On The Verge

Chapter 5- Stick to the Story

———————Chloe———————

⠀⠀We ran, needless to say. We ran away from Paige, away from the sanitarium, away from the body. We made the hasty decision to flee for refuge in my house as my parents were away for the weekend. Once we settled safely up in my room, Kendall began to cry, her body radiating with sobs.

⠀⠀"We killed her." She moaned, pain seeping into her voice. I slumped down on my bed and tried to keep from falling to pieces myself. I took a deep breath, clearing my judgement.

⠀⠀"We had a sleepover here. We played truth and dare and went to bed at eleven. Understood?" I asked, my voice surprisingly clear and confidant.

⠀⠀"This never happened." Nia clarified.

⠀⠀The other girls nodded hesitantly. We had killed someone. That someone being our best friend, our confidante, my Twinnie. She was dead, and it was because of us.

⠀⠀"In the morning, when they find her..." Maddie started, choking up.

⠀⠀"They'll question us," Nia warned. "we visited her before she died, we were her best friends."

⠀⠀"We stick to our story, got it?" I asked, hoping my friends would have the courage to hold fast to the story we had agreed upon.

⠀⠀Once again, everyone nodded in agreement.

⠀⠀"I just can't believe it.." Kendall sighed in disbelief, shock over what happened seemed to exude from her petrified facial expression.

⠀⠀"We didn't kill her. She freaked out, she lost her balance and fell." Nia comforted, her voice soft.

⠀⠀I would have liked to believe Nia's words, I really would. But I knew deep in my heart that if we hadn't brought her out onto the roof, she would not have fallen. If we had not tried to get her out of the hospital, she would still be alive. She would still be breathing, her heart would continue to beat.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀***
⠀⠀After the girls had left the following morning, in an attempt to distract myself from what had imminently and unfortunately taken place, I turned my TV on and flipped to the news station. I wasn't surprised to see a familiar grey building on the screen; The Pittsburg Sanitarium.

⠀⠀"The body of Paige Hyland was found this morning outside the Pittsburg Sanitarium. It is believed she committed suicide by jumping off the roof." A young reporter droned on. My eyebrows furrowed together.

⠀⠀Suicide? Better than murder. My phone rang, nearly startling me out of my wits. Recognizing Nia's number immediately I quickly swooped my index finger across the screen to answer.

⠀⠀"Did you hear?" Nia's anxious voice greeted my ear before I could say hello.

⠀⠀"About how they think it's a suicide?" I asked in clarification.

⠀⠀"Yeah, it's a good thing. They won't assume we had anything to do with it." Nia admitted. I answered her with a heavy silence.

⠀⠀"Maybe it was a suicide." Nia's voice came through the line.

⠀⠀My jaw nearly dropped at Nia's clearly misplaced theory.

⠀⠀"Nia, she fell."

⠀⠀"I know... I just need to find a way to live with myself. Telling myself that she did this to herself, and that we didn't cause her death will make me feel a hell of a lot better."

⠀⠀I knew what she meant. It was hard to take a breath and know that you had stolen that privilege from someone. Someone was a living, breathing human being and we had taken the life of that person. It was unbearable.

⠀⠀I hung up the phone a few minutes later as the reporter began to talk in a voice depicting disinterest about about a series of break-ins throughout the city, but my mind was somewhere else.

⠀⠀My mind was on all the good times I had spent with Paige; all the laughing sleepovers, all the shopping sprees. I thought of all the memories we had made together, memories that we would no longer make. All because we had made the poor choice to bring her out on that roof.

⠀⠀My doorbell chimed suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts. I stood from my place at the couch and confidently walked towards the door before swinging in open. My confidence faltered when exactly who was at the door sunk in. I felt my face pale and throat tighten nervously as I watched the sun glint of the police officers silver badge.

(A/N: to clarify, they didn't kill Paige. She lost her balance and fell off the roof. But ultimately, they caused her death by bringing her on the roof. Also, the police think that Paige jumped off the roof to commit suicide. If you're confused just leave a comment)