fell asleep in the cold and is suffering of hypothermia?” She was hysterical at this point. It only took minutes on the phone with the police to have a search party out and an officer on their doorstep asking questions about the missing minor.

The next morning at 7:00 AM, right after sunrise on Christmas Eve, a call was made to 911. A body had been found floating in the half frozen river, facedown. The police were on the scene in minutes. The brown haired girl that had a blue face was pulled out of the water and was quickly transported to the morgue and examined.
It was soon discovered that the dead body was in fact Charlotte Anne Tiscar whose time of death was between 3:00 and 5:30 PM on december 23rd.

“Mrs. and Mr. Tiscar, I’m sorry to inform you that your daughter was found this morning. She’s, um, she’s dead” The voice over the phone was empathetic.
“NOOO!”My mother broke down in tears falling to the ground in seconds. My father, although not well, was trying to hold it together; trying to soothe her.
“What am I going to do? My baby’s GONE!!! My BABY!!!!”She wailed.

I miss my parents dearly, and my friends. You may be wondering what happened after Logan showed up at the park. Let me be the one to tell you what he did to me.

“Sure!” I said turning to him.

He held a butcher knife in his hand with this crazed look on his face.
“I’ve seen the way others look at you, they love you,but I love you more. All your friends left you alone, they were cruel to you. I was there for you when it counted, but all you wanted was your friends to forgive you.” He took a step towards me waving the knife around. “Charlotte, do you love me? Do you honestly love me like I love you?”

“O-oo-of course I do.” The fear in my bones was driving me slowly walk backwards, begging me to make a run for it.
“Then let’s be together forever.” He took another step closer barely a foot away from me when I turned and ran for my life. “Get back here!” He screamed and darted after me.
I was running over the bridge when he grabbed my arm and pulled me down to the ground.
“Why do you lie to me? Why do you lie to yourself?” he was delusional, he was crazy.

That night, my boyfriend Logan Tullary murdered me. He threw me in the river and left me there without looking back.

This brings me back to today. It was the last day of school, the last day of junior year. Logan, he sat there like nothing ever happened, like he never even knew me, never killed me. Of course at first everyone suspected him, especially my parents; mainly because they never knew about him. But he had an alibi, and apparently no motive thus, the accusations against him were dropped and everyone grieved his lost with him. Everyone but one person.

Lacey never believed him. She knew. She still hasn't lost faith that someday he’ll get what he deserves.
In the long run, one thing still stands. Not everyone gets a happy ending, and not everyone gets what they deserve.

You may ask what happened after my death, how and why am I telling you my story? The answers to those questions are simple; when you’re nowhere, you've got to have something to do or you might just go crazy.