When 17-year old Scarlett Adair is found dead, having been brutally attacked with an axe, at a house party, the local police find themselves in over their heads. Now, nearly a year has passed and no new leads have been discovered and they have no su...
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Song of the Chapter: illicit affairs- Taylor Swift
11 MONTHS AFTER THE MURDER...
Everly sat in the darkness, tears falling from her eyes, staining her flushed skin. Her normally smooth, silky charcoal hair was now frizzy and uncombed. The only thing comforting her was the soft glow of the stars smiling down at her from the night sky. She was lost in a world of grief, confusion, and pure torture. A pain she had never felt before and would most likely never feel again in her lifetime. Her whole life had been ripped apart, dissected, and now everything she meant to keep to herself was out in the open. And now all of the vultures of Harborough were going to proudly feast on her deepest secrets. The only thing she could do was sit in silence under the blanket of stars and hope that the tables would turn and she would make it through this period of hurt.
No one ever told her how cruel the world could be and it was only now that Everly, who had grown up with a sheltered mountain town as her entire universe, could see the truth. The world wasn't soft or comfortable. It was jagged and broken. It was all an illusion. Everyone around her was falling apart under their facades. Now looking at the world without rose-coloured glasses, it was easy for Everly to tell that even her older brother Carson was plagued with depression as well.
Days began to pass by and the world around her still spun, just as it always had. Little by little, Everly was able to do basic things like take a shower, cook herself breakfast, and go for walks. She was beginning to feel slightly less destroyed. Of course, her heart was still broken beyond repair, but some of the shallower cuts were starting to heal and the surface wounds were fading. After about a week of focusing on herself, Everly was able to return to school.
But despite her best attempts to keep everything under wraps, word still got out about what she had discussed with the officer. As she stepped into the front hallway, the pressure she had tried to brush aside became far too much to ignore. The people she had once considered her friends turned their backs on her, many of the other students whispered about her, some even pointed or glared at Everly. And then there were the disgusting comments made by a few boys she knew.
Some of them were asking her inappropriate and nosy questions about her relationship with Scarlett. But the ones she found to be the most disturbing were the ones about how attractive they found her solely because she was under investigation for murder.
As much as she wanted to run off and change her name, she had responsibilities and there were a few people who she knew would stick by her. One of those people being Vivian.
Vivian Preston had been a close friend of Everly's since they were in middle school. While they had grown apart over the years, Vivian had made it clear that no matter what, she would have Everly's back. Though she wasn't sure if that applied to being accused of murder.
She was met with a wave of relief when she bumped into Vivian on her way to her history class. Vivian's demeanour didn't seem to change much, at least not negatively. Actually, she seemed pretty happy to see Everly, as she gave her a warm hug.
