Tulips, they grow

14

JULIETTE

I awoke that morning at 8, and I've never been more glad that it's a Saturday.

And you can imagine my surprise when I saw a Polaroid laying on the ground.

No one in my family has had a Polaroid in over 5 years ever since Vivianne and I broke the last one.

I hesitated to pick it up, and when I did I felt my stomach drop.

"Archer?" I asked as I called him.

"Yeah, is everything alright?" He asked.

"I need you to come over, like right now."

VIVIANNE

I left the house at like 7:30 to go on a bike ride. I drove to the park.

It was pretty close to our house, but maybe a good 45 minute ride to get there.

"Hey!" I heard a boy say and I looked over at him. He sat down next to me on the bench. "What are you doing here so early?"

"It's a nice Saturday, I might as well take advantage of it." I shrugged and he smiled.

He was a bit taller than me, with dark eyes and lighter brown hair. He was very charming.

"I guess. Are you going to watch the game?" He asked and then I noticed his uniform. A baseball uniform.

"Oh, I didn't know there was a game today-"

"You can watch it if you want." He smiled.

And so I did.

JULIETTE

Archer was over in an instant.

I placed the polaroid on my desk.

It was taken outside of my balcony. It was pointing into my room and the picture was of me sleeping.

"What the fuck?" Archer grabbed the polaroid and then I saw his face fall.

"What? Do you know who did it?" I asked.

"It's the same person who texted you." He replied, shaking his head.

"What do you mean, texted me?"

"When I had your phone on the 4th of July. You know, I was scrolling through it? You got a text from some random number-" Archer stood up from the chair.

"What did it say?"

"It said that they were watching you or something! That's what got me to look through your messages in the first place. And I deleted it because I didn't want it to freak you out- and then I told you to pull over. And then you had your flashback-" He started pacing the room.

"So you're saying I have a fucking stalker?" I looked out the doors of the balcony.

"Yes."

"What do I do?" I asked.

"You could put up a camera or something and face it towards your balcony."

VIVIANNE

I used to play softball in Oklahoma so it was fun to watch the game.

I was playing my first game of my freshman season. I was so excited.

Juliette's supposed to come to watch it. She's my biggest supporter.

She never ended up showing up. She said she was going to come.

I later found out why she never ended up showing. I saw her crying in an alleyway as I was walking home from the game.

"Juliette?" I asked and she looked up. I felt my soul leave my body then. She was covered in cuts, blood all over her body and face. Her hair was messed up and her clothes were ripped.

She was hysterical. And she's never been the same since.

Shivers went down my spine as the memory resurfaced. The last time she lied to me, she was hurt.

JULIETTE

When I was younger, I remember my parents telling me how embarrassing it was to journal. And so, I never did. I was always too afraid to be made fun of, especially by them.

I opened one of my unopened boxes and at the bottom, sat a journal. Dust sat on top of it.

"Archer! Look what I found!" I smiled and he came by my side.

I opened the journal to the first page and was surprised to see writing inside of it.

As I read, I felt it all coming back to me.

AUTHORS NOTE!!!

You finally find out why Vivianne was so mad at Juliette!

Anyway, this chapter is the one that starts the mystery part of the book!

Welcome to part 2 of Tulips!

Keep in mind, this has not been edited!