Now, the best choice probably would have been to tell an adult or the police, but that's not what I plan to do.

Avery gets to school in 2nd period and I catch up with her in the hall, "Hey! Have you seen anyone from our table?"

     She shakes her, just as worried, "No. I'm scared..." She should be. She'll be even more scared once I tell her about my threats. She needs to know, I think she may be next.

     "Avery, there's something I've been hiding. I need to tell you. Can you meet in the bathrooms at 10:27?" I say. She nods. I walk into Latin and sit down. It's 10:15.

     My teacher starts her PowerPoint. "Today we are talking about the first declension!" She says, a little too to excited. Three slides in I raise my hand, it's 10:26. She calls on me.

   "May I go to the bathroom?" I ask.

   She nods, "Just sign out." I do and wander into the girl's bathroom.

    Avery walks in, "What is it?" I take a deep breath and turn on my phone.

   "I've been getting texts from an anonymous number. It's from the murderer. He's been threatening me...." I start.

     She gasps, "Me too." I hand her my phone and she pulls up the texts on hers. Her threats are related to the attacks, not the murders. I might not know Jackie Fletcher, but Avery did. She's her housekeeper.

     I knew I recognized Jackie's face. She shakes her head, "This isn't right."

    I nod, "I know..."

    She hands me my phone, "What do we do?" Simultaneously, we receive a text message.

     I read it out loud, "Ah, sweet girls. I see you've figured it out. Who is next? Your friends are fearing... I kill the first in four hours... Remember: Hush, Hush.... No police, no parents, no teachers, no anyone. Bye bye now. Good luck." I cover my mouth and try not to cry. The sight of Avery crying makes it so much harder. Tears end up running down my face. I don't know what to do. What can I do? They have already been kidnapped... I pace and try to think. What could I do? What can I do? What will I do? The answer is not much, I'm so scared to die.

      I stop pacing, "Avery. If we are going to die anyway why not tell someone?"
     She shakes her head, "I'm scared, what if they lock us in prison because they think we're faking it?" That's a possibility. We are reminded by it when our "friend" texts us back.     
     "They will believe you until they get a special package in the mail. It'll be seventeen photos of you looking very guilty. Now, you could show them this message, but it's disappearing in 10 seconds," the message reads. I'm so angry. I clench my fists and pace faster. I fall to the floor, letting out a huge "ugh." Avery picks up her phone and throws it at the wall. It shatters and bends. I stare in disbelief, she had the newest iPhone. She got it a week ago.

She laughs, this evil and psychotic laugh and glares. I stand up, almost scared of my best friend.

    "How could we be so stupid?" She blurts, after her laugh leaves us in silence. I'm still confused.
    "What?" I say, staring into her eyes.
    "We can't hear from the murderer if we don't have our phones..." She says. She's right, but I won't be destroying my phone over it.  
      "Okay, good point. I think I'll just hide mine in my gym shoes. I can pretend I lost it..." I say.
       "That works too," Avery says, "We should go back to class." I frown.
      "I do not want to go back to class..." Avery's classic mischief face appears.
"Then let's skip." She says.

Most days I would have rejected Avery's offer immediately. Today, however, I felt mischievous. So, I agreed.

    "Where should we go?" She asks, once we've left the school.
    "We could go got to the movies or something..." I say.
     "Uh, no. I finally got you to take a risk, we aren't just going to go to the movies," she says. My heart is pounding with a mixture of fear and excitement.
       "Where are we going?" I ask.
       "Well, it's 11:00, so I was thinking we could go get lunch and go shopping. Then, tonight, can I convince you to take another risk?" She asks.
        "Sure?" I say, already looking forward to it. She smirks.
       "Okay. We're going to get you a sexy outfit, because tonight we're going clubbing."

"Clubbing?" I ask. She nods, getting into her red convertible.
       "I've never been..." I say. She rolls her eyes,    
       "Obviously. That's why we're going to go shopping..." I buckle my seat beat.
      "Define 'sexy outfit.' What do you mean?" She turns out of the school and laughs.
      "What?" I say.
     "Well, we'll start with a dress. Then, heels. Maybe lingerie?" She asks.
       "Woah...woah...no way." I say.
       "Come on! I know you probably won't, but what is going to happen if you get laid. What bra do you have? Wonder Woman?" She jokes, but it's true.
        "Okay, fine... but I don't think I'll show them off," I say.
      "We'll see how that changes once your drunk," She remarks.
      "Drunk? We're drinking?" I say. She doesn't even hesitate to say, "Duh." This is bad.
      "That's illegal!" I say.
      "Right, goody two shoes, look we'll have fake IDs and I'm friends with the owner. We won't get in trouble." She says. It doesn't relive my fears, but I do want to get my mind off things. Things have been to bad recently, I guess I could have a little fun. Hopefully, it won't result in my arrest.

We get to the mall and it dawns on me, I can't afford a new dress.

     "Avery, there is no way I can buy a new dress plus shoes plus..." I start.
     "I wouldn't force you to go to the mall and buy a dress. I'll pay for it. It's not like my parents care. Less time they have to spend shopping with me..." She says. I feel bad for her, that must be why she's a wild child. Her parents have never been involved.

We walk into Dillard's. She leads me up to the dress department.
     "Okay, first lets pick a color," she says. Avery holds up a bunch of different colors before grabbing a hot pink dress.
     "Yes! Pink is so your color. Let's go find every pink dress..." The first dress she picks up is bright pink with a gold zipper running along the front. You could unzip it like a coat... She shows me another dress, this one has two straps in the front, but a web of them in the back. The next dress is a little longer, but not by much. The length didn't matter, the left side had a huge slit running up it, stopping at the hip bone. She grabs one final dress, I don't get a chance to peek before she pulls me into the dressing rooms.

She sits down on the waiting couch and hands me the first dress, "Try it on, then come out and show me." I do, it fits...like a glove.    
      "Okay... unzip it a little. Show some cleavage." She nods, "Maybe... try on the rest"
I do, but she isn't pleased with any of them. I grab the last dress. It's two pieces. I put it on and discover how short it is. You can see most of my legs. The top's neckline is low with an attached necklace. It has thick straps and a cropped waist. It shows off a lot.
        "That's the one..." Avery says.

Between dresses, Avery picked out a pair of heels. Once I change back she shows them to me.
    "Can you walk in these?" I try them on.
    "I can, they are really high, though." She shrugs.
    "They look good. Let's go check out." She buys them with her shiny credit card.
     "Lunch?" She suggests.
      "Sure." I say. I hope she's forgotten about the lingerie. She hadn't. After a brief lunch in the mall cafeteria we go into Victoria's Secret. She browses for me, knowing my lack of knowledge in the sexy department.

She spots a lacy black set and asks one of the workers to size me for it. Magically, unlike another other bra I've ever worn, it fits perfectly. Normally, I have to try on six thousand before I find one that remotely fits. After checking out we go home. I hide the bags under my bed, my mother would question my purchases.

After an awkwardly quiet dinner with my parents and brother, I go up to my room. I wait under I can hear the snoring in my parents room before I even change. I put on my new outfit and plot the best way to sneak out. I have no doubt my brother is still awake, so I have to be quiet. He'll snitch, I know it. I text Avery and she tells me to be ready in ten minutes. I do the last touches of my makeup and make a plan to sneak out my window. Luckily, I scored the only first floor bedroom. I wait to put on my heels and slip out the window. I land in the bush, it was not comfortable. I walk up my street a little, Avery parked farther away. I get in the car and put my shoes on.

    "No issues?" She checks.
     "No, I think I managed to sneak out. My only problem will be sneaking in." She laughs.    
      "We'll worry about that later, now we get to have fun."

We go to a club three towns over, the biggest city nearby. She hands me a fake ID,  
     "Confidence is key." I show it to the guard dude and he lets me in. Avery makes it through easily too. She smirks.
      "Step one, get drunk..." I stare at her, horrified.
      "What's step two?" She laughs, taking her first shot from a waitress.
     "You'll see, but step six is getting laid."