"We have reason to understand you were his best friend"
Ivan did not reply, he was shaking, visibly, he felt like he was about to vomit. The news of his best friend's death had spread like a rampaging flood, everyone knew Toby Esquire was his best friend, they had even before he passed, but the redundant police officers had decided that everytime he was questioned, they would ask the same questions over and over again.
He clutched his stomach as he heard it growl, he hadn't eaten anything all day, honestly, he hadn't eaten anything in awhile, it wasn't like he would be able to stomach anything anyway. Ever since he got the news of Toby's death, Ivan hadn't been able to put any sort of food in his stomach, he felt like he had been holding down his puke since the day Toby had passed, both puke and tears combined.
Anything he ate almost immediately came back up, and the strong desire not to barf combined with the constant disgust of all his meals had sent him to go a month of near self starvation.
Now, as he sat the police station being investigated, the annoying police officer's questions seemed to be agitating his already severe hunger.
Ivan sighed and looked up, "I already answered that question a million fucking times" he voiced, nothing but pure venom and irritation lacing his tone, he had every right to be rude, he was starving, he lost his best friend a month ago and he was being questioned by two irritating police officers who would rather sit and interrogate innocent people instead of going out to look for the real killer.
The word 'Innocent' rang in his mind, was he innocent?
Ivan was no fool, he knew the aggressive attitude of an angry person, especially when said person was also drunk and had access to a knife. He had tried to paint every single scenario where he would be removed from the crime, but all the evidence seemed to lead back to him.
He didn't want to believe he had murdered his best friend, but he knew the chances he did seriously outweighed the opposite.
"Mr Santana" the police officer was talking again, Ivan clutched his stomach harder. "We need to be absolutely certain of your relationship if we're to...." Ivan cut him off.
"No, fuck that, I can't take this, I'm not feeling well..... can I go, I... it's the first day of school" he said. The guilt was already eating at him, he didn't need anymore pressure from the police's so called investigation.
The two officers looked at each other, both of them clearly sensing the teenage boy's frustration. Eventually, they nodded, allowing him to go. Ivan didn't waste anytime, he grabbed his backpack and was eager to storm out. He walked to the parking lot where his father was waiting for him.
* * *
Sergio's voice was a mere whisper, Ivan had tuned him out a long time ago, the teenage boy's mind was fixated on his best friend, he knew Toby had enemies, in fact, half of the school's population had hated him, but he just couldn't help but feel a certain amount of shock that someone had actually decided to end his life, in a rather brutal way at that. Were there people who actually hated Toby this much, the thought fazed him. The fact that someone hated his best friend so much they wanted him dead, he allowed himself to remember that that 'someone' could also be him. The thought made him groan.
Why couldn't he just remember that happened that night, if he did, it would be way easier to be certain of his part in the murder, he didn't remember, however, and he would have to deal with that.
He still couldn't believe, though, that Toby, the person who had been laughing with him just a few weeks ago was gone forever. How could he get used to being without him, how could he come to terms with the fact that he would never see him again.
Ivan squeezed his eyes shut and kept the tears that he hadn't let slip out back in their docs, Toby might've offended a lot of people but did he really deserve to die. Did he ?
He found himself thinking about every single person Toby had offended, the ones he knew about anyway, and he saw it, the light, pale face of the girl Toby had really destroyed. He remembered the first time he had ever seen her.
* * *
(2 months ago)
They both sat down on the hood of the car, Ivan, with a cigarette in hand, and Toby, a bottle of whiskey, the car was parked in front of the school. Every now and then, Toby would holler at someone, and a bunch of insults would follow his banter.
Ivan would pretend to find it funny when Toby would call some unlucky girl 'flatassed' or 'fat', he didn't particularly like it, though, he didn't have any courage to actually insult anyone, but he didn't have the decency to tell his best friend to stop either, so he didn't believe he had no right to judge him.
As Toby insulted a passing girl, his dark brown eyes landed on a head of blonde hair in the moving crowd. Her eyes were a striking light blue, hidden behind the thickest frame of glasses Toby had ever seen, she moved gently and kept her head down, only glancing up a few times to see where she was going, she manoeuvred her way gently, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible. However, her attempt failed.
Toby nudged Ivan by the side, who turned and muttered a gentle "hm?". Toby pointed at the girl, his eyes taking on a mischievous glint. "Do you see her?" He asked.
Ivan nodded "yeah, what about her?"
He returned.
Toby smirked, "guess what her name is." He said.
Ivan gave a shrug.
"Hannah" Toby said, still smirking.
Ivan didn't understand, his eyes brows scrunched together in confusion. "So?" He asked.
"Hannah Montana" Toby finished. Ivan finally understood, the fact that the girl coincidentally had the same name as the fictional popstar, he finally understood the humour in his best friend's voice.
"No shit, really" he laughed.
Toby nodded. "Yhup. And you know what I'm gonna do to her?" He asked, his voice has suddenly taken on a darker tone, and he had begun to squeeze the bottle in his hand so hard it looked like it would break.
Ivan glanced at his best friend, the confusion back in his face, he shook his head as an answer to Toby's question.
Toby smirked, the mischievous glint back in his eyes as he answered "I'm gonna make her pay"
* * *
(Now)
Ivan thought back to Hannah, and the horrible plan his best friend had pieced together to ruin her life, but he couldn't bring himself to be surprised. Toby had always been selfish like that, he harmed anyone who he had a problem with and didn't care about who would get hurt in the process, he had hurt Hannah, for a reason that was still unknown to Ivan. However, it didn't matter, it didn't matter if Toby hurt Hannah, she wasn't the only person his best friend had severely destroyed, and it wouldn't be fair to accuse her of his murder without evidence.
Sergio's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Son, are you listening?" Ivan looked to see his father staring at him with a worried expression.
"I'm sorry, dad, you were saying?" He asked. He hadn't meant to zone out, but his mind was doing just that a lot these days.
"Just...don't stress yourself out too much, okay? I know you're still hurt but don't think too much about it and if you need to leave early, don't hesitate to call me okay?" Sergio smiled at his son, eyes showing compassion.
Ivan smiled back at his father, a forced, fake smile that held no emotion except sadness, but a smile nonetheless. He grabbed his backpack out of the backseat and got out of the car, making his way to the school building. The sound of his father's car leaving struck his ears and he was left alone.
The thought of Toby hit him again and he sighed, Toby Esquire might've been a bad person, but Ivan couldn't live without his best friend, he didn't want the person who killed his best friend to go free either. Ivan wanted justice
Yes, TOBY ESQUIRE was SELFISH and he didn't think twice before hurting anyone, but he was Ivan's friend and Ivan wanted justice.