The Night Of August 15th

28

By the time Rowan's bridesmaids ran outside, Rowan was already gone. Iris was the first out, and as soon as she set eyes on Alicia she began to fume. She tossed her bouquet to the ground and marched to where Alicia was standing, with a smirk on her face. Iris shook her head at her and said: "did you really have to do that?"

"I only did that man in there a favour, I can't let him marry that evil girl. And you all should have never underestimated me," she narrowed her eyes at Iris and stepped forward. She leaned into her ear and whispered: "it'll only get worse from now, so get some rest," she gently patted her on her shoulders. Alicia picked up the bottom of her maxi dress and walked away.

Wedding guests were already leaving the chapel while Juan Esteban's family was consoling him at the altar.

"I'm out of here," Brody announced.

"Coming with you bro," Emerson patted him on his shoulders and walked away with him.

The three girls stood side by side feeling very uneasy. "I didn't feel bad for Rowan," Bekah said, with her head hung low "I feel like a bad person for not feeling sorry for her," she said softly.

"You're not a bad person, you're only human," Iris said. "I'll go check up on her to make sure she's okay, but I'm also glad that Juan Esteban didn't have to marry my crazy friend. Good people shouldn't have to be stuck with people like Rowan . . . and me," she twisted her mouth to the side. Iris also walked away and it was just Bekah and Amber left.

"I'll be leaving now," Bekah said without looking at Amber. She started walking away from the chapel but Amber halted her movement by grabbing her arm.

"We need to talk. Please," Amber pleaded.

--

A week had passed since Rowan's failed wedding, and for the first time since that day, Rowan and her friends received another message from their tormentor. They were all gathered in Amber's house where Rowan now lived. Amber held her phone in her shaky hands and read the message to them.

It is only fair that you pay your respects to the girl you drove to suicide.

Below the message was an address, and they already knew where it led. "So they want us to go to her grave?" Iris shuddered. "These people are getting crazier and crazier," she said and then she glanced at Rowan whom she expected to make an offensive remark. Rowan had not been herself since a week ago when she was exposed to Juan Esteban.

She spent most of her time crying, staying mute, and getting angry.

"There's no way I'm going to a grave yard, I was buried six feet under not too long ago,'' Brody said.

"Oh my goodness, you all are a bunch of babies," Harper stood up. "You guys were so confident when you were bullying innocent people but now that there are consequences you've all become scared?" she rolled her eyes.

"No one asked for your input, why the hell is she even here?" Rowan asked darkly.

"Rowan, shouldn't you be on your honeymoon or something? Oh, oh, that's true, you got dumped on your wedding day," she laughed boisterously while clutching her stomach. She grabbed a chair for some support and continued laughing. "Every morning I read the paper from the day after your wedding and I just smile. Your misery is my joy," she smiled.

Rowan's chest heavily heaved up and down but she did not say anything. She swallowed and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Let's go and see what she want us to do," Amber said while getting up and grabbing her keys from her table. Brody followed suit.

They all reluctantly got into one car and Amber and Brody drove to the graveyard in their respective cars. Amber drove with Rowan and Iris while Bekah and Harper were in Brody's car with Emerson. The ride was not a lengthy one, Brody was the first one to get there and in about two minutes Amber parked her car beside Brody's. They all stepped out and walked into the graveyard.

From where they stood they spotted Alicia standing in front of a graveyard with a huge bouquet of flowers in her arms, she held it delicately as though she was holding a baby. They walked toward her and once Alicia heard their footsteps she turned to them. She was dressed in black from the hat on her head to the shoes on her feet. Even her nails were painted black. Alicia's facial expression was deadpan, she almost looked possessed. She stood in front of Ana's tombstone. On the tombstone was her full name Anabelle Mitchelle's, and underneath that was her birth year and her death year.

She cleared her throat and spoke: "It's been a while since I came to visit her, I hope she's not mad at me," she let out a short mirthless laugh.

"What do you want from us?" Rowan asked in an irritated and impatient tone.

"I want you all to understand the severity of your past actions," she said. "I'll start by telling you all a story," she said. "Ana was an introvert by nature, she lost her mother when she was only ten and she never even met her father. She always felt alone and so she had a hard time opening up to people. When her mother died she fell into a state of depression and the only thing that could make her feel better was food, and so she ate and ate and ate. Eventually, she gained weight from having too much of the only thing that brought her comfort—food. People always mocked her because of her weight, they called her all sorts of names that my lips cannot repeat," her voice began to shake, a tear slipped out of her eyes and she pushed her head back. She let out a breath and continued her story. "As you all know, Ana had a yellow hoodie which she wore almost every day, it was left for her by her father who died seven months before she was born. That was her only connection to him, and so she wore it often so that she can feel his presence. She only began to wear it continually, in grade twelve because that was the year she felt the loneliest. The bullying was at its peak in her final year of high school. After Ana's mother died she moved in with her uncle," Alicia said and then she slipped her hands into her purse. She pulled out a small picture and held it up to their faces. "The man in this picture was her uncle, and on August 15th five years ago he died," she said through gritted teeth.

All of them but Harper began to feel extremely uneasy.

"All I want is a confession, I want to know exactly what happened on that night," Alicia said.

"You're crazy if you think any of us will—" Rowan started but she was cut off.

"I'll tell you what happened," Amber said with her chest heaving. "For once in my life, I want to feel like I'm doing the right thing."