We looked at each other, almost as if we were both waiting for the other to break the silence after my previous statement. He watched my face, my eyes, my hands, and then looked at the one way mirror behind his head. He turned back to me, then gestured to me to continue on.
"You have to know how I met her. You have to know the history of our friendship in order to understand who Lucy was. I'm about to tell you everything I personally know about her. Are you sure you have that kind of time?"
"I guess I'm getting a history lesson." Detective Cole rests his head on his arms. I swear there's a smirk on his face.
"I knew Lucy the longest. I met her when I was in kindergarten. Even then, Lucy was a force to be reckoned with." I smiled at the memory. It felt like it was just yesterday. "I was sitting on the swings by myself and Lucy was by the monkey bars surrounded by the girls in our class. She spotted me alone, so she walked over to me. She introduced herself, and I did too. I was a shy kid, and I think she knew that. She smiled at me, then sent the other girls away. Then she sat down on the swing next to me, and told me how things are run at her school.
She told me that her dad is the mayor of the town, and her mom is on the school board that runs the whole county school district. How a five year old girl knew so much, I'll never know. But the important thing to note was mommy and daddy were powerful people. She said that as long as we were friends, nothing bad could happen to me. I would be untouchable, just like her. I just said 'okay.' And she hugged me and said we're going to be best friends until the day she dies. How strange that she knew that. We were best friends until she died.
Then we met Sam in second grade. She was being picked on by a group of people, so Lucy walked over and screamed on the top of her lungs 'get away from her!' And everyone scattered. It was the scariest thing that I had ever witnessed from Lucy at that time. Sam thanked her and started walking away but Lucy grabbed her arm and asked 'where do you think you're going. I wasn't done yet.' Then, she gave her the same speech she gave me and gave her the same hug and whisper as me. We were best friends. Together forever. Just the three of us.
Then we met Ashley in fourth grade. Ashley was walking through the lunch line in the cafeteria and Lucy told us we needed someone like her in the group. So we all walked over to her, sat down, and introduced ourselves. Lucy went through the same speech that she did with us. The only difference was, Ashley didn't seem too impressed. She said that she can make her own friends in her own way.
Of course, Lucy didn't like that at all. So, she got in the way of Ashley making her own friends. Lucy would manipulate and deceive people to not be friends with Ashley unless she was her friend first. Eventually, Ashley became a part of our circle. Lucy surrounded herself with me, a pastor's daughter, Sam a police chief's and lawyers daughter, and Ashley a professor and pharmacist's daughter. All the people who would make her look good, keep her from getting in trouble, and someone to keep her 'honest'. Lucy knew what she was doing by making us her inner circle. To surround yourself with girls like us, she was practically untouchable. No fines, no arrests, no bad grades, morals, and so much more.
Anyway, so Lucy was always a person who got what she wanted. But she really started putting her power in action when we got into high school. Her parents ended up getting a divorce during our freshman year, and Lucy turned into this... I'm not sure what. But she was different. I've never watched a person grow so dark and cold like she did. It was like she was possessed.
She started manipulating and deceiving her way through life. If she wanted something, she just took it. She was always like that, but then she was worse. If a guy had a girlfriend, she needed him. It was like a game to her. She was competitive. If she was going to try out for a team, she needed to be captain. She needed the best grades, the best clothes, the best everything. And daddy just gave it to her. I think that was his way of taking care of Lucy when they were in the middle of a divorce.
You know how most people are considered small fish when they're freshmen in high school? Well, Lucy was never that. Everyone feared her. Everyone listened to her. Everyone loved her. But you see, Lucy knew what she was capable of. She knew what she could get away with. For every person that loved her, there was a person that hated her. And I mean, hated her. Probably enough to kill her.
Lucy was a lot of things, but manipulative takes the cake. She's the only one I have ever known to be like that. There were so many things she got away with. She blackmailed a teacher into giving her an A on her history report." He looked at me, and raised an eyebrow. I continued, "She had a picture of him having an affair with another one of our teachers. I saw the picture, and begged her not to do anything. But she used it against him for a long time. The other teacher too. She always had a way to blackmail people into doing what she wanted them too. Even her so called best friends." I gestured toward myself. "She blackmailed all of us. Got us to admit our deepest and darkest secrets, but never reciprocated the favor." My tone probably sounded resentful. Maybe even angry, but I was. I could remember things much more clearly now. I guess my mom was right, hindsight really is 20/20.
"Lucy was full of secrets. I'm not even sure if she knew the difference between a secret and a conversation anymore. Just to talk to Lucy, she could use anything she wanted against you. It was like she could see into your soul. There's no other way to explain it. I think she got so used to keeping secrets that she hid everything. She would hide her diaries, jewelry, dolls from when she was a kid, and everything. Looking back now, it was weird. I paused for a moment, "You asked me to tell you everything. And I'm willing to do that. But you have to promise me something in return."
"And what's that?" Detective Cole rose up in his chair and met my eyes.
"If I tell you my secrets... they stay my secrets. My parents can't know. My family can't know. The media can't know. And like I said earlier, you can arrest me when we're done if you want." He shook my hand. This is going to be one long weekend.