July 1st, 2016

It's been quite an odd few weeks, I have to admit. From Rose coming back from the dead, ringing me up and trespassing into my abode, to finding out it was her kid sister all along. Now, after almost fifteen years of no contact, I sit opposite Nicole Sanchez in a small café in Rivenhaal, a city two hours north of Presley. It's crazy, to think I haven't seen her in this long. I was convinced that I would never see her again, to be honest; at one point there was no reason to. I was happily married, with a son in a beautiful city. But things, I learn, can change at the drop of a hat.

"I spent a couple of years moving around, you know," Nicole says, slowly taking a sip of her latte. "I was living in Los Angeles for two years once I finished college. I did a few modelling gigs here and there, but I got bored of it. My parents mainly got me into it at first to model their jewellery, remember?"

"Yeah, I do. You'd have a shoot over the weekend, and you'd come to school with some crazy expensive bracelet or necklace." I smile at the sudden memory flooding my thoughts. Nicole has just turned thirty-five, but she doesn't look a day over thirty. Her skin is clear and soft, with her makeup accentuating her eyes and her smile. Her long dark hair is tightly coiled, tied into a bun. I studied her when we walked into the café, seeing that her slender figure never left her. It feels as if I never left her; the familiarity is astounding.

"It was my only incentive; free shiny stuff," she laughs. "but yeah, I got tired of modelling. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a long time, though. I just moved out of L.A. to Atlanta. I got back in touch with an old friend nine years ago... and it was all going really well. I moved in with him, and all was good for like, three years. Then I walked out on him. Things just went... south."

"Aaah," I say, sipping on my coffee. "I guess a lot has happened, right?"

"That ain't even the half of it," she laughs. "I just left for New York and cut all ties with him." She looks down to the table. "I moved to Rivenhaal last year. Got a job in a real estate company. Everything has been so quiet, since."

"Wait," I narrow my eyes. Why didn't I notice the part where she said she got back in touch with an 'old friend'? all I know is the Rich Kids, but she could mean someone from college. Either way, the curiosity is nagging at me. "Who was he? Do I know this guy? Your ex."

Nicole rolls her eyes. "I guess I couldn't keep it a secret from you, can I? I don't know why I'm trying to."

"What do you mean?"

"Christof. Jones. Jonesy."

My jaw drops. "Jonesy? You were in a relationship with Jonesy?... Well, that was unexpected," I scoff. It seems after all these years, nothing can keep the Rich Kids apart – not even time. I wish I could say I'm completely cool with the idea that Nicole ended up with Jonesy, but for whatever reason, I'm not. Even if it didn't last.

Nicole scratches her neck, looking away. "Truth is, Bret, we were just a bunch of incestuous friends at school. We left no stone unturned with each other, did we? I got with you, Rose got with you, Rose got with Tanner, I got with Jonesy..."

"But didn't that happen after high school? You just said, you reconnected when you were in your mid-twenties."

"...It's complicated. But I'd be lying if I said there wasn't some sort of crossover during high school. You know, those four months when Rose was lying in her coma, your relationship with Sofia had grown stronger, and I couldn't help but think about those things you said a few nights before she was shot. Do you still remember?"

I swallow, looking away from her. "Yeah. I do." I never meant it literally, but I could see how telling her she was basically nothing without me would hurt, especially as at the end of the day, I had the upper hand. I wouldn't be the one waking up alone.

"I felt lonely and abandoned. And I know that nothing brings people closer together, or turns people farther away from each other, more than loss does. Jonesy was reeling from everything, too. Tanner was his closest friend, and Rose was someone special to all of us. We were hurting. We never planned on hooking up, but we did." She says it bluntly, as if the memory of that year has given a coldness to her voice. "And years later, he reached out to me. I was ready to make it work with him, and things were amazing, but Bret, there's a dark side to all of us."

"What did he do to you?" I know he must have hurt her for her to run away so suddenly.

"He turned into a douchebag, and we'd argue over Rose and Tanner. Jesus Christ, even a decade later, the topic wasn't closed. He would make these remarks, defending his best friend and slating Rose. We'd argue, until it got physical." I can see her trying to hold in tears. I'm the one person she knows she can go into detail about these things, without having to explain everything. Even over time, she never lost the comfort to open up to me. "Well, he got physical. I never touched him. I just packed my shit and left."

"Wow. Christ," I bring my hands to my face, pulling them down to my jaw slowly. "I wasn't expecting to hear all of that."

"Well, come on, Wade." She nudges my arm. "Tell me about you, now. You didn't call me up to meet and catch up just so I could spill out my life story and you just sit there listening with your popcorn."

"I mean, it's nothing amazing. Sofia and I were married for a while, and then we divorced around five years ago. I have a son, Hudson. They both live in England, now." It wasn't Facebook or any other website like that, where I found Nicole's number – this explains the lack of knowledge we have of each other. It was a business website – LinkedIn. So nothing personal was on display. I tried finding her on other respective sites, but I gathered she just wasn't into that kind of stuff, when I couldn't see her face anywhere - just a bunch of Latina women with android-quality selfies. I was still determined to find her – it's not impossible in this new world, this world of technology. Hell, if I can know what kind of cereal a random dude in Wisconsin is eating, surely I could find an old friend. Double Hell, if Jennifer-Anne could stalk the hell out of me, I could find Nicole Sanchez in a heartbeat.

"Do you mind me asking why things didn't work out with Sofia?" There's an awkward air now, with her name on our lips. It just teleports us back to 1999.

"I told her about you. It took me years, but I finally told her."

"Oh. Wow. I mean, that must have been heavy. Especially after holding out for so long."

"Yeah. It was," I sip my beverage. "but it's over now. It's cool."

"It's not cool." Nicole shakes her head. She can tell that things have been rough ever since. And I wonder if it's the same with her since she left Jonesy, or if it's better.

"I mean, on the bright side, I get to see my son in a few weeks. He's supposed to come and visit."

"Awesome. How long has it been?"

"A long, long time." I chuckle sadly. "I'm supposed to clean my act up, you know? Stop drinking. Get a proper job."

"You can still do that, right? If that's what it takes."

"Of course I can. It's just that..." I pause.

"What?" She looks at me with alarm, like I couldn't possibly have an excuse.

"This is going to sound insane. Ridiculous. But this really did happen to me. And I was wondering if it happened to you."

"What did?" she slaps my wrist. "Spit it out, man."

"Did... has... Jennifer-Rose come back into your life in one way or another?"

She looks at me with a mixture of bewilderment and annoyance. Rose is always the centre of conversation, even now. "Of course not. She's been dead for eighteen years, Bret. What are you talking about?"

"Did you know she had a sister?"

"Yes. Jamie. We all knew that."

"No. I mean a younger sister. Right?"

"Oh. Shit. Yeah." Nicole's eyes widen. "Wasn't her mother pregnant when we were in college, or something? I never really caught up with that."

"Well. That young sister trespassed into my apartment last week."

"What?" Nicole laughs. "Is this really why you contacted me?"

I feel a bit stung at first, gathering that she mustn't believe me.

"N-No. That's not why."

"Well, it is. Obviously."

"...Maybe. Jesus Christ."

"Well," she smiles. "Tell me more."

◆ ◆ ◆

November 17th, 1999

[Four months after the shooting]

When Bret stops crying, he lies silent, arms still wrapped around Nicole. He told himself he would never touch her again, but he feels like the worst damage has been done now, now that Rose is truly dead. Nothing else matters. He decides, he'll call Sofia tomorrow and end things with her – he can't keep doing this behind her back. Even though it's been months since he last did, and their relationship has been running smoothly, he can't go on knowing he was lying all along, and it got Rose killed. Nicole probably doesn't know what ever happened with Tanner, but she had been suspicious since the night before the shooting when she went to pick Bret up from his house.

Nicole doesn't know how to feel. She was sobbing a few hours ago, and she hadn't stopped crying up until Bret came. She keeps thinking about the fact that she was on the tennis court on that dreadful afternoon. She was close to being a victim, and a part of her wonders if Tanner cared about who else he killed, apart from Rose. She still doesn't understand why he would have done such a terrible thing, but she had been trying to put two and two together since.

She thinks back to how discreet Rose was about her injuries the day before the shooting, and how she refused to tell Nicole how she got them. She tries to remember where she was that night, and she tries to forget again – she was having an argument with Bret. It was like one they had never had before - a screaming match. She was doing most of the screaming, inches away to throwing her living room vase at her. He came to try and talk things through, and she was wondering how on earth he hadn't spoken to Sofia yet. She threw every profanity that she could at him, not once crying, but raging with anger. He said some pretty brutal things to her, too; he said she was desperate for attention and affection, because she lacked both. She'd do anything to keep him around because she was afraid of being lonely (which made no sense, seeming as she was angry because of the contrary – if anyone wanted to keep anyone around here, it was obviously Bret). Whether that was true or not, it had nothing to do with anything at all, and especially not the situation regarding Sofia and Rose. She argued with him about whether she was the only girl, and Bret admitted that she wasn't. She vowed that she would never speak to him again, but the next day she found herself helping him out of his car in his inebriated state. And now that Rose is gone, things are different. It's like rules have been suspended, and anything goes. That's just what it feels like when the worst happens.

Nicole can only conclude that there was some sort of fight between Tanner and Bret over Rose (which for whatever reason, gives her a pang of jealousy) before the shooting, but she's not quite sure which guy had laid his hands on Rose. She gathered it to be Tanner, because if it was Bret, she suspected that Bret would have been the dead man. But then again, they did fight, so Nicole is not sure what makes sense anymore. She wishes just to close her mind and forget everything.

"I don't think we should ever get together again. After tonight. It sort of speaks for itself," Nicole murmurs. When Bret hears this, he bites his tongue. He was close to telling her his plans to dump Sofia, but he realises that it may just be easier to cut ties. He comes to a sudden change of heart – as he lies with Nicole, he feels that it would be best to leave everything in Bluebeach behind. Especially now that college has started. When he goes back next week, he'll make sure that everything is a closed chapter, and that he can start fresh with Sofia. He can run away and start new memories with her. He doesn't know if he will ever possibly talk to Nicole on the regular like always, but he hopes he doesn't. Of course, actively cutting yourself off from someone who you've known for years, someone whose company you actually enjoy, is hard. But Nicole is right; it speaks for itself. They shouldn't ever get together again. And the best way for that to happen is to completely lose each other.

"Yeah, I suppose." Bret sighs. He looks at her softly. "Can this be the last time I ever kiss you?"

For whatever reason, Nicole tears up. She squeezes closer into Bret, trying to block her tears. She kisses him long and hard, and she wonders if deep down, she loves him. Then she understands that there is a new chapter of life beginning, and she's to lose more than just Tanner and Rose. She's losing her childhood, her friendships, and all the people she has ever loved.

"I really do love you, Nicole," Bret surprises her by saying. "No. I mean as a close friend. You mean a lot to me. I'm sorry for ever treating you this way. I've done the most unimaginable thing ever, and I feel like I'm just a lost cause. I've ruined everything." This line has somewhat of a double meaning, but Nicole wouldn't know.

"Shut up, stupid," she sniffs. "You haven't ruined absolutely everything. I'd like to think that you haven't even ruined me, 'cause I'm unbreakable."

But Nicole already knows he has, somehow.

And she can't wait for the new life she'll live, where he'll be nothing but a memory of the past, like everything else in Bluebeach.