Short story

There is so much noise around me, it’s busy, so many people talking, gates screeching, phones ringing. I’m out of focus and my head is spinning. But, the second my eyes meet hers the world goes silent.

Beeeeep. I hear the sound of the heavy gate opening. My heart’s beating so rapidly, it feels like it’s about to jump out of my chest. She’s walking towards the gate and I freeze. Her short black hair is a bit longer than the last time I saw her. Her deep green eyes are tired but look relieved the moment her gaze meets mine. She’s toughened. I’m so happy she’s finally free of this mess.

My name is Becca, Maddie’s older sister. I’m 23 years old and starting a career in real estate. Maddie turned 21 in February.

As we are walking out of the prison all I can do is stare at my beautiful little sister. I can’t 

process the fact that she is actually standing next to me, not on the other side of a glass window, and that I can actually speak and communicate with her directly, rather than through a wired phone with no privacy, surrounded by big guards with big guns. 

It seems like a nightmare now how she ended up here…in jail.

Maddie had been living with Katy, her best friend since the beginning of high school.

Katy was a beautiful, tall, skinny young lady with wavy blonde hair and button brown eyes. 

She struggled with an eating disorder. 

The pair had always been close but once they were living together their bond  became much stronger. There were no secrets between them. Maddie was the best friend anyone could ask for during a struggle with an eating disorder. She always knew exactly what to say and what to do to make Katy feel better about herself.

In contrast, Katy was not what you would call a “good influence” on Maddie. Initially Maddie was a goodie goodie – until she met Katy.She was even at the  top of her class with the potential to get into an Ivy league.

She met Katy in 9th grade when she decided to join an extracurricular art class at school. Once the class started everyone paired up but since Maddie had just joined the club she did not have a partner. Just as the teacher was going to add her into a group of three, Katy came rushing into class.

Once she realized everyone was looking at her, her cheeks turned bright pink, she had a lack of confidence and  wasn’t used to this much attention.

Katy had just transferred into the school and hadn’t made any friends. Being paired up with Maddie was a good thing for her. Whereas Katy was having a hard time making friends, Maddie was popular, friendly and liked by the teachers. She knew that being friends with her would help her make a good first impression.

Now, as I look at Maddie, I can tell in her eyes that she is looking for her, hoping that Katy would be here to greet her as she is finally leaving the prison. If only she could see that she isn’t going to come and that it’s for the best. 

SIX MONTHS EARLIER

Katy was going through an abnormally rough time. From time to time when this happened she would get sucked into a dark, deep depression. Katy’s very bad coping mechanism was going out to have fun and party to decrease her pain and get her mind off of the things that were a burden to her etc..

So on a late Thursday night she decided to go out to the White Lion Pub that was right around the corner from their apartment. 

When she walked in, all of the sudden all eyes were on her. She was a little self conscious, still not used to attention. She sat down at the bar and noticed in  the corner of her eye someone familiar from her past.

She looked at him in detail and realized that it was Devin, a young man, tall with messy brown hair, high cheekbones, a defined jawline and olive skin tone.  “Katy Drew??”  He walked up to her with excited “Katy squeals.” Devin was Katy’s boyfriend in 8th and 9th grade, but they broke up once Katy moved to Chicago.

At this point, it was already pretty late and Maddie was getting worried. Katy had been gone for hours and she was not answering her phone.

Maddie decided to get dressed and go see if she was still at the bar. She put on a hoodie and a pair of jeans, threw her hair in a bun and left. As soon as she walked into the bar, all eyes were on her, including Devin’s. Maddie spotted Katy and approached the two old friends. Devin got up and offered her his seat, but Maddie was confused. Who is this guy? she thought.

Devin got up and walked away for a second to get himself a chair and Maddie gave Katy an angered look in regards to her disappearance. She explained she was worried because Katy was not answering her phone, and it was very upsetting for Maddie to have walked in to see that there was no good reason for her to be ignoring her calls. . 

That was when Devin came back and properly introduced himself.  He shared a little of their backstory and told them he had just gotten a new job as a recruitment specialist for a local firm which required him to move into town. Maddie welcomed him and told him they would be glad to show him around. Maddie could tell that Devin liked her.  

Later that month after days and weeks spent together, Katy and Devin reunited and started dating again. Although she never wanted to impose, Maddie would often accompany them. However, Devin’s fondness for Maddie only continued to grow.. slowly Katy had begun to notice and grew jealous.

As the time went by Katy started suspecting Devin was going to leave her for Maddie. She was scared and hurt and trying her best to salvage their relationship. It was inevitable that her worries eventually came true.Devin left her. He excused himself by telling her he did not think it was fair to her that every time he would see Maddie his affection grew stronger and as much as he loved Katy he thought Maddie was the one for him. He said she was better off without him. 

Katy was heated, she was so mad she needed some sort of revenge and luckily she was already full of ideas…

In the meantime from the sidelines I could strongly tell that something was off with their friendship. Honestly I never liked Katy that much and the negative effect she had specifically on my sister’s mood and personality was very upsetting. The amount of loyalty and honesty Maddie had shown her over the years was just going straight to the trash!

And then the revenge finally came. It was time for Katy to implement her plan.  Maddie’s birthday was coming up and I decided to throw her a surprise party. There was a lot of planning surrounding the event. Katy contacted me to tell me that she was planning a big surprise but she wasn’t willing to tell me about it. All I knew was that every time she got a message she would disappear into the other room. I was honestly happy to see her so excited to surprise Maddie. It seemed like she was getting over her anger. In my mind, she knew Maddie so well, better than anyone else, so she probably had the best idea!

Little did I know then that the surprise was the worst thing that could have happened to Maddie on her birthday!!

All in all, Maddie’s party started off great! As she walked into the apartment, her face showed the expressions of her surprise but then an amazing warm and soft smile of gratitude to seeing so many people she loves in front of her. It was a moment I hope to capture in my mind for life, especially thinking back to that day and those  moments of peace and happiness.

After a while of catching up and birthday wishes Katy appeared out of the other room and announced that she had a game leading to her present. Maddie looked confused and worried. Obviously she wasn’t expecting to see Katy there. 

Back to the present…

Seeing her expression expecting the person who put her through so much  to be there and fall to her feet so they can restart the “forever” in BFF, makes me sad.

All I want is to remind her of the horror of Katy’s frame. How Katy’s surprise was  running out of the apartment to go hide and suddenly our home being surrounded by tons of cop cars. How everyone was freaking out. It was all a big blur of red and blue lights, cops yelling, questioning and clearing people out as they kept finding small bags of drugs around the house which both Maddie and I had never seen previously. Eventually, after all the guests were gone, Maddie and I had to succumb to being taken into the cop car and brought down to the district station.  

Later we found ourselves being questioned at the police station. The cops were saying how they got an anonymous tip from our neighbor that there was a birthday next door and that the birthday girl was a drug dealer that was going to make a lot of business that night. Maddie and I denied everything. We sat there for hours quietly waiting for an answer. Then a tiny little officer came up to us and told Maddie that within approximately 24 hours of being arrested for a drug crime, she will be arraigned. And that at her arraugnment hearing she will learn the exact charges against her.

Maddie was told around 14 hours later that her arraignment would be in two days.

She felt her world shatter once she got sentenced to 5 months.

After much effort from Devin and I convincing Katy that nothing had happened between Maddie and Devin, though Devin tried, but Maddie being her loyal self she told Devin to back off and even got mad at him for betraying Katy.

Once Katy heard this she burst into tears she couldn’t believe she framed Maddie when all Maddie did was protect her.

Katy then confessed and got Maddies sentence shortened to 3 months.

Looking in to Maddies eyes I see excitement for a new and fresh beginning