I don't own Twilight!
I also want to thank polarmayden for the reviews, advice, and support. You're awesome. (:
Enjoy!
Chapter Six
APOV
"I know, Ash! I can't wait for tonight, either! Well, I have to go. I'll see you there. Love you, too. Bye." I hung up the phone with my best friend, Ashfyr. Everything was set for my party tonight. I can't believe I'm really eighteen! Gosh, time really flies by. I remember when I was turning ten, and thirteen, and then sixteen... My thoughts were interrupted by a knock at my bedroom door. "Come in," I called. My mom walked in, and I smiled. My mom and I were so close, I loved her to death. Of course, I was a daddy's girl, but my mom and I had that special connection.
"Happy birthday, again, Alex. I hope you have fun tonight," she said.
I smiled and hugged her. "Thanks, mom. I love you."
"Love you, too, honey. Now, start getting ready! I know how long it takes to to take a shower and you're gonna need all the time you can get," she laughed. I smacked her shoulder lightly and she left the room. I hooked up my iPod to my speakers and turned on one of the songs I'd recently wrote and recorded and started singing along. It was called Promises.
I'm so tired of pretending
I'm something I could never be
I'm not the one you've grown to love
There's more than what you see.
The veil's been lifted away
The truth comes into sight.
You don't have to know that "me"
To know she wasn't right
I'm sorry I fooled you
I'm sorry I lied, I'm sorry
I swear I tried
I tried to be everything you wanted
But it never played out the way we saw
There were no previews to this one man show
The smiles are fading and hate's started to grow
I'm not the one you knew
I'm not that kind of girl
The one you knew is the one
Who'd been molded by the world
So starting today, I promise to be everything
She could never be
I promise to love
I promise to care
I swear
Just wait and you'll see
You'll see the real me,
The one you've never known
She's the one who was left standing in the corner
All these years
She's the one who was always alone.
I'm not the one you knew
I'm not that kind of girl
The one you knew is the one
Who'd been molded by the world
So starting today, I promise to be everything
She could never be
I promise to love
I promise to care
I swear
Don't let me get away, I know
I know I wasn't true
I know I did bad things
I know what I put you through
But that wasn't the one who was given what she needed
That's the one who was shoved into being
Something that was so wrong
So wrong for her,
She walks away from this
A child,
Never sober
There are too many broken promises
Too far gone to be brought back
By the common allowances
So let me be, let me in
Let me forget, don't let Hate win
Don't let the only thing holding me here be pulled away
Let me stay
I'm not the one you knew
I'm not that kind of girl
The one you knew is the one
Who'd been molded by the world
So starting today, I promise to be everything
She could never be
I promise to love
I promise to care
I swear
I swear
I gathered my things for the shower and turned the song off before leaving the room. My mom was right; it took me forever in the shower. I got out, dried off, and got dressed before reaching for the blowdryer and my handy-dandy straightener. They were amazing. I swear, I'd had my straightener since I was 12 and it still worked perfectly.
My long blonde hair fell in my face and I brushed it back and began to blow-dry it. When it was dry and tangle-free, I straightened it and put my diamond-encrusted Tiara on. I've worn this thing every day since I was fourteen. It was silver, with diamonds lining the edges and a star made of diamonds in the center. I decided to do my makeup light today. I put a thin layer of white eyeshadow on before putting glitter on over it. I lined my bottom lid with black eyeliner, and put on mascara. For my lips, I did my regular routine- Strawberry Chapstick, Vanilla Buttercream lip gloss, and a quick swipe of clear fruity lipgloss over everything. Checking my appearance in the mirror one more time, I smiled at how pretty I looked. I was wearing black skinny jeans with double chains, a white tanktop and blck t-shirt, and a black jean jacket. I usually don't like how I look, but today was surely an exception.
"Alex, are you almost ready? You're supposed to meet Ash and everyone in a half hour and it's a 20 minute walk. Are you sure you don't want to take the car?" I heard my dad holler up the stairs and I hurried back to my room to grab my purse, cell phone, and camera. I practically flew downstairs and walked into the living room to find Ash sitting on the couch with my parents no where in sight.
"Hey, chicka. You almost ready?" She smiled at me. "You look really pretty, by the way. You actually match for once."
"Oh, very funny. Yeah, I'm ready. Give me a sec, let me tell mom and dad I'm leaving. Do you know where they're at?" I asked.
"Not a clue, hun," she replied. I nodded and went to their room. I knocked on the door but no one answered. I decided to just say fuck it and write them a note. I shoved it under their door and hurried back into the living room to get Ash.
"You ready?" I asked.
"I've been ready for quite sometime now," she said in a 'duh' way.
"No need for the attitude," I smiled at her to let her know I was just kidding and we were on our way. We were going to an 18 and up club and then out to eat. I didn't have a lot of people coming. I think it was me and my boyfriend of four years Serrman, Ashfyr and her fiance Shayne, Peter and Myndyla, and Hayley and Dominick. We were all at least 18 except for Ash, but I guess she knew the owner of the club so she could get in anyway. We began walking down the dirt road towards her house. We were taking her car, but I didn't tell my parents this. They didn't want me in the car with Ash; she tended to be a reckless driver.
"So, have any special plans for tonight with Serrman?" Ashfyr looked at me and wiggled her eyebrows. I slapped her arm.
"You know I don't believe in sex until marriage," I said.
" I know, I know," she said. "But you guys have talked about it, and I know you, Alex. If it happened tonight, you wouldn't regret it one bit. You love him."
I thought for a moment about what she said and I knew she was right. Serrman was my everything. Yeah, it went against my religion to have sex before marriage, but we'd been together four years now, and it was practically like we were married already. I'm moving in with him in a couple months and I heard from his best friend Peter that he had got a ring to propose. I didn't know how true it was but, either way, Serrman and I were getting married one day. I just couldn't imagine what my mother and father would say if I got pregnant. I grew up in a Christian home with a stay-at-home mother and a father who was a preacher. They were strictly against teen pregnancy and even bought me an abstinence ring for my 13th birthday. I wore it proudly to this day, and I looked down at it on my finger. I never took it off. It was silver, with a cross and the words Love is patient and can wait forever engraved on it. But, to be honest, with Serrman nothing seemed to matter but us. I knew he'd be there no matter what.
"I guess whatever happens tonight, happens," I said.
"Told you," she mumbled. We arrived at her house and when we got inside I walked into the kitchen and got some tea. "Give me a minute, I've got to grab a couple things and I'll be ready."
I sat down on the arm of the couch, waiting for Ash to get back out here. Around five minutes had passed and she still wasn't back. "You're hair is fine, now come on!" i yelled for her.
"Just a minute," she answered. I sighed and a couple minutes later she came out with three big bags in her hand. "Okay, let's go," she said.
I eyed the bags warily. "What's in there?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Nothing, don't worry about it. Now, come on." I rolled my eyes and followed her outside and to her car. She put her bags in the backseat and got in the car, starting the engine quickly. We rode off.
"So what's in the bags?" I asked again.
"You'll see, just shut up, Tulip," she said, using the nickname she gave me four years ago. I simled at the name and did as she wished.
"So, as my dad likes to say, what's on the agenda for tonight?" I questioned. She shook her head. "Well, what do you and Shayne have planned?" She shook her head again. "Come on, now! You're not even going to tell me your plans?"
"Nope," she replied.
I sighed. "I guess." She looked at me and just gave me "that look", and I knew it was because I used the phrase I got from her former 'boy-toy', Rick. Deciding to change the subject, I brought up our plans for next Tuesday. "So, still on for dress shopping for Jaesmine's Quiceanera?"
"Yeah, I was thinking about going into town to the mall but I heard there's an amazing formal dress shop in San Antonio. What do you think?" She brushed her thick brown hair out of her eyes and glanced sideways at me.
I shrugged. "Your choice, I suppose. I'm cool with either one." Ash nodded.
"So, San Antonio it is?" She asked.
"Sure, why not?" I replied. The rest of the drive to FyrFlies, the club we were going to, was quiet. Ash loved the name of the club for one simple reason; it was named after her. The owner was her dad's best friend and he absolutely loved her name. Ashfyr used to play with lightening bugs when she was little, so I guess he took the last part of her name and put it in the title. I thought it was super sweet.
After about 15 minutes, we drove into the parking lot and were greeted by four or five police cars. An officer walked up to Ash's window.
"I'm afraid I can't let you through, Ma'am," he said.
She looked at him, confused. "Why not?"
"I can't give you that information, miss. I'm just not allowed to let anyone though, Sheriff's orders," he said.
We heard a man yelling in the background. "That sounded like Shayne," I said, recalling her fiance's voice. I would know it anywhere. Shayne was my closest guy-friend.
"Do you know that man?" The officer asked while pointing over to a blonde guy sitting on the edge of the curb in handcuffs.
"That's my fiance! Let me through!" Ash opened the car door and ran towards Shayne. "Shayne!" She called. He tried to get up but the handcuffs restrained him, and before he could stand a policeman ran over and shot him. "Shayne! Oh, my god! Get off of him!" Ashfyr was frantic when she finally reached him.
"Get back!" The cop wrapped his arms around her and restrained her from getting any closer.
She ignored him, her mind focused solely on helping her fiance. "What happened? Shayne, are you okay?"
"Mr. Davenport is under arrest. Are you Ms. Kindig?" She nodded. "He was saying you would come and 'prove his innocence'. How well do you know Mr. Davenport?"
She shrugged. "I know him better than anyone else. I've known him for almost six years. He's my fiance, we're getting married in September. He's a great guy, and I guarantee whatever he supposedly did isn't true. What happened?"
"I can't tell you that, Ms. Kindig, but as long as Mr. Davenport is okay with it you can come down to the station with us and you can be his 'one phone call'." He put air-quotes around the last part about the phone call.
"I'll come," she said, wiping away tears that had trailed down her face.
I go tout of the car and ran over to them. "What's going on, Ash?" I looked between her and the cop, and then back at her again.
"Shayne got arrested and they can't tell me why, but I'm going to go down to the station and see what's going on. I'm so sorry, hun. I'll try to make it back before you leave. What time were you planning on leaving, by the way?" She sniffled.
"I think we were just going to stay until it closes, which is midnight, right?" She nodded. "Okay, well find out what's going on and I'll see you later. Come over tonight?"
"If I can," she said.
"Okay, ladies, we have to get back to the station. Ms. Kindig, if you'll kindly follow me, please." He walked away and she gave me a quick hug before following him. I saw Serrman standing against his truck across the parking lot and I hurried over to him.
"What happened?" I asked him. He looked at me for a minute without responding. "Come on, babe, he's one of your best friends. I know you know what it is."
He hesitated before finally answering. "I went to his house. We were going to drive up here together but we decided to take our separate cars, just in case... well, never mind. But we took our own cars and when we got up here the police were waiting for him. I guess they checked in with the bouncer and saw his name on the list for the party tonight. We didn't get halfway in the parking lot before he was arrested."
My face must have been an absolute mask of shock. Shayne wasn't a criminal, as far as I knew. I mean, he went to juvenile when he was a young teenager. It wasn't like running away was an extremely bad crime, though. Why would he get arrested?
"Serrman, why was he arrested?" I asked quietly. In a way, I was afraid of the answer. I didn't have a bad opinion of Shayne, and I didn't want one to form. Especially when he was about to marry my best friend in less than half a year.
"Alexandria, I'm not sure you want to know that," he said. I ignored the name he used for me. No one called me by my full name, excep for him. Not even my parents.
"You know I need to know. This is serious," I replied. "What happened?"
He looked down at the ground and mumbled something, but I couldn't understand what he said.
"What? I didn't hear you," I replied.
He took a deep breath and looked up, bearing his chocolatey-brown eyes into my blue ones. "They said he killed Sammy, Alexandria. Someone killed her earlier today, and they think it was him."
I couldn't hold back the tears that started falling. Serrman wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. I felt a hand on my back and turned around to see Hayley and Dominick behind me.
Sammy couldn't be dead, she just couldn't be! Sammy was Shayne's nine year old little sister. I'd known her almost her whole life. She was just like family to me. Who would murder a nine year old little girl? I know Shayne, and he loved Sammy. He wouldn't have done this. He beat the shit out of some 12 year old a couple years back because he was picking on Sammy at school. There's no way in hell that Shayne would ever hurt her.
"I'm so sorry, Alexandria," Serrman whispered. I just stood there in his arms praying this wasn't real. He held me tight as I cried silently, soaking his shirt.
"How was she..." I trailed off. I didn't have it in me to finish the question.
He was quiet for a moment. When he finally answered, his voice sounded gruff and ragged. "They don't know, exactly. All we know is that it's going to be a closed casket."
I wiped my face off and turned to face my friends. Somewhere in the midst of my crying, Peter and Myndyla had showed up. "I'm sorry guys. Let's go inside." I started to head towards the doors when Peter grabbed my arm.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" He asked.
"Inside," I said it as more of a question than a reply.
"Ehhhhh! Wrong answer," he said. "You're going home."
"What? No! You guys came all the way here and I'm not going to just ditch on you." Peter was crazy if he thought I was going home! I looked over at Serrman. "Babe, help me out here?"
"Actually, I kinda agree with Peter. You've been through a lot tonight, I think you need to go home and rest. We can come back out tomorrow night." Great. My boyfriend sides against me, too. -.-
I huffed. "Fine. Serrman, will you take me home? I came with Ashfyr, but she drove her car to the station."
"Yeah, no problem, baby," he told me.
"Okay, guys, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks, Peter." I gave them all hug and told Hayley to text me tonight before heading towards the passenger side of Serrman's truck. He came around and opened the door for me, and then got in. I waved 'bye' to everyone as we drove off.
It was a quick, quiet drive to my house. I watched out the window and let a few more tears escape. "Are you okay, Alexandria?" Serrman rested his tan hand on my leg, and I shrugged.
"It's just so... So messed up, you know?" I glanced over at him and he nodded. We pulled up in my driveway and he parked. "Serrman, if my parents will let you will you stay with me tonight? I know you just stayed Sunday, but I don't wanna be alone, not after..." I trailed off.
"Of course, Alex," he smiled at me and leaned over for a kiss. I loved how I still got butterflies when I pressed my lips to his. We got out and went inside.
"Hey, guys! I just finished dinner if you're hungry. You're home awful early, Alex. What happened?" My mom walked towards me and gave me a hug before doing the same to Serrman. "Where are Ashfyr and Shayne? I thought they were coming over tonight."
I took a deep breath and looked over at Serrman. "I don't think I can do it, babe. Can you tell her?" He nodded. "I'll get your plate ready, I know you must be hungry. Thanks." My mom gave me a weird look but I ignored it and went into the kitchen.
She had made friend chicken, mashed potatos and gravy, and corn on the cob. I loaded the food on four plates and sat them down at the dining room table. I knew I needed to go back in the living room with my mom and Serrman. I was rounding the corner and practically ran into Serrman.
"Where's my mom?" I asked.
"She went to go tell your dad," he said. I nodded and he took me into his arms again. "Do you think he did it?" He asked quietly.
I shook my head. "There's no way in hell he killed her. I know Shayne; he loved her. He would have died for her at any given time."
"She's in a better place, Alexandria. You and I both know that," he reassured me.
"I know, but it's still horrible to think about. It's like she was my own sister, you know?" I felt him nod his head.
"Let's eat, and if you want to we can go to the mall or something later," Serrman said.
"Sure, that sounds great, babe. Thanks for everything," I smiled up at him and took a minute to examine his gorgeous features. Between his tan, Mexican skin, his deep brown eyes and his bright smile, my heart melted. My thoughts were interrupted by my phone playing "Another Heart Calls' by The All American Rejects. I looked down and saw a number with an area code from Washington. I didn't know who it was, but I answered it anyway.
"Hello?" I asked.
It was a girl, maybe in her late teens-early twenties. She only spoke four words before she hung up.
"His name is Jasper."