Chapter 2

"So how bad was this morning?" Courtney asked her friend. Harper wore her hair long, dark shades covering her face, something Courtney had seen many times before.

"He's just tired, he was up late last night with Tony and Mitch playing poker again. He'll be fine once the coffee kicks in." Once again, Harper covered for his foul behavior, it was always 'He's tired' or 'He's stressed'.

As Harper pulled the massive bundle that would soon become a tent, Courtney ripped the sunglasses from her face. Behind the dark shades hid a massive black eye on the right side of Harper's face. She rushed to cover it up again, but Courtney took hold of her shoulders and made her make eye contact.

"Harp, you can't keep living like this. He's gonna end up putting you in the hospital." Courtney begged. She felt personally responsible for Harper's toxic relationship, she only ever wanted to make her friend happy, but introducing Max into her life only made it worse.

"It's okay! He's not as bad as he used to be! He's been getting better, I swear! His anger management classes have been really helping."

Courtney huffed in frustration, about to speak, only to be interrupted by a booming scream.

"Harper, what the hell is taking you so long? Are you too stupid to unload a trunk?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Courtney saw Zack, he didn't have to say anything in order for Courtney to understand what he was trying to convey to her. Their eyes met and she knew; 'It's okay,'. She took this as the go-ahead to solve the oncoming problem.

Around the side came Max, face red, brimming with rage. He ripped the tent equipment out of Harper's hands and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him violently.

"What's your problem, huh?" he bellowed, Harper flinching back. He shoved her away, letting go of her arm, allowing her to fall to the ground at Courtney's feet.

Courtney stepped over her friend without thinking and stormed towards Max, her fist cocked back. He scoffed as she swung, striking him right on the bridge of his nose, knocking him to the ground. He looked up in shock, obviously surprised by Courtney's strength.

Quietly, she told him "If I see you lay another hand on her with violent intentions, I will personally put you 6 feet under, do you understand?" His face turned red, angry that someone got in his way. He opened his mouth but before a sound came out Courtney screamed: "Do you understand?". They stared at each other for another minute, not breaking eye contact before Max stood and scoffed.

"Zack, I suggest you control your bitch." he said before storming off into the woods, going to blow off some steam before he did something to get him arrested.

Courtney adjusted herself before turning back to Harper, whose face was covered in relief and confusion. She pulled her friend to her feet and told her to go and get a drink and calm herself down and that she would finish unloading. Harper agreed and went to sit with everyone else and Zack took her place.

Angrily, Courtney pulled another bag out of the truck bed before Zack took hold of her shoulders and pulled her gently to face him. She sighed and dropped the bag at her side, leaning in for Zack to hug her.

"I know, I know, I shouldn't have hit him."

He hugged her tight and kissed her forehead, "No, I'm glad you did. He needs put in his place, I'm proud of you. Just don't let him get to you and ruin this trip. Remember who it's for and why we're here."

She squeezed him once more before letting go and returning to the task of unloading the truck while Zack began setting up Max and Harper's tent. Harper sat in her lawn chair, hugging her knees to her chest, trying to get over what had just happened while Crystal, Cara, and Trystan tried to soothe her.

Once everything was set up, the group prepared to go on a short hike before the sun began to set. Max had still not returned so Harper left a note for him on his sleeping bag in their tent. Since it would only be a mile or two before they turned around, Courtney left the majority of her equipment at the campsite, drawing only a small bag with a water bottle, flashlight, and her phone.

They followed a narrow path connected to their campsite full of trees whose roots stuck up in every direction. Carefully they made their way to a small clearing where three crosses stood, flowers adorning each one. Each one had a different name carved into it, the center one marked for Caroline, Maralyn's to the right, and Brenda's to the left. The group stopped a foot in front of the crosses, pausing for a moment of silence before Cara stepped forward. She pulled her hand out of her pocket revealing three bracelets.

"We miss you guys terribly," she began, "the world has changed so much, Alex misses you everyday Caroline, I don't think he'll ever move on from you. Michael will be here tomorrow at some point on his own to see you, Brenda, everything is still so fresh for the both of them. Alex and Mikey still hang out and talk about the good times.

"Maralyn, sweet, young Maralyn... you've been gone for two years and you're still the town heart-breaker. You all had such potential, taken from us way too soon. You'll never be forgotten, and one day we'll find out what happened. We'll bring you home if you're still out there or bring justice to whatever or whoever hurt you.".

A tear slipped out as she placed each bracelet over each cross and rejoined everyone else. Courtney tucked her head into the crook of Zack's neck, allowing a few tears out before fully turning into him. Andy and Crystal held each other as both silently wept, Cara, Trystan, and Harper knelt at the foot of the cross and hugged each other. After everyone said their peace and placed whatever they had brought to the girl's memorial, they began to head back to their campsite.

They spent the night sitting around the campfire telling their favorite memories of the three girls. Some were from middle school, like the time Caroline, Brenda, and Courtney went to their 7th grade Halloween dance dressed as flamingos or when Cara, Trystan, Brenda, Courtney, and Caroline came to school with hearts painted on their face for Valentine's Day. Some were from high school, like when Brenda and Michael started dating and how not long after that Alex and Caroline started dating. It only made sense that they constantly went on double dates. Caroline and Brenda were connected at the hip since they were in grade school. If Alex and Michael didn't get along with each other in the same way, it would have never worked out.

As much fun as she was having to share their memories, she couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching her from the shadows of the trees surrounding them. She kept turning, trying to find the source, but she noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Zack noticed her uneasiness but chalked it up to lack of sleep and mourning.

As the fire dwindled, people slowly crawled to their tents, exchanging "Good night" with each other. Andy was left to tend to the glowing embers with Zack and Courtney left to keep him company.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Zack asked through a yawn.

"Well," Andy started, he poked a couple of embers which released one last little flame, "Crystal wanted to go back on that trail, past the memorial. She found out about this old, abandoned house from back when Blue Creek was first built. It's still standing even though no one has lived there since the 50's"

"Sounds interesting, but it's probably all run down by now."

"It's still town history, and you know Caroline would be all over that if she was still here."

"Yeah, I think we should at least go and see it, maybe snap a few pictures for my scrapbook," Courtney said, her voice giving way to her tiredness.

"We'll play by ear, but I think it's time for us all to go to bed," Zack shrugged, standing out of his chair and pulling Courtney out of hers.

"Good night, Andy," Courtney cooed, hugging her friend close.

"Night Court, sleep well. Night Zack."