dear prudence

yesterday

he blasted the radio to tune out my tired, soft voice, and yelled at me over the music to try and enjoy life for once.

and i promise, i tried for you, dear.  but when you're hiding more than one deadly secret, it's hard to be full of joy.  maybe if i was filled with deranged drugs as you were, i wouldn't have been so anxious of what could be around the corner.  especially when you can't recall what got you in that position.

-

3 weeks prior

"do you remember what happened on july 4th, 2018?"  the cops eyes were hidden under his hats shadow.

"i watched fireworks?"  i wasn't sure what had happened to me.  i had burn scars on my stomach and thighs, and my ankles were all fucked up.  my face had scars i didn't remember being there, and my arms had bite marks.

the cop looked back at the window where all the bystanders stood.

he shook his head, making my stomach turn, my eyes narrow, and something humid taking over my throat.

i knew i had answered wrong.  again.

-

i shut the radio off, causing him to speed up even more.

"jasper, what happened on the fourth of july?"

we had only been on the road for a little under two weeks, and i was already tired of him and his games.  his hollow hazel eyes found their way to my scarred face, and i frowned.

"nothing for you to worry about, dear."

i shook my head.  "the police asked me."

he slowed down to the speed limit, a fast shift.  it made my stomach evilly sick, just as the cops disapproval had made it feel, yet this time my words had clogged my throat, and i couldn't gather enough confidence to breathe.

"there was an accident.  a terrible, terrible accident."  a strand of greasy ginger hair fell in front of his eyes as he shifted into the left lane.  "we were there.  it was kim's party.  a huge explosion of fireworks, and a bunch of people died."  he smirked for a second, yet his face became gray once he noticed i saw the small gesture.  "the cops aren't sure what had happened.  i saw you get hit by a fallen firework, and i drove you to the hospital myself."  he sighed, but it made me uneasy.  something wasn't right.  "we were the only ones who made it out."

and it almost all made sense at that moment.

it made sense why no one i was close with didn't come to see me in the hospital.  my parents would barely come see me, but that was expected of them.  they always cared about ginger more than me, and dad had just got a promotion.  they were living their lives happily without me.  and i couldn't blame them.

but some things didn't make sense.

for one, fireworks wouldn't cause bite marks on my arms.  the bite marks were deep, and i believe them to have been from some sort of animal. but kim had no pets, and she didn't even live near the woods.  i stared down at the scars the bites had left.  jasper slowly hummed. 

the second thing that didn't make sense was jasper being at kim's party.  jasper wasn't very... cool.  i liked him, and he wasn't a complete disgrace to have at a party.  he just wasn't the type to come to a party, if anything.

"you actually came to a party?"  i didn't mean for my voice to sound so flat and snobby.  alright, maybe i felt that way, but i sure as hell couldn't let him know that.  yet, i did.  and i couldn't take it away.

he stopped the car.

on the middle of a highway.

"don't give me that bullshit, holly.  kim was my friend."

she was?  i wasn't aware.  but i couldn't let him know of my suspicion.  nor could i allow him to see the fear on my face when cars swerved out of our way.

he rolled his eyes, and turned the radio on.  the animals cover of the house of the rising sun roared through the speakers of his fathers vintage, red corvette.

and just as we started moving, we caused an accident.

a black pickup truck hadn't noticed we were stopped, and just as the driver was entering the middle lane (for we were stopped in the far left lane), a speeding range rover rammed into the side of the pickup, causing him to flip into the spot we were just sitting in.

i felt a knife jab into my stomach.  i screamed words of prayers i had never found meanings for.

and jasper had that same devilish smirk on his face.

-

author's note
part of chapter 1 is in the description, sorry if u read it twice.  i swear the story will get better lmao