The Gun She Held.

"Goodnight."

((After school, December 1st. Hailey's POV.))

Somebody killed my stepbrother and left the body in the WOODS. How could they do that?! I will strangle them with my own hands.

I walk over to my locker and open it, grabbing my bag and stuffing my books inside angrily. I used to be sad, now I'm just angry. I close my locker. I slam it as hard as possible.

"Hi Hailey!" A cheerful voice says from behind me.

"GAH-" I yell, twisting my head around to look at the girl who startled me. "Oh, Stacy, you scared me." My voice is trembling a bit. My voice has been doing that for a few weeks. My eyes have also been really watery and I start crying every 5 minutes. People pretend to not notice.

"I was wondering if you could meet me after school? I have to clean up something for detention and need company!" Stacy says. She's grinning like she's hiding something. I'm getting a weird feeling from her, but I brush it off.

"Uhm... sure, I guess.... I need some c-company too. What did you get detention for?"

She glances nervously around. For a second there I swear I can see this look in her eyes. She looks oddly.... Insane? But she's Stacy Branche. After Luke, Daisy, and Sean, she's the most innocent person at my school. She wouldn't hurt a fly.

"Ohhh- Well, I was late to class." Stacy grimaces as she says this.

Okay, now this is more suspicious. Maybe it's just the overwhelming thoughts of depression getting to my head, but something seems off. Whatever— I'll just ignore that. I worry too much.

"Okay.... W-when should I meet you behind the school?" I ask.

She continues to grimace, and her eyes have the same crazy look in them. Not weird at all.

"Now would be best! Lots of uh..... Litter to pick up!" She explains in a rushed tone. She begins to pick at the skin around her fingernails, which I notice has a lot of crusty, dry blood on them. She keeps fake-smiling. I hate when people do that.

"Oh... sure. I have to meet Luke at 4:00 for homework at h-his house, t-though."

After I say that, just for a split second, I can see Stacy's false grin drop. Her eyes become more dark and angry looking, and there are hints of jealousy in her face. She looks like she could kill me.

"I See. We can clean up quick."

Her voice is still cheerful sounding and sugar coated, but I hear anger hiding behind that mask of happiness. I decide to just force a happy face and nod. She grabs my wrist and begins to pull me away from my locker.

"Why are you pulling me." I question as she keeps dragging me out of the school.

"You're too slow. We gotta go fast if you wanna meet Luke!"

"I'd rather you wouldn't drag me about like a ragdoll." I state angrily before pausing. I sounded too much like Zander! Stacy still seems to be dragging me. If I wanted to get over greif, I would have to delete him out of my memory. That's the opposite of what Mum is doing. She's just crying a lot, especially after they found the body-

"HAILEY!"

I jolt back into reality to find myself in the alleyway behind the school with Stacy. I Look around. There doesn't seem to be any litter.

"G-gosh.... I Just zoned out there for a second. Sorry S-Stace..."

She smiles and takes her backpack off her shoulders. "Oh, don't worry about it." She begins to open her backpack.

"Didn't you say that there was t-trash over here?" I ask, looking around in confusion.

"It Must have been cleaned up already!"

I Look down at the ground. "Y-yeah, I guess so..." I answer blankly. Then I hear the thud of her backpack.

I Look back up to see Stacy holding a cooking knife and stroking the sharp end. My eyes widen.

"S-Stacy-"

"Shut up, will you? You're even more gullible then I had thought. That was soooooo easy. Easier then pushing your dumb brother off the school roof, into this very alleyway! He fell right where you're standing now, actually!!" She still had that stupid smile on her face and is caressing the blade.

I'm overcame by a strong wave of anger. "YOU BITCH, HOW FUCKING COULD YOU DO THAT YOU SOMEONE?! DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH PAIN YOU PUT MY FAMILY THROUGH-"

I get cut off. Stacy had pinned me to the ground; Her knife was now aimed at my throat. I begin to hyperventilate.

"Stop breathing like that. It's annoying. Or even better, just stop breathing in general!!" She laughs like a maniac after saying that last part.

I can't move. It's like I'm paralyzed. I can't move, and if I could, Stacy would stab me.

"W-why did you kill..." I trail off. She still has me pinned to the floor of the dirty alleyway. A tear rolls down my face, followed by another, and another, until I'm sobbing quietly.

"....You wouldn't understand. It was for love. All for my precious Luke...."

She seems to be off in a daydream, but she quickly snaps back into her angry, jealous form.

"BUT YOUR GOD DAMN BROTHER TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME. AND NOW YOU ARE, TOO! BUT I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!"

She raises the knife above her head and smiles. She looks insane right now.

"S-Stacy, NO! You don't have to do this, Stacy-"

STAB.

I tightly shut my eyes and scream in pain as the knife digs into my chest. Blood stains my previously white shirt. I open my eyes and my vision is blurring. It feels like I was falling asleep. Like I was tired, and was going to sleep after a long day. I see Stacy standing over me, same crazy look in her blue eyes.

"Goodnight, Hailey Austin."

She carves a heart into my arm with her knife as if she was signing some piece of artwork, then leaves me in the alleyway to bleed out.

I force a smile for the last time in my life, and close my eyes.

Then I die.