I stood stiffly, glaring at all the people before me. My stomach was turning while inside a bare room that smelled of bleach and plastic. I shifted my weight left and right, jittery, as I wiped my sweaty palms on my stiff pants. In Front of 3 women who were looking for answers. 

“Please calm down, tell us your name and try to recall everything that happened tonight.”

 ”I- I’m Callie, I’m 19 years old, and I’m here to tell you about how my best friend Reese was murdered”. 

It was August first, on a warm Friday. I woke up out of my firm sheets to the sound of construction outside of my apartment building. I Sluggishly rolled out of my bed as the bright sun beamed out of the only large window in my 650- square- foot apartment. I shuffled down my tight hallway nearly tripping over Coco, my fluffy white Pomeranian, as she whined for her morning walk. I swung my creaky back door open and walked lazily down the steps as she pulled me along. 

New York City was busy as usual, even at 7 am, so we traveled on the sidewalks quickly dodging the trash lying across the path and the other dogs eager to eat Coco for breakfast. After about 20 minutes of tiring dog walking, I made my way back to my building. Amy, the 78-year-old woman in the building next to mine, greeted me on my way in.

“Callie hun, it's so nice to see you, how are you doing?” she grumbled out of her narrow mouth. “I've been itching to get out of here, hopefully, we'll both get to move out soon”. I smile with what I imagine to look like a slightly concerned look on my face. I swear I can never follow what this woman is saying.

 When I finally escaped our conversation and let Coco inside, I went back out to meet my best friend Reece for coffee. We always go to cal's coffee house because they have the best lattes in New York City. It was my first time seeing her all summer because she had just gotten back to the city after a trip to Wisconsin where she visited family.

 “Hey did you miss me?” 

“Maybe a little, but I didn't miss you forcing me out of bed early to get coffee”. I pretended to listen when she gave me the dreary details of her trip. My mind was elsewhere, we had plans to attend a huge party that night and I was rushing through all the possible scenarios in my head. 

“So you're going tonight, right?” I interrupted without realizing it.

“Yes, but I'm not looking forward to it. Emma wants us there just to start more drama.” 

“Reese you need to give her a chance, she means well, you always take the things she says the wrong way.”

Reese had a long hatred for Emma. Their parents were best friends, so they grew up together, yet they never liked each other. She refused to admit it but she's extremely competitive, and that's what drives her anger toward Emma. They've had a competitive streak going on since I can remember, and I've been stuck in the middle of it. It's childish really, but I would never tell her that. The truth is Emma and I have gotten close over the summer, and I feared that if Reese found out she would begin to distance herself from me, I feel like I betrayed her in some way. I had high expectations for this party, that it was a chance to finally have all three of us together. An opportunity for Reese to hopefully mend the relationship between her and Emma. 

Later that night as I was getting ready I heard a knock at the door. No one usually came to my door so I hesitantly opened it. There stood Emma, “hi-” I started to say but she wouldn't let me get a word in. she pushed through the doorway with a serious yet eerie expression painted on her face. Aggressively she forced open my hand to place an envelope. And she just walked out. I hurried over to my couch and slid my fingers under the envelope’s opening, nearly cutting myself on its sharp edge. I truly thought it was a practical joke, maybe an early birthday gift? Its contents were a rough-looking piece of paper marked with coordinates. I contemplated whether or not I should follow them because I had planned to leave for the party in less than 10 minutes. And Emma was supposed to be there too. I felt knots in my stomach as I typed the coordinates into my phone. And I was on my way. 

I Ignored every speed limit sign as I jetted down the city roads. When my phone announced my arrival I felt as if I was going to throw up. 

I was led to an alleyway. The sky was covered in a cloak of darkness and my eyes blurred as I approached the dull sight of what seemed to be a person in front of me. I felt the brick walls closing in on me as I got closer. That's when I saw her. There sat Reece, in a chair, unconscious. I felt my legs start to go numb as I ran closer in her direction, but the river flooding my eyes blurred my vision. I fell to her knees, my fingers shook as I led them to her neck. When I couldn't find a pulse the world around me came to a halt. She looked as white as a sheet, and her whole body sat limp. My voice cracked as I screamed for Emma, but that's when the realization hit me. She's the one who led me here, that part of the story blurred the second I saw my best friend's dead body. But when I somewhat got a grip on reality, I felt an unbeknown rage take me over. And I ran. I ran, and ran, and ran in every direction to find her. The alley was a dead-end and everywhere nearby was full of people going out for the night and others walking home, but nowhere did I find Emma.

I stayed with Reece for hours as my tears poured on her lap. When I lifted my head my eyes found a note, placed next to the old wooden chair. I didn't feel as angry at this point. The sadness hit me like a bus. I didn't even want to open the note because I felt like I was being mocked. I was guilty, guilty for everything, I told Reese to give Emma a chance and this is where she ends up. Before I read the paper I tried to think of why. Why she would ever do something like this, and jealousy was the only thing that popped into my head. She killed her because she was Jealous because ever since grade school, Reese was better than her. Prettier than her, nicer than her. And she just couldn't take it anymore. What an appalling thing to do to someone. To my Reese. I was friends with the person who just killed my best friend, and I stood up for her.

“Hey, hey, Callie, do you know where you are”

“Yes ma'am, I'm in court. Because um my friend, my, Reese, she was murdered last night”

“Stay here with me please, look at me. You're not in court, Callie.”

“This is Edgewater Heights mental facility, Callie,” Said another woman.

“Oh-oh, am I here to see Emma. She's the one who killed her you know”

The blue uniform ladies gave me a minute to sit and cool down, as they said. When I did they continued their interrogation. My head was spinning as the memories slipped their way back into my brain. They told me to close my eyes and think hard about the events of Reese’s murder.

It was August first, on a warm Friday (today). I woke up out of my firm sheets to the sound of screaming patients inside the mental institution. The mental institution I was checked into exactly 5 years ago today. After my parents died I fell into a deep depression. Reese was all I had, my best friend, my soulmate, our friendship kept me alive. She watched me as I sank into a deep hole, never leaving my room, as my mind progressively got crazier, as it turned against me. I became a new person, I was my illness, it claimed every part of me. And I begged her to stay, without realizing that my pain was hurting her too. After about a year of watching as I crumbled to pieces, she brought me to Edge water heights. Against my will. The love I had for Reese was indescribable, but the hatred I had for her when she did this to me was more powerful. 

So that's why, today on the 5th anniversary of her checking me into this place, I killed her. I escaped this prison early in the morning, and I did meet her for breakfast. I told her I had gotten out, that I was healed. And that I forgave her. She invited me to go to a party at her new best friend Emma's house. I didn't drive to the party, I drove to Emma. I gave her the coordinates. And I left a note for her to find when she would go searching for Reese. And right about now, she also knows the ache of losing a best friend.