Introductions
“Come one Zoey what are you waiting for, we’re going to be late to the movies, and I don’t want to get a bad seat.”
Zoey Carson turned around and smiled, after saying goodbye to her dad on her cell; she ran up to Jason and jumped on his back. That decision, shortly after, was declared a mistake, on the account that she had forgotten she chose to wear a skirt that day. She laughed and jumped off his back, knowing she wasn’t too comfortable with him touching her bear thighs with total access to…well…up there. She decided to hold his hand instead, as they walked the half a block down to The Thorns Theater.
“So what do you want to see?”
“Hmm, well now that you mention it, anything but a horror film. Some girls can’t handle the blood and guts thing, I can’t handle another nightmare.”
“Ah I remember we saw that movie Halloween and I was graced with the lovely three am phone call.”
“Oh well then let me personally apologize for my thought process. I woke up and paced my room with this unbelievably terrorizing shaking taking over my body, and all I could think about was who I should call when I can’t sleep, I don’t know, maybe my boyfriend?”
“Okay, okay you’re right, I want you to call me whenever you want, but you just didn’t give me a minute to wake up. I mean lets be honest…you talk a lot…but that is one of the many traits about you that I have loved from the beginning.”
“Yeah, yeah, nice save.”
“No really Zo, I’m being honest.” Zoey’s response was nothing more than a roll of the eyes. “Okay let’s make a list, ‘cause I know how much you love those.
One, I love how you talk a lot a.k.a. you always say what you mean.
Two, I love your eyes.
Three, I love how when you first met me we connected and then six days later when school started in the fall you didn’t know who I was when you saw me in the hallway
Four, I love how I got the opportunity to help you open up your heart. I love so much more about you, I mean I love you in total Zo, but those are my four favorites.”
“Um…” Zoey honestly had no idea what to say. She had never let a guy have her heart before and this was a lot coming from Jason.
She and Jason hadn’t been dating all that long, but they both realized their relationship was special. Now they’re not planning their wedding, or picking out baby name’s, they just aren’t living in a teenage fantasy romance.
Zoey didn’t want to remain silent but words seemed impossible for her to form. She took a breath and opened her mouth to speak, and it opened all right, there was just a lack of words.
Besides, Jason didn’t give her a chance to say anything; he wrapped his arms around Zoey and bent down for a very gentle kiss on her lips. You know that kiss people say was so soft, you almost didn’t feel it, it was one of those. Zoey was the one who stood on her toes and silently asked for more by turning it into just a little bit of a longer kiss.
“Mhm okay Jason.” Zoey said as she started to pull away. “We’re in the middle of the street.”
“Jay-walking has never stopped you before.” He replied quickly while taking Zoey’s hand. She felt dizzy whenever he took her hand. It was the closest feeling she had to being head over heels.
“Jason.”
“Yeah Zo?”
Zo. She had an official nickname. Granted, it wasn’t the most creative nickname, nonetheless it was a nickname. He had officiously called her Zo more than three times in the last five days. And according to her best friend Natalie, a guy needs to call you by his own created nickname at least three times in less than a week, for it to be a legit nickname.
“I was thinking—”
“Oh no, this can’t be good.” Jason said cutting her off. She let go of his hand and punched his right arm. He laughed and pretended it hurt. That was something Zoey didn’t appreciate, so she punched him again in the exact same spot with just a bit more force. He actually said it hurt and she chose, for her health, to believe him. “How did you learn to punch?” He asked, raising one eyebrow in suspicion. “I mean there’s not a double life of yours or anything? Except instead of being a pop star slut you’re a crime fighter. Am I on the right track?”
Zoey cracked up, laughing, that’s what always happened whenever she spent time with Jason. “Not exactly, I’m sorry but I’m no Hannah Montana. Besides, I look awful in wigs.” He laughed along with Zoey at that comment. He was tempted to ask how she knew, but that specific piece of information comes later in our story. “I used to live in the city, even though I was only ten or eleven, my family thought it would be a good idea to teach Walter and me how to fight, or at least punch.”
“Oh I get it, so your dad showed you a thing or two about a sucker punch huh?”
“Wrong again Jay, my mom was the one who taught me.”
Okay freeze
There was a very important word in that last paragraph. Did you catch it? Care to look again? The word is taught, it seems very inconsequential, am I right? Well I am very wrong. The not so insignificant remark is one of the keys that open’s to Zoey’s very distressing history.
Don’t fret, I plan to give you all of the introductions that are necessary, but first, I would like to get back to twenty-nine Knolin Street, where our very own Zoey resides and our lovely story continues.
And…play
“Well…do you miss Chris?” Jason stopped walking. He let go of Zoey’s hand and looked down at his shoes for a minute or so. “You know what, it’s not important. It’s not like we have to talk about it. Okay?”
“No, it’s fine. Um…what made you think of him?”
“Really Jason, it was too soon to ask you, I shouldn’t have said anything.” Jason started to get heated, Zoey couldn’t tell until he started to speak, but I could tell.
“No, what made you think my recently dead best friend wasn’t a perfect conversation topic to talk about. I mean what the hell could have stopped you from saying anything about Chris Gibes. Why not just decide to talk about my newly found best friend’s dead body. Oh yeah, we could talk about how he ran away and his body was found in the forest two miles out of town, from a drug overdose of all things.” Jason took a second to laugh at what he was about to say. He closed his eyes for a millisecond, but that’s all it took for him to bite his tongue. Zoey didn’t know what went through his mind, and Jason wasn’t about to open the door that represented all things that were Chris.
If I were being honest here, I didn’t know what went through Jason Sage’s mind that august afternoon either. Actually, that was a wrong choice of words on my part; I did know what went through his head. It’s just, I didn’t understand what the underlining meaning of his thoughts were, not yet anyway.
“I knew Chris; I just expected a little bit more creativity out of him. I mean death from an overdose of drugs is just a cliché don’t you think? What a way to commit suicide. I mean come on who hasn’t—”
“Wait, just wait. Do you think he died on purpose? Are you honestly telling me that Chris wanted to die? No, I-I can’t believe that, I mean, I wasn’t his best friend but I was definitely not a complete stranger to him. Anyone who knew Chris knew he was a good guy, yeah, maybe he got caught up in some bad things a year or two ago. He may have gotten off by stumbled his way through school, but he never wanted to die, let alone kill himself.”
“Of course he wanted to die. He certainly wanted to get out of this town, ever since I could remember, that’s all he ever talked about. The truth is, he took the pills in his room and the second after taking them he realized he couldn’t die in his own home. He couldn’t do that to his mom, and I know because he’s been my best friend since second grade. He drove himself as far as he could go, when he reached two miles I’m sure he started getting foggy so he took a quick right into the woods and drove as deep into them as he possibly could and he died.” Jason took a breath and as he exhaled Zoey opened her mouth to retaliate, but she wasn’t given the chance due to the fact that Jason caught a second wind.
“Sure, he may have made it look like he was with people, and when they were ready to part they all got in their cars after a fun filled night of “feeling good”, with only a little bit of help from some drugs. But, when Chris got to his car he realized how much he had taken and his body couldn’t handle it, so he died. But we all know that never really happened.”
“Who’s we Jason, or is it just you that thinks you know everything that happened that night?” He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t say anything. He had been pacing back and forth as she was talking to him, allowing himself to hold back his emotions. When he was talking, sure, he was facing Zoey, but he almost never looked at her. It was like he was talking to Chris, saying everything he wanted to tell his best friend. When really, all he wanted to say was why? Ask him how he could ever kill himself? That’s all Jason really wanted to know, that and how he could leave his mom and him here…alone.
“Look.” He started off with this almost tight voice, like it was causing him pain to say his next few words. “You don’t understand; I know you knew him and you two were getting kind of close, but he was my best friend. I never expected this from him and I guess I’m just in shock or something, so I’m sorry. It’s just, you can’t tell me what happened that night; no one can. Not even the authorities and they’re the ones involved in the case to make sure it wasn’t a homicide or anything.”
Zoey tried to bite her tongue and hold back the inevitable words she was dying to say. She did get it; death hadn’t been a huge part of her life, especially suicide. But, she wasn’t oblivious to it, and she knew what it felt like to lose someone.
Believe me when I tell you, Zoey Carson had a lot of hidden skeletons in her closet. The closet her boyfriend of six weeks had never seen, and sadly, never got the chance to see. I believe no one can feel the exact same thing as someone else, but that’s a later topic to discuss.
Zoey did her best to form the words that Jason had to hear. She knew how hard it was going to be to say them, but she knew it was going to be much more difficult for Jason to hear them, so she said them as delicately as she could. “I am doing my best to understand, but I’m worried for you Jason. I don’t want you filling your head with lies about your best friend.” Zoey created her closing sentence just as quickly as she said it. She spoke rapidly, something she needed to work on, but even though it was a fast paced conclusion, she never took her eyes away from his face. Zoey held her gaze; to make sure he wasn’t just listening to her, but truly hearing her.
He stared at Zoey then. He stopped pacing and finally looked at her, and I mean really looked at her. It wasn’t one of the gazes they normally gave one another in class; it was actually a stare I had never seen Jason give to anyone before. It almost felt like he was looking straight through Zoey, as if she had become transparent to him, and he was doing his best not to lose her against the background.
To be honest, I almost felt like he could see me, I know that was impossible, but I swear, every time I look back to that warm summer day, I see his eyes notice me, for just a second. Like a blurred vision, but the instant you blink, it’s gone. I guess that’s my old memories slipping through the cracked walls in my mind. This is crazy though, I’m pulling you away from the whole story, and the next few days are just starting to become very essential to little miss Zoey here.
He walked away then; he just turned around and left. Jason’s face only showed disappointment, but to Zoey, all she could see was regret. Her eyes blurred and became out of focus, and not from tears I can assure you that small but vital piece of information. Zoey’s mind just flew somewhere else to escape, because if she didn’t, she would have had to face the fact that Jason really did just walk away from her.
She wasn’t going to give Jason the satisfaction of him knowing she watched him take off. So our friend Zo here did the only thing she could do, she turned around. She didn’t even have time to let her brain grasp the idea of moving, her body almost immediately followed her initial thought.
Even though Zoey didn’t witness Jason take thirty-six steps before turning the corner, that doesn’t mean I didn’t watch. Yes, I saw his dark blue t-shirt slowly become blurry. I got to see his denim jeans walk away with him until they became nothing more than a hazy picture. And finally, I was the onlooker that experienced the pain of seeing his entire body disappear around the corner. No matter how much he wanted it to be Zoey, he was never able to discover that she also had turned away, and I had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing his slow but powerful steps hit the pavement thirty-six times.
She than gave herself a minute to breath, and do nothing but. A lot of people ask each other what are you thinking about? Zoey always found this as an odd question to inquire about someone. But, she found it even more peculiar that a great majority of the publics answer is nothing. How could someone not be thinking about something, is that even possible? This is one of the many questions Zoey Carson would never find the answer to, but that’s a discussion for later on. The point is, for once in Ms. Carson’s life, she thought of utterly nothing for almost a minute.
Then, when her mind began processing things again, it fled, out of fear, anxiety, pain, I can’t even say. To tell you the truth, even to this day I don’t know, but whatever the reason we know what happens next.
Zoey’s mind just flew somewhere else to escape, because if she didn’t, she would have had to face the fact that Jason really did just walk away from her.
That my friends, is reality, and Zoey Carson wasn’t ready to face reality just yet.
As we know, Zoey took off to an entire different place, I mean it was no Narnia or anything, but it was a mental pause button for life. Zoey stood there for almost ten minutes, and she would have stood there longer if a car hadn’t pulled up and honked at her, causing her to jump from the surprise. Her astonished expression caused the driver and the guest sitting in the passenger seat to erupt with laughter. They were in one of those BMW’s, probably borrowed from daddy’s car collection.
“Hey you, its not every day that you’re asked to move by a car that dares to try driving on the street, that’s why they have sidewalks you stupid bitch.”
She was sure they were seniors but Zoey wasn’t one to talk to them so she didn’t waste her time acknowledging the two ass wholes, even if she had reason enough to lose her temper. She knew it would end up with her cursing them off and them not giving a fish’s tail about it and driving forward.
So, as she began walking towards the sidewalk they honked and proceeded driving. She wiped her head around, grabbed the nearest pebble she could find off the ground, and thrust her arm back. It made perfect contact with the back of the cars window and even though Zoey couldn’t tell if it had made a scratch I could. That small seemingly useless stone made the slightest crack on their car. The two boys didn’t think much of the small sound they had heard and continued driving. Little did they know that two hours later, as they drove up to the cross county mall, driving recklessly over three speed bumps, that undiscovered minute crack would turn into a five inch break across the entire back window.
But that occurred in two hours, at the moment we left off, Zoey continued to walk off of the road, and that was honestly all she did, walk.
Well I think that is a mighty fine place to stop, and begin our introductions. Don’t worry; I won’t give you the person’s hopes and dreams or anything like that. This isn’t an Internet dating website, this is life, and this is what you have chosen. Where should I start? Zoey is the only one that comes to mind at this moment, so Zoey it is.
Zoey Carson is fifteen when our story opens in the diminutive town of Branwick New York. She moved there two months and six days ago, no I do not stalk her; it is honestly my job to know these things about people.
Her father, David Carson, was the one who introduced her family to the suburban life. No, it’s not so he could be closer to his second family or live near his secretary whom he’s surprisingly having an affair with. Sorry if that came as a disappointment to any of you, but neither of those options are the case. He moved here because, hold your breath, he wanted a garden. According to him, the four-story walk up apartment in the city was to “urban” for his type of garden. I know what your thinking-
Should guys, especially dads that wear business suits to work everyday, have a desire too create their own specific type of garden?
Well, in this case, Mr. Carson was not a typical businessman or father. Zoey didn’t know it yet, but moving to the suburbs would be the best thing that ever happened to her and her father’s relationship, and the worst.
As you have recently discovered Zoey has been dating Jason Sage for a month and a half. She seems lucky right? She moves to a new town before she starts her second year in high school and she immediately gets a boyfriend, well; let me tell you something about Zoey Carson, nothing about her is lucky.
You also got the fortunate pleasure of witnessing their first fight about Jason’s recently deceased best friend. Ah yes, Chris Gibes, what can I say about Chris Gibes, other than, exactly a month ago, he was the reason I was brought to Branwick New York on July 25th 2010.
Also, you ought to know-
I’m the reason he died.
So-- for those of you who read the prologue you may be reading this saying, “what the hell is going on?!?!?” In time the story will explain itself, but just in case you couldn’t pick up on a few things, allow me to explain. Unlike the prologue, the narrator is not Zoey, it has gone back two years and the narrator will explain I promise
