Cheater.

Liar.

Manipulator.

The list just keeps growing...

Maybe I didn't.

But nothing else made sense. Carter brought up losing a girlfriend yesterday and today he and John were talking about our love for one another.

I looked at Carter for a long moment and studied every feature on him. His thick eyebrows and sculpted jaw, to his framed black glasses and green eyes.

I studied the crease on his forehead when he was thinking and the faint scar on his lip. I was getting a headache but no memory came yes I stared at his face thoroughly, my eyes went lower.

My vision became cloudy as my eyes fell on a necklace around his neck.

I woke up in Carter's bed yet again and winced at the trouble I would be in. Staying out all night is of course a big no-no on my mother's list of rules yet I seemed to be breaking it continuously.

She let me come over to his house a few hours ago to study for some "history test". It was just some stupid thing I made up so I could see him.

To her, Carter was a golden boy and she trusted him around me, yet if she knew the things we did that she didn't know about, she would go ballistic.

Carter stirred in the bed beside me with his glasses crooked on his face and a book splayed across his bare chest.

I shook my head as I looked at the scene. He most likely fell asleep again while reading this dumb book.

I picked up the thick book I had become accustomed to and shook my head. 'American Psycho' I read silently as I looked at the title. I had listened to him read me quotes from it but I never once tried to read it myself.

I leaned over Carter and set the book on the nightstand, trying my best not to wake him up. It was all for naught though as he groaned below me and his eyes fluttered open.

"What are you doing?" He asked in a sleepy voice.

"Just putting the book away," I said softly.

He pulled me down to him and I giggled as he pressed his lips against mine. My heart soared at the familiar feel of his lips and I pulled away with a smile.

"Happy Birthday," I said.

He cringed and shook his head. "Is it my birthday?"

"Yup. You're a Fourth of July baby." I said with a small laugh. He hated having to be born on a holiday. He joked about it "stealing his shine".

"Ugh, don't remind me." He groaned as he brought a pillow over his face.

"Don't worry, you shine brighter than the fireworks." I teased.

He peeled his head over the pillow and gave me a disgusted look. "That was lame."

I grinned down at him and shook my head. I was the happiest I had ever been in my life with him but I felt guilty. Elijah was still in love with me while I loved someone else, his brother at that.

I pushed my guilt to the side and shook my head.  Lifting myself off Carter, I crawled to the side of the bed and pulled up a gift bag. I dangled it up at Carter teasingly and he sat up on the bed.

"I have a gift for you," I said as I passed him the bag.

He smiled at me and gently took the bag. He took out the decorative paper and pulled out a rectangular box.

He raised a brow at me before proceeding to open it and pulled out a silver necklace with a heart-shaped pendant. On the back of the heart was engraved:

Aaliyah
4/22/2019

"I have a matching one." I began as I pulled the necklace out of my shirt to show him. "But this one says your name."

He looked between the necklaces and grinned at me. "I love it."

I smiled back at him but before I could make a move to do anything the door burst open. Our heads snapped in the direction and a furious Elijah stormed in.

"What the fuck is this?!"

So I did cheat.

Things were a lot more confusing than they previously were because of that memory.
As things began to click, all signs once again pointed to Elijah. He admitted to it and now I can infer a motive.

Maybe he found out I cheated and killed me in a rage...but that didn't explain how and who killed my mother tonight. As my memories became clearer I believed things would start making more sense but it was more of the opposite.

How couldn't he be the person that killed me?

"But even if you two did date, how would John know before me?" She asked.

I shrugged, not knowing the answer to that. I liked John but I was never the type to tell him my darkest secrets. He was like my dad, telling him about boys seemed incomprehensible to me.

"This couldn't have been Elijah tonight. He's been stuck in the county jail. I think my brother is innocent." Carter said.

"I don't know how innocent he is. But he couldn't have done this tonight."

"What are you going to do?" Carter asked.

John shrugged as he held his head in his hands. "No idea, I was planning to ask her to marry me." He said as he pulled a ring from his pocket.

My mother broke out into an uncontrollable sob that she tried to muffle into her hands when she saw the ring.

My heart ached as I looked at him and the ring. If we were still alive he would've legally been the thing he always was for us. A father.

John's phone began ringing and worry creased his features as he peered at the contact.

He held the phone up to his ear and a tear fell down his face. "Lizzie, I'm so sorry...I-"

Before he could say anything else I heard the screaming and sobbing through the phone. The phone wasn't on speaker but the scream was loud enough that my mother, Carter and I could hear it loud as day.

I, along with my mother stifled a sob as we listened to the call.

"Lizzie, listen to me," John said as he took a deep breath. "Stay safe over there and I'm going to come to get you as soon as we figure things out over here."

Lizzie said something over the phone that we couldn't hear and John nodded softly. "I promise I'll stay safe."

"I'm going to send you money as soon as I can. I need you further away from this place than you already are...No, you can't come back right now...Please just listen to me Lizzie, I'm trying to protect you."

"Stay safe and keep everything locked up. I'll come to you in a few days to bring you things
you may need, okay?...I'll call you back...I love you too Liz."

With that, he let out a shaky exhale and set his phone down.

"I'm always here for you guys as well," Carter said in a soft voice. I smiled at him and my chest compressed. I felt the love that I used to have for him suddenly flood my body and my breath hitched. It wasn't a sweet feeling, it was full of pain.

John looked at him and nodded at him proudly. "I appreciate that."

They sat together in silence for a few moments before John spoke up again. "Evelyn didn't deserve to die like that. No one does."

Carter nodded at his words and they both turned back to face the house. As we turned back to the house along with them we saw a few people with the police force rolling a stretcher with a body bag on top.

It looked like some sort of trash bag that they were just discarding of and the thought infuriated me. My mother deserved a lot more than what she was getting. Everyone that was killed or died deserved more than that.

The officer in charge of my investigation ran his hand through his hair and walked towards the truck John and Carter were sitting at with Officer Hardy following right behind him.

"Mr. Grey, I'm going to need you to stand up."

Carter raised his head to face the uniformed guard and his brows furrowed in confusion.

"We don't want to have to ask again, sir."