Dead Girl

When I found out that Devon was dead, I cried. As a football player, I don't cry very often. It's not something we football players do. Devon, was't my girlfriend, she was just an ordinary friend. She was pretty, but not hot. She was smart, but not cute. She was funny. I liked her, but not like that. When we were in middle school together, we played on the same soccer team. I had a crush on her back then. I became football captain and everything changed. Chicks started saying hi to me in the hallways and more and more people started wanting to be my friend. So, I quit soccer after a long debate. I still had a crush on Devon, but soon, I got a new girlfriend named Danielle. She was captain of the cheerleading team. I was happy for a couple of months, that is until Devon disappeared. I cried, in my bedroom of course, I can't throw everything away just for this dead girl, but I also couldn't just be happy while others mourned over her disappearance. I decided to make a memorial for her, that way to support the school, and add to my manly reputation at school. I was doing my homework at the kitchen table when suddenly, my phone started ringing.
"Hello?"
"Hey! What's up man? So about Devon.." said my best man Xavier. 
"It's okay, I'm over it." I say.
"Good man, we need you A game for the big game on Friday night. Are you sure you're going to be okay? You guys were pretty close friends."
"Yeah, I told you, I'm fine." I said, hanging up. But, I wasn't. I grabbed my jacket and headed outside. Suddenly, just before I was leaving, the wind blew in a piece of paper. I picked it up. It was a letter. Without an envelope. I read it, and then called the police. 

"It just flew in?" asked an officer.
"Yeah, like I told you." I said, a little annoyed.
"Just a routine follow-up." said the officer, shrugging. 
"Yeah, well, when your house is a crime scene, it's hard not to be cranky." I said. Then, in a red skirt and a purple crop top, Danielle, my girlfriend walked up with two pom-poms in hand. She was followed by her posse, wearing matching cheerleading uniforms and cheering whenever they saw fit. I hated it. Danielle was captain of the cheerleading squad, and just as annoying as the others, but, she gave me an ego that I will have everlasting gratefulness for. She's sweet, but she's just not Devon. I almost cried at the thought. 
"What's going on baby?" Danielle asked. 
"Nothing." I lied. 
"Okay, I'll call you okay? I just came over here to make sure you were okay." she said breathily. "Porcupines, away! We got our way, and now it's time to wait till payday! Go Porcupines!"She back hand sprung away. The rest of her clones followed her in suit. 
"Good night Mr. Yu. Hope you get a good night's sleep. " said the cop as he drove away. I picked up the note once more. I had done this a hundred times already tonight. I just couldn't believe it. 

"To bring me back, you'll have to lack, the popularity you seek, then take a peek, for around you I am there, to spread despair once more." -D

It was my third time reading it, and I still wanted to throw up. Suddenly, I heard the doorbell ring. Not again, more police? It was probably just a prank and someone's probably laughing their head off about my franticness right now. I considered not answering, but if I didn't, I would pay for it later. I trudged to the door and opened it. 

"Hi, I'm Marcus. You should know that, but I don't suppose you remember  Did you got a flyer like this?" asked a boy about my age, in a british accent. He looked extremely familiar, almost like we had seen each other somewhere. 
"Are you a police officer or.." I asked.
"I got a note too. You probably don't remember this, but we used to be best friends. We played soccer together with Devon." he said. Now that the little weasel said it, it did sound familiar.
"Then what happened?" I challenged.
"You became popular and I became a geek on steroids." He remarked. 
"I don't believe you."
"Of course you don't."
"What did yours say?"
"Read it yourself, if you're smart enough." He spat as he handed me a flyer that looked so much alike to mine, I almost thought it WAS mine. It said: 
"Home is where the heroes are, School is where the zeroes are. Don't let them get in your head, and meet me at the shed. It's better at midnight, and if I don't see a headlight, you won't be ripped right. " -D
"Well, I have to go, my parents will be home soon. I'll meet you in my backyard at ten till midnight, okay?" I say, realizing the hour. 
"Yeah okay, whatever. Oh, you should also know, Teresa also got a note. She'll be here as well, tonight." said Marcus, just as he was leaving. I nodded. I liked Teresa. She was really nice, and she was part of the cheerleading squad. She was pretty and for a cheerleader, she wasn't shallow or obnoxious. I liked her a lot. We had science together and we would always be lab partners. It made sense that the pranker would have targeted Teresa too. Teresa and Devon were best friends. When she made it on the cheer squad, and I made it on the football team, we both left Devon to Marcus and pranced away with popularity. I hate myself for it. As I'm thinking about the horrible monster I am, I get a call from my phone. It's my mom. I don't know what possessed me to decline the call, but I did. A couple seconds later, I got a voicemail. 
"Hi honey, sorry, Dad and I can't come home tonight. Ask Mrs. Welch next door to cook you something for dinner. We can't make it. There's a raging storm out here and all the roads are closed. Dad and I are very safe, you don't need to worry-" Suddenly, the voicemail stopped. I looked at my phone screen in confusion. There was still thirty seconds left in the recording. I touched the pause button, and then pushed the play button. The recording continued. I put the phone back to my ear again. This time, it wasn't my mom speaking on the phone, it max a computer female voice. 
"When in doubt, scream and shout, I'll kill you if I have to. I choose to die, you chose to lie, I guess we make a team. -D" I could feel the shivers on my spine spreading to places that I should only know about. The voicemail with my mom's voice continued, but I didn't hear a word of it. That night, I laid on my back, thinking about D. Could it really be Devon? Or was it someone trying to mess with us? No matter what the situation was, I had to keep my head in the game. There was a big game on Friday and I was not about to let this stupid prank just shatter me to pieces. I sat up after what felt like forever in bed. I got out my laptop and started doing next week's homework and some plays for Friday. Suddenly, I got an email. Who could be sending an email at this hour? 
"Ditch the game, and you will tame, the biggest monster of all, you can do it without a ball, I know this is hard, and I'm willing to wait, as long as you can date." -D. I frantically tried to reply to the sender. Maybe even see who it was. It was from the email address: noreply@nobody.com. Great. 
"Okay, it's okay, everything will be okay. This isn't important, what's important is your grades, okay? This is just some obstacle being thrown your way." I mutter to myself. I open up HuluPlus and watch movies until my eyes get sore. Pretty soon, It's 11:40 and I start to head out of the house. I decided if I was going to meet Devon today, then I might as well look good. I grab my varsity jacket and some gray sweats. I grab my messenger bag stuffed with all the messages from D, and head out to my car.  I'm headed to the place the GPS leads me to, and I see a car. A car that's following me. I put the car in park and slam the door, adding to my gruffness. 
"What do you think-" I stop. Nobody's there. Nobody's driving the car. The gears are all in shift and the car is in excellent condition. Yet, the seat is stone cold as I sit in it. Suddenly, the radio turns on. 
"Here's a message out to a special fella out there, this one's from D." the announcer claims. I freeze in my tracks. I just know that this message is for me. 
"When life gives you lemons, squeeze them until they die. Phew, what a feisty woman that is. Hope the fella that's out there learns his lesson, the next song up is Love Me Harder by-" the radio automatically turned off. This ghost-like behavior was not the thing that was creeping me out the most. Just as I was about to turn the radio on for more info, I see my precious car falling apart into pieces right in front of me. I scream. And then I take out my phone and search for Marcus's old contact and text him. 
"SOS, D has sent me 4 messages in total. She made my car fall to pieces. She can turn the radio on without actually touching it. I'm scared. I can't drive to your house, I'm sorry. Meet me at my house for more details. " I text this to Teresa as well. Soon I get an okay from both of them. My footsteps crunched in the snow as I walked. My breath came out of my mouth as a puff of fog. The colorful lights of my house soon drew near. Outside, there were two cars. One, a Mercedes-benz, the other, a Toyota Corolla. Out stepped Teresa from the Mercedes and Marcus from the Toyota. Of course. 
"Guys, D is seriously messing with me. She made my car break into pieces, she hacked my phone, she's driving a car where she isn't even in the driver's seat! D is a ghost!" I screamed. I loved my car. It wasn't much. I mean, it wasn't cheap but it wasn't expensive either. It was a gray Volvo with a shiny new paint job. Because of D, it was now scrap metal. I took out my phone and texted my mom. 
"Hey mom, someone's messing with me. They broke my car. It fell into pieces." I was just about to hit send when someone yanked my arm back. 
"Are you frickin' crazy? She'll think you're crazy if you tell the truth! Say you crashed into a tree. It will make everybody's lives easier!" said Teresa distraught. 
"Easy for you to say! You won't be grounded until you're twenty!" I said, horrified at the thought. 
"Just do it, you'll thank me later." said Teresa firmly. I sighed. The girl was smart, I could trust her with my life, but I didn't know about this one. I finally gave in. 
"Fine." I said, deleting my unsent message and sending the new bluff.  
"Besides, it's only three years at the very most right?" asked Marcus. I scoffed and sent the message, waiting for the worst to happen. 
"You made the right decision, for that I will reward you. There will be a new car in your driveway. Don't say I never did anything for you. -D" I get the text message a couple of seconds after I send the text to my mom. 

It was the day I broke my arm. I understood everything now. But Devon was dead, how could anybody know? The day I broke my arm, it was Devon that tripped me. She got me to the hospital before I could tell the coach what happened. 
"You never do anything for me!" I had said as the nurses wheeled me in. Pretty soon, the drugs took over and I slumped back into bed unconscious. Later, when the pain was under control, she came back in and fed me Chinese Takeout. 
"Don't say I never did anything for you." she had warned.

The roaring of an engine had interrupted my thoughts. A big red mustang roared out. Again, nobody was driving it. Of course, Teresa and Marcus were scared out of their wits. I, was used to it. 
"Is that how the car that was following you was presented?" asked Teresa, shivering from the scare. 
"Yeah." I said, shrugging it off.
"Sick car dude!" said a booming voice behind me. I automatically recognized it as Xavier's voice. 
"Uh yeah, my parents just got it for me after I crashed my car into a tree." I said as calmly as I could.
"Hey! Teresa! Wassup? Miss me?" joked Xavier jogging up to a Teresa that was trying to sneak in. 
"Yo' watcha doing with the geek on steroids? You know it's not good for your ego man." continued Xavier. I could see Marcus trying as hard as he could to not respond. 
"Um, what are you'd doing here?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could. 
"Just looking for you man, you know checking up on you, making sure you're not doing anything you're not supposed to do. You know, man, you go down, and we both go down. Where you at brother?" I gave him a chest bump. 
"Alright, I'm fine, you can go home man." 
"All you gotta do is say so." he said as he walked away. I climbed into the Mustang with excitement.