Million Dollar Murder

Chapter 3

Fireplaces, stereotypically, are the place where families gather on a cold snowy night. The lights in the room dimmed and the smell of popcorn and hot chocolate would be mixed in the air.

But remove the stereotypical views and you'll find me sticking my hand under cold water after attempting to light the wood. I don't do well with fire at all. Actually any heated object is a bright caution sign in my life.

It's been two weeks since the day I went snowboarding with everyone and nothing special or out of the ordinary has happened.

Eric is still seeing that Barbie girl. She's been a lot nicer to me than the first time we met though. She's started staying here a lot more and is even making dinner for the three of us. I would almost maybe call it a family dinner except for the fact it's awkwardly silent the whole time. I also learned Barbie's real name is Vanessa, but I'm sticking with Barbie.

Now that school is back in session, I've been spending a lot of my time studying and doing homework. 4 honors classes are something I wish I could give up but if I don't get any scholarship money there is no hope for me to go to college. I swear this country is set up to make you fail. You're considered dumb if you can't afford a college education but how can we when we pay thousands of dollars in taxes each year while working low pay jobs?

I caught a glimpse of a picture that was surprisingly still hanging on the wall. It was my mom and my aunt Chrissy with me as a baby. My mom and Chrissy were identical twins and to this day I still can't tell them apart. Maybe if Chrissy ever came around, I would be able to see the difference. Apparently, one day she just dropped off the map. No one knew where she went, not even my mom. She didn't even come to my mom's funeral. I wonder if she even knows her sister is gone. My mom told me that when I was just beginning to talk, I used to call Chrissy "mom" because I didn't know the difference between them. Other than that, I knew nothing of Chrissy.

The rest of the night was a blur and next thing I know I'm sitting in first hour at school.

Government.

Class was a bore as usual and seemed to last forever. I honestly couldn't care less about America's government.

Calculus wasn't any better either. I don't understand what's going on in that class because some couple sits in front of me making out the whole time and my teacher, Mr. Stevens, doesn't do anything about it.

After 7 hell-filled hours of school, I found myself throwing stuff out of my locker and tearing it apart looking for my car and house keys. Neither set of keys were in my bag or my locker. My anxiety level was at a maximum. My mind was pacing back and forth trying to think of where I could have left them or dropped them.  Retracing my day didn't help either. I knew I put them in my bag after I got out of my car. I decided to accept the fact that I had lost them and shoved everything back into my locker not willing to keep anything organized at this point. Eric is going to throw a fit when he finds out I've lost them but calling him to pick me up wasn't an option and by now the buses have left. Aleecia wasn't at school either today which meant I had to walk home.

As I left the school, I walked out into a blizzard, silently cursing for putting myself in this situation. I should have wore my knock-off UGGS instead of my converse. School was a good three miles from my house and it took me 30 minutes just to walk two miles in this weather.

By the time my house was in sight, I couldn't feel my hands or my feet and was on the verge of crying because of the pain.

Thankfully, my hands were able to open the front door which was fortunately unlocked. I stumbled inside shivering/ shaking and barely able to support myself. Barbie instantly came flying around the corner once I closed the front door. Her over-bleached hair was in a messy ponytail and she had a frantic look on her face.