All the stars in the sky died. The days were long and dreary. Everyone felt helpless as no one had an inkling of where she was...except me. Harriet was the most popular girl in school. She was beautiful but not snobby. She was perfection from her light blonde hair bob down to her coach bag and matching coach shoes. She wasn’t just popular either , she was charming and genuinely nice. She started the “stop bullying” campaign before it was a “thing”. Harriet was also my best friend in the whole world. My first ever friend really. I could tell her anything and I knew she wouldn’t judge me. She would look at me intently through her brilliant blue eyes and put off this energy that let me feel I was going to be okay. So why did I do what I did to her? What’s wrong with me? I never meant to hurt her. I swear it! Things just got out of hand. The events that happened a week ago were now a distant memory and a blur. I loved Harriet maybe even more than a friend. Sometimes when she looked at me I thought she felt it too. Obviously I was wrong. When the police came to my house to question me I nearly shit my pants. I had had run ins with the law including underage drinking, petty theft and having drug paraphernalia on my person. I was always so cool calm and collected, but this time I could feel the blood rush to my face as they asked me questions about our relationship, if we ever had a fight, when was the last time I saw her? Fuck if I can remember “all the details” from a week ago. I know I looked guilty but I couldn’t reveal what I knew. Not yet anyway. At this point there were too many people involved we had to make sure we were all on the same page with everything. The days that followed harriets disappearance were the worst of my life, but let me take you back, back to the beginning of Harriets end.

My family and I moved to this little suburb when I was 14 years old. We left our home in Chicago for my mother’s boyfriend. I hated her for the move. I missed the hustle and bustle of busy city life. This town was boring. I had no friends and I vowed I’d move back to Chicago as soon as I was 18 years old. I went to school that August and kept a low profile. I walked to school as it was a block away. I was pretty average looking in my opinion. Approximately 5’2, 100 something pounds and long straight brown hair that I always had curled and pulled up. I kept my eyes down as I walked the halls of this little school and listened to all the conversations around me.