Chp.3

I hide myself in my usual spot, behind the bushes on top of the hill. The bus stop right below the hill. And I wait. I wait for that liar. And my blood is chasing with anger. How casual she acts. Like she didn't blame you at all. Like everything is completely okay.

I stare down at an abandoned cafe. It was right in front of the stop. It's where she comes every Tuesday. She comes and stands there like she's waiting for someone. But that person never comes. That stranger she's waiting for never comes. But she still waits every Tuesday for that person. It's a pattern. She started coming here almost immediately after the incident. And it's shocking how no one notices that.

I look at my wristwatch. 07:11. Two minutes before she comes. She always comes at thirteen. Sharp. And she waits so anxiously. But after fifteen, she walks up to the stop and sits there, until her friends start showing up. And a few minutes later, her little sister, Sophie would show up as well on her bicycle. She rides her way to school. I never saw the two sisters talk though. Not with each other.

I take out my camera when I see Skylar coming around a corner. Wearing those black tops of her and jeans. I can't describe how much I hate her. I even despise looking at her. But I have to. Because every single action of hers counts. I see her walking cautiously, stopping to only turnaround from time to time. Checking if someone's following her. She couldn't get less suspicious.

Zooming the cameras lens at her, I snap pictures. Looking precarious, waiting in front of the camera. It's nothing more than that really. Just her walking and standing. But she's been doing that for almost seven months. On Tuesdays. If anyone asks her, what's she gonna say? Another lie? I hope she looks guilty. I hope the one she waits for comes. On that day, I'll be closer to the truth than ever before.

I give my photos a look, reminding myself to print them later. I have them all. Of all the Tuesdays. Because I want to show people that I actually worked on something. I work for you. So you see that I won't let the town speak of you as a witch. I don't want them to say that you deserved a death that horrible. I want them to think you as a hero. You always wanted to become famous.

I watch Skylar, shivering in the morning cold. She's standing in front of the closed cafe, looking around, breathing heavily in the frozen air, like me. And I watch her, wondering how she used to be your second best friend, after Susan. And you used to hang out with those two. Jessica, Susan and Skylar. And you used to say that the three of you have this special bond and that neither of them will ever betray you.

And now, when I look at her, I want to tell you how much of a liar and deserter she was. But then I hate to see you sad. So, I'll bare it. I'll bare Skylar a little longer. I'll bare her taunts. For you. Because you'd want me to ignore her.

I remember how you used to fight off those bullies who looked like giants to me as a preschooler. And you used to beat them up when they snatched my little teddy which helped me survive the day. And how you got in trouble after that. But you gave me back my toy. I always thought you a hero and tried to prove to you that I can stand up to the bullies.

Well, no one has bullied me for a long time. Because I preferred to keep try a low-profile. Now I'm famous. Because you were my sister Jesse. And then there's a boy. Susan's brother. Ander Marsh. He blames me for everything. He hates me just as much as I hate Skylar. But he's not good at hiding it. I don't focus at him that much.

It's funny how the other relatives of your friends who went camping with you always support him. Josh Richards, my 'used-to-be friend', one of the girls' brother doesn't help Ander to blame me but he ignores me now. He had a cousin who went with you. I don't remember her name. He thinks it's my fault though. I see it in his eyes when he's looking at me with this sad and regretful look. Like he was saying why I ever was his friend.

I don't want to hang with someone who thinks you're the reason it happened.

And then there's Alexa Braham. She's so quiet about it. Because her step-sister died. And honestly I don't think she cared much about her. But she's an expert when it comes to spreading rumors about you. She sneers at me whenever I walk past. Who could have thought the shy-girl could be capable of doing so much?

I see Skylar cross the road and sitting down on a bench. I close my camera and put it in my bag, taking out my headphones. A few minutes later, her friends will start showing up and that's when I go down as well.

I touched the wet grass with the palms of my hands, wondering about the day when I find out the truth about Skylar and the night when you went. Did you really have to go, only to never come back? You left me in a very changed world. Where everyone is so skeptical towards me, and they're all the suspects in my book.

I think Skylar's sister is the luckiest though. Her sister survived, right? She survived even if she probably killed everyone else. I remember when I had a small crush on Sophie. You found out and teased me because she was Skylar's sister. I never knew that until you told me. Because Sophie Sallow looks completely different then Skylar. She's got short blond hair which is only rarely tied up in a ponytail and Skylar has this darker hair and a long face. But I hardly see Sophie anymore. I'm caught up with finding out the truth.

I watch her friends approaching her, from behind the bushes. She gets up from the bench and walks to her group, talking and giggling as soon as she reaches them.

I clench my fists, tightly before getting up myself and grabbing my bag. I turned on the music loud so I don't hear Skylar and her stupid friends whispering about you being a killer and how