To My Dearest Enemy

Run, Bitch

September 13

Jill looked at her phone as she walked down the sidewalk headed home. Stella could not give her a ride home since she went out with her family to celebrate the victory. Her dad was at work, her mom was at her little brother's basketball game, and Lucille was in class. Jill didn't want to trouble Matt for a ride home since he was already driving Hayden and they lived across town. It was a fifteen minute walk, but she didn't mind. She stuck her phone in her pocket before looking both ways and waiting for a single car to drive by. Once no cars were in sight, she began to cross the street. The sun had already set and street lamps were illuminating deserted streets. Jill began to walk into her neighborhood and felt her phone vibrate in her pocket as she began to cross the street. She slid out her phone and looked at a text on her screen from a blocked number.

Run, bitch.

She looked up from her phone confused, as she heard a screech in the distance. Her heart began racing out of her chest as she broke out into a sprint in the direction of home. She wanted to avoid whatever danger was headed her way. The screech got louder and louder as Jill got closer and closer to her street. She saw a beam of light from behind and as soon as she turned, there was instant pain, and she was knocked unconscious upon impact.

———

Hayden sat on her bed with a copy of And Then There Were None in her hands. She would be reading it if she could focus, but she couldn't stop thinking about Stella and Matt. She had liked Matt for a few years now and knew their friendship would not go a step further. She couldn't be upset, just happy he found someone. But she couldn't get that text off her mind. She wasn't going to talk to any of her friends about it, since they would have to know Hayden liked Matt. However, she was extremely inquisitive as to who sent the message and why. She closed the book, jumped out of bed, and stuck it back on the bookshelf above her desk. She sat at her desk and opened her laptop. She opened her email and began to write an email to an old friend.

Hey Logan,

I heard you moved back into town a few weeks ago. I'd love to catch up. Can we meet for coffee sometime to catch up?

Hayden Randall

She pressed send and then closed her laptop. Her bedroom door opened and she turned to see her mom standing there.

"Hey." Hayden said.

"Hi. We need to talk." Her mother looked worried as she walked in.

"What's up?" Hayden asked.

"There's been an accident. Jill's in the hospital," Hayden stood up. "she was hit by a car." Hayden's heart skipped a beat with the last four words that left her mother's mouth.

———

"Slow down! Please!" Alana whimpered as Matt flew down the road. All five friends got the message around the same time and Matt picked up everyone other than Stella, who's family drove her to the hospital.

"Matt slow the fuck down!" Hayden shouted from the back seat. Matt let off the gas a bit after Hayden ordered him to do so.

"Stella just got there." Ethan said, looking at a text from her indicating her arrival.

"Is she still in surgery?" Matt asked. Ethan texted Stella Matt's question. He waited for the response.

"Yes." Ethan replied.

"How—"

"We don't know what happened, we don't know how she is. We don't say anything until we see her." Hayden interrupted Alana without knowing what she was going to say. Matt pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and found a spot fairly quickly. As soon as he parked the car and shut it off, all four friends jumped out of the car and began running to the entrance. They walked into the ICU entrance and immediately saw Stella with Jill's family. All four rushed over and stood by Stella.

"Any news?" Matt asked.

"She's in surgery still. All we know is she has a broken leg, a few broken ribs, sprained wrist, a concussion, and a patellar fracture." Jill's dad explained as Jill's mom cried into his shoulder. He looked distraught, as did Lucille, who stood beside him with their little brother Mitchell in her arms.

"Mr. and Mrs. DeVitto?" Both parents turned to see a nurse standing behind them.

"Yes?" Her mother asked.

"Jillian is now in recovery, but is not awake yet. If you would like you may see her now." The nurse added.

"Thank you." Her father said. Lucille looked at Stella and set Mitchell on the ground.

"Watch him?" Ask asked.

"Of course." Stella said. Lucille and her parents began to follow the nurse down the hall.

"What happened to Jilli?" Mitchell asked.

"She got into an accident, but she'll be okay." Matt replied.

"I'm gonna go figure out who brought her in." Ethan said before he walked over to the nurses station.

"Mitch go with Ethan." Stella said. The eight year old nodded and ran after Ethan.

"Ethan heard the accident. It was on his street and yet he's fine. I would've fucking lost it." Alana whimpered.

"We all would've." Hayden replied.

"This is my fault. I could've driven her home or she could've gone to dinner with my family and she would be fine." Stella sniffed.

"I could've driven her." Matt replied.

"Stop blaming yourselves! We still don't know what happened!" Alana cried out. Ethan walked over and sighed. Mitch was by his side.

"A guy called 911 and stuck around until he saw the ambulance turn onto the road. He bolted before the EMTs got out of the ambulance. Nobody saw his face." Ethan explained.

"Why would he run?" Hayden asked.

"Who knows. Maybe Jill saw him." Matt said. Stella saw Lucille walking over to them.

———

It had been an hour and the five friends were sitting and waiting for any news.

"You guys can go see her. She's up." Lucille said as she picked up Mitch out of his chair that he was sleeping in.

"Are you going home?" Hayden asked.

"Yep. She's gonna be here for a few days and it won't do us any good if we stay here with her the entire time. My parents are gonna head out in an hour or so." Lucille explained. She gave the friends a half hearted smile before heading towards the front doors. The five friends leapt out of their seats and began walking down the hall. Matt and Hayden looked at signs on doors until they saw one that had 'DeVitto' written on it. Matt slowly opened the door and the five walked in. Jill laid in a bed with her left leg exposed. It was heavily wrapped in bandages. There was a brace on her wrist and a bandaid on her chin. Her parents sat in chairs beside her. The five friends circled around the table. Hayden muttered 'Oh my god' under her breathe and Stella gasped. It was frightening to all of them to see Jill that way.

"It was a hit and run. How could someone be so cruel?" Ethan said.

"She's been in and out of consciousness for a few minutes. We'll leave you guys with her." Jill's dad said as he and his wife stood and walked out of the room. The friends sat down in chairs by the bed, except for Matt who stood over the foot of the bed. Jill's eyes fluttered open after a few minutes.

"Phone." Jill muttered weakly as she motioned to her shattered phone on the table beside her bed. Stella picked it up and handed it to Jill. She turned on her phone, opened the text message, and flashed it to her friends, who's eyes all went big.

"It's not just us." Matt whispered to Ethan.