Inseparable

Chapter 1: Prologue - The Last Night

“I can't believe we are graduating tomorrow! World, here we come," Autumn cheered as she revved her old pick up to mimic her energy.

Piper smiled at her.

“What's up?" Autumn asked. “You've been awful quiet since I picked you up."

Piper brushed her bangs back.

“I'm fine. I just can't believe that this is it."

Autumn laughed.

“It? What do you mean? Our whole life is in front of us. High school was good, but this next chapter will be even better." Autumn looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Piper staring out the window.

“Hey, are you sure you're ok?"

“What?" Piper looked back at her. “Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. You're right. The next chapter will be the best."

Autumn looked at her suspiciously but gave up the interrogation. Piper must just be feeling the nerves of them finally being on their own soon. She decided to change the subject.

“So, Jackson and Dalton are gonna meet us all there, right?"

“Yeah, they said Johnny was going to drive them so we don't have to pick them up."

Autumn smiled. “Perfect! That way we have some girl time on our way up to the party and can leave whenever we want."

“What about Michael?"

Autumn's heart beat a little faster. She knew he'd be there, but she didn't want to deal with what she knew needed to be done.

“What about him?"

“He'll be there tonight too, right?"

Autumn rolled her eyes sarcastically at Piper.

“Of course he'll be there. Our whole class will probably be at the fire, happy to end the terror of high school," she joked, trying to hide her guilt.

She could feel Piper looking still looking at her.

“And he's my boyfriend."

“Are you still going to do it?"

Autumn sighed. “Yes, I am. I have to. I don't want to be with him and I shouldn't drag this out any longer."

“You know he loves you."

“I know, but I don't love him and he deserves better. Besides, we are all going off to college and this is our time to figure out who we are." Autumn repeated the words she had been telling herself for the last couple of weeks.

“And you are sure he's not a part of that?" Piper asked.

“You keep questioning me about this like I'm making a mistake." Autumn shot a look at Piper, who was still watching her. “Yes, I am sure. I don't want Mike the way he wants me."

“And you're sure it's not because you want to me with someone else?"

Piper's question caught Autumn off guard.

“What? What makes you think that?"

Piper shrugged. “I don't know, just thought I'd ask."

Autumn turned down the stereo as they pulled into the gas station.

“You're my best friend Piper, don't you think I would tell you if that was the case?" She put the truck in park and turned to face her friend.

Piper looked down at her lap and simply said, “Yes."

“Are you worried I'm gonna go back to Jackson?"

Piper looked startled. “What? No!"

“Good!" Autumn interrupted. “Because I'm not. I don't want anything to do with anyone around here. I'm ready to follow my passion and do my thing. And you should be too."

“What do you mean?" Piper asked.

“I know you like Jackson but you should embrace these new changes. There are so many other things out there we don't even know about. And even though we are going to different colleges, we still won't be far away and will always have each other. There will be plenty of 'Jacksons' to choose from for you."

Piper offered a faint smile. “You're right, just hard to see that right now."

“That's why I'm here." Autumn put her hand on Piper's and squeezed. “Now, I'm going to fill this beast up and we will head to the bonfire."

***

Autumn and Piper rolled up to where her class was having the fire and saw the majority of their class already there.

They were a ways up in the mountains at the same spot their group had had parties in the past, but now it seemed like a mini village with all the others there as well.

It wasn't a big school by any means, but it also wasn't a big town. And as the cliché goes, the teens had their share of parties, but most of their parents also knew about them. It was safer that way and most of the parents had realized their kids were going to do it anyway, so better that they knew about it and didn't make a huge deal.

Most had the same agreement Autumn had with her mom. If you drank, you stayed the night, plain and simple.

Unfortunately, Piper's parents were not on board with any of those ideologies, so Autumn had vouched for Piper, saying she was staying the night with her.

“Oh, look," Piper said. “Appears almost all 35 of us decided to show."

“Looks that way," Autumn replied as she glanced around to see what vehicles she recognized.

She knew who most of the vehicles belonged to, but not all. No surprise since they usually didn't hang with every person from class, but tonight was the night they all would mesh together.

“There's Jackson, Dalton, Mike, Cody and a couple others right over there," Piper stated, pointing at a small group gathered in a circle near the fire.

Autumn took a deep inhale and said, “Ok, well let's go join everyone so they know the party has officially started."

She was thankful Piper laughed at her usual joke, it helped herself relax as well.

Shutting their doors, the classmates looked over to see who had joined them.

Mike caught Autumn's eye, but didn't wave them over as the others did.

“Are you going to be ok?" Piper whispered as they slowly walked over to the others.

Autumn nodded trying to not let the pit in her stomach ruin her last night with friends.

“Are you going to do it right away?"

“No. I don't know. I'm gonna just kind of wing it. Is that dumb?" Autumn asked, hooking her arm through Piper's.

“No. But Mike looks like he already knows something's up."

“Right?"

Autumn was happy Piper noticed the glare she was receiving from her boyfriend.

Their classmates greeted them and went back to their drinks and conversations. The girls got to their little group and Jackson handed them both a beer.

“It's about damn time," Dalton said, elbowing Autumn as they expanded the circle for them.

She let out a nervous chuckle, looking at Mike.

His stare seemed so cold. Even if he knew she was going to break up with him, Autumn was still caught off guard by how cold he was being towards her.

“Hey," she offered.

Mike nodded at her in response but said nothing, returning his stare to the fire.

Jackson reached over to Autumn. “Oh, hey. You got something in your hair already." He pulled some ash out of her reddish-brown hair.

Mike suddenly spoke. “I need another beer." He headed towards a cooler and the disappeared.

“What is up with Mikey tonight?" Dalton asked, staring after him. “Are you guys cool?"

Autumn ignored the question.

“How long have you guys been here?"

Jackson answered for them all. “Oh, probably over an hour or so. We got here first to start the fires and get the good parking spots. But everyone else wasn't far behind."

Piper and the others started talking about something else, but Autumn wasn't paying attention. She was looking around at her class for the last time.

It was a beautiful night overall. It was dark, the stars and moon were out adding to the light the fire had to offer. She closed her eyes and listened to the crackling of the flames and filled her lungs with smoke and fresh air. The opposites mixed well in the evening, even though she knew tomorrow the stale smoke wouldn't be as attractive as it was now.

The smells mad her mind flash back to memories of hunting with her father when she was younger. Then she thought about graduation tomorrow. Her mind spiraled suddenly into all the things her father would never see her do. Graduate, get married, children…

“You with us Autumn?" she heard Cody ask.

Eyes fluttering back open, Autumn flashed her smiling mask at Cody. “Yes, sorry. The smoke just was in my eyes."

She looked around and noticed Piper was missing from the group.

“Where did Piper go?"

“I thought she was just grabbing us beer, but maybe she got distracted," Dalton answered, looking around.

“I'll go see if she got stuck talking to someone," Autumn offered.

Jackson stepped around the fire. “No, you stay here, I'll go see if I can round her up. Maybe she needs some muscle." He flashed a smile and headed towards the other groups of people.

“So, are you going to tell us what's going on with you and Mikey?" Dalton asked.

“Yeah, he's been a real dud since we got here," Cody piped in.

Autumn didn't want to share, but she knew they wouldn't let up. Plus, maybe if she told them, it would force her to just go and get it over with.

“I'm breaking up with him."

Cody let out a low whistle.

“That'll do it," Dalton observed. “But does he know already or just assumes something's up?"

Autumn shrugged.

“You know, he like, loves you a lot. He's going to be heartbroken."

Dalton smacked Cody in the back of his blonde head.

“Yeah, pretty sure she knows that, moron."

“Thanks, that helps a lot," Autumn retorted, handing her beer to Dalton and heading away from the fire.

“Where are you going?" Dalton called.

“To pee, if that's alright with you two," she yelled over her shoulder.

***

Autumn zipped her jeans back up and looked towards the party. She still couldn't see Jackson, Piper or Mike. And now it looked as if Dalton and Cody had wandered off as well. Then again, she noticed a lot of people had paired off or were wandering around the meadow talking.

“I better find Mikey and just do this," she mumbled to herself.

She knew he wasn't around the majority of people, so she decided to keep into the trees and see if she could spot him sulking somewhere.

'He must know something's up, he's never been this cold,' she thought as she kept peering between trees here and there.

Autumn knew he hadn't left yet, or his car wouldn't still be there. So where had he gone?

As she circled back around, she saw Piper was back at the fire, but still no Mike.

Autumn caught Piper's eye and was about to walk back over and ask for help until she heard a loud snap. Whipping her head around to where the noise came, she couldn't see anyone. It had come near the edge of the trees where the lake was.

She heard another snap and a ruffle of sounds, the silence. Hoping it was Mike, Autumn headed over to the noise. Once she reached the clearing, her heart stopped.

Mike was laying face down in the edge of the lake, covered in blood.

“Oh my God," she breathed, trying to understand what she was seeing.

“Mike? Mikey…" she whispered, walking slowly towards her boyfriend's lifeless body.

Snap.

Autumn spun around towards the noise and everything went black.