Philly waits all day.

Or at least it feels like that. In reality, requesting to her childhood friend on Instagram has been closer to three hours. But when you’re alone pretending to be dead, time goes much slower.

Having a mobile phone helps a little.

Trying out stupid games doesn’t take her mind off of her funeral, but it’s nice to have something to do.

She isn’t allowed to go outside, so being on the phone is the closest she’ll get to the real world. She yearns for the sunlight on her face, warmth blooming over her cheeks. Fresh breeze kissing her skin.

It’s just a dream right now.

When the notification comes up, she’s laying upside down on the couch. Bolting up, the blood instantly shifts directions, giving her a bit of a headache, but nothing can stop her now. She clicks on the pop up.

_BalleRina05 has accepted your follow request_

Bingo! It’s time to find out what happened to her.

And it begins with Rina.

They were the closest of friends once, but they drifted apart. Philly never really knew why. Her mom always said it had to do with different social groups. Rina mostly stayed in the dance group she was in. Philly made friends with academic and bookish girls.

Since she can’t talk to anyone too close to her in case of tipping off the perpetrator, she thought going to someone that she isn’t close to but was in the past could work.

Rina is someone who she knows she can trust but is not currently close to her. So Philly is following Officer Laura’s rule.

Her and Rina made a pact once. When they were eight, they pinky promised that no matter what happens, if one of them needs help, the other would lend a hand, no judgement.

She hopes to cash that in. Because she really needs it.

Now that she has the means to talk to her, how does she talk to her?

She can’t just say she’s Philippa without freaking her out. How does one approach their old friend about helping her solve her own murder?

Lying feels wrong, but at the same time, that might be her only option.

_Hello. I’m working on a piece for my school newspaper about Philippa. I heard that you used to be friends with her. Would you be willing to answer some questions about her?_

That seems fine. It’s not perfect, but it’ll have to do.

Her thumb hovers over the send button. It feels mean to pretend, but what else can she do? Forcing her finger down, she hits send.

She has to set down the phone and take some deep breaths. Her hands are trembling, like she a leaf in the wind, fighting for its life.

She can’t hear anything except her heartbeat which is genuinely freaking her out. Ever since the attack, every noise rattles her. But at the same time, she needs to be able to hear and see everything around her.

Dr. Stan tells her that this a normal response. That she likely has PTSD from the attack, and the uncertainty of the person behind it only heightens it for her. The thought that she could feel like this forever, keying into every sound and suspect every person, makes her physically ill.

Her phone pings which causes a skip in her heartbeat because realizing it was a notification from Rina.

_sure, i can answer a few ?s_

Her fingers tap over her screen. She needs to start slow. Going in too strong might scare her off. She can’t afford that. She settles on, _How did you know her?_ _What was Philippa like?_

Rina is on the ball because Philly sees the three dots appear immediately. She shouldn’t be surprised. Out of the two of them, Rina always had herself more together than Philly ever did.

_Philly was my childhood bestie_

_we met when we sat next to each other in KG, our moms would say we were like sisters_

Before she could stop herself, she types out a follow up question. _What happened? _

She shouldn’t be asking Rina this. It’s taking advantage of her since she doesn’t know that she’s alive, but she can’t help but question it.

The loss of their friendship broke a fifth grade Philly’s heart.

_i got 2 busy when i had dance and she got 2 busy being the smartest person in the room so we just stopped being friends_

Philly’s eyebrows raise at the last part. She can’t tell if Rina is saying it in jest or in sarcasm.

Did Rina blame her for their fallout?

_sry i realized i didn’t tell you much about her_

_Philly (when i knew her) was quiet but not in a shy way_

_you could just tell she was a thinker, she took things in and never forgot them_

_this 1 time i was sad cuz my parents forgot what i wanted for my bday, it was this stupid bracelet on this tv show i liked_

_but i didn’t even tell Philly about them forgetting but the next day she gave me that exact bracelet that to her i only mentioned like once_

Philly remembers the bracelet. Rina’s parents were great, but they got preoccupied easily with their jobs. They were often left to their own devices if they had a play date over at Rina’s house.

When Rina acted sad after her birthday, Philly had a pretty good idea why. Rina loved love. Or she used to at least. If you put any kind of thought into something, she would express her gratitude. She believed acknowledgement and thanks were valuable, even as a kid.

So when Rina wasn’t wearing the bracelet she talked about, Philly knew it had to be that she never received it.

_thats the kind of person Philly was_

There was an unexpected warmth that she felt knowing that Rina still thought about her like that. If that’s how she would be remembered, it’s not a bad memory to be known for.

_What about now? Did she have a lot of enemies? _She types. Maybe Rina has more insight from the outside looking in.

Because Philly can’t figure out who would hurt her.

She tries very hard to live a boring life.

_she was sarcastic, dedicated, devoted_

_literally smarter than everyone else_

_not the most adventurous person or fun but she was nice and at this school those are few and far between_

Ouch. Not the Philly would’ve characterized as fun either, but seeing another person say it out right like that was still a hit.

_no enemies, not that I know of, again we werent really friends in the past few yrs_

Makes sense. Philly wasn’t sure if she expected a different answer or not. With how everything has gone, she kinda thought Rina would answer with people who secretly hated her enough to want her dead.

But alas, no.

_What do you think happened to Philippa? _At this point, why not pose the question directly. Philly isn’t any closer to finding out who would have the motivation to attack her.

_i don’t want make assumptions or theories_

_If you aren’t comfortable, I won’t include your response to the question._

_ok pls don’t include this part, i just don’t want to add to the buzz or try off the police_

_but i always got a weird vibe from this guy who used to have a crush on Philly but im probably just looking 2 much into it_

_What was his name if you don’t mind me asking? I promise I will not include this as well. You can even screenshot this message._

_Jeff Bridges_

Philly guesses she found who to contact next.

———

(Hey everyone! I just wanted to say in the middle of July, I’ll be on vacation with my sister, so I won’t be posting for like 10 days. I’ll say it again closer to the time, but I just wanted to tell you so you won’t think _I_ went missing!)