It's been ten months since another one of my friend groups were brutally murdered, this time by Evan and Allie. I remember that night like it was yesterday, we were on the roof when Evan reappeared and threw that knife. I killed him, but couldn't save Hope from the knife. We stood there waiting for the ambulance to come, it felt like forever. Hope was bleeding out in me and Miles's arms, she was so quiet, content. A tear rolled down her face as a the ambulance arrived, we brought her in there, not knowing how much time she had left. Only one person could ride in the ambulance, so Miles did. I waited with Ethan and Ryan for hours until she got out of surgery. I remember crying hearing what she had to go through with the surgery, tears streamed down my face as the doctor said the complications. But after it all, Hope was alive, my sweet baby angel is alive and happy. The last ten months have been rocky, but we've gotten through it together. We all moved off campus and bought a nice 2 story house, it's bigger than we expected so we had room to rent it out to two more people. That's how we met Valerie and Campbell. They are both super sweet and really good friends of ours. Campbell has a girlfriend, named Elaine. Elaine is very nice as well, but sometimes she can be very confrontational, which is scary. He also has a little sister who is a freshman in college, her name is Madelyn. Madelyn is very sweet and energetic, she is like a whole different breed of human. Valerie is dating Zyon, he is a baseball player at our college and is hella rich. Ryan just recently got into a new relationship, his new boyfriend's name is Isaiah. Isaiah is maybe one of my favorite people in the whole world, he is sweet, caring, funny and super charming. He reminds me of a mixture of Jackson, Anika and Cash. Lastly is Tate, he is interesting. He is very quiet and well... creepy. He is Ethan's new best friend and it's definitely on brand, I don't even know if he knows how to talk to a girl.
Right now everyone is at the house to celebrate Christmas, I spent hours this year decorating the house and getting the perfect gift. Everyone opened gifts a couple of hours ago and now we are all just kind of hanging out. I go to sit next to Isaiah and Ryan who are chatting with Valerie.
"Hey." I say, sitting beside Isaiah.
"Hey Summer." Isaiah says, smiling.
"Summer, how did you do your hair today? It looks so good and I need to figure out how to do it like that." Valerie says, reaching over and holding a strand of my hair up.
"Just curled it with no heat." I say, smiling.
"Well it looks amazing." She says, smiling back.
"Thank you for everything Summer." Ryan says, handing me a glass of eggnog. "Don't worry, non alcoholic."
"Thanks." I say, smiling.
"Are you excited for New Years?" Isaiah asks, eyeing Ethan. "At least you'll for sure get a New Years kiss."
"So will you." Ryan says, looking at Isaiah.
"Yeah, but not from Ethan Landry." Isaiah says, swooning over Ethan.
"Babe, I'm right here." Ryan says, appalled.
"Yeah, and you know I love you. You are the hottest person alive." He says before turning to me and whispering, "other than your boyfriend. You win."
I smile and look over at Ethan, I really do win. He makes eye contact with me and starts walking towards the group. "Hey guys."
"Hey Ethan." Isaiah says, smiling. I know Isaiah doesn't actually have a crush on Ethan, but this is still fun to watch.
"Hey Isaiah." Ethan says back, obviously confused. I giggle at Ethan being so overly confused at a guy hitting on him, FAKE hitting on him.
"Isaiah, Ryan, Ethan come over here!" Miles screams, ushering them to Hope and himself. Ethan looks at me weirdly and then walks away.
"You have such a great boyfriend." Valerie says, twirling her hair. "God, I'd kill for an amazing boyfriend."
"You have Zyon." I say.
"Yeah, but he's so busy with baseball... I just wish I had someone who could be there for me." She says, she almost looks at me longingly. I feel bad for her, Zyon is sweet, but I know what she means.
"Val, I'm sure once baseball season is over, he'll be all yours." I say.
"Oh my god, why am I dumping all of this on you? I'm so sorry, you have stuff going on too. Look at Valerie, the big blabber mouth who overshares!" Valerie says, embarrassed for telling me all of her stuff with Zyon.
"Hey it's okay, I'm more than happy to help." I say. She smiles and looks at a notification on her phone.
"Speak of the devil, he must have a water break. I'm gonna go call him, but you can trauma dump next." She says, getting up and waking outside. As she leaves, Campbell and Madelyn sit down with me, Elaine follows.
"Thank you for throwing this party." Madelyn says, eating a cookie.
"It's my pleasure, really." I say smiling.
"How's work?" Campbell asks.
"Good, I like working from home. It's quiet, peaceful." I say back.
"That sounds nice, the fast food industry is kicking my ass. Shit, I forgot a kid was here. Fuck, I said shit. Shit I said fuck and shit again. Oh god." He says, being more disappointed with himself, with each word.
"Hope is fine, we treat her like an adult. She's earned that." I say smiling and looking over at Hope from across the room.
"What exactly did happen that night?" Elaine asks.
"Elaine." Madelyn says, almost asking her to stop.
"It's a simple question, what happened" Elaine asks again. Which night do you mean? The night that actually happened or what we told the police?
"Just some people who didn't know how to release their anger." I say, Elaine isn't convinced.
"They murdered your roommate, Taylor right?" She asks. That name is like a dagger to my heart, I miss Taylor every day, just like how I miss Anika. At least I know Anika is safe.
"Elaine, cut it out." Campbell says sternly.
"No, if we are friends, I should know the risks of the past." She says. She makes my blood boil, but she's right.
"It was just a messed up situation." I say.
"Yeah, but-" Elaine asks.
"Shut the fuck up about it already!" Campbell says. Elaine gives him a death stare.
"Fuck off." Elaine says, rolling her eyes.
"I think what Campbell means is that this is a traumatic situation for Summer. We just shouldn't push it right now." Madelyn says.
"Oh so now you're on her side?" Elaine is getting more and more upset.
"Hey, what's going on?" Miles asks, walking over.
"Tell me about the night you were stabbed, did someone here hurt you?" Elaine says looking at Hope.
"No, but I do have something you should know." Hope says, looking into Elaines eye.
"Hope..." Miles starts, but Hope gives him and I a reassuring look.
"Don't listen to your brother Hope, tell the truth." Elaine says.
"Well, the truth is..." Hope goes silent.
"Yes?" Elaine asks.
"You're a bitch who should keep her nose out of other people's business." Hope says. Campbell and Isaiah both start laughing at this, and even I get a smile across my face.
"You're all fucking insane, covering up for whatever really happened that night." Elaine says, running out of the house.
"Who does it hurt to be nice?" Madelyn asks, "even if they don't deserve it." She walks out after Elaine, calling for her.
"Merry fucking Christmas." Ethan says, shoving a cookie into his mouth.
