The sun hung low in the sky as Sadie sat on the front porch stairs. There was a slight breeze passing through the forestry, but Sadie’s skin was warm and she was thank-full for her choice to wear short shorts that morning.

She looked out, watching the trees which surrounded the old cabin, and focussed on the slits of fading sunlight which were sneaking through the slight gaps in the trees.

Sadie loved it here, the cabin reminded her of family, friends and good times in long summer days.

She was disturbed from her quiet contemplation when Parker burst out of the cabins front door.

‘Can we go somewhere?’ Parker asked desperately, sitting down on the stairs, one above Sadie.

‘Why? It will be dark soon’ she warned her friend.

‘I’m bored, and there’s a lake a few minutes from here, didn’t you say?’

‘Yeah’ Sadie nodded, ‘I guess we can go swimming’

‘Awesome, I’ll grab some swimming trunks and tell Deon' Parker said, getting up and heading towards the door.

‘What about Rose and Ben?’ Sadie asked and Parker stopped, turning around with a smile playing on his lips.

Parker laughed slightly, ‘From the sounds coming from upstairs, I don’t think they will take us disturbing them too kindly’

Sadie giggled, and felt a surge of happiness for her best friend. In the past year, Sadie had seen her friend go from broken and destroyed to the happy, self-assured girl she was today. Christopher hadn’t been a great friend of hers, but still, his quick decent to murderer had shocked her to her very core. Benjamin was nothing like Christopher, he wasn’t quick to anger and he treated people with respect. Sadie was glad that her two friends had gotten together, but something about what happened that day a year ago never made sense to Sadie.

<>Just Over One Year Ago<>

Sadie walked down the hallways of her school taking pleasure in the jealous looks that followed her. Students were awaiting first period, talking and laughing in the halls. The arm around Sadie’s waist tightened and she leant into the boy walking beside her.

Mark had dark curls, a handsome figure and a signature grin that would make any girl swoon. He was one of Sadies many boyfriends, but this one, well, he was her favourite. Whenever they walked through the halls Sadie would relish in the jealous glances that other girls sent her.

Mark was the sort of guy who slept around, but he never looked at those other girls when Sadie was on his arm, which only angered those jealous girls and Sadie loved that.

‘Want to come to my place tonight?’ Mark said low in her ear and his breath caressed her neck.

Stopping in the middle of the hallway, Sadie was pressed up against the lockers against the wall, enticing a giggle out of her. Mark lowered his lips to hers, and she pressed her weight onto her toes as she leant upwards to catch his lips quicker. The kiss went from lips to tongue and teeth after only a few seconds and Sadie felt Marks hands wonder over her body. After a few stolen moments Mark pulled back slightly and Sadie hoped that their public display of affection wasn’t drawing too much of the wrong kind of attention. As much as Sadie liked attention, she didn’t like being known as a slut, so she usually tried to keep the PDA to a minimum, at least on school grounds.

‘So, you coming over tonight?’ he asked, and Sadie had no questions about what he had planned for them.

So, much as Sadie would have loved to eat cheap pizza and spend the night in Marks room doing things her mother wouldn’t exactly approve of, she shook her head, ‘Can’t, Rose is coming to mine tonight to work on a project’

Mark groaned, ‘Can’t you ditch her and come see me?’

As tempting as that was, Sadie forced a pout, ‘Can’t, projects due tomorrow, but what about tomorrow night?’

‘Sounds good’ Mark smiled, pressing his lips to hers once again.

The bell sounded and Mark groaned and pulled away, ‘I have to go to class, where are you going?’

He said that like he would walk her there, but he probably wouldn’t, ‘I have free period, but I’ll meet you at lunch?’

‘I have practice’

His presence at lunch wasn’t something she was looking forward too much anyway, he and Christopher didn’t really get along and she didn’t want things to get awkward between her and Rose, who would get upset whenever her boyfriend would get upset.

‘Aww’ she pouted, hoping he didn’t notice the insincerity, ‘I’ll miss you Babe’

‘Bye Babe’ he kissed her again before walking off, and Sadie then noticed that the hallways, which had been filled only moments ago, were now bare.

Mark’s retreating figure was all that was left in the quiet hallway and Sadie decided to go to the library.

Sadie wondered through the halls slowly and was surprised when she heard the low murmur of voices. She recognised them instantly, and their tones conveyed that whatever they were speaking of was private.

Sadie wasn’t the type of girl to shy away from gossip so when she realised that the people were just around the corner, she stayed where she couldn’t be seen and quietly listened to what was spoken.

‘- is totally not right for her’ a low voice spoke, who she recognised as Benjamin.

‘I agree, he is just going in a downward spiral and she doesn’t even see it’ This voice was Parkers. 

‘He punched me yesterday for “looking at her too much”’

Sadie remembered the light bruise on Benjamin’s cheek when she had seen him briefly before she met up with Mark, and when she had asked him about it she told him that it was a basketball accident from when he was playing with Deon last night.

Sadie wondered who they were speaking about.

‘He really did that? Did Rose see?’

Rose? They were talking about Rose?

‘No, he waited for her to go inside. I just wonder, if he is this aggressive with everyone else, then, what is he doing to Rose?’ Benjamin said to Parker.

Parker sighed, ‘I get where you are coming from, but she has never said anything to us about him being anything but nice to her. Ben, I know you like her but..’

‘This isn’t about me liking her’

‘Are you sure?’

‘What are you implying Parker? You don’t want to go through with the plan now?’ Benjamin’s voice was angrier now, but his tone was still low.

‘I don’t know what to say Ben, it just seems wrong’

‘Wrong!? Wrong is the way he is so obviously using her, wrong is the way that he treats us’

The voices then got lower and lower until it was clear that Benjamin and Parker had left the hallway.

 Sadie realised that they must have been talking about Christopher, who else would punch Benjamin for looking at Rosalie too much?

Sadie had decided that she should leave the situation alone, Benjamin and Parker were probably just being stupid. Everyone knew that Benjamin and Christopher had a love/hate relationship, they would sort it out on their own.

Sadie then made her way to the library, and later on, at break, everyone seemed normal, so Sadie disregarded what she had heard earlier.

<>Present<>

Looking back on that memory she wondered what had happened. She knew that Benjamin had walked in on Christopher and some girl from school making out or something that morning and he had told Rose, which lead to her breaking up with Christopher that afternoon just before school finished. The identity of the girl, in question, who had made out with Christopher had never been told to her, and it seemed a too delicate question to ask.

Her thoughts were disturbed when Parker emerged once again from the house, a towel in hand and Deon at his heels.

‘Come on Sadie, get your swimmers’ Parker smiled at her, and Sadie shook off the bad feelings her memory of that day stirred up inside her and went inside, exchanging a flirty glance with Deon as she passed him.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

The second that Sadie arrived at the lake with the guys Parker tore his shirt over his head and started running and within a few moments he was immersed in cold water.

‘IT’S SO COLD!’ he called out to her and Deon who were standing at the edge, laughing at his eagerness and total disregard of the cold water.

Sadie watched as he ducked back under the water and focused on putting her bag down. She took off the t-shirt which was covering her bikini and tried to hold back the smile that pulled at her lips as she saw Deon blatantly checking her out.

To be fair, the second that Deon's shirt was off, Sadie was practically drooling. She tried to avert her eyes, but his abs were to die for, and the way the fading sun hit his chocolate brown skin made him look like an angel against the dark trees around him.

‘Sadie, you’re drooling’

Sadie was knocked back to reality by the deep voice of the man she was standing next to. Her eyes lifted to his and she saw the amusement held in them. For a second she though that he might be teasing her, but his smile was kind.

‘Maybe I was’ she said, walking towards him as seductively as someone could when walking through muddy uneven grass while trying not to fall into the lake located quite close to her.

He smiled broader with each step, and when her body was only inches from his, Deon wrapped an arm around her waist.

‘We are friends’ he said, but the intended resistance to the situation didn’t exactly flow through his voice.

‘Why can’t we be more than friends?’ Sadie said with a confident smile on her face, and that was all Deon needed.

The man used the arm wrapped around her to puller her closer, until their lips met in a passionate collision.

‘KNEW IT!’ Parker suddenly screamed out and Sadie jumped in Deon’s arms. Sadie turned her head to see Parker standing waist deep in the water, a smile on his face.

‘Come on’ Deon grabbed Sadie’s wrist, leading her into the water. Sadie smiled as his warm hand held hers, and even though the water was cool, the warmth radiating from her hand seemed to take her mind off of it.

As they got deeper into the water, Sadie got a weird feeling, like she was being watched. It was darker than before, but she could still make out most of her surroundings in the low light, the warm orange of the setting sun bathed the trees and water around her. She looked around, not expecting to see much, but she gasped when she saw a dark shadow among the trees. The figure was a flash of darkness, but its silhouette looked like a person. In all of the years that Sadie had been going to the cabin, she had only seen a handful of people in these forests.

‘Deon?’ she turned towards the man whose hand was linked to hers, ‘Do you see that?’

Deon turned and with her free hand Sadie prepared to point towards the dark figure, but where the figure once stood was now just empty space. She flung her head around, trying to locate the person or thing that she saw, but had no luck.

‘See what?’

‘Uh’ Sadie shrugged, ‘Nothing, I think I saw an animal or something’

‘Don’t worry, I won’t let you get mauled by a bear’ he joked but Sadie didn’t even smile, a frown stayed on her face as that feeling of being watched loomed in her stomach.

‘Sadie?’ Parker’s voice startled her and she drew her focus from the trees to look at her friend.

‘Yes?’

‘You look pale, are you alright?’

‘Yeah, I’m fine’

‘Good’ Parker smiled before splashing a wave of cold water against her, wetting her hair and causing her to laugh.

‘I am going to get you!’ She let go of Dion’s hand and chased after Parker, all other thoughts disappearing from her mind.