The Prison Project [-Editing-]

01: Trey

01: Trey

            You could say that I’m a pretty normal kid. I was born with average brown, messy hair (like any average boy might have), average blue eyes, average figure. Nothing too particularly special about me. I grew up in a good home with my two loving parents and my faithful German Shepherd, Boone. Yet, I can’t say that my life has been…well, normal. That’s probably Linley’s fault. Not that I mind. I don’t mind at all.

            Who is Linley, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. Linley Peterson is, always has been, and always will be, my best friend. I still remember the day I met her, when we were four years old. We were in pre-school together. It was right after lunch. Ms. George was walking around and making sure everyone had something to keep them occupied until our parents arrived. All the other kids were playing with their friends, while I was sitting by myself in a corner, drawing something. I had no friends. I was shy and quiet; I didn’t want to talk to anyone. But then I met Linley.

            I felt the table shake as someone sat down across from me. I cautiously looked up from my drawing, surprised that anyone was even sitting near me, and saw a girl with long, messy blonde hair and bright green eyes sitting there.

“Hi,” she’d said. “I’m Linley. Linley Peterson. Who are you?”

“Trey,” I’d replied quietly, slightly confused. “Trey Macnab.”

“Trey…I like that name,” she’d replied, smiling. “Wanna come play with me?”

But before I could even respond, Linley had stood up, grabbed my hand, and pulled me over to the toy box, where we spent the rest of the afternoon building odd contraptions and locations out of Legos. When I went home that day, I told my mom that I had made a new friend, which of course, mom was ecstatic about, seeing as how I had none. She was pretty surprised though when she found out that my new friend was a girl. Nonetheless, we’ve been inseparable ever since.

I grew closer to Linley as we entered kindergarten, and finally elementary school. My parents and her parents also became good friends as we hung out more (or you could say, had more play-dates). But everything changed when Linley and I were eight years old, in the third grade. It was a normal day. We were walking home from school as we always did. I had worn my usual jeans and t-shirt, and Linley had worn her usual cargo pants and t-shirt supporting some band or show I had never heard of. It was hot out, as usual. But this day wasn’t a normal day.

Linley and I would usually go to each other’s houses after school, alternating houses every day. That day was Linley’s day. When we reached her house, her parents’ car was gone. Confused, Linley and I went and knocked on the next-door neighbor’s door. An elderly woman opened to us, and quickly ushered us inside. I knew I wasn’t supposed to go into stranger’s houses, but she knew Mr. and Mrs. Peterson, so I figured I could trust her.

“Oh, do come inside, dearies,” she’d said. “I just heard the news. Mr. and Mrs. Macnab will be here to get you two soon.”

“My parents?” I’d said.

“What news?” Linley interjected. “What happened?”

The elderly lady gave us a frown. “I’ll let them tell you.”

And so, Linley and I sat at her kitchen table and did our homework until my parents arrived. That’s the part of my memory that’s the most vivid, as I’m sure it is for Linley. When mom and dad walked in, the entire atmosphere of the room changed. Mom was crying. Dad looked absolutely crestfallen.

“Linley, sweetie,” he’d said. “Come here.” With a puzzled look on her face, Linley climbed down from her seat at the kitchen table and walked over to dad. Dad sighed, sunk down to one knee in front of her, and took her hands.

“Linley,” he said, his voice cracking. “Your mom and dad were hurt very badly in a car accident, just an hour ago.”

Linley was silent for a few moments before whimpering, “But…they’ll be okay, right?”

            Dad shook his head. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Mommy and daddy went to heaven when the car hit them.” Tears immediately sprung to Linley’s eyes. She ran from the house, sobs echoing throughout the room. Without thinking, I jumped up and ran after her. When I got to her house, I ran up the stairs and found her in her room, crying into a pillow. I quietly entered the room and then crawled onto the bed with her. She lifted her face from the pillow, saw me, and then buried her face again and continued to cry. I timidly reached forward and took her hand in mine. Her cries softened a little. We stayed there for an hour before mom and dad came and got us.

            Linley stayed at my house that night. I let her sleep in my bed with Boone, and I slept on the floor on an old mattress that dad had pulled out for me. I remember not being able to sleep very well, whereas Linley slept like a rock. I just quietly stared at the ceiling and fiddled with the Superman blanket covering me, listening to Linley’s soft breaths and Boone’s loud snores. The next morning was a blur. When Linley and I went downstairs, we found out that Linley had no living relatives. And so, after much debate, many papers, and many meetings, my parents became Linley’s guardians a few months later.

            Now here we are, eight years later. Linley and I are both sixteen years old and juniors in high school. It should’ve been a fairly normal year, like the rest of our lives should’ve been. But the events that came with this school year were far from what either of us would have expected. EVER.