Rya and the rest of her senior class were all at the beach for senior ditch day. The administrators of her high school had heard about all the seniors planning to skip school one day and warned the students there would be consequences for missing school. It was already June and graduation was only one week away so the students decided to take the risk anyway because they didn’t think it was possible for the school to punish every single senior days before they would be given their diplomas. Although the students knew this day would be memorable, it wasn’t in the way they expected. Nothing would prepare them for the tragedy that was about to happen

The students were irresponsible with the alcohol they had brought and one of Rya’s classmates had been pulled farther and farther into the water by a current. Faith Samuels was too drunk to be in the water and was now so deep into the ocean she began to panic. Faith was Rya’s enemy since the 3rd grade. They had always had issues because they both wanted to be at the top of the class so they were always competing with one another, trying to prove who was smarter. Their rivalry began at the 3rd grade spelling bee when Faith had accused Rya of cheating in order to win. The anger they felt towards one another built up over time but Rya would never wish anything bad upon her. Right?

The lifeguard couldn’t reach her in time and she drowned. All the seniors were shaken up and couldn’t believe they had just witnessed a classmate die because of their careless actions. It was as if the weather had known what had just happened because it quickly became cloudy and gloomy. Everyone at the beach was silent and the only sounds that were heard were the police sirens and a medical team.

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Two days later the school held an assembly in remembrance of Faith and the auditorium was just as silent as it was when Faith was being pulled out of the water. Rya couldn’t begin to explain how she was feeling. Conflicted was the main emotion she felt and guilt was second to that. How could she tell anyone that she was the one who poured more alcohol into Faith’s cup without her noticing? Rya had never intended for the situation to end the way it did. She thought she could get Faith a bit more drunk than usual, Faith would embarrass herself in front of the senior class and no one would ever know. Now Faith is dead and Rya is to blame. She thought she was the only one who knew what she had done to Faith’s drinks and she was so very wrong. 

After the assembly Rya made her way to her locker so she could get her bag and go home. Once the locker opened a small piece of paper fell out of it and onto the floor.

“I know what you did and soon everyone will too -A” 

Rya shut her locked quicker than ever and held the tiny note close to her chest. She looked around the hallway for anyone that may have seen the note or if the person who wrote it was lurking around. The hallway seemed as normal as ever and no one seemed out of the ordinary but there was nothing normal about this. Someone knew her secret, the only question left was, how far will they push her before she cracks?