Voices

Chapter One

(1 year earlier)

(Riley's POV)

You would think, me, a regular old 14 year old girl, would be out on a Friday night. But you thought wrong. Here I am, sitting in my purple fuzzy chair, blasting Tidal Waves by All Time Low, and binge eating Girl Scout cookies. School sucks. I'm so glad it's Friday!
I can't remember the last time I actually learned something in that hell-hole. Shit! Speaking of which, I have frickin' biology homework! "Riley! Turn your music down!!" my mom yells. I turn down my music so my mom won't get mad at me. Then, I grab my bag and pull out my notebook with my homework in it. As I read the directions, I realize it's easy. I could do it 10 minutes tops.
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Once I finish my homework, I go down to the kitchen to grab my dinner. My mom didn't tell me it was ready, I just could tell. I could smell that yummy smell of my mom's home-cooked macaroni casserole. I went downstairs to see that my mom wasn't in the kitchen. So I just served myself to the casserole that was sitting on the counter, cooling from where it had been in the oven. Once I got my food, I grabbed a sprite from the fridge and went upstairs. When I got back upstairs, I started playing my music again. Except this time, it wasn't All Time Low, it was Green Day I think. It wasn't a song I've heard before, but I could tell it was them. I ate my food as I tried to listen to the words of this song. But, when the song went off, All Time Low started playing again. So, when I finished my food, I turned off my music and began to watch Netflix. Ahhhh... Netflix... I absolutely LOVE Netflix. The TV show that I'm obsessed with right now is Greys Anatomy.

When Greys Anatomy ended, I went downstairs to see if my mom had realized I already ate my dinner. But I, again, didn't see her. So I looked in the living room, her bedroom, the home office... But I still again, didn't find her. As I searched the other rooms I realized my mom was gone. But her car was still in the driveway... I went back upstairs to my room where I got a new text in my phone. It was from my best friend, Grace. She told me to try to sneak out to go to our first high school party. We were both freshman and had no clue what to wear to a high school party. So I just wore my jeans and a oversized All Time Low t-shirt. If you can't already tell, I'm kinda obsessed with All Time Low! I then called my mom to see why she had left without telling me, but she didn't answer. So I left her a voicemail saying I was gonna spend the night with Grace. I waited for Grace before I left. We had to walk because we're 14 and don't know how to drive. But good thing the party was only a few blocks away. Grace and I have been best friends since the 3rd grade. She's always there for me and I just feel really different around her. But it's a good type of different.

(30 minutes later)

"ITS BEEN 45 FUCKING MINUTES PAST WHEN YOU SAID YOU WERE GONNA BE HERE!! Love you! Hurry up!" Is what I texted Grace...

I went ahead and walked to the party without her because she was taking too long. As I was walking, I couldn't help but think about who was gonna be at the party. Or if the cops were gonna break it up because we were drinking. I mean, I'm 14... Maybe I should be going to this party after all. I still kept walking. When I got about 2 blocks away from the party, I heard a voice screaming. A familiar voice. I started to run and once I turned the corner. There stands my mom crying and freaking out and yelling. I ran up to her and asked what was happening and why she left. She said she had to leave to run and get some milk from the store, but she got caught up in traffic and forgot to leave me a note. I could barely break out what she was saying... She just started to cry.. And say sorry. And I said, "Mom, it's ok. It's not a big deal!" She started to scream, " Please don't hate me!" I've never seen my mom like this. I was so confused until I saw something on the ground by a tree (near us) on the corner of Aburn Drive and Eastland Parkway. It was a person.
I immediately called the police. They told me they were on their way. I started to freak out. I went over to the body to see if they were still alive. As soon as I touched the person, I knew they were dead. The body was ice cold. I really started to freak out! My mom yelled," Riley! Please don't hate me! It was an accident. I couldn't stop in time!" I didn't know why my mother was so hysterical. I looked at her and then looked at the body lying on the road. I flipped over the person who appeared to be a girl... And only did then realize... This person looked familiar.
I looked it her face just a little longer, until I noticed a scar above her left eye. The same scar that Grace had. I then looked at her bloody clothes... She was wearing a volleyball jersey with the number 24... That was Grace's volleyball number. Only then did I fit the pieces together.
I froze

Grace is dead.