Knight

c

Some girl had seen me in the hospital. Escorted by police while Knight's mother came to escort me into the elevator. The news had spread around like wildfire that I had something to do with Knights disappearance. I was so sick and tired of all the staring I decided to sit in the library.

Pulling out the black envelope I turned the first page.

Letter 1
Side B

Knights first day of school was straight out of a Disney movie. Upper class men spoke to him with respect. The coach had announced that he had moved him into varsity. He had already been invited to his first party. Everything that could have gone perfectly did. So why was he so sad? Why did he feel like locking himself in his room and never leaving was the only thing he wanted to do? He moved through the day barely holding on to his false demeanor. Then he saw her.

The girl next door. The girl with the sad eyes, eyes just like his. She was putting things away in her locker. She was prettier then he remembered, there were so many windows in the school which allowed so much light. The natural sunlight glistened off her skin making it appear like pure gold. She wore a sundress and matching sandals. Hair tied up in a bun with a few loose curls framing her face. Minutes went by as he stood there watching, heart beating faster. She turned to meet the eyes she felt burning into her. Knight the boy she had met, the only one who had been nice to her. "Hi," She said with a glowing smile. "H-Hi," He stuttered. "Let me see your schedule," She said. Knight pulled out the wrinkled piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it to her. "Cool! We have AP Bio next and cooking eighth period!" She said. "You wanna walk to class together?" She asked. Relaxing his tense form he smiled, "Yeah," He said.

Maybe this wasn't such a bad day.

The innocence of our first friendship haunted me. It had only lasted that day when he walked me to class. I had always remembered it in so much detail, how tall Knight was for a freshman, how perfect his messy hair laid on his head, and how amazing he smelled as he walked beside me. He was a dream, something I couldn't wrap my head around. Why was someone so perfect wasting his time on me?

It turns out Knight had seen beauty in me. Something I would've never guessed. There was a point in time where he looked at me like I was actually worthy of his presence. Oh but how times have changed.

"Shit, is that what I think it is?" A voice said behind me. Dia, my best friend chimed in. Quickly putting back the letter in the envelope I put the whole thing away. "Don't sneak up on me like that," I said. "Thats a letter, from Knight," She said. "How do you know that? Its just a homework thing," I said. "I fucking tutored the guy, I know that hand writing," She said. "Why is he writing letters? Wait, is it an apology? It better not be, that asshole needs to do it in person not with some flimsy piece of paper," She said grabbing it out of my bag. "Dia! Be careful!" I said. "What? Why is it so thick? Why is he writing letters!" She asked. "Ill tell you give it back," I said sternly. "I don't believe you," She said. Flipping the envelope upside down a ring came out. We both stopped to stare at the little metal circle as it fell to the ground.

It was Knights family crest surrounded by blue sapphires. "Is that? Why is he giving that to you?" She asked. "The only way Knight would give you his family crest is if-" She stopped. "Shut up," I said before she could put it all together. "Its a suicide note," She said with her face softening. "And the ring-Shut up," I interrupted. Breathing slowly taking in the new information I began to forget my surroundings.

There is no way Knight put it in here. Put what happened three weeks ago on his bathroom floor. By the way Mrs, McLain was acting I had decided she didn't know. But now, I wasn't so sure.

"Is he?" She asked. "No, he's in the hospital recovering," I said. "So what? He wrote you this before he," She asked unable to say suicide. "Yeah, twenty eight pages front and back," I said. She studied the envelope. "Do you think he cared?" She asked gently. "No, he's just guilty," I said looking away.

Yeah, thats what it was. Knight didn't care about what he had done.

He was just guilty.

-

Driving home was usually something that relaxed me. Gliding across the smooth streets engulfed by nothing but silence was my therapy. It helped me gather myself together throughout the worst days. But today, nothing could calm me after what had happened. After that ring popped out of the envelope. I didn't even know what to do with it. It was definitely Knights, his name as engraved on the inside. I had seen him wear it all the time.

It was his family crest. In this town I was quickly informed about how much it mattered where you had come from. The McLain's were part of the linage that founded this town. Thats why they were so important. The only other family like that lived across town and went to a different school. They called themselves the Griffin family.

Ryan Griffin was Knights counterpart. They both played quarterback on varsity. They were both in the same class. Not to mention they hated each other. I had gotten to know Ryan through my dad, our fathers worked together. He was my first real friend when I was new to the town. They had there clashes but not very often. They would play against each other on the field a couple times a year.

He never showed up to this part of town unless it was for something important. So tell me why he was standing in my driveway along side Knights sister. And maybe I forgot to mention, but they actually had been dating. Something I thought Id never have to deal with until now.

Parking the car I got out to see there concerned faces. "Why are you guys here?" I asked. "Not even a hello?" Ryan said. "Please, its been a long day," I said walking past them. "She found it," Starry said. Unlocking the door the pair entered the empty house with me. "Found what?" I asked. "The ring!" She screamed closing the door behind me. "Yeah, I found it. So now what? Does your mom know the truth? Actually who else knows since apparently everyone read it," I asked. "Just us, Michel and Dad," She started. "I was the one who found the envelope, I kept it to myself before giving it to them. I saw the ring when I got to page twenty nine," She said. "Twenty nine?" I asked. "Knights last letter," She said. "I took the page and the ring but I put it back just before you got it, my mom can't know until you change your mind," She said. "Change my mind?" I asked.

"Yeah, about Knight and how things actually happened," Ryan chimed in. "You guys are ridiculously clueless! I know what happened I was there. This letter, this ring are just part of Knights guilt trip," I explained. "Guilt trip? What page are you on?" Ryan asked. "I just finished the first one," I said. "Fuck, I can't give it to you now!" Starry said. "Once you get passed your night come get page twenty nine," She said grabbing her things. "My night?" I asked. She smiled, "The night he saved you, and I guess all the other times," She said with her face scrunched up. My mouth dropped and my eyes went wide. "I know it's not funny but I want you to think about how many people got to read about it," Ryan said following his girlfriend. "Including his mom," He said walking out. No, Knight did not put it in here. Fuck, there's no way he wrote it in. "One more thing, please don't forget to eat or take care of yourself. Your responsable for a lot more now," She said popping her head in and holding a bag of chick fil a.

Grabbing the bag I shut the door and locked it. I have to read these pages.