Chapter 1
It was the week before Senior year and Aaron was dreading it more than he ever thought he would. His best friend Danny had betrayed him. His girlfriend Molly had left him. His brother Phil was no longer there to keep an eye on him. He was simply alone. Is that really any way for someone to start their last year of high school? Don't get me wrong, Aaron was by no means a nerd. He was actually quite popular. At least, he was during his Junior year. A 6'3" football player with dreamy blue eyes. A straight A student, likely to be class Valedictorian. Not to mention the fact that he frequently volunteered at an animal shelter. Little did anyone know that this whole time, he had been struggling against his own inner demons. Anyone, that is, except for Danny.
Whenever they both had free time, Aaron would go to Danny and talk about his mental struggles and Danny would sit there and listen, comforting his friend. Little did Aaron know that during each little therapy session, Danny had secretly been recording the slightly disturbing things his best friend had told him. Every suicidal thought. Every desire to get out. Every stray thought questioning if Molly was the one. Danny recorded it all. He held on to those recordings and waited for the right time to strike. For if Aaron had stopped and looked at the signs, he would've known that Danny was jealous of him. Danny wanted what Aaron had. From his spot on the football team, to his academic standings, to even his girlfriend, Molly. Danny was bitter. It comes to question whether Danny even listened to how much Aaron hated himself or if he just recorded and tuned out. How else could someone be heartless enough to destroy the already broken boy that trusted him?
Danny's devious plans came to fruition during the final pep rally of the year. There was to be a video paying tribute to the Senior athletes that would be graduating. The A/V nerds in charge of this video being played? Danny's sister Lisa and her friend Rachel. It was too easy. Danny paid the girls to switch the Senior video for a slideshow he made of Aaron with his therapy tapes playing over it. All with enough time to go watch the results of his actions. Aaron was humiliated. The way the student body looked at the seemingly perfect boy changed. Molly didn't appreciate Aaron's doubts about her. She left him and ran right into Danny's arms, exactly as planned. Aaron attempted suicide that night. He failed, and even after getting out of the hospital a week later, he spent the rest of the school year at home. He quit the football team. His grades balanced out to C's from missing finals. He even stopped going to the animal shelter. The broken boy was beyond repair.
