Shayla woke suddenly. The room still clouded with darkness, the alarm clock on the table beside her read 2:30 a.m.. This was the third night in a row now she happened to wake up at this time. Her recent difficulty with sleeping caused her to wake up with an overwhelming sense that something was wrong: a heavy sense of dismay would fall over her as she fell into a deep sleep to suddenly cause her to stir.
Finding herself unable to fall asleep Shayla rose from her bed and made her way down the hall to the bathroom. As she washed her face she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror..something was different. Since the death of her older sister a few months ago she just hadn’t been herself. She had gained a bit of weight, her hair was looking more dull and brittle than normal, and she honestly looked exhausted, sickly even.
Shayla and her sister Tyler had always been close growing up, they spent all of their time together. The sisters shared a room, went to the same school, and shared the same carefree outlook on life. Being such free-spirited young girls they often found themselves in the wake of trouble; thats why everyone in town secretly suspected the accident with Tyler wasn’t really the “accident” it was made out to be.
It all really began about a year ago at a party in Burwood- Although the sisters had alot in common their social lives were far from similar. Shayla wasn’t really the partying type, being that she was only a sophmore in highschool, she just wasn’t into that kind of thing. Tyler on the other hand was very experienced in the business of high school parties. If there was booze and boys she would be there without a doubt.
One night in mid October Shayla was enjoying a piece of pumpkin pie and reading the newest edition of Surfer magazine when Tyler walked in with a huge grin on her face, “Get ready. I’m taking you to a party,” she smirked at Shayla. “A party? uhm I don’t know about that....you know thats not really my thing,” she replied. “Come on, don’t be such a bore! It’ll be fun i promise!” She pleaded. Shayla shoved the last bit of pie in her mouth as she hopped off her bed. “Fine. Who’s party is it anyway?” she asked as she made her way to the closet to trade a grey t-shirt for the old worn out Hurley sweatshirt she had been wearing.
Tyler, seemingly distracted by the image of herself in the mirror mumbled something about the party being for a girl from school. Shayla seemed to accept the fact that she wasn’t going to be getting much information out of Tyler who was far too distracted by picking out the perfect outfit to wear. Little did she realise she could throw on anything in her closet and it would look amazing on her. She was blessed with long slender legs and perfectly tanned glowing skin that most girls had to work at getting all summer long. Finally she decided on an impossibly tiny, sheer black tank top that left little to the imagination and a worn in pair of dark washed jeans. Somehow she always managed to look completely stylish, yet effortless. “Ready to go Shay?” she asked turning to find Shayla back on her bed reading her magazine. “Your going like that?” Tyler questioned in her usual critical tone. Shayla Just rolled her eyes and Tyler walked over to the closet to grab her a new shirt. She picked a midnight blue tank top from the very back of the closet and tossed it to Shay. “Here. That'll work, at least it shows of your boobs.” These kinds of comments were usual coming from Tyler who always seemed to have a something to say about Shayla and her appearance. Shayla slipped on the low cut shirt as fast as she could and followed her sister out to the car.
“So where exactly is this party?” Shayla asked in a flurry as Tyler slammed hard on her brakes at the stop sign.“Somewhere in Burwood” she replied.“Great.” Shayla mumbled under her breath. Burwood was the neighborhood right by their school with big houses, nice cars, and rich kids. A town far different from their home town of Seal Beach where everyone knew each other and everything you needed was within walking distance.
After a speedy drive they lurched up to a great white house with large pillars, a wrap around porch, and sparkling black Range Rover in the driveway. There were large groups of teenagers walking up the street towards this house.“Oh no, I think I changed my mind, lets just go home Ty,” Shayla said. “No way Shay! You never go out and I promise it will be fun!” Tyler exclaimed as she presented a bottle of Sailor Jerry to her sister; Whose resentment towards this party was growing by the second. Tyler could read the sense of worry on Shay’s face and comforted her by promising to stay by her side the whole night. Shay finally agreed to go inside and so the girls made there way to the front door. Tyler rang the doorbell. No answer. She rang a second time and again there was no answer. She rang the doorbell a third time and finally someone opened the door. "Hi, come on in” a tall handsome guy waived the girls in. “Oh, Hey Shay!” the guy exclaimed with a grin. Shayla stood stiff on the doorstep unable to respond. Tyler nudged her and finally she spoke, “Oh, uh, hey Landon. What are you doing here?.”
