Finding Myself

The Picture

"Maybe we could call them." Someone whispers next to me, causing me to sit up then look over at the desk where the boys are standing. I look at the papers they are reading and feel sick when I see the pictures of the accident again.

"What are you guys doing?" I ask then throw my legs over the bed.

"Well, good morning sleepy head." Owen says turning to me. Sam looks at me and smiles.

"What time is it?" I ask while watching as Owen goes back to the papers like I wasn't there. Why are they so interested in them anyway? There is nothing that important in there anyway.

"It's almost eight in the morning." Sam answers. I look over Owen's shoulder to see the pictures still there.

"Okay, why are you guys looking at that so intently?" I ask standing up and taking the papers in one hand and the pictures in the other. I walk to my closet and throw them on the floor. "I don't want to ever see those pictures again."

"I'm sorry." Sam says sitting next to me. "We didn't think you'd get mad..."

"I'm totally not mad that my friends are looking at pictures of the accident that killed my parents one bit!" I say standing up. Owen goes to the closet and just grabs one of the pictures. I cross my arms and look at him. "Can you leave those damned pictures alone?"

"Owen, stop..." Sam says looking back at him but Owen turns the picture around to show Sam.

"Found it." He says with a smile.

"Found what? My parents smashed car?" I ask and Owen shakes his head then points at a person in the background. His face is barley visible from the car being in the way.

"He was there, the reports weren't wrong." Owen says then hands it to Sam. I look at the blurry man close to the forest. He is behind the yellow tape but is the only one in the picture.

"Who is that?" I ask them when the room goes completely quiet. Sam takes a few minutes before he looks up at me, face pale.

"That's my dad." He says and I just look at him with confusion. Why would his dad be there? I know his mother is a stay at home mom like my mom was and dad is a business man like my dad. But why would he have been in North Carolina?

*            *          *

"I just don't understand why my dad would be there." Sam says while looking at the pictures, shielding them from my view. I skim past all of my accident updates to try and find anything that will give us help on why Sam's dad would be near my parents. Could he have known them before? Business partners? Maybe he tried to kill my parents... no. That would be impossible. Right?

"Did your parents ever say anything about knowing my parents when I moved here?" I ask looking up at him as Owen sips on his coffee.

"Not that I can remember." Sam says looking at me in frustration then takes out his phone as it rings. "I'll be right back." He puts the phone to his ear then walks outside of the diner. I look at Owen and he shrugs, allowing me to go back to the reports.

"Do you think his dad was a friend of mine or something?" I ask and he shrugs again.

"Maybe. But why would he have been there a hour after the accident happened though? How would he get from California to North Carolina in that short of time?" I think about it for a minutes then look down at the papers.

Statements; none
Temporary place of living; Officer Daniels, Family of child unresponsive
Witnesses of accident; None