Secrets in the Barn

Stephanie never liked when it rained. It seemed like every time it rained something bad happened. It was almost as if the universe was out to get her through nature. When Stephanie found out her dad died from a drug overdose at age 8—it rained. Then, when her mother was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer a year later—it rained. Subsequently, about six months later hurricane Irma hit the Florida’s coast as a category 5 storm, destroying everything they had including their home. Her mother was hospitalized after that for about 2 weeks before she passed away. It rained-- that whole week. Stephanie was adopted by her Aunt Megan who lived in Houston Texas. The only thing she and Aunt Megan had in common was the love they shared for her mother. Aunt Megan was old school. She didn’t talk to you she talked at you, there were only demands with little to no conversation, you could never use an “I feel like” statement, and if you were not in the house by the time the street lights came on you could forget about going outside for the remainder of the week. Aunt Megan was strict but that was her love language. She never married and was unable to have children, so she dedicated herself to provide Stephanie with everything she needed.

Stephanie was four days shy of her 16th birthday. It didn’t excite her much. Since she had lost her mother and father at such a young age these types of milestones did not make her happy. There remained an emptiness in her heart, a void that no one or nothing has been able to fill. Stephanie began to get ready for school when a call came in on her cell phone, it was her best friend Emily. She and Emily had been friends since the 6th grade but it felt like so much longer. They like the same music, food, people, and even finish each other’s sentences. The two were inseparable. While talking to Emily, Stephanie glanced in the mirror and her countenance changed. She looked upon her caramel skin tone, round shaped brown hazel eyes, pear shaped body frame and all she could see were flaws. Stephanie had low self-esteem and did not feel pretty—She never has. After she had gotten ready for school Stephanie left out the house to catch a ride with her boyfriend Christopher. He picked her up every morning for school however this year would be the last. Christopher was a senior and recently got accepted into UCLA with a full scholarship to play basketball. Stephanie was happy about his acceptance into college but not about the school as she wanted him to attend Texas A&M to be closer to her. Christopher will be over 1500 miles away and she feared their relationship would not survive. He was her first boyfriend, her first love, and the first person outside of Emily that she has ever opened up to. She never understood what Christopher saw in her, but she was determined to hold on and protect what they shared.

Stephanie hopped in Christopher’s black jeep wrangler, kissed him and they drove away. As they arrived at Dudley high school, it seemed like a typical day. The jocks were hanging out on the steps waiting for the remainder of their teammates to arrive and other students were hanging out in the hallways and around their lockers soaking up all the free time they could to interact with their friends. Emily ran up to Stephanie as she walked through the school doors, she was holding a flyer in her hand that read:

“SENIORS ONLY BARN PARTY!

SATURDAY @ 8PM

NO UNDERCLASSMAN ALLOWED! (Unless you are a Jock or Cheerleader)

SEE LEAH FOR DETAILS”

“Ugh Leah!”, they both said. Leah was the Captain of the Cheerleading squad, the SGA president, President of the yearbook, Homecoming Queen, Prom Queen, and to top it all off the Most Beautiful girl in school. Neither Stephanie or Emily could stand her because she basked in perfection. Leah and Christopher dated before he got with Stephanie. He broke up with her because she was too shallow.

During lunch Stephanie caught up with Christopher and asked him if he was going to the barn party, he reluctantly replied “No…It’s going to be lame, I’m just going to stay home.” Stephanie sighed in relief because she did not want Leah anywhere near Christopher especially if she was not around.

Later, that night Stephanie was scrolling through social media and saw some of the pictures posted at the Barn party. It looked like they were having so much fun! One of the cheerleaders posted a video on snapchat and to her surprise Christopher was in it. He lied to me, she stated in rage. He was at the party! She attempted to save the video, but it disappeared. She began to call Christopher, but he wasn’t picking up. And then it began to rain outside. This wasn’t a good sign for Stephanie she knew something horrible was going to take place that night. She had to get to that barn party but there was no way that her Aunt Megan would let her leave the house. Stephanie called Emily to come pick her up. Emily parked at the end of the street while Stephanie snuck out of her bedroom window.

When they arrived at the Barn party there were no cars in sight. Looked like the rain ended the party. “He must have gone home”, Emily stated. “Well take me there,” Stephanie said. Just as they were getting ready to pull off Stephanie spotted Christopher’s car and Leah’s was parked next to it. Stephanie jumped out of the car and slowly walked towards the barn door and peeked inside. Christopher and Leah were laying together fast asleep barely clothed. Stephanie was furious! She couldn’t contain her anger. She looked down and grabbed a shovel. Stephanie blacked out and began hitting both Christopher and Leah continuously with the shovel. Neither of them was able to get away as they were caught off guard and did not see it coming. When Emily realized what was going on she ran inside and grabbed the shovel out of Stephanie’s hand. “What have you done?” she said. Stephanie replied, “I don’t know what happened.” They were both dead. Without thinking Emily grabbed a shovel herself and began digging. Once the hole was big enough they both pushed Christopher and Leah’s bodies inside. They cleaned up all the evidence of them being there and left. As they began to drive away Stephanie began to weep, and then the rain began to pour.