"Just Between Friends"

I saw her from afar striding in my direction. “Y’know I’ve heard of how much people liken our similarities; I think we should start being friends.”. It was a humid, scorching day, I lay on bed as I was reminiscing how our friendship started. All because of one similar trait we happen to share strongly. What I should’ve known is this strong trait will turn into my most vulnerable trait.

“It was quite funny how people kept going on and on about how trustworthy we really are, don’t you think!” April stated. I looked at her, nodded, then got back to working on a math problem. Few days passed by, and April only got closer and closer to me; she sat with me every day and talked to me about herself, where she came from, her lifestyle, and school life. She kept inviting me to many places- restaurants, malls, cafes, parks- and I turned down each of these invites feeling that it was unnecessary to know her only because of one quality we relate to. At one point, however, April started finding other ways to try convincing me to go out with her to “know more about each other”. In the end, I decided to go with her to a park nearby school. That day, the weather was lovely. There was a cold breeze, trees swayed to and fro while the leaves were delicately falling to the ground. We sat on an old, wooden bench, “So, what do you think makes you trustworthy like what people state?” She asked, “What is this, a job interview?” I questioned, frowning my eyebrows confused about her approach. “No, I just want to know more about you. You’re interesting.” She muttered. “Well, I guess it’s because I just listen to others speak while not saying anything,” I said nonchalantly. “Really! That’s great, this way I can tell you anything!” she exclaimed, “I never said you could, though. It’s not like I focus or want to listen to whatever the others talk about,” I said droopily. “Yeah, but I killed someone.” April stated with a straight face; I stared at her perplexed, “…huh?”.

Ever since that day, I have held a burden that I didn’t think would change the plot of my life. Every day, I woke up remembering what she has informed me with. That day, I was too puzzled I couldn’t react. The next day I was too outraged to talk to her or even look at her, and as soon as I saw her, I dragged her with me to any empty classroom that I first laid my eyes upon.

My whole life I’ve taken this strength I have as an advantage. People would tell me all their secrets, their promises; they would tell me about their lives, parents, and all the things they deal with. I would always reckon that one day I could use these facts and details to my liking, but this time it was different. This secret I was exposed to, could definitely ruin my future.

“Why would you ever do that?!” I yelled at her angrily. “Now, what am I gonna do? Huh?! My whole life will go down the drain just because you were selfish enough to get unnecessary people with you and your sinister crime!” I felt the blood rush to my head from all the rage I kept since the day before. “Listen, as long as it's only the both of us, it’s fine! No one needs to know; we’ll just keep it between us… only the two of us.” Her smile sent shivers down my spine; she stared at me, and her smile slowly turned into a wide grin. I was flabbergasted to even utter a word, “Do you want me to show you where I hid the body?” April completed, “No! You can’t tell anyone I know about this, and I want nothing to do with you!” I cried out loud, “Sure, but you already know about it; why don’t we see it then?” she pouted, “You are an absolute maniac.”, “Oh yeah? What will you do about that, or what can you do about it?” she questioned. It was more of a rhetorical question; I knew I couldn’t do anything about it. ‘If I tell the cops, I would be considered a suspect, but if I don’t, I’ll be arrested for hiding another person’s crime.’ I thought.

For days, my mind kept dissecting the situation I was in. April absolutely traumatized me. She kept harassing me and sending pictures of what crime she has done. “What is happening to me? How did this happen? Oh God no, this can’t be happening to me. My whole life is ruined.” My back and palms were drenched with cold sweat; I felt as the world was revolving and turning around me. I sat in my dark room, on my soft, silky bed wishing that I was sleeping peacefully like before, with no worries except doing my homework, studying the subjects I need to study for, listening to more people ranting about their lives while I listen to Quran to make time pass by quickly so that they leave my face as soon as possible. Now everything has changed, but I have to do something somehow to get out of this situation.

It’s been 4 months and all I have in mind is to just tell the cops.

…

It’s been 5 months, and I’m isolating myself from everyone outside. Maybe I’ll come up with a solution.

…

It’s been 6 months, and I have created a plan that’ll easily let me off the hook.

I, first, booked a flight to Brazil. Slowly isolating myself and not being in touch with the outside world helped me in this plan. That way, no one suspected anything. I started packing all my clothes, accessories, books, devices, and necessary things. Then, bought a new phone using the cash I have saved for the past 9 months. Using that phone, I contacted my father’s friend, who’s a policeman, anonymously using my new number; I sent him all the text messages, pictures, harassments, and the address of both April’s house and the body’s location. I left the country immediately, went to Brazil, and started a whole new life with a new identity; I didn’t have to worry about anyone who would ask or look for me. And I know April won’t say a word about me ’cuz she’s ‘trustworthy’.

Even if April traumatized me in the most horrible way, she’s the one who taught me to never trust anyone ever again. As I grew older, I realized how deceitful and dishonest people can be. Everyone is a rat who is being experimented on by another rat; it is an ongoing cycle. But that adventure full of unwanted downs was apparently too much fun for me, I started turning into another April.