'Attached'
One thing I knew for sure, I was dead. How did it happen? I had no idea, but I would find out. Did I kill myself? Am I suicidal? No, of course I didn't. I was Angela Borman: Captain of the senior girl's volleyball team, vice president of the student council, and always made honour roll. I was doing great in life; I had a boyfriend and a great future ahead of me. Why would I pull such a crazy stunt?
Unless...is it possible that I was killed? No, that couldn't have happened. Who? How? I had so many questions, but I would eventually find the answers.
What do I remember? I remember Michael, going to his apartment. He had planned an evening for just the two of us. It was all ready; a perfect dinner and I was finally staying with him for the night. It was the perfect plan. He was perfect; too perfect? No, absolutely not. His feet were too big and his hair was a weird blonde colour. On anyone else it would look great, on Michael; it took some getting used to. It wasn't hard; after you talked to him, his hair wasn't even noticeable. He wanted to be a doctor; he played hockey and basketball, and went totally nuts over cotton candy. What really struck me were his eyes. I was a sucker for blue eyes, and his were like the colour of the ocean; every time they made contact with mine, I felt as though my knees could give away beneath me. I remember that night clearly.
Bzzz. I called up to Michael's apartment room, his name was easy to find, and his was the only name under the 'F'.
"Yeah this is Michael Falpio," his voice was all I needed to hear in order to feel safe and comforted.
"Hey it's me, can you let me in?" I tried to sound calm, but by the chuckle on the other end I could tell I didn't sound too convincing.
"Absolutely, can't wait to see you." He sounded just as excited as I was, maybe even more.
"I'll be right up," I said as the door creaked open.
I never wanted to stop talking to him, the hardest thing, was not having him by my side. Once we said good bye for the day, I always anticipated the next day to come.
I quickly made my way to the elevator. What I liked most about the Clarkson Apartment building was that it didn't have many floors. After a huge chandelier was put up in the lobby, they had to stop putting on additions since they couldn't afford it. Even though I'm pretty sure they had that thing before the building was even a blueprint, they still can't add any new features. There were five floors in this building and they were not very well kept. All the money seemed like it was put into the upkeep of the chandelier, and even then, it still looked dusty. What they really needed was to mop their floors or even use some kind of cleaner on the carpet stains. The walls-which used to be a gorgeous tan colour-was now turned dark grey, along with greasy fingerprints on every window. Even when you walked in the doors, all you could smell was the dust collecting on everything.
At the moment though, it was all Michael could afford. However, he was soon going to get an offer he would hopefully not be able to turn down. I had a surprise that I had been waiting to give him, and tonight was going to be the perfect time.
"Hey come on in," Michael smiled as he backed up from the door to let me in. I walked through the cracked doorframe; the floors were so creaky it was impossible to be sneaky. As Michael closed the door, he turned to face me. In an instant, I was in his arms, he gave me a quick kiss but I could feel that he was tempted to keep going. He pulled back far enough that I could see the cute dimples on his chin. He brushed his thumb across my cheek so lightly I could feel shivers down my back.
"I'm happy you're here," Michael said softly. I smiled, I didn't want to say anything, and just staying in his arms was enough.
Michael took my hand and led me towards the balcony, it warm outside, warm enough for what he had set up. It was unbelievable, the table was set with tall red candles, and they went well with the white tablecloth.
"I think I may have gone a little overboard," Michael said as he laughed quietly to himself.
I wrapped my arms around his waist, "I love it." I didn't expect anything like this, but it was great.
Dinner went by fast; there was one thing that drove me crazy about Michael: He was way too modest. He was a great cook, but he didn't seem to think so.
"I think it's kind of dry, this could have used more spices," he would go on and on about his whole meal. I don't know how he thought his food was so bad, he was a better cook than anyone I knew, and that was no lie. It must be a guy thing.
I went into the bathroom afterwards to wash up. As I was drying my hands, I heard a sound coming from outside; I came out and saw that all the lights had been dimmed in the bedroom. Michael was standing next to the stereo, smiling and holding his hand out for mine. I laughed as I moved toward him, taking his hand with my right and his shoulder with my left.
"How's this for a romantic gesture?" his smirk told me that he knew he had outdone himself.
"Not bad," I humoured him. Since he surprised me for the second time tonight, I figured it was time to return the favour, "But I think it's time for a change."
"Oh really, and what would that be?"
I let go of his hand and put my arms around his neck.
"There's a bunch of work needed here," I explained, "Everything is falling apart, there's dust everywhere, Michael it's not healthy."
"I know but it's all I can afford, baby you know that," he looked so disappointed.
"I think," I was right against him now, speaking softly, my lips were just millimetres away from his, "You should come and stay with me."
His eyes widened, he stopped dancing and pulled away gently.
"Ange," he sounded surprised, "I can't do that. Yeah, this place is a little run down but to move in, that wouldn't be fair to you. I..."
"Shhh," I put my finger against his lips, moving closer once again, "I wouldn't be asking you, if I didn't want you there with me."
He smiled as he grabbed my hand and brought it down, as he did so, his face came in and just like that, I was kissing him. I let go of his hand and wrapped my arms around his neck, I felt his hands wrap around my waist and without breaking our bond, he led us both to his bed. I slid my hand down his chest, successfully undoing the buttons on his black dress shirt. I didn't understand why he dressed up at first, but after the dinner and the music, it made sense. This night I thought would have been the best night of my life, until we both had yet another surprise. Just as my head hit the pillow, the lights were turned on and the music stopped. I looked over at the corner where the stereo had been, standing with his finger still on the power button, was Michael's roommate; Aaron Swizer.
"Sup guys," he was definitely impressed with his latest accomplishment.
Michael huffed as he gave me a brief kiss and turned towards Aaron, "Man, what's wrong with you."
"Don't you knock?" I added.
"The door was wide open. Can I jump into this action," Aaron thought he was so funny.
"Hey can we watch something a little less gory?" I could feel myself getting sick while everyone in the movie was getting cut up by a man and his chainsaw.
"If you don't like it, you could make a second attempt in the bedroom," Aaron said sarcastically, "Just remember to close the door this time. You might also want to lock it, just to be sure." His face told me that he knew he had made good joke. Aaron was easily one of the most annoying people I've ever known, sure he was good looking, but he could talk like it was no one's business.
Aaron met Michael when he first moved here; he was the first one to introduce himself. They've been best friends since then. Michael and I came from the same place; we were both born in Greenville, North Carolina. Our parents were all teachers that taught an alternate program for those people who have gone to jail and get kicked out of school. His parents were the first ones to get another job offer in Norfolk, North Carolina, saying good bye to him was not the easiest thing to do. A couple weeks later, my parents told me that they had the same offer and that we were moving. It was hard at first leaving the place that I grew up in, but it was worth it, especially since I got to see Michael again. A few months after I moved, Michael and I had somehow managed to become the cutest couple in high school.
Aaron tossed the controller to Michael and went into the kitchen. I turned to face Michael, "Well we tried."
He stroked my hair and smiled gently, "It was fun, maybe nest time."
"This time you'll have to come to my place. No roommate, no interruptions."
"Just tell me when."
Aaron handed me and Michael a glass full of what I assume to be cranberry punch, "Here to a great night." He sat down and stared at the two of us, "So uh...is this a sleepover?"
"It was," I could hear the irritation in my own voice, "But if you want me to leave..."
"No, no, that's fine," Aaron gave me an odd look, almost like a glare, "I was just wondering whether I'm wearing tonight."
I nodded as I rolled my eyes, and took a sip of my soda.
I don't remember going to sleep that night, but I do remember something horrible; waking up. The worst experience of my life-or afterlife-was watching the strong emotions and actions come out of the people that I loved.
I had a huge headache when I woke up, it must have been a long night. I rolled over to see Michael on his side, still sleeping. I smiled, I was happy that I had been able to spend so much time with him. Waking up to him beside me, was such a great feeling, one that I couldn't describe.
My headache felt like it was getting stronger, I went into the bathroom to grab a Tylenol. I walked out into the living room, my head burning from the bright light, Aaron's blankets were all over the floor; he was such a slob. I heard the fridge door close and turned to see Aaron walking out of the kitchen. He looked up at me and stopped instantly, it was as if he had never seen me before. He had a grin spread slowly across his face; it looked like he had just done something terrible.
"Good morning," I said trying to relieve some of the tension.
"Why hello," his tone matched his grin.
"Are you feeling okay?" now I was worried.
"I was just going to ask you the same thing."
"Umm ok, what's wrong with you," I was irritated, "You look like you just got away with murder."
He moved closer to me, his eyes sent off a vibe that he was up to no good and his mouth made a perfect match, "Maybe I did."
I took a step towards him, filling the remaining gap between us, "What did you do?"
"You really don't know?" He laughed, "I thought you would have figured it out by now, you know the headaches, no one being able to see you..."
"Wait a minute," I was really confused, "How did you know I had a headache? What do you mean that no one can see...?"
That's when I heard the yelling that came from the bedroom. It was Michael, and he was yelling my name. I shoved past Aaron-yet he didn't even budge-and ran into the bedroom to see my biggest surprise.
"Angie, Angie baby," Michael shouted, and the more he shouted, the more tears came from his eyes. He was trying to wake up the person lying next to him. I stood in shock; I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My boyfriend was trying to wake up the body that lay sleeping next to him: My body.
"Angie! Angela!" Michael wouldn't give up.
I ran to his side and tried to pull him off, "Michael! I'm right here! Come on, let's go!" I pulled as hard as I could, but he didn't move. I jumped on the bed, over Michael, over my bod...me, and ran into the living room. Aaron was sitting on the blanket covered arm chair with a cup of coffee. He acted so clueless to the fact that his roommate was screaming, "You don't look too good there Angie. Is everything okay?"
"What did you do?" I was so angry, and on the verge of tears, "Why am I standing here, and lying in Michael's bed at the same time? Why can't he see me and you can? Why do I touch him and he doesn't move? Why can't he here me?" Just as I went to take a step towards him, Michael came running out of the bedroom, "Aaron! Aaron you have to help me! Angie's not waking up!"
"Tell him I'm right here," I cried, "Tell him I'm okay!"
"Dude, what happened?" he said so calmly. I couldn't believe it! He acted as if he didn't even see me; like I wasn't even there.
"It's Ange! Man, she's not waking up! She was sleeping, she was beside me sleeping Aaron, and she won't wake up, you have to help me!" Michael's eyes were red.
"What are you doing Aaron?" I was screaming now, "You can see me! I know you can, tell him I'm right here!"
Aaron continued to ignore me but sounded sympathetic towards Michael, "Are you sure man? She's not a heavy sleeper or anything?" Here I was outside my own body, watching the one man who I cared about more than anything, freak out because his girlfriend wasn't waking up. What does Aaron have to say about all this? 'Is she a heavy sleeper?' No I'm not, I never have been!
"Aaron," Michael stopped for a few moments and looked at the floor. His next couple words brought more fear to his face and tears from my eyes, "She's cold."
I don't know how much time went by; I stopped keeping track after the coroners left. I stood in tears and shock when I watched them roll my body out of the apartment, Michael had been in the bathroom all morning. Once Aaron went into the bedroom to confirm that I was not breathing, he couldn't really keep anything down.
After the police had finished talking to Aaron and Michael, they left their card, gave their respects, and left the building. Michael hadn't said much, even when the police were asking their questions. Aaron of course, was no help at all; nothing he said was even close to what really happened.
"Where were you last night?" the policeman would ask.
Aaron would give a complete lie, "I was out with my girlfriend. I didn't get in until late; they were already sleeping by the time I got home."
I was the only one who knew that Aaron was lying. Aaron for starters; didn't have a girlfriend. He always hung around me and Michael when we went out and he always seemed to scare the girls off instead of lure them in. Michael was in the other room at the time so of course, Aaron could say anything he wanted and he'd get away with it. That's when I knew it was him, Aaron Swizer had killed me.
"I'll go wait in the lobby," Michael said quietly as he walked out the door. Aaron was treating him to a movie to try and cheer him up. As soon as the door shut, Aaron turned to me, "Must be weird watching coroners carry out your body."
"You did this to me," I was furious. Aaron seemed amused with the tone I was using, "What? How could you assume such a thing? Why would I do something like that to Michael?"
I was so confused. Why would he do this? He may not have been my friend, but he was definitely Michael's. When he was upset about something, Aaron always seemed to be there, he always seemed to be there faster than me... Wait a minute. Maybe that was the problem; Aaron cared about Michael just a little too much. Now that I think about it, it makes sense; the pillow fluffing, always being ready to help as soon as Michael asked.
Aaron was just about to leave the room until he heard me mumble a few words that made his eyes widen, "You're gay."
He closed the door and took a few steps toward me, I didn't move, I wasn't threatened, not anymore.
"What am I?" he asked in a deep voice, it sounded like he was trying to keep himself from laughing.
"You heard me," his reaction told me that I had hit a spot, "At first I surprised, but now it all makes sense. You're always around us, the faces you make at him, the way you talk to him appose to your own friends... that's not a normal way to talk to your 'buds'."
Aaron laughed, "Okay, you figured it out. I didn't think you would do it, but you're smart. Too bad no one can here you, and even if they did; how exactly can you prove it?"
"Believe me," it was my turn to give him a grin, "I'll find a way."
Aaron turned towards the door, it was just about to close when I heard it creak open again. I turned back to see Aaron looking at me, "Good luck," was all he had to say before he left and the door finally closed.
I looked around the room trying to remember if I had seen anything in the past. Even if I could how could I know where anything is? Or an even better question; how would I be able to handle it? I couldn't touch anything, I was able to prove that when I tried to pull Michael off me.
Then I remembered. The Tylenol, I was able to grab the Tylenol, and the cupboard door; I was able to physically grab them all.
Quickly, I ran into their office area; there were two desks set up. I assumed that the messy one was Aarons', and I was right. There was a picture of him and Michael on his desktop, and all the books had his name doodled (they had probably been doodled during phone calls). I then started going through his desk; all the drawers and the cabinets around it. I couldn't find anything that could prove that he killed me, but I wasn't giving up. I was just about to call it quits on the cabinet when something caught my eye; a little bag which contained a white powder. I picked it up and opened it up to see if I could find out what it was, but it had no scent. I kept the bag with me and walked into the bedroom, to see if there was anywhere else I should be looking. At the end of the bed, there was a dresser; Michael had used his dresser in front of me in the past but I don't remember it being this one. I opened the first drawer to find socks and cartoon bowers which had 'Aaron' labelled on the tag. I dug through the drawer to find something at the very bottom. It was a book; labelled on the front cover was, 'Aaron's Journal'. I took it out of the drawer and back into the office, sat in Michael's desk, and flipped through the pages. The first page was dated November 18, 2007; the first day Aaron met Michael.
November 18, 2007
Sup Journal,
I have come so close to saying things out loud that people cannot know about me. That's why I am starting to write in this thing. As lame as this is, and for how beaten up I am going to get if anyone finds out about this; it's worth the risk. I met someone new today, his name is Michael Falpio. He just moved here from Greenville, and he is so much better looking than Claude Torrier. You should see his eyes, they're amazing, and the dimples on his chin or so cute...
I stopped reading. He was right about his eyes, but how could you feel like this after one day? Out of curiosity, I flipped to February 6, 2008. There was another entry; this one was not as nice as the first one.
February 6, 2008
Journal,
Who's that chick who's hanging off Michael? Well I know her name, but who does she think she is? Moves here, follows him around, and throws herself at him like they were never apart. Maybe Michael just feels sorry for her. He'll come to his senses, then maybe she'll back off.
I was so disgusted with what I was seeing, Aaron was sick guy. It's too bad that the good looks were wasted in him. I skimmed through the rest of the book, until it came to one of the most recent entries that made my stomach turn. The entry was written yesterday:
May 27, 2009
Hey,
So I came up with a plan that will get rid of Angie. Tonight she's coming over for a date with Michael and it's the perfect night to finally finish her.
The plan is to come home early, the earlier the better, I can't let them get intimate. I got some cyanide from this guy on the street and he said if it were all to be used at once, I could die instantly. I didn't want that, so instead I only need half of it. I'll slip it into a drink and act like gentleman when I serve it them. As soon as she's gone, Michael will realize that he's better off with me.
That was it! That's what I needed; proof that Aaron killed me and this was it. That's what was in the bag: Cyanide. I can't believe that Aaron killed me because of his crush. He should have figured it out by now that Michael was straight, and would most likely always be straight. I wasn't worrying about that now; right now I had to show Michael that he couldn't trust Aaron, no matter how long they had been friends with him. Whichever way Aaron liked to look at this, a true friend doesn't kill their best friend's girlfriend.
I left the journal open to the page where Aaron had written up his plan for my execution, and placed the bag of cyanide on the opposite page. Michael had left the card from the policeman on his bed; I used the phone from Michael's desk to call the number.
"This is Officer Chase, what can I do for you?"
"Yeah hi, this is... Meaghan," I couldn't say my name was Angie, they would know something was up, "I am calling from Michael's apartment..."
"Hello?" the officer wasn't hearing me; I forgot that they can't hear me. I heard a door open, "Ah man, wasn't that an awesome movie?" It was Aaron; he and Michael had gotten back from the movie. I took a deep breath; Aaron would know that I had done something.
I walked out of the office to see Aaron's back turned to me. He was talking to Michael, "You should go lay down."
"I'm not tired," Michael hadn't looked any better than before. He sat down on the couch, which was still covered in blankets, and stared at the ceiling.
"She asked me to move in with her Aaron," Michael's eyes were turning red again. I wanted so bad to be able to comfort him, to wrap my arms around him and tell him that everything was going to be alright.
"Really?" Aaron was surprised; he had to think about what he was going to say next, even though it still sounded inconsiderate.
"Well you can still stay here, man you'll get through this," Aaron went over and sat beside Michael, a little too close for Michael's comfort I noticed as he moved over. At this point, Aaron saw that I was standing in front of them.
Michael stood up and without turning toward Aaron wiped his eyes, "I'm going to get some work done; I've got a paper due on Wednesday."
"Okay man sounds good," Aaron called after him, "I'm going down to the corner store, you want anything?"
Michael didn't answer, I saw Aaron give me a dirty look as he left the apartment once again. I ran after Michael into the office to see him looking out the window. Michael had always been a neat freak; his space was always so tidy. Even the window was fingerprint free, which is way more than I can say for his roommate. That's how he found it; the phone; I had left it off the hook. Michael sat down and thought for a moment, he the picked up the phone and put it back on the receiver. He went to stand up but stopped to look back at his desk. He sat down again and slid the journal towards him, as he read the page that I had laid out for him, I saw the tears come again, yet I also saw the anger as he clenched his teeth and fists. He picked up the bag of cyanide and threw it down almost instantly, it landed beside Officer Chase's card which then caught Michael attention. Just as he picked up the phone, there was a knock on the door. I followed Michael to the door; he did up the chain before opening the door just in case. He opened the door as far as it would go, outside, was the same officer that had been there earlier, accompanied by a few others.
"Good evening Mr. Falpio," Officer Chase seemed like he was determined to find something.
"Hey, one second," Michael said as he closed the door to undo the chain. He opened the door once again to let in his visitors.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you," the officer started, "But we got a call earlier today with no answer. We decided to trace the call and it led us here."
"My call!" I said out loud but no one heard.
"Yeah I went out a while ago," Michael explained, "When I got back my phone was off the hook with your card next to it."
"Was anyone left here in the apartment?" the officer seemed interested in the answers.
"No, well I don't think so, Aaron was with me when we left," Michael sounded confused. He stopped to think and then his eyes lit up, like a light bulb went off in his head, "Wait a minute!"
Michael ran into the office, grabbed the journal and the cyanide, and then went back to the officer.
"This was also left on my desk, it was open to this page and this was on the book."
The officer looked at the bag then read the last few entries of the journal. After a few moments, he scratched his head as he came to a conclusion that was not going to be easy for Michael to accept:
"I am terribly sorry Mr. Falpio but we're going to have to take your friend in for some questioning."
"Yeah, I know," Michael seemed fine with the idea; although I knew it was just the shock and anger that was sending his friend away.
"Where is Mr. Swizer?" the officer was starting to get anxious.
"He just went down to the corner store he should be back..."
Just then the door opened but got suck when it reached the end of the chain. Michael backed up quickly as the two officers in the back opened the door and pulled Aaron in.
"Whoa what are you doing?" Aaron struggled until he saw me standing next to Michael. Officer Chase walked closer to Aaron with a disgusted look on his face, "Mr. Swizer, we have some questions we'd like to ask you."
Aaron glared in my direction, "What is this about?"
Chase showed Aaron the journal; his eyes went from confusion to amazement as he looked right at me.
"What about it?" That was when Aaron blew everything. Everything just seemed to come out, "What was I supposed to do? Let her have him and watch from the sidelines? No I don't think so; with her gone I had a chance."
"Dude you're messed," Michael said beside me, I could hear the anger in his voice.
"Okay lover boy," Chase was amused with his humour, "You're going to have to come with us."
Once everyone had left once again, I turned to Michael, his eyes were closed and he was taking deep breaths. I went right up to him and out my hands on his face.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered.
Michael froze. He slowly brought his hands to his face, they covered mine; as they did tears came down from his eyes. It didn't take long before I was doing the same thing. I leaned into him, and gave him one last kiss.
"I love you," I had never told him in person before. It sucked that he wouldn't hear me.
It was as though he did hear me though, as I slowly took my hands from his, I heard him say softly, "I love you Angie."
I wrapped my arms around him, and we stayed standing in the middle of the living room for what seemed, like forever.