Secrets of the Pier

Chapter Two: The Interrogation

I stared down at my hands in the interrogation room at the police station. My hands were shaky and bruised from clutching the ladder on the side of the pier so tightly. A warm towel draped over my shoulders but it only felt cold and wet.

"Walk us through the afternoon of May 20th, 2016." The investigator glanced at me coldly and then quickly back down at his notes.

"You could have just said today, you know," I commented boldly.

"Miss, you do realize that there are cameras in this room and that you are being tried for the murder of Ava Reen." The investigator's words came out like icy daggers, shot purely to stab me in the heart.

I leaned back in my chair and sighed. "It was on our bucket list, jumping off the pier. It was something we had planned to do as little girls, ever since the third grade. We both promised each other that we would do it on the last day of senior year. We were best friends- have been since we were in preschool. Our parents knew each other. It's quite simple, really. I didn't kill my best friend."

"Okay. Now can you elaborate on how you guys got to the pier today? Did you drive, bike, walk?"

"I-I-I genuinely can't remember..." I looked down at my hands.

"Interesting. Can you remember anything Ava said to you that day?"

"Um... no, not really..." This was getting frustrating, but my memories were too painful to pull out.

"And can you remember, say, Ava's birthday?"

"Yes, of course. January third." At least I could remember something

The investigator nodded and I followed his eyes down to his notepad. Repressed memories of Ava on day of death- coping mechanism was written in dark letters at the top. My face flushed red and I felt my heart beating faster. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten everything about my best friend.

"That's all for today. Thank you." The investigator motioned towards the door. I left the room as quickly as I could.

    The car ride home was silent. It felt like the air weighed a million pounds and we were all suffocating inside of it. My mom broke the silence. "What were you thinking?"

    "It was on our bucket list-" I mumbled.

    "Not only did your actions kill your best friend, but they also could have killed you. Do you care about anything? Do you even want to be alive??" She was shouting now, but her voice was starting to break.

    I looked at my hands. I couldn't speak.

    Now my dad had to chime in. "We've been worried about you, honey, for quite some time now. I know you are probably very sad about your best friend, and I know this is a hard time for you, but this is not the first time mom and I have had second thoughts about allowing you to go to college next year. You're a great kid but your grades have never been good, no matter how much we try to encourage you, you skip class, your head's constantly in the clouds, and you don't seem to have any goals. I mean really, what is the point of paying for you to go to community college just for you to skip class. You clearly don't care about school or any kind of education. Quite frankly, I'm not sure if you care about anything- and we're worried about you."

    "Oh just say it how it is Ted, she's going nowhere in life." My mom stared straight ahead coldly.

    I didn't know what to say, other than they were completely right. I was going nowhere. But I had already accepted that and I honestly couldn't care less. I just didn't want to be yelled at for it.

    The car finally pulled in and I wanted nothing more than to fall into my bed. Under the blankets. Where I was safe from life. When I walked up our driveway, heads turned. All my neighbors. It felt like a million eyes watching me, ridiculing me. I'm sure they all knew that their neighbor just died- partially because of the actions of their other neighbor- me. But then it hit me. I was being tried for Ava's murder. They must think I pushed her in. It took every ounce of patience I had to hold in my questions until we got inside. "Why are they questioning me about Ava's death??!"

    My dad glanced at my mom. "The investigator told us that they found numerous bruises all over her body in the autopsy."

    "What??" I was confused. "Why would there be bruises..." My voice trailed off.

    My mom continued. "He also told us that you have forgotten your memories leading up to Ava's death. It's a coping mechanism from the shock, I guess." I already figured that out.

    "Well I didn't kill my best friend..." I looked down.

    "Listen, we know that. You're a good kid, Rach. We just wish you wouldn't be so impulsive at times- and that you cared a little more." My mom calmly embraced me in a hug and I really wanted to cry but I didn't.

    "Why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep. Skip school tomorrow. Get everything figured out in your head and take a second to remember anything you can about yesterday. The investigator told us it should only take a few days to get your memories back since the shock is pretty brief. We are really sad for you, Rachel, and it is a huge loss for our family." My dad was always the voice of reason. I nodded my head and gave my dad a quick hug before heading towards the stairs.