February 28, 2010
9:30 a.m.
Evalynne’s House


Dear Evalynne,
I know that you already promised me that you would stay away from Michael, and that’s great. Believe me, I’m very relieved that you made that promise. But there’s something else I need you to promise me—and this is for your own safety too. I need you to promise me that you will stay away from Will.
I know that he’s your friend, and I know that you’re beginning to have feelings for him. But you can’t make it seem like you’re friends with him. Not while Michael’s here at least. Evalynne, I love you so much. And if anything were ever to happen to you, I’d feel like it was my fault. So please just cooperate with me here, and stay away from Will. It’s for your own good.
And if you’re wondering why I’m writing you letters in your diary, it’s because it takes a lot of strength and energy for me to actually talk to you. It’s much easier to just leave these letters. So if you don’t mind, could you write back to me so we don’t have to talk?
I love you more than words can express. You mean everything to me, and if you were to die—to get murdered—I’m not sure what I would do. I can’t even imagine how much pain I’d be suffering. So please keep away from Will until Michael goes back to college.
Love,

Ash

This was what I found in my diary when I opened it up to write in an entry that morning. And when I read it, I nearly cried. Because reading those words made me realize just how serious this whole situation really was. There was a killer staying in the house next door to me. A killer who murdered girls that became friends with his brother. And Will was one of my nearest and dearest friends.
This couldn’t be happening. This was my life, not some Stephen King novel.
“Ugh,” I groaned as I rolled out of bed. I walked over to my window to open my curtains—which I had closed after I caught Michael staring at me last night—in order to let some light into my room. Fortunately, the curtains to Will’s bedroom were drawn shut.
Aside from Ash’s death and finding out that Dad was cheating on Mom, this was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. Why was my life so screwed up? Why was I cursed with this horrific life? What did I do to deserve this?
Sighing, I trotted back over to my bed and plopped down. Then I grabbed my pen and my diary and began writing.


Dear Ash,
What you’re asking me to do is going to be very difficult for me, considering that Will’s one of my best friends. However, I will force myself to suck it up and deal with it until Michael leaves. Not for my sake, but for yours.
Because honestly, I really wouldn’t mind dying. After all, if I were dead, I’d get to go up to Heaven and be with you again.
I know what you’re thinking: “Oh no! She’s going to try and kill herself!” Well you can stop freaking out, because I’m not going to do that. I would never do anything to hurt you. Which is why I promise to stay away from Will until Michael goes back to college.
I just hope he goes back soon, because I really don’t feel comfortable with him staying right next door to me. That guy’s a creepy psychopath! Oh, and I was wondering something. Should I tell the police about this?
Because that seems like a pretty good idea to me. But I want to check with you first, just to make sure it’s ok.
Ok, well that’s all I really have to say for now. I miss you so much that it hurts, but I’m glad that you’re not completely gone. And even though you’re dead, the memory of you is still alive inside my heart. I love you.
Love,

Evalynne Y

I flipped my diary shut and trudged downstairs. Once again, I found Mom sitting on the couch, her face emotionless. I still felt bad for her, but I was also getting slightly irritated with her behavior. However, I wasn’t angry at her for this, I was angry at my lying, cheating, scummy father for causing her to feel so low. He was the reason for her depressing behavior.
“Mom, you need to eat something. I can’t remember the last time I saw you put a piece of food into your mouth.” I told her. And this was true. She hadn’t been eating, drinking, talking. She really hadn’t been doing anything since she found out Dad’s dirty little secret.
“I’m not hungry.” she said flatly. Her voice sounded robotic almost. And it was so hard for me to listen to her speak like this, because it wasn’t the real her. Mom was a kind, friendly, happy person. She didn’t deserve to feel so depressed.
“I don’t care if you’re hungry. You need to eat something.” I replied, my tone a bit more assertive now. “Come on, why don’t I make you some toast?” I suggested.
“I don’t want to eat anything.” she murmured.
“Well, you have to.” I informed her. And without waiting for a response, I headed into the kitchen and popped two pieces of bread into the toaster. I was going to get her to eat something. I would shove the toast down her throat if that’s what it took. It had been almost a week, and I’d already began to notice her shedding a few pounds.
Sure, she had a few bites of food and a few sips of water every once in a while…but she wasn’t getting nearly enough food and water as she needed to. And I wasn’t going to sit back and watch my mom slowly kill herself without doing anything to stop it.
When the pieces of bread were done toasting, I spread some butter on them, placed them on a plate, and brought it out to Mom. I the plate of toast down in front of her on the coffee table, but she didn’t even glance at it. I decided to give her a few moments to eat it. After all, she had barely eaten in the last week. She had to be hungry.
So I walked back upstairs and made my bed, something I hadn’t done in quite a while. Next I slipped into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, then headed back downstairs to check on Mom.
When I reached the living room, I couldn’t help but notice that the toast remained untouched. “Mom,” I began, “this isn’t healthy. You’ve barely had anything to eat or drink for an entire week. You’re already starting to lose weight. Mom, you’re stronger than this. Dad is so incredibly stupid for cheating on you, and I guarantee you that the rest of his life is going to be an epic fail. But that doesn’t mean that yours should too. You can get through this. I know you can. So don’t give up on yourself just because things seem bad now. Everything happens for a reason. Apparently, you and Dad just weren’t meant to be. But that’s ok. You can get over him. You’re better than this, Mom.”
I stood there, hoping that my words of encouragement at least had some effect on her. Slowly, Mom reached for a piece of toast, bit off a small chunk of it, chewed, swallowed. I grinned, glad that what I’d said had actually had an impact on her.
Ding Dong
The sound of the doorbell ringing took me by surprise, making me jump. “I’ll get it.” I declared. But Mom was too busy munching on her toast to pay any attention to what I’d said.
The moment I opened up the door, I regretted it. “Hello there, Evalynne,” Michael greeted me, an impish smile spreading across his face. Up close, I realized how chiseled his facial features really were. I also realized how dark his eyes were, just like Will’s.
“Um…h-h-hi…” I stuttered, still alarmed by his presence. I was standing face to face with a murder. This guy had pushed his girlfriend down the stairs just because she was friends with his brother. He was definitely out of his mind.
“You seem nervous.” he commented. “But don’t worry. You don’t have to be nervous around me. I don’t bite.”
No, you just push people down flights of stairs. I had to bite my tongue to keep these words from escaping out of my mouth. “I’m not nervous.” I said instead.
“Well can I come in then?” he inquired, stealing a glance inside my house.
I had to make up an excuse. I had to get him to go away. “Um, now’s not really a good time.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Well, uh, you see…” I coughed fretfully, hurriedly scanning my mind for a good lie. “My mom, she’s sick.” I fibbed. “She just threw up, and it’s really gross. You don’t want to come in here.”
His eyes burned into mine, as if searching my eyes for the truth. Did he know I was lying? Could he sense my apprehension. It sure seemed like it judging by the way he was staring at me. “Is she alright?” he finally said.
“Yeah, she’s just got the flu. It’s no big deal really.” I told him. Even I could hear the anxiety in my voice. I really needed to work on my lying skills.
“I’ve had a 4.0 grade point average since the sixth grade. I’m currently attending the University of Harvard. That’s an Ivy League school, Evalynne. Do you know how hard it is to get accepted into an Ivy League school?”
“Uh, really hard?” I guessed, unsure of where he was going with this.
“No, not just really hard, extremely hard. But I did it. I made it in. You see, Harvard only accepts people who are very intelligent. I’m a very intelligent person, Evalynne. That’s why they accepted me. And I’m definitely intelligent enough to know that you’re lying to me right now.”
My eyes went wide and I felt my pulse speed up. This was definitely not going well. “Why would I be lying to you?” I asked, trying my best to sound innocent.
“I’m not sure actually. But I’m guessing it’s because you’re Will’s friend, and you don’t appreciate the way I treated him the other day. Isn’t that right?” His voice was thick with spite, and I knew that he was definitely not happy about my friendship with Will. “Or maybe it’s because you know what I did last week.”
“What are you talking about?” I demanded. I had a feeling that he was talking about the murder of his girlfriend, but I wanted to double-check just to make sure.
“Don’t play stupid with me. I’m not a stupid person. Everything I do is for a completely smart and logical reason.” he remarked. “Now, tell me this, Evalynne. How did you find out?”
“Find out about what?” I pretended as if I were still completely clueless, when in reality I was just stalling for time. I had to think of a way to get him away from me. I was so petrified at that moment, that I could barely even think straight.
“I told you not play stupid with me!” he cried. “Now, answer my question. How did you find out?”
“Evalynne, who’s at the door?” Mom called out to me from the living room.
“Uh, just a friend,” I called back. That was about as far away from the truth as I could get. By no means was Michael my friend.
“Distract him,” I heard Ash’s voice inside my head. I glanced behind Michael, and sure enough, I caught a glimpse of Ash’s ghost.
“Well, I’m honestly not completely sure of what you’re talking about. Would you mind explaining to me? After all, I’m nowhere near as smart as you.” I told him. I was trying very hard to get him talking, that way Ash could tell me what to do next, because I had no idea.
“Well, it had to do with my ex-girlfriend.” he said. But that was all he said. No long story like I’d hoped for.
“Keep him talking, then pull our your phone and call Will.” Ash said to me.
I took a deep breath and then continued speaking to Michael. “Oh, are you talking about how she fell down the stairs?” I asked him. I definitely didn’t want him to find out that I knew he’d pushed her.
“So you honestly believe that she fell?” he inquired. “You don’t think that she was pushed perhaps?”
“Pushed?” I exclaimed, like that was the last thing I’d ever suspect. “Of course not! Why? Do you?”
And as he began explaining to me all the different possibilities of what could’ve happened, I slyly reached a hand into my pocket and began going through my contact list, making sure to only glance down at the screen when he wasn’t paying attention to me. Finally, I reached Will’s name and pressed the dial button.
When he answered, I made sure my voice was extra loud so he could hear me. “Michael, I really think you should go now.” I said. “I’m really not in the mood to talk right now.”
Michael stared at for a moment before his eyes began to linger down to my pocket. I immediately jammed the phone back into my pocket and let my hand drop back down to my side. But I’d been too late. He’d already caught me.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded through clenched teeth.
“Nothing, I’m not doing anything.” I lied.
And then just in time, I heard Will’s voice shouting from outside. “Michael, what are you doing? Get away from her!” He came racing to my front door, and pushed past his brother to come inside and make sure I was alright. “Evalynne, what happened?” he asked. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No, I’m fine.” I replied, loving how warm I felt when Will wrapped his arm around my waste. And I loved it even more when he filled the space between us by pulling me closer to him. So close that our bodies were pressed up against each other.
He let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God,” he murmured to himself. Then he turned back to face his brother. “Michael, I swear to God, if I ever catch you over here again…” he trailed off at the end, too furious to even continue his sentence.
“Evalynne, what’s going on here?” Mom demanded. I turned around to find her standing behind us.
“It’s nothing, Mom.” I tried to assure her. “You can go finish your toast, they’ll leave in a second.”
“Mrs. Carter, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Michael McKnight,” Michael said, holding out his hand for my mother to shake. After shaking his hand, she looked from Will’s face to his, realizing the resemblance between them.
“And you’re Will’s brother I assume.” she said to him.
He gritted his teeth together, forcing a smile. “Yes, I am.”
“I see,” she uttered, her tone disapproving. She didn’t like Will, therefore she didn’t like Michael. I knew this without even confirming it with her. It was pretty obvious.
“Actually Mrs. Carter, my brother and I were just about to leave.” Will told her. “I’ll talk to you later,” he said to me. Then he walked out of the house, shutting the door behind him.
“I don’t like those boys.” Mom stated. “I don’t think you should be hanging out around them anymore.”
“Don’t worry,” I murmured. “I won’t be.”

Author's Note: So what do you all thik of Michael so far?