True Friends

When the virus first began to spread across the country it felt as though time stood still. Life as we knew it began to unravel, little by little. It’s funny how time works. In the movies there’s always that one big moment that changes everything. A crash, a flood, a fire, or some unfortunate event that completely alters the main character’s life forever. If this past year has taught me anything it’s that time is completely relative. That a virus sweeping over a nation throughout the course of a year can feel like a single summer, and a three day trip can sometimes feel like the course of an entire lifetime. What is it those tacky posters that hang in the offices of guidance counselors are always saying? “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey”. Well my journey didn’t include any crashes or floods. There were maybe a few fires, but they weren't crucial to the key plot points. No, my journey began with a year of tragedy and ended in three

incredible days. My name is Cali Washington, and this is the story of how I lost my best friend.

Yes, you heard that correctly. My parents named me Cali Washington, as in California Washington. As in the two separate vastly different and far apart states the two of them were living in when they met on spring break in Cabo and conceived me circa 2003. I like to regard my name day as their first great act as parents. The last being when the two decided to leave me with my mother’s sister in Glendale the minute I popped out of the womb and runoff back to Cabo never to be seen again. I spent the first couple of years of my life parentless and exiled on the part of the playground designated for kids with weird names. No one ever picked me for volleyball during gym class or invited me to their birthday slumber parties. Then on one fateful morning on the first day of 6th grade a miracle happened. Kadi Washington transferred to Lakeside Middle School from some place in upstate California and changed my life forever. It didn’t matter that her name began with a K and mine began with a C. Or that her actual last name was Washington and my last name was actually a middle name I'd taken on as a last name to spite my parents. From the moment she stepped on the scene we became one person, in the eyes of the school and each other. We sat together in every class and faked injuries together to get out of every sporting event. On our first official friend date my aunt dropped us at the mall and we got matching BFF heart shaped lockets at Claire’s. Kadi had the key to mine and I had the key to hers. She was the first best friend I ever had, and maybe the only true friend I'll ever have..

Despite their names sounding so much alike and people so often mistaking them for sisters or even twins due to their striking brown eyes and long wavy dark hair, Cali and Kadi couldn't have been more different. Kadi was an overachiever and an honor student with a 4.0 GPA and a type A personality. Cali was by all accounts a free spirit who preferred gaining “life experiences’ over perfect grades. Most of those experiences usually included different boys from all different walks of life. It was a shock to them both when they managed to be accepted to the same college. Wilmington University in northern California. It had been Kadi’s dream since the passing of her late mother who was president of the school's sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma in the late 80’s. Cali didn't really care where she went to school as long as she could study environmental science and oggle cute frat boys.

Naturally when they both received early acceptance letters within a week of one another at the end of junior year, Cali decided they should drive up to tour the university together. “A Road Trip for the Books” she’d called it at the time, not knowing even a fragment of the impact it would have on their lives going forward.

“It would have been nice if we could have planned ahead and scheduled a tour,” said Kadi, pulling into the guests parking lot closest to the Kappa Kappa Gamma house on Wilmington's campus. She deeply regretted letting Cali be in charge of this road trip, knowing that if she’d planned it they would have been way more organized. “Relax, everything is fine,” Cali replied, jumping out of Kadi’s Toyota. “What’s more cool than two hot mysterious girls showing up out of nowhere and crashing a campus wide end of semester bash?” Cali asked. “If you say so” Kadi replied half-heartedly as the two climbed the giant steps to the entrance of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Kadi had dreamed of this day her entire childhood, she squeezed the hand of her best friend tightly, thankful for the first time ever that she’d let Cali dress her. The two walked hand and hand, in sexy matching little black dresses, to the front doors of the Kappa house. Looking at one another for encouragement and taking a breath, Cali and Kadi knocked on the giant double doors together. Little did they know, it was the last thing they’d ever do in perfect harmony.

Though the events of the following night were a blur to pretty much everyone involved, both Kadi and Cali could agree that everything had gone perfectly. They spent the night socializing and playing beer pong with cute college boys. They both wished it could last forever. Then suddenly the next morning, like all good things do, their fun came to a screeching end.

“Wake Up Harlots!” Sydney Griffiths, the current head of the Kappa Kappa Gamma’s yelled from the top of the extravagant marble balcony. Cali and Kadi had both been sound asleep on the gorgeous white sofas in the living room of the Kappa house when campus security arrived to inform them of the devastating global developments that had taken place while they were partying. Local news soon confirmed that it was true. A new and deadly virus had swept the nation seemingly overnight. Campuses that had still been open were shut down immediately and under US and california law any students still on campus were to be confined to their quarters indefinitely. It didn’t matter that Kadi and Cali were actually visiting high schoolers or that the frat boys who had also crashed at KKG didn’t actually live there. None of the 15 students unfortunate enough to still be in the Kappa house that next morning were legally allowed to leave.

Days turned to weeks and weeks to months. No one knew where the disease, the media had named the Vera Virus, had originated from. The Vera Virus, named from the latin word for truth, hadn't been circulating long enough for scientists to find a cure or even pin down where it originated. The one thing they did know is once contracted the virus seemed to embed itself in the subconscious of its host and slowly but surely pull out that person's deepest most honest nature. It was pure anarchy. Infected quarterbacks were leaving the NFL to become interior designers. News anchors were quitting on air after catching the virus and discovering they were truly meant to be teachers. It would have been pretty great for moral and global self discovery if it weren't for some victims of the virus finding their more sinister hidden natures. Crime rates were up across all 50 states. Newly reborn arsonists were setting fires all over california. Former architects and wall streeters were robbing banks and accosting gas stations. Mayhem had taken over and it seemed like more people were contracting the virus day by day.

Meanwhile over at Kappa Kappa Gamma, Cali and Kadi were learning a whole new meaning of the phrase “freshman 15”. The 13 other unlucky souls that found themself quarantined in the sorority house were Sydney Griffiths the sitting Kappa president, Rachel White Sydnee’s best friend and top minion, 3 members of the TKE fraternity John, Chris and Kyle, and 8 Freshmen that seemed to be too afraid of Sydney to ever leave their rooms. As far as prison mates go the group was basically composed of the worst people you’d ever want to find yourself trapped with. It had been exactly one year to the day of being quarantined in the sorority house from hell when Cali decided she’d had more than enough. She’d gotten pretty close to John, the tall blonde blue eyed leader of TKE, and after months and months of persuading the two managed to convince Kadi that it was time for them to take their chances on the outside.

The TKE boys had heard whispers of there being a hidden sanctuary across the border in Mexico where Americans were fleeing to escape the new strict rules imposed at the start of the pandemic. The three waited patiently for a night the regular security guy wasn’t out patrolling and the first chance they got they ran to John’s car.

It was a lot easier than they had anticipated and before they knew it they were headed to Mexico. The first night they all took turns driving in shifts to avoid the risk of having to stop before they’d gotten far enough from campus. They had enough snacks and cds to last them til they got to the border. Everything was great until John decided it’d be a good idea to stop at an abandoned motel for the night on day two.Cali studied Kadi’s face as she pulled into the back parking lot of the deserted motel. Kadi had been acting so strange the past two days. She’d barely spoken more than two words to Cali, and was suddenly agreeing with every stupid idea John had, including breaking into this creepy empty motel. A couple of weeks ago she was preaching about how he could never be boyfriend material because he didn't own an iron. Now they were thick as thieves and even had managed to create inside jokes in just the little time they had been on the road. Something was up and Cali decided at that moment to get to the bottom of it.

The events that took place that June night still aren’t completely clear to me. For a while I actually wished that there would have been some sort of investigation so I could separate the facts from my own distorted memories. Here’s what I know, we checked ourselves into a dingy room in the hotel against my wishes and I watched the two of them cozy up with one another for half the evening. I don’t know if it was the sleep deprivation or the virus or the crushing weight of having to do yet another thing simply because Kadi wanted to, but something in me snapped that night. I’m not just saying this to avoid the legal ramifications if the world ever goes back to normal and there's a trial. I truly don’t remember killing them. I blacked out. It was as if I was outside of my body watching the entire violent battle. I could feel the knife in my hand and see the blood on my clothes, but I swear it wasn’t me. When I woke up the next morning I realized I had slept in the bed with both of their dead bodies. Part of me hopes that it was the virus but another part of me really doesn’t. Sure, John was a little annoying, but Kadi and I were sisters. Two halves of the same heart. How could my truth ever have been wanting her dead?