Crestwood Murders

Chapter 31: A Deeper Look

Back to Modern Day.

The soft glow of Hannah's dorm room cast shadows on the walls mirroring the conflicting emotions swirling within her. The recent breakup with Joshua, the one she had secretly yearned for over the last years, left her in a state of disarray. In the dim light she contemplated the decisions that led to this moment.
She thought to herself about how much she hated life right now.

Her phone being a line to the outside world interrupted the solitude.
The caller ID revealed her mother's name, a beacon of support.
Hannah hesitated for a moment before accepting the call her voice strained
"Mom? Hey."

A comforting warmth enveloped her as her mother's voice echoed through the phone
"Hey baby how's college life on my big girl going?"

The heaviness of her heart spilled into the conversation
"Not great Joshua and I broke up I dumped him just as he was about to dump me in an argument and I basically pushed everyone I know away."

A concerned gasp escaped her mother's lips "Oh no what happened with you and Joshua? Are you okay babe?"

With a heavy sigh Hannah began to unravel the complexities of her recent struggles
"Yeah, Mom I think I'll be okay, you remember my best friend Kayla the girl Joshua dated and I was jealous of? You know she passed and it hurt me a lot, but I just took the chance during it to get with Joshua, Well somebody else died last week at our campus named Jessica just like Kayla did."

A sympathetic gasp reached Hannah's ears from her mother.
"Oh no, that poor girl that sounds awful hun, what're you getting at?"

Hannah spoke more
"Well, my friends Tyler, Michael, Emma and Joshua decided to investigate the murder of Jessica to find it could find the truth behind Kayla's murder. I was involved in helping too even though I was reluctant at first, it caused a lot of drama I swore it was these guys Hector or Randy, and nobody listened to me."

Hannah's mom added in
"You are known to be stubborn hun, you take it after your father sadly."

Hannah sighed
"I know I can be stubborn, but I can't let people see me as vulnerable or wrong, you know this better than anyone, anyways as we investigated we had a lot of arguments and Joshua and me got into a bad fight, after I said some things to this bad guy who hurt joshua because of me, I just wanted joshua to fight for me and defend me I wanted to feel wanted and protected.

Her mother's voice carried a gentle wisdom, "Sometimes a man's only job isn't to fight for you but to also love you in other ways. Did you think of how it could've hurt him when you said those things?"

Tears welled up in Hannah's eyes as she acknowledged her own shortcomings
"No I don't think of anything besides me sometimes I don't mean to be this way, but it's who I am, my friend Emma kept pushing me all week too making me feel awful for who I am and it makes me so angry and I act out pushing everyone away."

A tender sigh came from her mother, "Sometimes life has to knock you down and make you lose things to get back up and realize what you lost."

In a vulnerable admission Hannah confessed
"I miss Joshua I don't even know if he ever wants to talk to me again after what I did to him."

Her mother's response held a delicate balance of understanding and guidance
"An apology can go a long way hun, reach out to him and see if you can finish helping your friends solve your Kayla's murder, Kayla would want it that way, she wouldn't be mad over you being with Joshua as long as you genuinely cared about her, even if it's a hard situation that brings up vulnerability and the past, you need to accept that it's part of life hun."

A surge of determination replaced the despair in Hannah's voice
"I love you Mom thanks for being there for me always even when Dad left us, or when we lost our home, you always been the best mom I could ever ask for, I'm gonna go find Joshua at the baseball field or at his dorm and apologize to him."

Her mom nodded
"That's my stubborn girl, you have a good heart you just need to be more vulnerable and let yourself use it, go get your friends back."

Her mother's encouragement lingered in the air as Hannah prepared to mend what she had broken. with newfound resolve she set out to seek redemption the night held the promise of reconciliation.

Hannah fueled by a mix of determination and newfound vulnerability left her dorm room with a sense of purpose. She went down the hall Clutching her phone the lifeline to her mother's wisdom she set out to find Joshua.

As she reached Joshua's dorm anticipation gripped her.
Hannah knocked with a hopeful heart but there was no answer. The silence that greeted her resonated with the echoes of their recent argument.

The night air was crisp as Hannah made her way to the baseball field with the assumption Joshua wasn't home.
Unbeknownst to her Tyler, Emma, and Michael were also on their way to the baseball field with a warning for Joshua, their paths bonded to be intersecting.

Meanwhile Tyler, Emma, and Michael, driven by the urgency of their investigation approached the baseball field also Little did they know that fate was orchestrating a reunion of the fractured group.