Gabe Duncan
Everything seems to be going wrong for me. I was kicked out of my house, and only let back in after I begged for an hour. My sisters hate me, and PJ 'left' because of me. My family doesn't care for me anymore. I had no where to go and no one to talk to, so I used to sit alone on my front porch, even in the rain. I asked my best friend, Jo, what I should do, and she told me to leave her alone and that we weren't friends anymore. I didn't understand what she had against me, and I never found out. I asked my parents what I'd done, but they said they couldn't tell me. I asked my sister, Teddy, but she hadn't found out since our parents wouldn't tell her either. I thought about asking Charlie, but she's only two years old, so she wouldn't know. I then thought about calling PJ and asking him, but then I remembered that no one knew where he was. So now I'm all alone and I don't know what to do or what to think of myself.
As Jo passed me in school I smiled at her but she just scowled back. I sighed. I had no friends anymore. I was thinking about all the times we had together when she hurt me and beat me up. I missed those times - anything was better than having no friends. While I was thinking, Jo came and sat down next to me. I looked up and her and gave her a questioning look, but she wasn't looking at me, she was focusing on her lunch. "Jo?" I asked desperately. I wanted someone to talk to.
"Yes, Stupid?" she asked. "I'm not meant to be talking to you," she said seriously. My smile dropped. "But I will anyway." We both grinned.
"Let me just ask one thing - what exactly did I do?" I asked, hoping she could give me an answer. She just shook her head then took a small bite out of her apple. "Please tell me, Jo! I don't understand!" I pleaded. I could see tears forming in her eyes, but I couldn't tell whether it was for me or about what I did.
"Gabe," she started, wiping the forming tears away, "you know the recent murder?" I shook my head. "There was a murder outside your house last Sunday," she explained. I was shocked, I'd never heard any of this before. "It was of PJ Duncan." My jaw dropped.
"PJ was murdered?" She nodded. "Then why is everyone telling me he left?"
She was starting to properly cry now. "They think you were the murderer!" she whispered. I felt like crying, but stayed strong. Jo fell against me and I put my arms round her to comfort her. "I tried to explain it couldn't be you because you were over at my house, but they didn't believe me. They found your DNA on his body, and on the knife that was used to kill him." I was in shock. I knew that everyone hated me for this, but it was worse because I didn't do it!
"How could it have been me?" I asked. Jo sat up. "My DNA is on him because we were wrestling over a video game that day, and my DNA is on the knife because my mum forced me to cut the sandwiches in half for lunch!" I explained. Jo nodded, I knew she was the only one who believed me. "And everyone knows I was at your house - my mum, my dad, your mum, your dad, Teddy."
"That doesn't matter," she said. I raised an eyebrow. "Because it happened outside your house, and no one saw, they think it was you." I was on the verge of tears, but I didn't want to cry, especially not in front of Jo.
"We're going to find out who really did this," I announced. Jo looked surprised.
"We can't," she said.
"We can do whatever we want!" I retorted. The bell rang at that moment, so I got up and headed for my next class, leaving Jo to quickly finish her lunch.