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31

Andrew didn't even seem to be sorry and he had no problem showing his joy over the fact that he killed Alyssa.

It took everything in me not to attack Andrew right there as Charlie grabbed my hand, instantly calming my emotions.

There was a loud pounding on the door and before my mother could make her way over to it, the door was knocked down. My mother jumped back in horror and screamed as the cops flooded into the room. "Andrew Nickson, you are under arrest for killing Alyssa Adams."

Andrew was escorted out but it was taking a lot longer than usual as my mother was clinging to him, trying to stop the police from taking him away. It didn't work, however, so instead she ran to her car and followed them to the police station.

~

Charlie and I were sitting in Officer Scott's office as we waited on news about the case. Obviously we knew Andrew was guilty and we weren't the ones who had to be questioned anymore, but we also didn't want to find out all about it in the newspaper like everyone else. We had a right to know first.

As I thought about everything that happened, I thought about my mother. The whole time we confronted Andrew she just said nothing and stood in the background. When I saw her face though, she didn't even seem surprised, making me wonder something. Did my mother already know that Andrew killed Alyssa?

I didn't even want to think of that so I moved on to think about when we would finally find out more information regarding the murder. When everyone finds out, will they hate me again for something I didn't do? After all, you can't help who your family is.

I caught Charlie's attention as I frowned, and he turned to look at me. As he did, he took my face in his hands so my gaze met his. He already knew exactly what I was thinking.

We were interrupted by Scott coming into his office with a sympathetic look on his face. "Before I tell you something I just wanted to say that if it wasn't for you guys, we never would have found out who killed Alyssa. Between finding the watch in your bedroom Aubrey and you recording Andrew's confession back at his apartment Charlie, we know exactly what happened to Alyssa." Scott couldn't bring himself to look at us as he spoke again.

"When Andrew got the call from your principal, he knew Alyssa was probably going to want to talk to you and he took this as his opportunity to wipe all of your happiness away." I looked down to my feet as a lump developed in my throat. I was reliving the day Alyssa died all over again.

Charlie grabbed my hand and squeezed it to comfort me as Scott began to speak again. "That day as you probably remember was cold and there were even icicles hanging from buildings and houses. As the day went on and the sun came out, they began to fall and melt. Seeing this occur, Andrew stayed in your room all afternoon and waited until the proper moment when Alyssa came to your house. Once Alyssa realized you weren't home, she headed back down the walkway and that's when Andrew killed her. He hit her back with an icicle and made sure it went straight through to her heart. That's why when you found her, she was laying facedown on the ground with blood pouring out of her left shoulder. It was easy for him to get away with the murder as once the icicle melted, there was no evidence to be found leaving him completely safe from ever getting caught."

As I took in what the officer said, all I could see was Andrew killing Alyssa. It made me nauseous and immediately I leaned over the side of the chair, vomiting into the garbage can that laid there.

I felt a hand pull back my hair while the other hand was on my back as their thumb traced circles over my skin.

When I was finished being sick I turned to see Charlie holding out a box of tissues for me. I tried to clean myself up as best as I could before I looked to Charlie.

"I'm sorry." A small smile appeared on his face but as I studied his features I saw a hint of worry swimming through his chocolatey brown iris' as he looked at me. "You have nothing to be sorry about." A small smile grazed my lips as I leaned into Charlie's side while he began to stroke my hair.

A little while later, Charlie and I prepared to leave the police station but not before we were called into the chief police's office.

As we walked in the room, I immediately became tense as I looked to older man sitting behind the desk. He was not someone I ever wanted to see again after he screamed at me yet here we were in his office.

As if the chief police office was reading my thoughts, he spoke. "Look I'm not here to question you or yell at you. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about you sister and your best friend. I also wanted you to know that Andrew will be sent away to a prison that is over a thousand miles away from here for the next twenty-five years."

~

After talking with the chief police officer for a few more minutes, Charlie and I headed for the exit of the station until we were stopped by my mother.

"I just wanted to let you know that you have completely ruined my life and I'm happy that Alyssa is gone. You deserve to be miserable considering you just sent my fiancée to prison." Charlie clenched his fists but I grabbed his hand before he could act. He was shaking with rage as he tried to remain calm for my sake.

"Consider this the last time you will ever see or hear from me. I'm following Andrew to wherever he ends up and I am not keeping up contact."

Without another word, Charlie pulled me out of the station and into his car where we sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry about your mom and Andrew and everything." Charlie looked sheepishly at his hands but I quickly brought his attention back to me as I leaned over, slowly kissing Charlie on the lips. "Don't ever apologize for them. I'm happy I don't have to see them anymore. That may have been the family I was born into but last names change. Eventually. Someday I won't have that constant reminder of them but for now I just have to realize that you can't control the people that brought you into the world but you can control who you end up spending the rest of your life with."

I didn't know it at the time but as Charlie looked at me and smiled, his eyes filled with affection and admiration, he knew that someday, he was going to be the one to change my last name.