Not While You Live

            Anticipation bubbled within me, as all of my hard work was about to be paid off. She sat there across from me, Melody, my best friend. A smile played on her lips as if she hadn’t a care in the whole world.

             A short burst of laughter escaped her lips, recalling something she thought was funny from a few days before as she told me the story.

            “And then he couldn’t keep his balance and fell face first into the snow,” she said while pounding her fist on the table in her short fit of laughter.

            “That would have been a sight to see,” I chuckled, trying to give off the air that I was just as amused as she was. In truth, every word that escaped her lips, to me, was extremely boring and dull. I wish that she would shut up, but that was not the case.

            “So, how have you been?” she asked while tentatively reaching across the table to grasp my hands in hers. “It’s been nearly a year, hasn’t it?”

            Inwardly, I winced, as she hit a sore spot of mine. It was close to a year ago that my brother was killed in an accident. I don’t really want to go into details about it right now. It’s not exactly the right time for it.

            “Yes, it’s been nearly a year,” I said sadly while sighing, “but I’ve learned to live with it and move on. I think that he would have wanted me to be strong and not dwell on it too much, you know?”

            “You’re right,” she sighed before taking a sip of her drink. I watched her closely as she did this, staring at the point in her throat which moved when she swallowed the liquid.

            “Random story!” she said suddenly, just about slamming her glass onto the table. “So, you know how I’m dating Cory, right?”

            I nodded curtly, putting on a fake smile. I hated that she was dating this Cory guy, even though I would never tell her that. After what happened between her and the last guy that she dated, I kept my mouth shut.

            To make it appear as if I were listening to her little tale that was so interesting, I nodded my head a few times while giving her my best fake grin. She seemed to buy it.

            “And then he walked into the front hallway of the house. There just so happened to be a table with frames. He picked up this one frame, and it had to be the strangest picture he had ever seen. There were three guys in the picture with their shirts lifted up. And you know what made it so strange?” she asked eagerly while leaning over the table closer to me.

            “No, what made it so strange?” I asked with partial enthusiasm, to amuse her.

            “All of their stomachs were drawn on. And to make it even stranger, they were all wearing hula skirts and appeared to be dancing,” she laughed while wiping a tear out of her eye from laughing so hard.

            I accidentally let out a snort, which happens when I try to hide my laughter. My snort only made Melody laugh even harder, which in turn actually made me laugh. I can’t remember the last time that I actually had a genuine laugh in her presence. Sure, she has tried to be funny, but I just gave fake laughs so as not to hurt her feelings. I don’t think that she is smart enough to figure that out though.

            After she had calmed down from laughing, she had a tiny choking fit as if something were stuck in her throat. “Sorry about that,” she said as she took another sip of her drink. I just watched in pleasure as she downed more of the liquid, for I knew the real reason she was choking; and it wasn’t on air.

            “So, what is new in your life Rosaline? Any new guys?” she asked expectantly.

            “I thought that you knew me better than that Melody,” I said while swatting my hand in front of me. “Besides, if I did have a new guy, I would have called you.”

            “Oh, yeah,” she said hesitantly, thinking of something else to say. “But sometimes I wonder about things, you know? You just seem to be growing more and more distant from me every time we talk. I’m surprised that you’re even having me over here today.”

            I guess that she’s not as stupid as I had originally thought. It’s true that we used to be super close; calling each other every day and talking on the phone for hours. Those were the good days, before it happened and changed everything.

            “I guess I have been becoming more distant,” I said sadly, lying on the spot. “But after what happened, I just… I guess I just became anti-social, almost like a hermit. There’s hardly anything that makes me happy anymore. I’m sorry for pushing you away Melody.”

            “Aw, honey,” she cooed while coming over to give me a hug. “You should have known to call me when you feel like that. After all, that’s what besties are for. You shouldn’t have been alone in those times.”

            As she wrapped her arms around me, I felt all weird. My stomach was cramping up, and tears were starting to form in my eyes. Great! She was making me feel guilty and sad, making me want to cry, which would definitely not be good.

            “Thanks,” I said meekly, trying to get her to let up on the hug and leave me alone. I didn’t need comforting, and especially not from her.

            “No problem,” she said letting go of her grip on me. “If you ever just want to talk, you know that I’m willing to listen.” She went back and sat in her seat across from me. As her back touched the seat, her eyes lit up, with what I suspect was some sort of idea.

            “I know! Why don’t we have a girl’s day out this weekend? It would be just like old times!” she said excitedly while waiting for my answer.

            I pretended to think it over for a moment. Having a girl’s day out did sound like fun, but I just couldn’t do it. I had other plans.

            “This weekend doesn’t look too good,” I said sadly, trying to sound sincere. “I have something else planned for this weekend. But if anything changes, I promise that I’ll call you the moment I find out.”

            “I guess that sounds ok,” she said, pain evident in her voice. I could tell that she really wanted to hang out and bond again. But I didn’t want to, not with her.

            Out of nowhere, she started having a couch attack again. But this time, she couldn’t calm down, and in the few moments that she did, she was panting heavily and raspy weezing noises could be heard.

            “Are you okay? You don’t sound too good?” I asked concern as I went around the table to where she was sitting.

            “I… I can’t breathe,” she gasped while clutching at her throat. “Could you pl… please call an ambulance?” she struggled to get out.

            “No,” I said simply, while smirking down at her.

            “But… but why?” she stammered, her eyes wide with fear.

            “Because I don’t want to,” I sneered and swiped my hand across the table, sending papers and glasses flying off of the table. “Do you know what I had to go through this past year?”

            She shook her head no. Of course she wouldn’t, because she doesn’t know anything. If it doesn’t concern her, she doesn’t care.

            “I lived through hell,” I said through gritted teeth. “Ever since Mark’s accident, things have gone downhill. My parents started drinking hard, especially my father. That’s why my mom left him; he drank so much that he would come home angry and start hitting anything that was in his path.”

            I lifted up the back of my shirt, exposing my back to her. I didn’t need a mirror to know what it looked like. But Melody let out a gasp of shock. There were bumps and bruises covering my back, along with a long scar that ran down right next to my spine on the left side.

            “I didn’t get a choice to leave. Mom left me here with him. I’m guessing that she didn’t want any memories of this, including me.”

            “I’m… sorry that… all of this… happened to you… Rosaline,” she said slowly, fighting to breathe. “But… I don’t see… what this has… to do… with me.”

            “Don’t you!” I yelled, getting in her face. “This is all your fault! If it weren’t for you, Mark would still be alive, and my family would still be together!”

            She cowered back in fear, realization in her eyes. “It wasn’t my fault!” she said quickly in one breath.

            “If I remember right,” I said while tapping my index finger on my chin, “it definitely was your fault.”

            Her eyes clouded with confusion as she shook her head no.

            “I’m sorry, dear, but no matter how much you deny it, it was your fault. If I remember correctly, you were dating Mark, and you both went to that party, but drove separately. He told you not to drink, but you didn’t listen and got drunk off your ass anyway,” I said bitterly while throwing her death glares.

            “So, because you were drunk, he had to drive you home. That night the roads were terrible, and if hadn’t driven you to your house, he wouldn’t have gotten in that wreck!”

            She looked at me like I was insane, but I didn’t care. Nothing could ever make me care about her anymore.

            “And the worst thing was, you called him. While he was DRIVING! But then again… with that reasoning, it doesn’t sound like I’m doing right in killing you,” I said while bringing my face close to hers.

            “You see, the thing is… he had been barely dead a week before you started dating Cory. I normally wouldn’t have bothered about you and your boyfriends, but this one bugged me, you know why? Because I’ve been in love with him for almost a year, and you knew that. But yet, you decided to date him. What kind of a friend does that!”

            At that point, I was really fed up with her, and there was a pounding in my head. “It really does hurt me to do this to you,” I said as a real tear made its way down my face. I wasn’t heartless, and we were best friends at one point.

            “You were so careless about things; so stupid. You never watched what you were doing as long as it wasn’t you who was the one who got hurt. I’m sick of always being the one who ends up hurt. Not this time Mel, not this time.”

            With one final gasp, she fell over. I didn’t have to check for a heart beat because I knew that she was dead. It was so perfect that I would get away with it. I slipped something in her drink that clogs up the airway, making it difficult for them to breathe. There was a way to cure her, but she didn’t deserve to live.

            When the police would examine her body, it would look like she had died from a lack of oxygen. They would never be able to trace it back to me.

            I was free from her always laughing in my face about how lucky she was. It was her stupid decisions that had caused all this. My brother and best friend would still be alive, my family would still be together, my life wouldn’t be threatened every time my father came home, and I possibly would have been with Cory, the guy whom I love.

            Now, I could finally start anew. In a way, I wish that I could thank her for setting me free from this hell-hole in my life. But it’s too late now. I’d stay for the funeral, and that’s about it, I would be off to another country, making a new life. The funny thing is, we would end up hanging out that weekend after all. Except, she would be buried six feet under.

So, I wrote this for a contest on another site. Do you think that the title suits it? I couldn't think of anything better.

this is what I had to do for the contest:

"write about a murderer. No, it's not that easy, you have to do something unusual, which isn't done very often in crime-thrillers. Instead of making me feel sorry for the victim,  twist it - make me feel sympathy for the killer, make me angry, or indifferent to the victim. it also had to be between 1500-3000 words, and include this phrase somewhere in the story 'It had to be the strangest picture he had ever seen"

Do you think that this story would suit that prompt? What did you feel towards the killer / victim? Please tell me! It would really help! Also, any other title names would also be helpful!!

This is the contest that i'm in : <a href="http://storywrite.com/contest/7342"> contest </a>

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