Frenemies ✔

Chapter 21

"Rocky!" Tori screamed.

Rocky looked horrible. Her face had bruises everywhere. Her cheeks were bruised, her chin, her eyes, her nose. But her nose looked crooked more than bruised. I could see that in both nostrils, there was blood clotted up inside. I immediately guessed that she'd been punched there. Her neck had this bloody line across it. It looked like she was strangled. Then I looked at her body. She had a lot more bruises there, too. On her back, her legs, and her stomach. Seeing Rocky motionless was just too much for me. I knelt beside her body.

"Oh, Rocky, what has he done to you?!" I practically screeched when I spoke.

I knew that Robbie had done this. It was him.

Tori bent down and grabbed her hand. She pressed her index and middle fingers against Rocky's wrist.

"She's dead," she said, shaking her head. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "She's gone."

I shook my head. "She can't be. She can't be dead."

I pressed my fingers against her neck to find a pulse. No pulse. Her body felt so cold. So cold and lifeless. Tori was right, Rocky was gone.

"No," my voice cracked. I felt my eyes watering up. "Rocky, you can't be dead." I grabbed her head and held it. "You can't be dead!" I broke down.

I didn't want to believe it, but I knew she was gone.

"This is all my fault," I sobbed. "I shouldn't have gone anywhere!" I rocked back and forth, still holding onto Rocky. "This is my fault!"

I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder.

"That's not true. This isn't your fault, Ava. You didn't know that this would happen," Tori soothed, her eyes red-rimmed.

"Oh, give me a break, Tori! It is my fault!" I screamed. "I should've said no! I should've stayed home! This wouldn't have happened if I stayed here! What kind of a friend am I?!"

I released Rocky and started to pace back and forth, clenching and unclenching my fists. I muttered curses to myself.

"Ava, it's not your fault," Tori said, getting up. "Stop blaming yourself for this. It wasn't you who killed Rocky."

"Yes, I know!" I threw my arms up into the air. "I know I didn't kill her, but it's still my freaking fault!"

I plopped on the edge of Rocky's bed and sobbed again. I pressed my hands against my face.

"We need to call nine-one-one," she said, grabbing her phone and dialing their number.

I didn't argue with Tori. I let her call the cops.

As she spoke to the police, the rest of Tori's words were tuned out. As a matter of fact, all the noises were tuned out. I just stared at Rocky. My now late friend. All of a sudden, I noticed something white tangled up in her hair. I bent down and reached for it. It felt like paper. I unraveled it from one of Rocky's kinky curls. It was a note. From Robbie. Why wasn't I surprised? It unfolded it and read it:

Told you it was gonna more than just Cupcake.

~ ~ ~

The walls of the little square room were a dull and bland light gray color. A huge rectangular recessed light shone down brightly, making the tiny interrogation room seem like the inside of a spaceship. It was Monday afternoon, the day after we discovered Rocky's body. We sat on folding chairs around a long table. The chairs were very cold and they were starting to become very uncomfortable. My bottom starting hurting from sitting there. I had to keep shifting around to find a temporary spot to sit until it would bother me again.