The day had started out so normal for 16 year old, sophomore in high school, Kaitlyn Hager. She woke up, went downstairs to eat breakfast with her mom, dad, and brother, Jake. The two siblings, only a year apart, were completely different, but were pretty much best friends. They hung out with different people for the most part, Kaitlyn with her group of random misfits, and Jake with the fellow popular kids, the jocks and cheerleaders. But, that didn't stop them from loving each other. They still fought like brother and sister though. That morning, the argument had been about how Kaitlyn needed to start showering before breakfast because, according to Jake, she smelled like shit when she woke up.
She did shower after eating her typical breakfast of oatmeal and a banana nut muffin. Then, all while video chatting with her best friend AJ Lee, she straightened her blonde and black hair, did her make-up, and (not while video-chatting) got dressed.
Her boyfriend, Mike Mizanin, picked her up for school (because Jake picked up his jock friends on the way to school and Kaitlyn did not want to be tortured), along with his best friend, Alex Riley. Then they got to school, met up with AJ, her boyfriend Ted DiBiase, Christy Hemme, and Cody Rhodes. Usually, they'd meet up with John Morrison and Melina Perez as well, but oddly enough, both members of the couple were absent that morning. Cody drooled over Maryse Ouellet as she strut by with her other bitch friends. Angel Williams didn't even stop to think before dishing out another oh so original insult ("Hey, bitch, nice face" ha, ha, ha) in Kaitlyn's direction, but the lameness of her joke didn't stop all of her followers, and boyfriend and his best friend, Jamie Szantyr (who insisted on being called Velvet Sky, even though it sounded like a stripper name), Maryse, Madison Rayne, Lacey Von Erich, Patrick Martin, and Chris Sabin. Lacey flashed Kaitlyn a sympathetic smile before they all walked off. It was a typical day.
Kaitlyn and AJ went to first period English together, and everything was normal as usual... then, it got not so normal. The period was almost over, which meant morning announcements. Kaitlyn and AJ usually just talked through them, but something stopped them. The whole room got quiet as the principal, his voice sad, spoke.
"Two sophomores, Melina Perez and John Morrison, were found dead last night at Perez's home. No further information is to be released. Grief counselors are in the office for anyone who needs them, and will be available at any time. Teachers, please let any student who asks come down to speak to them."
Most of the kids were only thinking about how much work they'd get out of doing that day because of the death, but the two girls in the back of the room were just trying not to start sobbing. After sharing a look of shock and sadness, Kaitlyn and AJ both rose from their seats. Mr. Fields, who was wearing a similiar look as the girls, saw them and just nodded, knowing what they were standing for.
When they got to the office, they weren't surprised to see their friends sitting, waiting to be seen by a counselor as well. Kaitlyn went straight for Mike, who was clearly crying, and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and hugging him. It was no secret that Mike had been close with John. Other than Alex, he was his best friend.
"I'm so sorry, baby," Kaitlyn said into his ear, her voice barely above a whisper. He didn't say anything or look at her, but he forced himself to give a half smile. She kissed the side of his face before locking eyes with AJ from across the room. AJ was holding Ted's hand. Neither AJ or Ted hadn't been super close with either John or Melina, but it still hurt to lose one of your friends.
xx
It was four o'clock and after suffering through a miserable day at school, the six friends were sitting in AJ's bedroom. Well, five, since Christy was yet to arrive. Late, as usual.
"I can't believe they're dead..." Mike said, breaking the silence that had been there since they all arrived at AJ's house.
"I can't believe they're not giving us anymore details," Alex grumbled. "We're their best friends. We should know something."
"We don't even know how they died," sobbed AJ, who hadn't stopped crying since they'd gotten to her room. Ted held her closer, running his fingers through her hair.
"They were murdererd," came Christy's voice as she walked into the room, cell phone in hand. "Nathan texted me." Nathan, Melina's brother and Christy had been dating since her 8th grade, his sophomore, year. So it wasn't a surprise to the others that Christy was the one who had the news.
"How?" Kaitlyn asked. Her eyes, much like the others, were red from all the crying they'd been doing.
"John was stabbed multiple times, in the stomach and the heart," Christy said, managaing to keep her voice somewhat steady as she read from her phone, telling the group word for word what Nathan told her. "Melina was shot in chest once, and again in the head."
She sat down by Cody on AJ's couch. AJ's room had always been the spot where the friends hung out. Her family was rich and her room was huge and completely decked out. She had a king sized bed, a couch that pulled out into a futon, and a large screen TV as well as surround sound. She even had a mini fridge by her purple bean bag chair, which the boys especially loved. Spending time in the room together always put the friends in a good mood, but that day nothing was cheering them up.
"Why?" Cody squeaked out.
Christy shrugged her slumped shoulders. "No one knows."
"Do they know who it was?" he asked.
"No... no idea. There was no evidence whatsoever. The cops are clueless."
AJ burst into a fresh set of tears and Ted kissed the top of her head.
"They have no clue why they were killed?" Kaitlyn asked. "They have to have some kind of idea."
Christy shook her head. "They thought maybe it was a break in. Melina and John saw them and he killed them. But, nothing was stolen. And there was no forced entry. They'd used the spare key under the welcome mat."
"So... it could have been someone close to them..." Alex mumbled as he eyed Mike and Kaitlyn, then Christy and Cody.
"Everyone has keys under welcome mats though," Cody said. "It's not exactly an original place to hide them."
"They said that though," the redhead sighed. "Nathan said the cops are going to make sure to keep an eye on all of their friends..."
"So, we're going to have cops breathing down our backs? Awesome," Ted said.
"You have something to hide, Teddy bear?" Cody questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Ted looked offended at this. "No. I don't. Do you?"
"Guys!" Kaitlyn shouted before an argument got started. "Stop it. None of us have done anything. Stop pointing fingers. It probably was just a break in. Like Cody said, everyone has a spare key under their welcome mat. I know I do at my house. We're all innocent, okay?"
"Whatever," Cody mumbled. He stood up. "I'm out of here."
"Wait, bro, you're mine and Ted's ride home," Mike said.
"Kiss your girlfriend goodbye and come on then. Ted, hurry your bitch ass up," Cody said just before exiting the room.
Ted kissed AJ, a hand resting on her cheek. "Are you gonna be okay?" When she nodded, he kissed her again. "I'll call you."
The couple across the room said their goodbyes before Mike and Ted followed Cody's path out of the room.
"I'm going to get going, too," Alex said, getting out of the bean bag chair. "You want a ride, Christy?"
"Yeah, Nathan dropped me off. So, I'm deserted." Christy gave AJ and Kaitlyn both huge hugs, as did Alex, before waving goodbye and heading out the door.
There was silence for a moment as Kaitlyn moved to sit beside AJ. "You're staying the night, right?" the petite brunette asked.
"Of course," Kaitlyn assured her. AJ was very sensitive and scared easy. So although she was safe, she was still extremely frightened. So, Kaitlyn wouldn't dare leave her best friend in this state. She didn't really want to be alone either.
Later that night, when they were in AJ's bed, about to go to sleep, AJ sighed.
"Do you really think it was a break in?" she asked, her voice quiet.
Kaitlyn wanted to say yes, just to put AJ at ease. But, she didn't want to lie to her friend. "No... they were murdered way too brutally to it have been a break in. The killer had a knife and a gun. A burglar would have just brought one or the other. But both? No way."
There was a brief silent pause before AJ spoke again. "Are you scared, Kaitlyn?"
"Terrified."
A/N: Tell me what you think! Is this something I should continue? Tell me, who do you think the killer is? It might be too soon to tell, but it doesn't hurt to guess!
