Seventeen

Seventeen

"A friend who dies, it's something of you who dies."

- Gustave Flaubert

What? I know, crazy. That's exactly what I think when Jill tells us that. "Wait," I say. "How did you know who you were looking for? How did you even know in the first place?" I had so many questions, but this is a good start.

"The police from Massachusetts set out an alarm message that told us to be on the lookout for you three," Jill begins. "They sent it to the entire country, guessing that you were running away because of--" she clears her throat. "Family circumstances. Anyway, we thought they could be anywhere. So we put out the 'for rent' sign on purpose, hoping you might be here in Utah, looking for a place to stay. Once you asked, we weren't sure if you were the right people or not, because of your cover story. So, just to find out, we planned that today we would watch. We knew that your father would find you sometime and somehow."

"I'm sorry," I interrupt. "Who's 'we?'"

"Jill, the twins and me," says John.

"The twins are in on this?" Tess asks unbelievably.

"Anyway," Jill continues, ignoring Tessa's question. "The twins didn't go to school, and we didn't go to work. We hid in Brooke's yard, across the street and waited. We saw as the car pulled up in front of the house. The one kid hopped out, and looked around before he knocked. When you answered the door, and he let himself in, we waited. After about thirty minutes, we saw him walk out with you. We were nervous. Then we saw him open the door and shove you all in. We knew it was a sign. We ran into our car after you left and went around the route that your father was going so that we were going the opposite ways. Then we ran into the car and got you."

I sigh. Lots of information to take in at the moment.

We pull over on a field after a while. Jill and John get the twins out of the car and unpack a picnic basket and blanket. The twins are running around the field as they set up the picnic. We eat the food and chat for a while. Then Jill gets up. "Time to go," she says, looking around and packing up.

She gets the twins and looks around again, one of them in each arm. "I've got a really bad feeling about this. We have to go," she tells John.

"Okay," he replies, taking the twins.

And then I realize what her bad feeling is. I'm about to say something but I don't. "Get in the car now!" Jill sees it just as I do. I get in and spot Tess still getting the picnic things. "Leave it, Tess!" I scream. "It's them!" Tess nods and gets in the car. We're just about to start when Oakley starts crying, "My toy! My toy!" Tess looks out the window at the toy that Oakley left there. Before I can stop her, she's out the door and running into the field. I pray that she'll be safe. She's just turned around when I hear the most horrifying sound. She stops smiling and drops the toy to the ground. Tears fill my eyes. Tessa's eyes grow big and she drops to the ground.

I bolt out the car and sprint to her. The blood stains her shirt. I lift it up and look at where the bullet hit. I gently and slowly pull it out and look around frantically for something that will help. I hear Cameron running to me. He kneels down. He's crying too. He kisses my head as I continue to search. Jill comes over and kneels down too. "We need to--"

"I'm not leaving her!" I scream. "Never! I don't care what you say!"

I pause, the tears dripping onto her already bloodstained shirt. "We need to help her! We need to save her!"

"I'm sorry," Jill says soothingly, even though it doesn't soothe me. "There's nothing we can do."

I stare into Tessa's blank eyes. Her heart is still beating, but she's barely holding on. I take her hand, and Cameron takes the other. Tess moves her head toward ours. Her eyes fill with tears too. One falls down each of her cheeks. She smiles slightly and says, "Beat him." She hardly has a voice. I'm trying to stop the tears, but it's no use. "Beat him for me," she says. She looks at me, then Cameron. We squeeze her hands.

"For me," she says again, using her last breath. Her head slumps over to the left, and her grip loosens on our hands. I'm bawling now. So is Cameron. I wish I weren't such a baby, I wish I were stronger for her. But no, I'm bawling over her dead body.

We are about to leave now. "What about her body?" I ask desperately. "We can't just leave it!" Jill sighs. She pulls out a flower from the ground and puts it in Tessa's motionless hand. I stand and hold Cameron's arm. I bury my face into his chest, and he moves his hand up and down my back. We hear Jill say again, "Let's go."

We get in the car and watch as Tessa's body gets farther and farther away. I'm still crying. I lay down next to Cameron. We have the whole backseat to ourselves. I lie on the middle seat by Cameron's legs. He runs his fingers through my hair. I fall asleep, but I'm even crying through my dreams.

When I wake up, I realize it's night. I sit up and look at Cameron, who's still awake, but he's stopped crying. Just staring blankly in front of him. I take his hand. That makes him lose his focus. He looks at me. I smile, and one last tear falls down my cheek.

"For her."