This town will never be the same as the accidental death of Jacob White sweeps its way through the news.
He was your typical highschool student, the type that you would usually see in the movies; he was popular, played football, and, as predicted, he could sometimes have been a bit of an asshole, in spite of this though he was still popular.
His parents are one of the richest families in town, but they were not the best parents, neighbors, or even the nicest people in general, they were mean and ruthless and cruel, which a lot of people argue is the reason that the twins, Jacob and Natasha, are the way that they are.
The day that he drowned, he was visiting Nila lake with his sister, Natasha, she was found by the edge of the water some hours later.
“Jacob” she whimpered as she saw the Johnson family edge closer behind her, trying to see what was wrong with the daughter of the town's most prominent family.
She informed Sheriff Jeffords of what happened; she and Jacob had gone for a sail along the lake early morning on April 26th; their birthday.
“It was about 7am when we set off on the lake, after about half an hour, maybe more the boat flipped over, it all happened so fast…” she explains, in a hesitant, weary voice, “I made it back to the shore, but Jacob didn’t I sat on those rocks for hours waiting for him to find me, or to at least resurface so i could know that he was alright but I… he… Jake never came back up, and I...”
“What was Jacob like in his final days, was he acting out of the ordinary or suspicious in any way?” sheriff Jeffords asks promptly, “were your parents acting weird?”
Natasha, with so many different scenarios swimming through her mind, and all the possibilities of what sheriff Jeffords thinks her parents did, or indeed if they did have something to do with it “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but my parents would have never-”
“Don’t you say another word.” a voice snaps suddenly from behind them, Natasha throws her head around to see the angry looking faces of her parents Sarah and Joseph White, looking like they had just been spat at, which some people would argue is the lease that they deserve.
“We’re leaving! Now!” Sarah barks at Natasha as she slowly starts to pivot her back to Jeffords with a pitiful desperate look in her eyes as if to say help me! I can't stay with them! please!
“She can’t leave until I dismiss her” the sheriff said slowly rising to his feet, placing his hands firmly on his desk to maintain balance.
“Well, unless you’re going to charge her with something, then she is leaving.” snaps Joseph in a sarcastic, authoritative tone.
Exasperated, he lowers himself back into his seat, giving Natasha a look, "are you sure that you want to leave?" As she stares blatantly at the wall, staring into space, preparing herself for what she is to encounter when she gets home.
She shuts her eyes tight and shakes her head, in a motion that people may use to decipher daydreams from reality, “I want to go home” she says quickly, to mask the sound of her voice slowly cracking and quickly jumping to her feet.
“Very well then” Jeffords says breaking eye contact with Natasha, to take a quick glance towards the floor in order to watch where he puts his feet, “you’re free to go, and if you ever need anything, or remember anything else, or find out something that I ought to know, then you know where to find me” he makes his way over to the door and opens it promptly for them to make the exit, and closes the door behind them with a sigh.
The weekend before they were due to start school is when the Santiago’s arrived in Nila Falls, no one knew them, no one had seen them before, they were strangers to the town, and that either meant that they would get a warm welcome, or, a witch-hunt, there was never an inbetween with this town.
There is a place in town where everyone knows, and everyone goes to, Andy’s Pizza Place, Andy is a nice man, late forties, is always there to listen to people's problems, it has been the main place for everyone, of all ages to go and visit, it may not look like much to big city folk, but to the residents, of Nila Falls, it was everything, it was home, they have birthdays, anniversaries, christmases, thanksgivings there. To the people of Nila Falls it was one of the best places to go if you just wanted to sit out and talk to your friends, have fun, or sit on your own and contemplate life. Just order a milkshake, and no-matter the occasion, you’re good to go.
Maria, Cheryl, Alex and Toni catch the sight of Rachel Santiago as she first enters Tony's, she slowly starts to walk towards them, sitting in their booth in the corner of Andy’s. When she is only a few steps in front of her mother, she slowly pivots her head shyly.
“You go to Nila Falls High School, right?” she asks them politely, as she slows to a stop a few inches away from the booth that they are sitting in.
“Yes…” Maria replies hesitantly looking to the others in the booth to try to see if anyone else knew who this stranger was that was talking to them. Nila Falls is a small town and everyone knows everyone. “You must be Rachel Santiago? The new girl.” she comes to the realisation.
“Yeah” she replies, halfheartedly, realising that when she starts at her new school all anyone will think is that she is the new girl in town, and obviously the only new girl.
Maria Wilson, a smart and beautiful girl, only sixteen years old along with the rest. She has light brown hair that goes just past her shoulders, she usually would be seen wearing some type of black shirt that always has long sleeves, her jeans are often a dark color too, maybe black, or dark blue, and a necklace that lines directly with her collar bone which has two golden rings holding it together at the front and another one that goes further down her chest, with a pendant on the end in the shape of a black widows symbol. she never wears makeup, besides the small amount of eyeliner that she always wears so much so that she is now unrecognisable without it.
Despite the fact that they are sisters, Maria and Cheryl look nothing alike, Cheryl has long blond hair, which she only dyed that color, naturally, like the rest of her family, she is a brunette, she wears white cropped tops that go down to the middle of her rib cage, and low-cut, skin-tight jeans. she also wears a rose gold colored watch, mainly for vanity purposes as it is an hour behind.
Alex Jones is the type of guy you would probably imagine him to be kind and sweet, will always put others before himself, he has short blonde hair that swiftly grows longer towards the front of his head, slightly covering some of his forehead, and soft blue eyes, that look like they have been cut from the sky, and light skin that looks as if it has never felt the suns tanning beams. He also, plays football, and was on the team as Jacob, he would always wear his blue and silver sports team jersey to prove it, the Terriers, as they were called, you would never see Alex, Jacob, or anyone on the team for that matter without their team jacket, they believe that it is the only thing that makes them indistinguishable from everyone else.
Antionette, Toni, Cooper, long purple hair that has black roots, by design, which blends in perfectly with her dark skin, she is of a mixed race family, which a lot of people in her last home town didn’t like, but, luckily for her and her family, there is no one in this town like that, as everyone gets along with everyone unless they are given a reason not to. She always wears high waisted jeans that only just meet the bottom of her bellybutton, which she has pierced with a silver bar, and her nails are always painted a shade of black or dark red.
“Mind if I sit?” Rachel asks in a welcoming and genuine tone. “I don’t really know anyone here”.
“Sure… I suppose” Alex replies calmly, while lightly shuffling over along the bench to make room for her.
Rachel lightly sits next to him, making sure not to get too close for comfort.
“What class are you going to be in”
“Well, I’m only sixteen so I will be starting Grade 10. Is that right?” unsure of her answer, Rachel turns to Maria.
“Yeah, I’m meant to be showing you around”, Maria remarks, “it will get awkward though, with you being the new girl in a small town and such.”
“Yeah, well I’ll hopefully see you all tomorrow, I have to go” Rachel comments, looking to her mother who is beckoning her over, as she slowly makes her exit.
“Did she not hear about the part where we are giving her the tour?” Maria asks the others, following Rachel away with her eyes, then quickly jolting herself back around to face her friends.
“I dunno” Cheryl replies, “apparently not”.
Bzz.
“Who is that?” Toni asks Alex as he quickly snatches his phone up milliseconds after it buzzes.
“No one” he so clearly lies, “I have to go” he continues as he rushes out of the booth and flings the door open and doesn’t even bother to close it behind him.
“Wha-” Toni beggins.
“I don’t know Toni… I don’t know” Maria sighs, visibly confused as to the situation that has just unfolded in front of them.
For some time now, every night, Alex would sneak off into the woods to go down by Nila lake, no one has ever been sure as to why, he has been running down to meet up with someone, a boy, they have been seeing each other since the summer, and, regardless of the fact that everyone knows that he is gay, he has never told anyone about the guy that he is seeing.
The first day back at school draws to a start, and everyone will be back, including Natasha White, whom no one had seen for quite some time, since the drowning of her brother, which was over a month ago now.
"At eleven AM there will be an assembly in the gymnasium, it will be for us to collectively grieve and commemorate the memory that is Jacob White" a voice read out over the tannoy.
“Who is Jacob White?” Rachel gently asks realising the potential sensitivity of the subject.
The sound of clicking heels draws close in their direction “he was my brother, and star football player for this school and town.” Natasha says proudly, abruptly interrupting the tour, “and who exactly are you? Dress… pearls… high heels… you must be the new girl, Rachel Santiago. From new york” she inquires, “did I get it right?”
“Yeah” she replies disappointingly, realising that it was now inevitable that everyone will know who she is, “I’m the new girl”.
“Well then, as student body president and as Jacob’s twin I will be hosting the assembly in the gym, so I am expecting you BOTH to be there, no exceptions” Natasha orders, hinting towards both Rachel, and Maria, that they should attend, or else there would be dire consequences from the school, and from Rachel, which was even worse, “toodles!” she smiles, as she flings her long red hair over her shoulder and walks away.
“Was that a threat?” Rachel whispers in the direction of Maria.
“Oh yeah, definitely” she chuckles, “we should go before we are late”.
Sitting in the hall are a lot of people that didn’t even know Jacob, that didn’t even like Jacob, all of them letting all their fake crocodile tears run their course, to spare the feelings of those that did know him, and that did like him, and mostly to spare the feeling of his sister.
“I would like to thank you all for being here today to listen to me say a few words about my brother Jacob. Now, I know that there are some of you here that didn’t have the privilege to know my brother, but for those of you that did you would have known him for the smart, kind person that he was, he would always put other people's needs before himself” a lot of people disagreed with that statement. “He didn’t deserve what happened to him” a lot of people disagreed with that statement.
Natasha’s speech may not have rung strictly true with a lot of people, Natasha has a history of fabricating the truth to suit the story that she wants to be told.
The rest of the school day went light and breezy, during one of the breaks they all met up with some of their other friends; James Jeffords, Kylie Styleson, Adam Johnson, and Jack Evans, each of them unbeknownst to the events that took place down by Nila Lake on April 26th, but how they have yet to learn. And who knew that the truth would be so much bigger than they ever could have imagined.
The following evening, down by Nila lake, Alex and his secret boyfriend were heading down towards the shore, as they do every night, at 7:30PM sharp. Alex was a good guy, and respected this, although it did pile up and make him feel like he has to hide again, he didn’t like this feeling but he would never let it show, he had too much pride and dignity for that.
There was something not quite right about this visit though, something eerie, something unknown, something dark.
As they slowly ventured closer to the edge of the water, they noticed something suspicious, it was the eerie, dark, unknown something that the atmosphere could sense.
They saw it float close to the edge of the water, still, like a log, “is that…?” Alex whimpers fighting for denial…
The mysterious shadow finally reaches them; it was a body, the body of a young boy, it looks like it had been dead for months, and it had a straight, deep cut running across the center of its throat.
“Oh, my God…” he cries, “it’s Jacob”.
