My name is Alyson. Well, it was. I had it all. I had the grades, the athleticism, and the friends, which happened to include Rachael, Jessica, Callie, Destiney, and Kelli. Now I have nothing, since all I am is a lonely soul. I still remember June 24th. It was my free day at the town pool, my favorite place to be when I wanted to be alone. It was the brightest and warmest day so far that summer in Tinytown, Louisiana. I had just kicked off the wall, when I was attacked and pulled under the water as hands covered my eyes. Everything blurred and seemed to drift away, and then I died.

I may be dead, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t see what my friends were doing. It had been about a week since I had died, and my friends were still a little scared of what might happen to them. Rachael, one of my closest friends, was taking all of this the hardest. For me, it was easy to see what she wanted to do. All she wanted was to find answers. She decided to find out who did this and why. I’m not sure why she decided this, but that’s what happens when your best friend is extremely outgoing. She finally convinced Jessica, Callie, Destiney, and Kelli that it was a good idea. Of course, she had to lead this little exploration on her own. As they thought about the night I died, they began to wonder if the police had missed anything at the scene of the horrendous crime. They walked over to our town pool, which was not a long walk considering that our town is so tiny, hence the name Tinytown. As my friends began going through the swimming locker rooms, they found some interesting discoveries, including Callie’s bookmark and necklace. She promised that she wasn’t there the day I died, but that’s pretty hard to believe when your evidence is in your hands and your best friend is dead. Well, that’s what I think Rachael must have been going through in her mind. Callie was definitely the number one suspect on my friends’ list and, since I had nothing to go on but what they found, she was my number one suspect as well.

Well, since she was one of my friends, no one really wanted to blame Callie for anything major like a murder just yet. I didn’t even believe it was her, even with the evidence. Callie never seemed to hold any grudges against me. As they searched more and more, Callie became more and more anxious. Kelli and Destiney found Callie’s calculator in one of my old swimming lockers. Even Jessica, who was never the first to blame anyone, began to think it could be Callie. Jessica found Callie’s novel that she had been reading about a week before stuffed in one the hampers at the main desk. As much as I hated to see it happen, my friends were plotting to tell the police about their discoveries. They wanted to make sure Callie wouldn’t run off into the distance so they were going to wait a couple of days before going to the police. I can’t say I was excited to find my murder, considering she was one of my best friends, but I was glad Callie hadn’t tried anything else on my friends. That night, all of my friends slept peacefully, knowing that they had found my murderer. Well, all of my friends except Callie, who still didn’t want to believe she was being blamed for such a horrific crime.

Rachael was the only one of my friends that wasn’t convinced about Callie. Destiney and Kelli, as usual, quickly accepted the idea that Callie was my murderer. They had never really liked her. Jessica, even though she didn’t want to believe it, saw no other options. Rachael, however, still felt like she was missing something, and it was something important. Outgoing Rachael wanted one last look at the crime scene. She walked over the town pool alone and began searching for anything they had missed. To her surprise, there was a recycling bin in the corner behind the main desk. She hadn’t really noticed it before, but what caught her attention was the fact that it had a month’s worth of paper in it still. As she peered into the bin, a single shard of paper caught her eye. Destiney’s handwriting was all over it. Destiney rarely even came to the town pool. She reached in and removed the paper. Someone really did not want the original note to be seen, considering it had been torn into at least forty pieces in a small cup. She pulled out the entire cup and set to work. There was no way she was going to ignore this piece of information. As she pieced the shredded paper together, she began to read its content. The note not only had Destiney’s handwriting, but also Kelli’s handwriting. The note contained the missing information that Rachael felt she needed. Everything could be explained by this note. Destiney’s first line began asking Kelli when they were going to kill me. She responded saying June 24th and gave the many details that no one but Destiney and Kelli knew. It told about how they were going to grab me, when they were going to do it, and they even began bragging about stealing Callie’s calculator, book, necklace and bookmark earlier that day. With this information, Rachael had her proof. Callie couldn’t have killed me. Destiney and Rachael were the people to blame. Rachael ran home with her taped note and immediately called Callie. She deserved to know that someone didn’t blame her for my death. She explained everything to Callie. Rachael then called Jessica and explained the story to her. Together, the three true friends ran to the police station and asked to talk to the detective covering my case. They could barely contain their excitement, joy, and fear. What were Destiney and Kelli planning now?

As the detective listened in awe, they explained Rachael’s discovery. They all jumped into one of the police cars and drove to Destiney’s house, where they caught to two girls red-handed. They were writing down plans on what they could do to convince Rachael that Callie had murdered me, since Rachael was the only person left that they needed to convince. With this piece of evidence, along with what Rachael had found, they could match the handwriting and lock up Destiney and Kelli. I still don’t know what was going through Rachael’s mind as she began searching again, but I am sure glad she was thinking it. My friends will be forever happy that they discovered the true murderers. Those jealous, supposed friends of mine were definitely crafty, but they were no match for my true friends. Even though I am dead, I still began to believe their lies. I guess I am just glad that they found my murderers, since that’s the only peace I could have while being dead. Rachael, Callie, and Jessica will forever be under my watch after giving me all I could ask for. All I wanted were the answers, and I definitely got them.