You think it won't happen to you. The idea of losing your baby brother is unimaginable. The community pities you. Your friends try to comfort you the best they can, but seeing the small coffin at the front of the funeral is too much to handle.
My five year old brother, Alexander Parker Blake, was murdered. They couldn't prove it. The autopsy calls it an accident; my gut is telling me otherwise. My baby brother did not strangle himself to death. I just know it.
After the funeral, I return to my car. My parents insisted on riding with me, but I wanted to be with my friends. I wanted to get drunk on fun and forget the whole thing. Being the senator's daughter, there was not much I could do without having a reporter who was trying to catch my dad in some kind of scandal shoving a recorder in my face. Getting drunk was not an option, but getting high on adrenaline was.
Before I entered the local ice cream parlor, I changed in my car out of my somber black dress and into my white crop-top and purple watercolor skirt. My friends were sitting at a table, sucking down milkshakes in front of them. A girl with short brown hair and glasses stood up when she saw me and hugged me.
"Hey." She said softly. "How are you?"
She was my best friend, Velma Dinkley. I gratefully embraced her. "I'm pulling through," was all I said before joining them at the table.
Velma sat down next to a scruffy man with the happiest eyes you'll ever see. Norville Rogers is his name, but we call him Shaggy due to his unruly head of curls. Under the table hiding from the ice cream parlor manger was his Great Dane named Scooby. When I sat down, I felt him rest his head on my foot.
"Where's Freddy?" I asked.
"He's on his way. Football practice ran over apparently." Shaggy responded.
If I could pick one person to give my full trust to, it would be Fred Jones. He was my best friend since kindergarten. We grew up together; for two years we were separated because his father was relocated for the military, but he returned just in time to start high school.
When the waiter brought my milkshake to the table, the shop bell rang. My eyes looked up to see a tall, buff young man walking towards our table. That was Fred Jones. His hair was wet from showering after practice. I smiled a little when he sat down next to me in the booth. Naturally, his arm draped around my shoulders.
"Hey, guys." He said. "What are we doing tonight?"
Velma shrugged. "We can't decide. Glowstick swimming or drive all night?"
After thinking about the options, Fred looked down to me. "What do you wanna do? You're the one who needs some fun."
I smiled. "Why not both?"
Shaggy nodded. "Both is good. We'll buy a ton of glowsticks, fill up the van, and have at it."
"Where shall our destination be?" Velma asked, pushing her glasses up on her nose.
"We can ride out to Chicago for the night, stay in a hotel, and then come back tomorrow after doing stuff there." I offered,
"A four hour drive after swimming…" Fred mumbled. "Alright, we'll do that. Let's get moving then."
And with that, we all separated to our own cars. I drove home to pack my backpack with pajamas and an extra outfit for the next day. What I loved most about my friends is that they're down to do anything. Being the rich kids of Lima, Ohio had it's perks. When you're stuck in the most boring town in Ohio, you have to be brilliant to find something fun to do. I booked a hotel in Chicago in advance under my father's name. I shouldn't have offered to book the hotel, since I'm seventeen, and the legal age is eighteen. But my father has credits for hotels due to his constant traveling.
Just as I was about to change into my bathing suit, there was a knock on my balcony window. I smiled and opened the doors to the balcony. Fred was there, sitting on the banister. He had climbed his way up the tree next to the house like he had many times before to see me after curfew.
"Hello, Mr. Jones." I said before walking back into my room.
"Miss Blake." He responded.
"Any reason for this unexpected visit?"
Fred sat on the edge of my king sized bed. "No other reason than just wanting to be alone with you for a little while before tonight."
"I was about to change." I responded, turning to him.
The blond smiled at me. "You know I wouldn't mind that." He joked.
"Well, you know I would." I said before pushing him back into the puffy white comforter on my bed.
He chuckled softly and placed his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. I went into the bathroom to put on my purple bikini and white coverup dress.
"Daphne Blake, I'm going to marry you one day." Fred told me when I returned to my bedroom.
"Is that so?" I replied while I searched for my flip flops.
"Yeah."
"You've been saying that since the fifth grade, yet you haven't tried to make any progress on that."
Fred watched me with his icy blue eyes. "I know, maybe we're not ready for that." He told me truthfully. "But I just have this gut feeling that we will be eventually."
"You don't know what you're talking about, Freddy."
"I do, too. Don't you get gut feelings?" He asked me.
For a moment I stopped searching for my shoes and held my breath. My brother flashed through my mind for a short moment before I agreed with him. Once I found my flip flops, I stood in front of Fred. His eyes lit up like diamonds in sunlight. His skin was tan and his hair was bleached from the summer sun. He was without a doubt the most handsome guy in school. That little boy face was gone, and he had grown into his chiseled face very quickly.
"You've never been wrong before," was all I said before bending my knees to kiss his forehead.
His grin was all I needed to feel happy again. Within a few moments, we were both headed downstairs to leave in his old, blue van to go to Shaggy's estate.
