Filler… bleh… I know….. sorrrrryyyyyyy.

"I cannot believe that happened!"

Katherine winced at how loud her best friend was being, drawing more attention to them than necessary

"Shh! Natty… calm down." She frowned.

"That guy is crazy… I can't believe he dragged you into this." She huffed.

They had been walking around the soccer fields of the school all of lunch and they had just arrived to their lockers. Forty-five minutes flew by quick when you had to tell your best friend how they questioned you in an interrogation room at a police station because your neighbor's grandmother died and no one really knew how it happened.

Katherine internally rolled her eyes at how dramatic her best friend had been the entire morning. She had promised her as soon as she saw her that she would explain everything during their lunch hour. And now that she had, she couldn't stop being more annoying about the situation she wasn't even a part of.

"He didn't drag me into anything," Katherine said, shaking her head as she dialed in the combination to her lock, "I told you… I told them how I knew where he was this weekend. He wasn't at home because I saw him leave before I went to your house." She lied.

So she hadn't been totally honest because she wasn't sure how to tell Natalie that she lied to the police about where Jonathan actually was. Which… she didn't really know? Which made it all worse. She wasn't just lying to cops now; she was lying to her best friend. She knew exactly which one was worse in this case.

"It just doesn't make sense… you slept over my house so how would you know if he didn't come back and…" she lowered her voice before looking around and back to her friend, "murdered her?"

Katherine had had enough.

"Okay, Natalie, would you just drop it?" she asked loudly, slamming her locker shut. "I have to get to class. I'll talk to you later." She said looking around as a good amount of students stopped what they were doing to stare at her.

Across the hall, Jonathan stood with a bag on his shoulder and a textbook in hand. He had been watching her and she knew it too. She could tell. He had a deep frown on his face and she sighed as she pushed her way through the crowded hallway to get to her next class. She couldn't shake off the feeling that what she did was wrong. She knew it.

But it was too late to back out of it now; what was done is done. No going back.

That afternoon, Katherine sat at the bar in her kitchen eating a bowl of cereal.

Skipping lunch had caught up to her.

Her father wasn't due home for a few hours and her mom was out buying groceries and would be home at any time. She tried eating as fast as she could so she could avoid her mother, (who was very upset with her) but as fate would have it, that wasn't happening. Just as she finished rinsing her bowl, her mother walked into the house and appeared in the kitchen with an arm full of bags.

"You want to help me with the rest of these in the car please?" she asked, slightly out of breath as she set the heavy bags down on the counter.

"Yes." Katherine said, keeping her head down as she walked out.

Taking as many bags as she could in both arms, she huffed and walked quickly in the house, her mother passing her without a word and she set the bags down next to the others. She had brought in enough so that her mother could make the last trip and be done. She heard the front door close and she bit her lip as she started take all the items of their bags. It was silent for a few minutes, an awkward silence between them. Her mother hadn't said many things to her in the last day and it wasn't a good feeling. Just as she set a few boxes of dry noodles in the pantry she heard her mother sigh.

"Katherine, what happened?" she asked.

Katherine's head dropped before she turned and saw her mother with her hand on her hip and holding onto a bottle of detergent. Her hair was up in a ponytail, tightening her face up a bit and she looked as if she was ready to cry.

"What do you mean?" Katherine asked quietly.

"You know what I mean," her mother said, "You and that boy."

"Jonathan?" Katherine offered.

Julia looked at her daughter, slightly upset as she brought her hands to her hips.

"I don't know," she said quickly, "I invited him to the house while you two were working the night after my birthday. He spent the weekend with me. That's what I told the cops." She answered.

Katherine hated with every part of her being lying to her mother. Her dad wasn't that bad, but her mom? She always knew. She wasn't sure how but she always knew.

"Is it the truth?" her mother asked, "Honey, is it true or is he getting you to say that? Did you lie to get yourself or him out of the situation, please baby, tell me!" Her mother said exasperated.

"I don't know what else to tell you," Katherine shrugged, "Mom, I found him a few nights ago at the Henley Canal ready to jump! He wanted to kill himself! Do you really think he would kill his grandmother when he wanted to kill himself?! He was scared, he's alone. He doesn't have anyone, why would he kill off the only other relative he has!" Katherine said loudly.

Julia put a hand up to her forehead and tried to gather herself for her daughter's sake.

"I'm sorry baby, it's just… when I got that call, a million things went through my head. What actually happened was the last thing I ever thought." She admitted. "I've told you countless times when you were younger not to mess with that boy. Regina was a strange old lady and I knew nothing good could ever come out of hanging around next door. Now look where it's landed you, not listening to my warnings." She shook her head.

"I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean for any of this to happen or to worry you, I swear." Katherine answered.

After a moment, Katherine walked up to her mom and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"I really am sorry. And I'm glad that I have someone like you to look out after me." She said honestly.

Julia rolled her eyes, "Yeah well, start listening more, alright? Your father and I handled the situation and if the police come knocking on our doors again we have our lawyers ready." She said.

"Okay, thank you. That's good to know. I'm… going to go shower and do some homework."

Her mother nodded, "I'll start dinner soon."

After what happened in the kitchen, Katherine wasn't sure how much longer she could get away with all the lying. It was eating her up inside. She wasn't used to these situations. Lying always came easy to her and now it suddenly wasn't and she was feeling bad for it? She sighed to herself. It was going to be a difficult last few months of senior year.