Kyle
My birthday was something I anticipated and dreaded at the same time. On one hand, I’d be the center of attention for the whole day. On the other…
I had three little brothers and one sister that would wake me up in the worst way. And with Diana here now, surely she’d be like her twin… or maybe worse.
I woke up around 8 in the morning, already nervous. I didn’t move; any sign that I was already awake could trigger a trap or something.
Seconds ticked by. I still didn’t move. My nose started to itch. I moved my hand as slowly as possible, inching up to my ticklish nose. I sighed in relief when I was finally able to scratch.
Maybe I sighed a little too loudly.
“SURPRISE!” All four of them burst out from under my bed, inside our closet, and under my desk. Loud noisemakers blew in my ears and party horns softly hit my face. Lonnie joined the fray, jumping on the bed and licking me. I didn’t want to know how they trained him to do that.
“You guys are the worst.” I groaned and sat up, petting Lonnie.
They laughed, all of them giving me a hug and saying ‘happy birthday’. Diana put a party hat on my head, careful not to snap the elastic. Amy was the opposite— she’d snap it on purpose.
“Mom’s almost done with breakfast,” said Jack. “And we’re going somewhere later today.”
“No, come on… I told you, I wanted to stay home.”
“That’s boring,” said Harry.
“You’ll like it, trust me.” Tommy pulled on my arm, practically dragging me out of my bed. “Now get up!”
“Ow!” I lightly punched his chest.
“You’re so whiny,” Diana laughed.
“Oh, I’m whiny?” I stood and picked her up, hoisting her over my shoulder. She let out a startled squeal. “That’s whiny. Who you calling whiny, huh?”
“Kyle, put me down!” she giggled, slapping my back.
I dropped her on Jack’s bed, throwing a pillow at her. She threw it back and stuck her tongue out. I stopped for a moment, gazing at her. It had been a little while since I saw her happy. The whole court thing had really gotten her down.
She was really reminding me of Amy. She had her exact same smile, though Amy’s cheeks would turn a little rosier. Her laugh was almost similar. It had more of a staccato, rich giggle to it, like a toddler laughing. Amy’s was more of a squealy, fluid laugh.
“What’s wrong?” Diana asked me.
“You good, Ky?” Jack tapped my shoulder.
I blinked and nodded. “Yeah… sorry, I got lost in thought.” I sniffed, sighing at the scent of Mom’s buttery chocolate pancakes. “That’s what I’m talking about.” I hurried downstairs with them.
For the first half of the day, we watched movies and I opened presents. We’d taken days off from school and work just to relax and celebrate. Around early evening, we headed out.
None of them would tell me where my ‘party’ was on the way there. I dressed in a nice shirt and khakis, nothing too fancy. I’d initially wanted to just have a small celebration at home, but my family insisted that my 21st birthday should be more than that.
Since Amy died, I hadn’t really looked forward to my birthday. I was happy Diana was here, even so. The special day seemed to bring her mood up.
I was quite surprised when we arrived at the ‘surprise location’: a bowling alley. Nico’s Bowling Alley… we hadn’t been here in years. Amy used to love it here.
“Seriously?” I chuckled. “I thought this place closed.”
“I heard they had milkshakes,” said Diana.
“Amy’s favorite was Coco-Mango Delight,” Tommy told her.
She made a face. “Coconut? Blegh.”
“You don’t like coconut?”
“It tastes like nothing!” We went inside.
“It tastes like coconut.”
“Yeah, which is nothing.”
I laughed at them, stopping when I met Nicole’s eyes. She was standing with Sam, Hector, Eddie… all of my friends, including some of Jack’s, like Amelia. “Happy birthday!” they all said, starting the birthday song.
Nicole came up to me as she sang, placing a crown with ‘21’ on it on my head. I couldn’t help a bit of embarrassment, blushing at the attention as I kissed my girlfriend. The crowd led me to a table, where a three-tier princess-themed cake awaited me, a pink, glittery 21 candle shining at the top.
I looked knowingly at my family, my siblings laughing their heads off. Even Lonnie seemed to be laughing, his tongue hanging all the way out of his mouth. Everyone laughed through the song as I sat down, my eyes hovering over the hot pink candles and the tiara at the top layer. They all clapped when they finished the song, still chuckling.
“Very funny,” I said. “Whose idea was this?”
Everyone immediately pointed to Harry. He gaped at them all, his jaw dropped open. “What the heck.”
I inhaled to blow out the candles. “Wait! Make a wish!” Tommy said dramatically, recording me with his phone. “You’ll get your dream, Princess Kyle!” Everyone laughed again.
“Okay.” I closed my eyes, smiling widely, and blew out the candles. Everyone clapped and cheered.
“What’d you wish for?” asked Jack.
“Oh, you know I can’t tell anyone.” I stood, approaching my siblings, and grazed my hand against the frosting. “I wouldn’t want to spoil it.” I lifted my hand abruptly, the frosting smushing onto Harry’s face. “Oops… never mind, it came true.”
Harry gave me a look, grabbing a napkin and cleaning the frosting off. “Y’all are traitors. You call me the ‘blabbermouth’.” He pointed at everyone as they laughed.
“Alright, we’ll get the real cake.” Dad left the group with Mom, tossing a treat to Lonnie.
I tasted the frosting left on my fingers. “Huh. Not bad.”
Mom and Dad soon came back with the actual cake: a large, one-tier cake decorated with green fondue. It read, ‘Happy 21st, Kyle!’ in blue frosting next to a picture of Armadill, my favorite Omega Battlefield character. When I cut my piece out, I was delighted by the sight of carrot cake.
“Ew,” Tommy instantly said.
“Bruh, you’re the one that likes strawberry shortcake,” I retorted.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“It tastes like a wet sponge.”
“I’m taking that personally,” said Dad.
After eating the princess cake— which was chocolate— and my carrot cake, we took to the alleys to bowl against each other. I was a bit rusty, my ball going off to the gutters many times, but I eventually worked in a strong enough throw. Diana was good competition. Despite her being a bit skinny, she had a pretty strong throw, getting three strikes in the game.
“How’s everything?” Nicole asked me when we took a break.
I sipped my Chocolate-Covered Cherries milkshake. “Better than I ever thought it would be.”
“I’m guessing you’ve still felt down every once in a while?”
I paused. “It’s bittersweet. It’s actually kind of confusing. I’m happy Diana’s with us, but I just… really wish Amy were here to see all this.” We watched as Diana cheered and high-fived Amelia after striking again. Both of them were pretty good. “She would’ve been so happy.”
“She knows. She can see this. We just can’t see her.” Nicole took my hand into hers. “I’m sure she’s smiling right now.”
I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want to bring down the mood with any tears. It was the first time we’d felt this happy in a little while.
We watched as Rick high-fived Diana after bowling his own strike. Lonnie’s tail wagged wildly, as if to congratulate them. It was strange seeing them together. He and Amy loved each other to death.
“How’s it going with Diana and Tony, by the way?” Nicole asked.
“She video calls him a lot, but they haven’t met up. He’s asked her out a couple times. I think she’s withdrawn because of the whole… subpoena thing.”
“Is everything going alright with that?”
I cautiously looked around. I wasn’t really supposed to tell Nicole about this, but I was used to telling her everything. “It’s a waiting game until the date. I think Diana’s just scared because she can’t tell anyone about this. I guess that’s why she’s avoiding her friends.”
“Oh…” Nicole kneaded her hands together.
“What?”
“About that… I might have invited a couple of her friends last-minute.” She winced. “I felt bad that she was here without anyone she really knew, and she looked a bit shy around all your friends… so I asked Tommy for their numbers and called them.”
“Oh. Well… it should be fine. Where are they?”
“They should be here soon- oh, there they are.” She looked towards the entrance. All Diana’s girlfriends and Tony walked up to us, his little sister behind him.
“A couple, huh?” I looked at her. “I get you meant well, but you should’ve asked her.”
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “I didn’t think… God, I’m stupid.”
“You’re not stupid. She should be fine. She loves them.”
“Happy birthday, Ky.” Mildred placed a gift bag on my table. “It’s not much, but…”
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“Thanks, Mildred.”
“I heard there was carrot cake?”
“Plenty left.” I motioned to the leftover cakes behind me.
“Great!” She ran over. Harry noticed her, approaching and striking up a conversation. It was good to see they were still friends.
“Happy birthday!” Thelma came up to us, giving me a side hug. “Uh, this was a bit sudden, but I got you a little something. It’s not wrapped…” She shyly gave me a small bag from the dollar store.
I chuckled. “You’re good, Thelma. You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“It’s your birthday! Thanks for the invite, Nicole.”
“Sorry it was so last minute.”
“No biggie. Where’s- ah! Diana!” She went up to my sister and surprise-hugged her. Diana looked a bit surprised, but relaxed and smiled at them.
“She looks okay so far…” Nicole observed.
She chatted with the girls, then greeted Tony and his sister, the latter hugging her tight. She tensed up a bit around Tony, but out of shyness rather than stress.
“They’d definitely make a good couple,” my girlfriend said.
“Yeah… I hope.”
“You don’t like him?”
“Yeah, I do. He’s cool. I just hope it works out.”
Nicole shrugged. “They’re in high school. Even if it doesn’t, maybe they’ll still stay friends.”
“Crossing my fingers for that.”
Diana maintained a smile, but she pulled at her fingers, popping her knuckles over and over again. Lonnie pressed himself to her side. I watched her intently, hoping her anxiety wouldn’t be too overwhelming.
Thelma and Kate then approached her. Their conversation seemed light until Diana’s smile faded, saying, “What?” After a few moments, her skin paled and she crouched, putting her arm around Lonnie. The girls also crouched with her.
“Uh-oh.” I stood, Nicole following. Diana was breathing a bit too heavily, her eyes flickering to different directions.
“D-Diana, it’s okay.” Kate’s lips trembled as tears filled her eyes. “We’re s-sorry. We d-didn’t…”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We, uh… told her something,” said Thelma.
“What?” Nicole said.
“It’s… about the trial.”
I gave her a look. “Why are you talking about this now?”
“It was kind of important. We tried telling her before, but she never answered our texts.”
“W-we’re sorry. We didn’t m-mean to… w-we didn’t want to ruin a-anything.” Kate sniffled, now crying. “I… we sh-should’ve waited. We’re s-sorry.”
“Kate, it’s okay. It’s okay.” I patted her shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” Mom and Dad came, catching the rest of the group’s attention.
“Is she okay?” Tony came through the crowd.
“Diana, are you okay?” Harry crouched in front of her, taking her shoulders. Mildred was at her side, too.
She shook her head frantically. “I can’t do this. I can’t go to that court, Harry,” she said, gasping.
“Diana, calm down. Okay? It’s not gonna happen for-”
“I can’t do it. I-I can’t do it!”
Mom hugged her. “Sweetheart, it’s alright. You don’t have to-”
“I can’t do this!” She broke away, running to the bathroom. She tripped on the way, falling harshly.
“Diana!” We ran up to her. She curled up in a ball as I tried to help her up, shaking her head and crying.
“Come on, baby, stand up,” I said gently.
“I don’t want to see him!” she cried. “Please, I can’t see him again! He’s gonna hurt me!”
“He’s not gonna hurt you, Di.” My brothers tried to help, but she tightened up further, even with Lonnie at her side.
“I can’t! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I can’t!”
“Th-this is all my f-fault…” Kate broke into tears, immediately comforted by Thelma and Alma.
Blanche ran up to Diana, trying to pull her up. Rick tried stopping her. “Blanche, be a little more gentle.”
“There’s too many people- everyone, give her some space!” she said.
“Back up.” Hector nudged everyone to move away. We still formed a circle around Diana, attracting attention from the staff.
Blanche shook Diana. “Di, come on, you need to calm down. You’re gonna be okay.”
“I can’t do it,” she repeated.
“Diana, it’s not even happening right now.”
“I can’t do it. I can’t do it, I can’t do it-”
“Stop!” A light, but loud, smack echoed. Everyone gasped, silence falling as we stared at Blanche.
“Blanche, what the ‘heck’?!” Mildred yelled.
Diana rubbed her cheek, staring at her with hurt in her eyes. The girl stood, realizing her actions, and covered her mouth, tearing up. “I’m… I’m sorry…”
Diana stood, running to the bathroom with Lonnie, who whimpered urgently. Thelma and Alma ran after her, followed by our parents. “Diana, I’m sorry! I’m sorry, wait-” Blanche wiped her eyes, hiding her face from everyone.
“What the ‘heck’ did you smack her for?!” Eddie exclaimed.
“I didn’t want to-”
“She’s on the floor panicking, and your first instinct is to ‘freaking’ smack her?”
“Ed.” Rick stopped him. “Relax.”
Tony’s sister signed something to her brother, then ran to the bathroom. Tony sighed, giving Blanche a glare, and turned to Kate, asking, “What exactly did you say to her?” Kate responded through frequent stammers, still crying.
“I’m so sorry… this is all my fault.” Nicole shook her head.
“It’s not your fault, Nic.” I turned to the murmuring guests. “Everyone… uh… thanks for coming. This was honestly an amazing birthday, and I’m glad all of you took time to come here and make this so special. I’m sorry about what happened… it’s still a really difficult time for us, especially Diana, and I’m sorry if any of you felt… uncomfortable.” I cleared my throat, glancing back at the bathrooms. “If you want to leave early, don’t sweat it. I get that this kind of… changed the mood. Thanks again, and sorry about what happened.” Nicole and I went towards the bathrooms.
Hearing someone behind us, I turned, seeing Tony following us. He stopped, awkwardly waving. “Hey, I… I just want to make sure she’s okay. And my sister’s there, so…”
“It’s cool.”
Dad was waiting outside the bathrooms, listening intently. “What’s going on?” I asked.
“It’s a panic attack,” he said. “She’s still on edge.”
I scooted aside so Nicole could enter. I leaned close to the door, all three of us listening.
“I don’t know why she had to hit you like that,” Alma said. She muttered something in Spanish.
“You want some water?” Nicole asked. A pause, then, “Okay, I’ll be back.” The door hit me in the face when she exited. I groaned, reeling back.
She clicked her tongue. “What do you think you’re doing, nosy?”
“Y vos, shute?” I heard Alma say. “Are you guys listening in?” Tony’s sister came out as she spoke, frowning at Tony and signing, scolding him.
“I just want to know if she’s okay!” Tony said, signing with his words.
His sister signed for a bit, then did the ‘I’m watching you’ sign and went back in. “She says Di’s doing okay, she just needs a minute. And she’s sorry she ruined your birthday.” Tony looked at me.
“Uh… tell her she didn’t ruin anything and that everything’s okay!” I shouted inside.
“Davis, you and Kyle better step away from the door,” Mom said.
I leaned against the wall. “What else did she say?” I asked Tony.
“She said… Kate and Thelma told her they’re also going to court for something?”
I raised my brows. “They’re what?”
“I don’t know about any of this… they mentioned a trial.”
“Why do they need to go?” Dad wondered.
Why did they need to go? This case was getting crazier by the second…
~~~
Harry
The big ‘WINTER FORMAL’ banners were getting on my nerves. School dances didn’t require a date, but I would’ve liked one. At least I wasn’t alone; Tommy was single now. Honestly, he was better off. He seemed a lot more relaxed and less depressed since he broke up with Shirley, and he’d stopped looking at those websites.
I felt pretty bad, even so. With that rumor having gotten around, it would be hard for him to find anyone else to date if he wanted to. We didn’t hold it against Diana, since we were really mean to her at the time, but it made a huge impact on both of us.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw Lucas’s old friends down the hall. I didn’t feel like dealing with them. I was next to the lockers, too— not a good position to be in when a group of enemies was around.
I quickly turned the corner, speed-walking. With this new route, I could be late to class.
“Oof!” I dropped my books. “I’m sorry!” I crouched, picking up the person’s notebook. It read, ‘Mildred Dawson’ on the cover.
“Oh, hey!” She smiled, taking her book. “Sorry about that.”
“You’re good,” I said. “Haven’t seen you since Kyle’s party.”
“Yeah… that was pretty short-lived.”
“I’m sorry about all that. And I actually thought about inviting you… a-and everyone else, too, but since it was Kyle’s party, and-”
“Harry.” She stopped me. “Don’t worry about that. It’s not a big deal.”
I nodded, still feeling a bit awkward. “Have you talked to any of the other girls? Like… Blanche, or anyone?”
She inhaled. “I’m not that close with Blanche, to be honest. I only know all of them through Diana. I know Blanche has been having a hard time with her mom lately… she talked about it in the group chat. I was surprised Diana didn’t say anything… now I know why she hasn’t talked to us.”
“So none of them ever told you?”
“No. They’re not allowed to, are they?”
“I guess… not.”
She hoisted her backpack further up her shoulder. “So… the guy that murdered his wife was… Di’s uncle? Supposedly?”
“Yeah. When her parents died, they took her in, and CPS took her out because they abused her, and their kids. Diana needs to prove he was abusing his wife… and tell them she saw him carrying the body.”
“She saw him carrying the body?!” she exclaimed.
“Shh!” I glanced around us. “She didn’t realize it. It was dark. But it was him.”
Mildred cursed under her breath. “What about Thelma and Kate? What do they have to do with it?”
“Thelma recognized the truck, so she’s gonna confirm it was his same truck. And apparently, Kate saw him looking for the wife’s body in the lake, and she called the cops.”
“She called the cops?” Mildred shook her head. “What are the odds? Why didn’t she say anything, though?”
“I guess she was scared.” The bell rang, reminding me I had a class to get to. I cursed. “Sorry, I held you up.”
“I have a free period. You’re fine.”
“Aw, about time the single pringle has a girlfriend.” Ivy and Lisa’s faces appeared, approaching us with venomous smiles. “I’ll be honest, Harry, I thought you’d be single forever. It’s nice to see how things turned out,” Lisa said with an irritating smile.
I glanced at Mildred, who only glared at the girls. She smiled at me awkwardly. “You should get to your class. And ignore these two jerks.”
“What, you can’t take a compliment?” said Lisa, huffing. “You seem like a really fun person.”
“More fun than you. I’ll see you around, Harry.” She dove into the crowd.
I sighed, reminding myself that she was just my friend, nothing more. I didn’t want to get my hopes up again.
“So, how long has she been your girlfriend?” asked Ivy. “Tommy’s the single pringle now, huh?”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” I walked away.
“Oh, she’s not? But you guys look cute together.”
“Could you go away?”
“It’s been a while, Harry,” Ivy interjected. “Thanks for inviting me to Kyle’s birthday, by the way.”
I sighed. “Ivy, you don’t even talk to us anymore. Why would we invite you?”
“You invited Diana’s friends.”
“Because they talk to us. I gotta go to class.” I tried walking faster.
“So you not only replace Amy, but Ivy, too?” Lisa butt in.
“Buzz off, Preston.” I heard them follow me as I tried to lose them in the thinning crowd. What was their problem?
“You don’t have to be that mean, Harry,” Ivy continued. “I just want to know why I didn’t get an invite. Kyle didn’t even answer me when I texted him Happy Birthday.”
“Ivy, you can’t treat us like ‘trash’ for months, then suddenly expect us to be back to normal.”
“I said I was sorry!”
I scoffed. “Yeah, some sorry that was. You only said it because you found out Diana’s actually our sister.”
“That’s not true. I really did feel bad!”
“Sure you did.”
“It’s not like you guys were perfect angels, either,” Lisa cut in again.
“Lisa, go to your 20 something boyfriends and stay out of this!” I snapped.
She laughed indignantly. “I’m just asking. As Ivy’s best friend, I want to-”
I turned. “Ivy’s best friend?” I found myself laughing at the blatant hypocrisy. “All this time, you’re like, ‘How could you replace Amy like that? You guys are sick!’” I imitated Ivy with a high-pitched voice. “And the whole time, you got a new best friend that bullied Amy before?”
“She’s not my best friend-” she started.
“Um, yes, I am?” Lisa frowned at her. “I’ve been there for you since Amy died. I went to your house when Monica died. I’m here for you.”
“What a crock.” I rolled my eyes.
“Shut up!”
“You shut up!”
“Don’t talk to her like that.” Ivy got between us, as if afraid the argument would escalate. “Lisa, I didn’t mean it like that, okay? I’m sorry.”
“You’d better be. Only reason you’re not alone is because of me.”
“Ivy, you’re literally letting her manipulate you,” I told her. “Don’t you hear what she’s saying?”
“You guys hardly talked to me after she died. What else was I supposed to do?”
“You stopped talking to us!”
“What was I gonna think? You come back to school with Diana and expect me to pretend everything’s fine and that your parents weren’t crazy? Sister or not, what you guys were doing at the beginning— that wasn’t right!”
“I know it wasn’t right, but you’re no better! You’re with her!” I pointed angrily at Lisa. “You think that didn’t tick me off? You think I didn’t get angry whenever I saw you laugh with these girls?!” By now, people around us were taking notice of our very loud argument.
“You don’t understand!”
“No, you don’t understand!” I shouted. “You’re the fakest friend I’ve ever seen! Amy loved you. Monica loved you, and she still loved you, even though you were with these stupid girls. You didn’t deserve either of them.”
Ivy’s jaw trembled. “Just let me explain-”
“Agree to disagree,” Lisa interrupted. “She’s just moving on and making new friends. You can’t be sad and alone forever. You should know. With Diana, it’s almost like nothing ever happened.”
“At least Diana didn’t bully Amy and pretend to be our friend right after she died.”
“Will you get over that? We were young!” Lisa looked at the crowd, mocking me. “You really love to hold grudges! Fine, I made a few… semi-mean jokes about her. It was her fault for being so sensitive. But I’ve grown since then, and I’m becoming a better person. Doing some charity work.” As she spoke, Ivy seemed to tense up further and further, like a bottle of champagne being shaken. Even so, she said nothing.
“Charity work?” I raised my brows. I stared at Ivy, observing her brown eyes shifting and her honey-tan skin turning the slightest shade of red. I raised my brows. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
She didn’t meet my eyes. Lisa smiled nastily. “You can’t act like Amy was an angel just because she’s dead, Harry. She had her flaws, just like all of us do. Sorry, not sorry. Either way, you’ve moved on, we’ve moved on, and so has Ivy.” She put an arm around the girl. “And I’m glad I could help her. We moved on together, didn’t we?”
I kept staring at Ivy. “Nothing, Ivy? You’re not saying a word?”
A drop fell from her eye, but she remained silent. My jaw clenched in anger at her crocodile tears.
“Amy would’ve been disappointed.” I turned to leave, then felt two hands smack against my back, propelling me forward. Everyone around us exclaimed, staring at Ivy and Lisa as they left. The final bell then rang.
I sighed with dread and continued to my class as everyone rushed away.