Test Subjects

Chapter Three: Testing Memories

My phone rings loudly beside me. I glance over at Ethan who was already looking at me. Probably seeing my reaction to the whole thing.

Slowly I reach over and grab the phone. With a quick look at the caller ID, I answer. "Hel-" I start to say before I'm rudely interrupted by my mom.

"Emma don't come home." She says is a rushed manner. And I can tell by her labored breaths that she's terrified.

"But w-"

"The police have our street on lockdown. Just stay at Ethan's for the night. Or maybe the next few nights."

"MOM!" I yell into the phone.

"I can't talk right now! Love you!" Then she hangs up.

I stare at my phone in shock. It's not like my mom to just hang up like that. Normally she's the type of person who wants hour long conversations about all the gossip. This has never happened before.

And if the police are by our house. Does that mean Jayden is too?

I get so lost in my own thoughts that I totally forget about Ethan. That is, of course, until he decides that he needs attention.

Ethan slaps me hard on the arm.

I wince and look over at him. "Was that really necessary?"

He's about to say some snarky comeback until he realizes the state I'm in. Since I'm over the initial shock my eyes are starting to well up with tears. My clammy hands are clenched at my side and my entire body has just started shaking.

So he bites his tongue and instead goes over to hug me. I wrap my arms around him and we sit there for a while. Both of us crying together.

Jayden wasn't just my friend, he was Ethan's friend also. We were a trio of pranksters.

Honestly, all of the teachers hated us. No, more so resented us. But we didn't care. I mean everyone in our class loved us. We were like their heroes. And all anybody could ever wait for was Prank Day.

Prank Day was a random day each month in which we did our pranks. We've glued all the classroom doors shut, covered the principal's office with shaving cream, started way too many food fights, put Vaseline all over every doorknob in the school, and sent fake love letters out to people that absolutely hate each other. There were many others but I honestly can't even remember some of them.

Those were the good old days. The days when everything was fun and perfect.

Then things started happening. Once high school started Jayden got in with the wrong group of people. You know the type the does drugs in the school bathroom.

He got addicted. We tried to stop him. Believe me, we did. But we couldn't. No one could.

So we drifted apart. He got in with the popular people and we were shoved aside. No one seemed to care about those middle school days anymore.

So that's where we are now.

His mother's murder case has been going around the media for two weeks now. But it felt like it dragged on forever.

And everyone just took Jayden's absence as grief. It didn't seem like this was why. But now I've learned my lesson.

No one is who you think they are.

~~~

The sun's light reaches my eyes. Gently nudging me awake.

Poetic right? Well you'll be happy to know that my waking did not go like that.