Early in the morning at River Falls High School, a beautiful blue-eyed girl with soft pink lips and curly brown hair applied for a job at The Portrait Coffee Shop. “Hey! Are you applying? I hope you get it!” screamed Chloe as Melody looked up from her phone. “Y-yeah” Melody’s voice shook as the chilly fall wind grew stronger.  Melody and Chloe had been best friends since they were thirteen, The Portrait Coffee Shop had always been their dream hangout. Later that day Summer, Melody’s older sister texted her asking if she got the job, luckily, she did. Summer had always been a bit odd and never had a lot of friends, so she would often follow Melody around.

A week later Melody started working, it was going well since Chloe and Summer would visit often. On Melody’s breaks they’d scout out cute boys, daring each other to get their numbers. On one particular occasion, a tall mysterious looking boy walked in, Melody’s heart fluttered, but he wouldn’t take his eyes off Summer. Chloe convinced Summer to get his number. This enraged Melody, but to the girls’ surprise everything had went well. Soon Summer introduced her sister to her new boyfriend William. Ever since the day Melody could not stop thinking about him. Now since Summer was always busy with her new boyfriend, Chloe and Melody would talk about them non-stop, constantly watching them from a far. Melody’s anger and jealousy grew stronger towards her sister, convinced William was her true love.

One day while at Chloe’s house the girls noticed something wrong with the dog. While drinking water from a puddle, Chloe’s dog started making alarming noises. The two girls ran towards him, but it was too late, Chloe’s dog dropped dead on the floor. Chloe was devasted when she found out the cause of death. It turns out, her neighbor had put poison out to kill rats. Melody tried her best to comfort Chloe, but a wicked idea kept coming to her mind. She cried herself to sleep contemplating this monstrous thought. Her idea was to murder her sister to prove her love to William. That morning she came up with a plan, she thought back on how Chloe’s dog looked like it was choking before it died. Melody thought she could put poison into Summer’s coffee cup later that day and say she chocked.

After school, she clocked into work. The coffee cups she made seemed to be taunting her, making skull like shapes in the foam. Summer, William, and Chloe came in at their usual time and each ordered coffee. Before Melody gave them their order, she grabbed her concoction and slipped in a few drops when no one was looking. Melody sat with the group after she gave them their coffee and watched eagerly as her sister took a few sips. A few minutes passed and Summers face turned red, she grabbed her throat, and started making horrific noises. Melody’s body was filled with regret in that moment. She stood up and walked back in disbelief, Melody bumped into a table and the bottle of poison broke into a million pieces. At that moment the whole coffee shop realized what happened. William sobbed, while Summers dead body laid in his arms. Summer was William’s compass; she always knew where to lead him. William looked up at Melody and thought “how could she do this; she was sweet as honey”. Melody turned herself in, she couldn’t live with the disgrace and sinfulness, and felt she needed punishment. She had hurt everyone who loved her, especially the one who didn’t. She realized that family is far more important than a toxic love and that without the warmth of your family you just feel deserted.