Written: March 2, 2020

Writing Prompt: Opening Line

Dear Reader, I wish I could tell you that you’re going to like this story.

But at some point we made a pact, didn’t we? I would write about everything that happened, no lies, and your reading it constituted your agreement for no judgement of me. Because let’s be honest, I don’t need or care for your judgement.

Revenge isn’t something I thought I would become obsessed with. Boy bands, book boyfriends, women on tv when I started to realize that I was bisexual, sure. College for a few minutes, a career and making money, and then whether or not I wanted a family and the whole traditional life. Those all took a few minutes of time and obsession.
Oh no wait, I did promise not to lie, didn’t I? So scratch everything after college. I didn’t get past that yet. But college? I did obsess about that. What is a normal experience? How much partying is required of me? Will my dorm mates become my best friends? Will going with them on spring break to an island off the East Coast result in me going missing for six years?

Okay, maybe the last one wasn’t something I thought about, until my sophomore year of spring break. The early worries of friends and socialization were fruitful; I had ended my freshman year with college friendships that survived the summer. I even ended up with roommates in the upper class dorms. I had decided on a major and a minor…I was every parents’ perfect, ideal college student. Yes, okay, I am looking back through rose colored glasses. You had to know that would happen. But really, I couldn’t complain about anything that doesn’t seem inconsequential now. Now that I’ve escaped from the hell I was placed in for six years. (We’re getting there. Don’t huff at me.)

There is something about being trapped with just your memories for …human company. I have reevaluated the decisions of Spring Break for hours, days, weeks… but I’m sure they’ll tell you I am making it up in the end. The facts as I remember them are as follows:
Spring Break is in the ungodly month of March for universities. High schoolers seem to get the warm month of April, where beaches are consistently warm and not a game of Russian roulette. Knowing this, Kathie (the first on my revenge list) decided that we should take advantage of the cooler weather possibilities and book a small hotel on an island about 200 miles off the coast of Maryland. It’ll be exclusive, she had promised, we’ll have the island pretty much to ourselves. And cheaper as it is March and still off season.

And so the eight of our group nodded in agreement. I haven’t fully explained my friend group have I? My apologies…part of that is because I view them so differently now. So let’s a take look at who they were six years ago, shall we?

• Katie King, the unofficial leader of the group. You already are picturing her as a stuck up bitch, are you? She wasn’t though. She was one of those girls that could be genuinely nice to everyone. Made friends where ever she went. We were roommates freshman year, and had become suite mates my Sophomore year. She’s the reason it was so easy for the news to twist the story around my disappearance.
• Lauren Lane, her second. Lauren was a physics major, introverted and agreed with most things Katie said. She wasn’t a pushover, she just was likely not paying attention when you talked. But she was great at letting go and partying. My freshman suite mate, who became Katie’s roommate Sophomore year.
• Amy Allen was the fourth in our freshmen dorm room. I loved Amy like the sister I didn’t have. We instantly connected in our ability to be extroverted when needed, but our love to hide and read or watch crappy tv while Katie and Lauren went out on Wednesdays. Maybe I loved Amy more than a sister. Maybe that’s why what happened, happened.
• Lincoln Lowe. Oh I look forward to destroying Lincoln. I had met Lincoln at orientation, a tall lanky boy who always seemed to be talking about something. There was something about him that I was instantly smitten with, a crush that ran fairly deep, even though I never did anything about it. At the time, I thought I was the reason he had joined our group — our group centered around the four of us who roomed freshman year obviously. But much later I came to realize he had known Lauren and Katie since they were kids. Why hide that?
• Theodore Traynor joined our little tight-knit group as he was Lincoln’s only roommate he could stand. Theo was our group’s athlete, and freshman year was spent going to cheer him on before going to parties. He was considered sweet and kind, quick witted and smart. The whole package, represented by a scholarship for both basketball and academics. I hear he and Katie are planning their wedding for next summer too.
• Jacob Jones, our group slack off, I guess. That one guy that is always in your group and you aren’t sure how he joined, or why you let him stay? But you do and he does, frustrating everyone with lewd stories and coming through with the drugs or alcohol you need. Oh maybe that’s why we kept him around. In someways, he is the last person on my revenge list. Perks of being knocked unconscious when it happened.
• Our final member, Walwyn Walker or Wyn, was also the newest. He and Amy began dating at the start of our sophomore year. He may be the reason I was questioning my feelings for Amy (never openly — I wasn’t a creep. Come on. You promised you wouldn’t judge.) Wyn knew Katie and Lincoln through some classes, and they all seemed to get along well. In some ways he was the most natural fit for our spring break group.

There. Now you know who was on our trip, and coincidentally, the first seven names on my revenge list. Are you ready to find out more?

Word count: 1014