Koreana had waited all day to go over her friend Tom's house, but she wished that she had not when she got there that chilly November afternoon. Kori, (as she was called), knew before the incident that something was going on between her friends, but she had no idea that it was this intense. She and Donna, her friend since kindergarten, were merely bistanders to this whole thing. This fact held true for Kori, however, only before that day.
Kori arrived late since she had just left a literary magazine meeting, so she found her friends already at Tom's. Donna and Tom were sitting in his living room, discussing their newest project, an underground newspaper, that Kori was also working on. She saw her four friends in the main room. Austin had his arm around his girlfriend, Jade, as they read some of the articles, laughing since all the articles were created to make fun of certain teachers, issues, and other things that pertained to the school. Everything seemed to be going well.
Later, the group moved into the family room to watch "Singled Out" on MTV. They had been in there for a while when Donna rose from her chair.
I'll be right back," she announced. "Gotta use the bathroom."
When she was out of the room, Tom glanced at Jade quickly. "Anyone want any sodas?"
It only took a few words from Tom to bring Jade to life.
"Oh, sure! Sounds great!" she suddently exclaimed. "Need any help?"
"Yeah," Tom got up and headed out of the room.
"I'll help," Austin offered, as if he knew what was going on.
"No!" Jade replied. "I can do it, sweetie!" She gave him a quick kiss before leaving the room with Tom.
When they were gone, all that could be heard in the family room was the laughter of MTV. Kori looked over at Austin to see if she could figure out what was on his mind. His face was blank as he just stared at the screen. Finally, he rapidly moved down to the other end of the couch, closer to Kori, and blurted out, "Is it just me, or do they seem to be getting awfully close to one another?"
Austin turned to Kori. "Is there something going on between the two of them?"
"Do you want to know the truth?" Kori did not want to have to be the one to tell him what she had been witnessing for the past two or three monthes.
"Yes."
Kori nodded.
"For how long has something been going on?"
"About three monthes," Kori replied.
Austin sighed as he turned his attention back to the television. "Nice friends I have. And I considered Tom one of my best friends!"
"Well, I tried to get Jade to tell you!" Kori defended herself. "I didn't feel that it was my place to speak."
Austin and Kori were silent again, but this time, they heard more than MTV. They could also hear the unmistakable sound of kissing.
"Won't even try to hide it from me!" Austin mumbled as footsteps were heard outside the family room door. Austin quickly moved back to where he had been, before Jade and Tom entered the room.
"I have to go!" Austin stated, obviously discusted with the situation. He kissed his girlfriend goodbye, who gave him a small smile, and was gone.
As soon as Austin was out the door, Tom looked over at Jade with adoring eyes. For too long, they had been hiding the fact that there was something going on between them. Still, it was so obvious. They tried to be together a lot, and they did serious kissing.
Things were not that bad even though Kori was beginning to feel uncomfortable that Jade and Tom were doing this. It got worse when the other bistander began packing up her things.
"I have to go," Donna announced from the kitchen. "Can you guys walk me down to the variety store?"
So the four of them did. They sat around in front of the store, howling at the moon, laughing, and driving the store owner nuts. He had to come outside to tell them to cut it out.
When Donna was picked up, they headed back to Tom's house. Kori figured that Tom and Jade would end up making out when they got back, but it didn't happen. Instead, the three sat in the kitchen, talking about Austin.
"It's like I can feel him watching me," Jade spoke with a strange sound in her voice, one that was only present when she was scared.
Tom nodded. Jade stared off into space, and Tom closed his eyes. Kori knew that the two of them were both thinking of Austin, sensing his thoughts of them; however, Kori had a different idea about what was going on. Sure, Austin's presence was somewhat in the room. The reason why Jade and Tom were too afraid to make out was because they knew that Austin was thinking about Jade that very moment. Kori could picture what Austin was doing. She imagined him in her mind as he ran into his room, slamming the door behind him. Then, he fell onto his bed in tears. Austin knew something was going on with Jade. He knew that they were not as close to one another as they once had been, but now he had more facts to think about.
Tom's movement caused Kori's mind to come back to reality for the time being. He was turning on some music for Jade, because she did not want to hear silence. It scared her. Jade was trying to think of Tom, not Austin. The problem was that she couldn't. Austin was also watching her in the sense that his face was her conscience.
As the alternative music began to shake the house, the telephone rang. Of course, it was Austin. Tom was the one who answered, and he told us who it was. Jade figured that Austin had been listening to their conversation, but Kori thought that Austin must have been lonely and missed Jade.
When Tom hung up with Austin, he was angry.
"It's not fair!" Tom exclaimed. "We can never be at peace with Austin around! We're afraid to do anything! We've gotta do something about it!" Tom ran off to his room, shutting off the music on the way.
Jade and Kori ran after him.
"What are you going to do?" Jade asked.
The girls were too slow, because Tom was coming back down the stairs by the time they reached him. Jade and Kori saw at that point what was clenched in Tom's fist...
A knife!
"Wait!" Kori began. "What are you planning to do? You're not thinking of..."
"Not thinking of it," Tom shook his head. "Gonna do it."
To Kori's horror, Jade nodded. "Yes, that could be better. I mean, I guess it's been cruel the way that I've been cheating on him behind his back! We shouldn't make him suffer. Tom, go ahead!"
"What?!" Kori exclaimed. "Are you guys nuts?!"
Tom shook his head. "It's either this, or Austin will be on our backs for the rest of our lives!"
"Just tell him the truth! Tell him what's going on!"
"Austin's the one treating Jade unfairly!" Tom argued. "He's being overbearing! Kori, you don't understand this! You're totally wrong!"
"I think I understand this better than the two of you do!" Kori replied. "Now, Tom, give me the knife!"
When Tom would not, Kori reached for it. Tom moved his hand back, but Kori continued to go after the knife. Jade took Kori by the collar and moved her away from Tom. Tom put his knife in his pocket and turned to Kori.
"You're going to see it my way," he stated. "I'm sorry, but we'll just have to tie you up until it's all over! Jade, get my rope from my room!"
Jade nodded and ran upstairs. She had retrieved the rope quickly, and she was soon back in the living room. Jade saw that while she was gone, Kori had tried to take Tom's knife again, and Tom was holding it over his head. Jade again pushed Kori back. Tom took the rope and rapidly tied her to a chair.
Kori was unable to get loose as he did so; however, she saw Austin out on the porch, getting ready to come in.
"Austin, get out of here!"
Jade gagged Kori before anything else could be said.
"Now sit still!" Tom told her before he ran to the front door to greet his victim.
"Hey, Tom!" Austin greeted him. "Where's Jade?"
"None of your business!" Tom yelled, and a loud scream echoed through the house. What followed was silence, and one had more to fear than that right now.
Suddenly, Kori heard heavy footsteps in the next room. Tom was leaving the kitchen, his eyes to the floor as if he could find a way to get rid of his immense guilt from something the ground could say. He looked up at Jade in the living room who gave him a warm smile.
"You did the right thing!" Jade moved toward him. "And I'm real proud of you."
Tom gave her a nervous kiss. "We might as well untie Kori now. There's nothing left she can do."
Tom and Jade could barely untie Kori, because their eyes were not on the ropes.
"That was so romantic, Tom!" Jade finally exclaimed aloud when Kori was out of the ropes.
"You're free, Jadey! Free! You don't have to worry about him watching you ever again!"
Kori went immediately to the kitchen where she found Austin. The sixteen year old laid at the door, his arm draped over his eyes as if to prove that even in death, he was still hiding emotions within. Kori didn't move the hand. She didn't want to pry.
Kori knelt down and stared. Was it true? Had Tom really killed Austin? Kori's eyes searched for the knife, wondering where Tom had put it. When she found it, she nodded. She figured that it would be there. It was such a typical spot...
In the back.
Why had she just stood there for so long and allowed herself to be merely a bistander?
By Kellyanne Lynch
early 1995
