The Ending They Should've Gotten - Monty and Winston

Part 3

Winston was walking down the street when he saw it. Students from Liberty were celebrating something inside Monet's. From what he could see, they were all staring in awe at pictures hung on the wall.

How dare they be celebrating anything when just a few days ago, Monty was... Winston pushed the thought down and tried to put a brave face on as he texted Ani to meet him outside.

He saw her look down at her phone before glancing around and making her way to the doors. She stepped outside and Winston turned to face her.

"What did you tell the cops?" Winston demanded.

"Look, Winston-" She tried to say.

"He didn't kill Bryce. He was with me." Winston breath hitched in his throat. His mind was flooded with images of that night. The best night of his life.

"What did you tell them?" He asked.

"Winston... He was already gone." She explained.

"He was a human being, okay? He was a human being. He didn't deserve to die like that." Winston said and Ani nodded.

"I know." She said solemnly.

Winston turned away from her and walked away, not wanting to hear her voice anymore.

He knew what Monty did was wrong, but he didn't murder anybody and he definitely didn't deserve to die. Winston felt tears spring in his eyes when he thought about it again. He'd already spent the past few hours crying. He was completely devastated.

His phone buzzed in his coat pocket. He reached for it and saw that he had a text from an unknown number. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Who was texting him? He assumed it might be from a wrong number at first, but when he read the message it became clear that it was meant for him.

Meet me at Rosie's Diner if you want to clear his name. 7:00 PM. -Unknown

Winston tried to think of who could possibly be texting him, but came up with no ideas on who it could be. The only people who knew Monty that also knew him were Clay and Ani, but it was pretty obvious that they had no intention of clearing Monty's name.

Winston shoved his phone back into his coat pocket and walked to his car. He turned the keys and began to drive. It was almost six, so he had a full hour to decide whether or not he was going to Rosie's Diner.

He knew it wasn't smart to go and meet some stranger, but at the same time, if it would bring Monty justice, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.

After driving around in circles for half an hour, Winston had made up his mind to meet this mysterious person. He pulled into the Rosie's Diner parking lot and looked through its windows at the people inside. There was an older couple toward the back, a few people ordering, and a young girl sitting in the front alone.

He got out of his car and made his way to the entrance. The girl's head turned immediately at the sound of the door opening.

"Are you Winston?" She asked, apprehensively.

"Yeah." He responded, "I'm assuming you're the one who sent this text?"

She grinned, but he saw pain behind it, "Guilty."

Winston sat down across from her as she extended her hand.

"I'm Estela." She said. Winston's eyes widened as he gripped her hand to shake it.