The Brave and Beautiful

The Life and Times of Cate Justason (Part 1)

Once upon a time, in the preppy suburban town know as Elmsville, there lived a girl. A girl with perfect blonde hair. Wondrous blue eyes. Her face was that of a beautiful mermaid. She wore expensive clothes and made friends with everyone. And enemies with everyone as well.

She was the most feared in all the land, but also the most loved. If you knew her, you wanted to be her. If you were her, well, that's a different story.

This girl experienced hardships in her life. Love, loss... and awful family members. But there's more to this young woman than meets the eye. On the outside, she's everything you want to be. On the inside... she's a mess.

But, isn't that every young girl these days? Seems beautiful, but deep down they have a dark secret that could ruin everything.

Once upon a time, in the preppy suburban town known as Elmsville, there lived a girl named Cate Justason.

***

David's POV

"SHHHH!" I whispered, at Adam, Izzy and Hope. We crept up the driveway of Cate's house, careful not to make any noise as dawn broke the horizon. Sneaking into a dead girls house was NOT how I was imagining my day going, but you know, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

"I don't think this is a good idea!!!" Adam shivered.

"Oh come on, no one's awake!" Izzy sighed.

"Does Cate by any chance have a hot brother?" Hope thought to herself. Sigh. Working with these three was never easy, even if I loved them.

"There's that creep Will, but he's older and a drug dealer. So Hope, he's off limits!" Izzy scolded, as she reached inside a potted plant that was hanging down from the top of The Justason's porch.

"Are you sure they're asleep. Maybe they're early risers?" Adam shrugged. I mean, he had a point. We never knew what could be in there. When Izzy and I hid in Cate's room earlier, no one was awake. Let's hope it's the same as before.

"I'm sure. I've known the Justason Family all of my life. Jennifer Justason, Cate's mom, wakes up at around 8:45. And her dad wakes up at 7:30 so he can leave for work." After Izzy was done speaking, Hope, Adam and I stared at her in amazement. How did she know all of that?

"What. Whenever my parents fought, and before I met Jullia, THIS was my place to hide out at." She mumbled. She stuffed the key in the keyhole, and gave it a good twist. A click fro the door indicated that we were good to open it up, and creep inside. The house was dark, not a single light on. No one was awake which was made clear by the lack of noise. The four of us quickly snuck up The Justason's staircase, and ran into Cate's bedroom. We closed the door behind us.

I stood in awe. I had been to Cate's house before, but never in her room. It was glorious. Beautiful, huge. The room itself was very modern, and everything had clearly been left as it was the night Cate died. Clothes littered the floor along with homework sheets. Her bed wasn't made, and it looks as though someone had indeed been sleeping in it. This room was still haunted by Cate.

"Wow" Adam said, breaking the silence. "So this is where diva Cate spent her days!"

"You bet." Izzy replied. "It's hard to believe that her death was about six months ago. I miss her" Izzy sulked down on Cate's queen size bed, and fell silent.

"Wait!" I said. "We shouldn't just lay on her bed, and go through her stuff. We don't want the room to look any different than when we came!"

"You're probably right" Izzy shrugged, and got up from Cate's bed.