Her Last Note

Chapter Three: Missing Answers.

After a week, we never saw Ulyana and the girls again. Turns out they admitted everything. They told Principle Cooper all the awful things they did to Ellie. Even the things we didn't know, like bumping into her on purpose so her books can fall, calling her names, writing threats and other things I can barely remember. It was all so much. Mostly all confusing. Why would four girls torture one girl? Why were they out to get her?
  It took only a month to find out why she did it. She was bullied to death and none of us knew. How could have we not known? Questions began to overrun my head. Before we left the school a week ago, Mr. Cooper gave Mary the diary. Out of the ordinary, she gave it to me and told me to keep it safe just in case. When I had got home that afternoon, I went to my room and placed the diary inside my desk. Ever since then, I haven't reopened the desk. Since questions were going through my head, I decided I needed to read the entire thing. I got up from bed only wearing my boxers and walked slowly to my desk. I opened the drawer and looked at black hardcover journal with a huge golden E on the front. I picked it up and sat on my bed. I opened it and began to read. I was so into reading that I lost track of time. It was three in morning and luckily it was the weekend. I continued to read the diary. After about ten pages, I gathered some really deep things. Within the pages, she wrote what Ulyana and the girls did to her each day. It was confusing to me because she never told me about it. Sometimes she would tell me she accidentally ran into somebody trying to rush to get to class. I woke up the next morning not being able to remember when I fell asleep. I just remember waking up and laying flat on my stomach holding Ellie's diary. The blinds were open all the way and shined my room with light. I heard my mom downstairs calling my name. I got up slowly and put on a casual blue shirt and some basketball shorts. I headed downstairs and went straight to the kitchen.
  "Hey, how was your sleep?" Asked my mom.
  "What?" I asked.
  "I asked how was your sleep?" Asked my mom.
  "Uh- it was good? I guess." I said still tired.
  "Are you sure?" She asked.
  "Yeah? Why are you asking?" I asked confused.
  "Because Will, it's one-thirty in the afternoon. What time did you go to sleep?" She said angrily.
  "First of all mom it's one-twenty-six-"
  "I'm just four minutes off William! C'mon, let me hear what time you fell asleep." She said making weird hand gestures.
  "I don't know like three or four in the morning." I said pouring cereal into a bowl.
  "I'm going to need some specifics William!" She said.
  "I don't know mom four-ten?" I said confused and pouring the milk.
  "What were you doing?" She asked.
  "Does it matter?" I said eating the cereal and leaning on the counter behind me.
  "Yes it does. If it's interfering with your sleeping schedule, then yes it matters!" She said.
  "Oh my gosh mom." I said chuckling.
  "William, it's not funny." She said.
  "I'm not laughing, I'm chuckling." I said.
  "Don't be smart with me, William!" She said angrily.
  "Alright! Calm down." I said.
  "What's going on with you?" She asked.
  I stopped eating the bowl of cereal and placed it on the counter behind me. I crossed my arms and stayed quiet.
  "What would Ellie say?" She whispered.
  "What?" I asked. She looked at me and stayed quiet. "Not everything has to do with Ellie. You know that right? The moment I do something wrong, you react like if I robbed somebody. Literally mom, it's the last month of school. It's the weekend and I could sleep as late as I want to. Stop referring to all my mistakes with Ellie's suicide." I said angrily.
  "I'm sorry Will. Sometimes it hard to remember that you're growing up. Graduation is in three weeks. I just want you to be my little boy forever. I just forget that, that topic is very sensitive. You just never done things like this. You've always done the right thing." She said placing the kitchen rag on the countertop. I felt bad once she said that. I understood why my mom was constantly on my back. I was leaving for college soon and she was going to be left alone with my dad. I stood up straight and walked towards her.  
  "I'm sorry mom." I said hugging her.
  "It's okay, I'm sorry too." She said.
  "Well I'm going to meet up the group." I said releasing her from the hug.
  "Alright. Well please call if you're coming home late." She said.
  "Yes ma'am." I said.
  I didn't bother changing. It was the weekend, I didn't have anywhere special to go. I put on my socks and my converse.  I went downstairs and left walking. I texted the group and told them I was going to be at the arcade if they needed me. Before I could put my phone in my pocket, my phone began to ring. I checked and it was Rosie. I answered it and she sounded tired like if she was finishing a run or something.
  *phone call*
  "Hello?" I said.
  "Park now!" She said as she hung up.
  I turned around and walked to the park. When I got there, Rosie was the only one sitting there.
  "Hey? Is everything alright?" I asked.
  "Hey and I think so but I have a question for you." She said.
  "About?" I asked.
  "Are you curious on why Ulyana and the girls were after Ellie?" She asked.
  "Yeah? How did you-"
  "Because I noticed that Ulyana and the girls won't give you a reason to be picked on unless you did something." She said.
  "How do you know?" I asked.
  "Because we all know Ulyana." She said.
  "Well yeah that true." I said.
  "But the real question is what did Ellie do to make Ulyana bully her everyday?" She asked.
  "I still have Ellie's notebook. I started reading last night." I said.
  "How far did you get in?" She asked.
  "About ten pages. It took me three hours to read, she wrote so much-"
  "Okay that's not important right now Will. Did she write anything about why they did it?" She asked.
  "I don't know. I haven't gotten that far. If something pops up, I'll let you know." I said.
  "Alright good." She said.
  "Why did you sound tired over the phone?" I asked.
  "Oh because I was doing my daily five miles in the afternoon." She said.
  "What? Who does five miles in the afternoon? It like a hundred degrees out here." I said chuckling.
  "Actually I checked it's eighty-two degrees but it feels like ninety-five degrees." She said.
  "Can't you have like a heat stroke or something?" I asked.
  "No that's only when it's in the high nineties. Now, if you don't mind, William. I need to finish my extra mile. See you later." She said.
  "I thought you were done with your five miles." I said.
  "If I finish early, I reward myself with an extra mile." She said jogging away.
  "That's six miles!" I shouted.
  "That's still good!" She shouted back as she disappeared onto the sidewalk.
  I got up from the table and began walking to the arcade. When I was walking, I saw someone in the distance. I couldn't tell who it was but when I got a little bit closer, I was shocked. It was Ellie. I ran towards her and tried to touch her. Within the blink of an eye, she was gone. My heart was racing. I had no explanation for what I just saw. I ran home and locked myself in my room. I couldn't stop thinking about Ellie and why I had seen her. I thought maybe I was just going crazy. Maybe I had imagined her. I sat on my floor, next to my bed, and grabbed Ellie's diary. I opened it and began reading more pages. Writing after writing, page after page and still no clues to why Uli did this. I finished reading nine pages until I told myself to just read one more page. I turned the page and noticed only the first word. The word "SECRETS" was written in all caps. My heart began to race once again. I quickly scanned my eyes through the page and saw my name. I began to read slowly from the top.
" December 10, 2017 11:24 p.m.
SECRETS. The more I hold them in, the more pressure is applied on my shoulders. I hold way too many secrets from my friends and about my friends. I wish I could tell Rosie or Ora about Will and I. I wish I could tell them how I'm getting bullied. I just want this to be over already! I wish Ulyana never walked through those doors last week. I wasn't the one who kissed Matthew. He kissed me and told Ulyana I came onto him. Ulyana and I used to be friends and now it feels like we've always hated each other. Great, the second party I've ever thrown and it all goes wrong. First, Will and I break up. Second, beer bottles and red plastic cups were thrown everywhere. Finally, Matt tells Ulyana I kissed him. I wouldn't EVER do that to a friend! Especially since I loved someone else! Matt was drunk and kissed me. I told him I didn't feel that way towards him and he kissed me again. Next thing you know Ulyana walks in and he begins to tell her I kissed him and I told him I wanted him. After that, everything was hell. She continuously bullied me for it. Notes were made 'in my honor.' The notes always called me names. I was glad nobody knew it was me but it still hurt me. How can someone do that to another person? I tried to confront Ulyana but she just laughed in my face. I just wanted to know why she was doing this to me. It was so much pressure. Looking back now, I wish I never threw that party.
Goodnight, Ellie."
  I was speechless. Ellie was bullied because Ulyana's boyfriend, Matthew, kissed her. To make things worse he blamed her and added lies over lies. I just needed to know if it was true. Was Matthew the one who kissed Ellie? Or was it the other way around? I put the diary down and texted the group to come over. They each responded with a thumbs up. I reread the page and froze. I couldn't show them the page. It had mine and Ellie's secret. If I showed it to them, they would be flowing with thousands of questions and answers. I decided to only read it to them. I wasn't ready for anyone to find out what happened between Ellie and I. While I trying to figure out what to do, someone knocked at my door.
  "Come in!" I shouted.
  "Will? Rosie and Tony are here." Said my mom.
  I walked downstairs and told them to come upstairs to my room. They followed me upstairs and stayed silent.
  "Alright. What happened?" Asked Tony.
  "I was reading Ellie's diary and I came across a page on why Ulyana bullied her." I said.
  "Well what did it say? Show it to us." Said Rosie.
  I grabbed the diary and began to read. I read the entire page without any interruptions.
  "So Ulyana did this because..." Rosie paused.
  "Because of a kiss?" Said Tony finishing her sentence.
  Before I could answer, there was another knock at my door. We all stopped talking. The door opened slowly and popped out Ora's head.
  "What did we miss?" She asked.
  "Ulyana bullied Ellie because Matthew, Ulyana's ex, kissed Ellie. Then to make things worse, he blamed everything on her and switched the story around." Said Rosie.
  "Wait what?" Said Ora.
  "All because of a stupid kiss?" Said Max.
  "That's what I said!" Said Tony.
  "All we need to do is ask Ulyana herself. It couldn't of just been about some kiss. No there had to be something else." I said.
  "Are you guys stupid? You're obviously missing the point!" Yelled Rosie.
  We all looked at her confused. I guess we all thought the whole "kissing Matthew" mistake was the point. I have never seen Rosie get upset like this. It was clear something was wrong.
  "Rosie? What's wrong?" Asked Tony.
  She sat on my bed and kneeled over. She covered her face with her hands and gave a heavy sigh.
  "Guys, our best friend was crying for help and didn't even notice. How could have we been so stupid? She clearly gave us hints without her diary! She was bullied because of rumors we never even knew about. If we knew about them, Ellie-"
  "Rosie stop! Each and every one of us had our own problems. We all knew something was different about her! If we knew about the rumors going around school, what could we have done? Go around school telling everyone to knock it off? No. No Rosie. High school isn't like that. Once a rumor rises, there is no way for the truth to ever be told." Said Ora shouting.
  "Stop it Ora!-"
  "Or what Tony? You never care about anyone's feelings other than yours or Rosie's! When Ellie went to you that one time, what did you do again?" Said Ora making hand gestures.
  "Wait, what are you talking about Ora?" I asked.
  "Well, go on Tony. The day she went to you crying and you told her you were busy but Ellie knew it right away! You didn't even want to deal with her! She came over telling me everything! She knew you were the only one to knock some sense into Ulyana but you blew her off!-"
  "Stop Ora!" Yelled Max.
  We all stayed quiet. A room of silent teenagers. Secrets were being poured out quickly. Each exposing one another like nothing. We were all staring at each other. At this point everyone was on edge. Especially Rosie and Ora.
  "You know what? You guys can count me out of this. As much as I love Ellie, I can't do this. I feel like I'm losing my mind. I'm sorry." Said Ora as she walked out of my room.
  "She's right. I can't do this either Will. I've lost hours of sleep last month because of this.-"
  "Rosie stop. How can you say that when you were the first one in?" I said.
  "No I wasn't, that was Max. Will, I'm sorry. You can't always solve everything. Especially not this one." She said as she walked out. Tony chased after her. I looked out my window and noticed they were both leaving together. They were out.
  "Sorry Max. I guess we failed Ellie." I said.
  "Hey. I'm not out. Yeah, I was the first one in and I'm not leaving. I'm in for Ellie. Whether Ora likes it or not. C'mon Will, let's get to work." He said patting my back.
  Out of the five of us, only two were left and that was Max and I. We came up with the idea to just confront Ulyana about the situation and hopefully get something out it. We just needed to get this over with. We all needed to give ourselves peace with this.
  "Okay tomorrow we'll go to Ulyana's house." I said.
  "Are we even sure if she still lives here? I mean, nobody has even seen her in weeks." Said Max.
  "Or we can try right now?" I said.
  "Okay so tomorrow?" He said.
  I laughed and pushed him out of my room. He left home and I sat in my room trying to figure out how this going to go down. I grabbed Ellie's diary and opened it. That's all I did. I just opened and looked at it. I didn't read a single page or word. I just scanned through it quickly. I decided to put the diary away for now. Holding onto it made everything feel like it got worse. Ellie's diary was useful but since the group broke up, it feels like everything out of place right now. Nothing was the same without them. Max was right on one thing, we had to go on. I woke up the next morning and call Max over. I believed he rushed because he got to my house in like ten minutes and usually that never happens. We went over the plan one more time and left to Ulyana's house. When we got there, we immediately got off the car. I rang the doorbell and max knocked three times. No answer. We maybe tried it three times until someone finally answered.
  "Can I help you?" Asked a late thirties woman.
  "Hi ma'am, we're looking for Ulyana. Do you, by any chance, know where she is?" Asked Max.
  "Who's asking?" She asked.
  "Oh we're her friends." I said.
  "What are your names?" She asked.
  "I'm Max and he's Will." Said Max.
  "No your full names." She asked.
  "Is this really necessary-"
  "Maximilian Noah Davis." Said Max interrupting me. I looked at him weirdly.
  "What? She asked?" He whispered.
  "I only meant your first name." She said.
  "But you said my full-"
  "What about you?" She asked me, interrupting Max.
  "William." I said.
  "Okay well come in but I don't think she'll want to talk to anyone." She said.
  "Really? You just questioned us and you're going to let us in that easy?" Said Max.
  "ULYANA! YOUR FRIENDS ARE HERE!" She yelled. A creaking door opened and there she was.
  "I don't have friends mom-"
  "Hi Ulyana." I said.
  "Eww. What are you guys doing here?" She asked.
  "Is that any way to treat your friends?" Asked Max.
  "You're not my friends! I barely know you guys!" She said.
  "Ulyana-"
  "No mom, I'm not doing this! I'm leaving!" She shouted.
  "You can follow her to her room. She could use some company." Said Ulyana's mom.
  Max and I walked down the long hallway into Ulyana's room. We knocked on her door softly.
  "Ulyana?" I said.
  "Go away!" She shouted through the door.
  "Please. We just want to talk." I said.
  She opened the door and stared at me.
  "You have one hour. Any questions you better start asking now." She said.
  We entered her room and closed the door. Max took out his notepad and asked her the questions we've been wondering.
  "Why didn't you like Ellie?" He asked.
  "What are you talking about?" She asked.
  "You hated Ellie. You bullied her and hurt her so many times all because she kissed Matthew. She-"
  "I never hated Ellie! And I didn't bully her because she kissed Matthew!" She said.
  Max and I looked at each other and stayed quiet.
  "What do you mean?" I asked as I sat on Ulyana's bed next to Max.
  She stood up and stood in one spot. She did not move whatsoever.
  "She never told you guys? Ellie and I used to be friends but she had everything. I was always so mad because everyone saw her as the sweet, confident girl. When people looked at me, they saw me as the toxic, plastic girl. It hurt and I told Ellie about it but she told me that her life wasn't perfect. Time passed and I ended up letting it go. Then I started having feelings for you, Will. Clearly I was to late because Ellie already had you-"
  "Wait what? Me? Why me?" I asked.
  "Because Will, you're one of the sweetest guys in school. I used to see the way you were with Ellie, and that was all I wanted. You treated her like she was your princess, even though she was-"
  "Wait what do you mean by that? You're saying Will and Ellie-"
  "Max only the important stuff!" I said.
  "Okay? Well anyways, Ellie was always a person everyone went to for comfort. The day Matthew kissed her, I just lost it. I thought she was going to take him away-"
  "Wait a minute! You knew Matthew kissed her?" Asked Max.
  "Of course! I was dating the hottest boy in school. What makes you think girls were never all up on him?" She said.
  "Good point, go on." He said.
  "Anyways, I choose a boy over a friend. I thought Ellie was just a two-faced person. Clearly she wasn't but by the time I noticed, I was too late." She said wiping her eyes.
  "Why didn't you just talk to her?" Asked Max.
  "Because, I know Ellie. She was going to give me this huge lecture and tell me that it wasn't true. I didn't want to hear something everyone else was telling me. I wanted her honest advice, wether it was cruel or not." She said with a cracking voice.
  "Sometimes it's better to talk to someone then to feel alone." I said.
  "When did you and Ellie stop being friends?" Asked Max.
  "Probably a year and half before she did it." She said.
  She looked down and wiped her face. She looked at us with the reddest eyes.
  "Are you okay?" Asked Max.
  "No! She didn't deserve this! How could I have done this? I bullied her to death because of how jealous I became! I lost one of my most trustworthy friends! I hate myself-"
  That was it. I pulled her in for a hug. Max stood up and joined in. At this point, even though she bullied Ellie, I felt bad for her. She was living with guilt. But she wasn't the only one.
  "Alright well that's enough questions." Said Max.
  "What were those questions for?" Asked Ulyana.
  "Before the group broke up, Rosie, Tony, Ora, Max and I were trying to figure out why Ellie did this." I said.
  "So you're going all detective one your best friends suicide?" She asked.
  "That's what I said!" Said Max.
  "Yeah. I'm pretty sure we're done-"
  "Before Ellie and I stopped being friends, she told me about her parents separation and how it was hard on her because there was constant fighting and she felt trapped." Said Ulyana.
  "I remember that. She told me the same thing." I said.
  "Will we have to go." Said Max.
  "Alright." I said. I threw him the keys and told him to go start the car. As Max left, I told Ulyana something.
  "Nobody knows about Ellie and I but you." I said.
  "You haven't told them?" She asked.
  "What am I supposed to say, 'Oh hey guys, just want to let you know, before Ellie died, we dated.' I don't think I can." I said.
  "Or you could just tell them the truth. It not like they're going to hate you. I mean, everyone probably expected for your guys romance to happen. But honestly I think everyone would've wished it could've lasted." She said as she hugged me.
  I patted her back and left. Max went home and I went to my room. Ulyana only gave us an hour but Max and I stayed for at least five hours. I jumped on my bed and stared at the ceiling. I couldn't stop thinking about the limited days Ellie and I were together. I closed my eyes slowly and woke up to the sound of a ding coming my phone. I checked the time and realized it was barely twelve fifty-six. It was from a group chat Rosie, Tony and Ora created. I opened my phone and asked them what was going on. It turns out, Max told them about Ulyana and they felt bad that they gave up quickly. We all decided to meet at Rosie's house. When I got there I rang the doorbell. In less that a minute, Rosie's mom opens the door.
  "William? Wow you're so tall now, I haven't seen you in months!" She said.
  "Oh it's just Will, Mrs. Juarez and I've been the same height since sophomore year." I said as she let me in.
  "Well it's probably because I haven't seen you in a while." She said smiling. I smiled back at her and we stood there in silence.
  "So why are you here?" She asked.
  "Oh, Rosie invited me. I thought you knew?" I said.
  "I certainly did not. Why would she invite you this late?" She asked.
  "I don't know, she invited the whole group. Wait a minute? Aren't you and you're husband supposed to be asleep? Like right now?" I asked.
  "Oh no honey, it's movie night for us! We stay up until we both fall asleep!" She said giggling.
  "Oh well that's cool. Can I go to Rosie's room?" I asked.
  "Why? I'll call her?" She said.
  "No that's not-"
  "ROSLEEN!" She yelled.
  "Necessary." I said finishing my sentence.
  "ROSLEEN JUAREZ!" She yelled a second time.
  "Ugh! What mom? I was trying to text-"
  "Will?" She interrupted.
  "Yeah, I was going to ask you if my friends could come over." She said.
  "Only for fifteen minutes Rosleen and that's final!" She said.
  Rosie gestured me to come upstairs and sitting there was Ora, Tony and Max. I was the only one who arrived late.
  "How did you guys-"
  "Rosie texted us to come through her window and like always, your phone was on silent." Said Max.
  I laughed and joined them. The were each eating pizza rolls and talking about how they all were sorry for leaving Max and I. We explained to them everything that happened with Ulyana and they were shocked.
  "Wow, they were friends." Said Ora.
  "Not just friends, best friends." Said Tony.
  "But how come Ellie didn't say anything?" Asked Rosie.
  "Well I think it's because Ellie is always friendly. Everybody was friends with her." Said Max.
  "Yeah but I still don't understand why Uli didn't like Ellie?" Asked Rosie.
  "Well Uli said something about Ellie and Will-"
  "That's not what she said." I interrupted.
  "Well what did she say?" Asked Ora.
  "She said it was because she liked me and she thought Ellie was going to take me away." I said.
  "But you and Ellie were just friends." Said Tony.
  "That's what I told her." I said.
  "I should've never gave up." Said Rosie in a whispering tone.
  "You didn't. You still managed to help and now after two months we can give Mary peace." I said.
  "We all played our part in some way. But solving the end, the credit goes to Max and Will hands down." Said Ora.
  "Can't argue there." Said Tony.
  We all hugged it out and just began talking about our times with Ellie. We laughed at the jokes and memories she made with us and in that moment, I could finally feel pressure lifted off my shoulders. I knew everything was going to be okay.
  "Hey Rosie, can I ask you a question?" I asked.
  "Always." She said.
  "Why does your mom call us by our first name?" I asked.
  "What do you mean?" She asked.
  "Yeah, like, when I came, she called me William instead of Will." I said.
  "I guess I haven't really noticed." She said.
  "ROSLEEN!" Said Rosie's mom shouting from downstairs. We all followed and when we walked out, all of our moms were standing in the living room.
  "ANTONIO BENJAMIN ANDERSON! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE? YOU HAD ME WORRIED SICK!" Shouted Tony's mom.
  "MAXIMILIAN NOAH DAVIS THE THIRD! AT LEAST TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE NEXT TIME!" Shouted Max's mom.
  "Please don't say my full name-"
  "ORABELLE PAIGE QUINCY! DON'T DO THAT TO ME EVER AGAIN!" Shouted Ora's mom.
  "William Xander Rivera, please don't do this to me again. It's a mother worst fear to not know her child is in bed at night, safe." Said my mom as she hugged me.
  We all left home in our own cars. When I got home, my dad gave me a hug and told me he was glad to be home. I explained everything that happened that entire day and how I ended up at Rosie's house. They decided it was best if Mary heard everything that happened with Ulyana and Ellie from me. Mostly because I seemed to know a lot about what happened between them.