A Particular Needle

"Are you feeling okay? You look a little sick, Venus," Jenna pointed out.

"I'm totally fine, just...." I began.

"Just what?" Clarity asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, I've always been a little afraid of flying. Airplanes creep the hell out of me."

"Oh relax, it's so going to be worth it when we're in Mexico!" Taylor piped up.

I think we all could agree this was going to be the best spring break ever. I couldn't wait to spend a little time out of Quantico and head to the sunny beaches of Cancun. Living in a town with only approximately 560 people makes you a little stir crazy. I was the only one out of us who was still living there.

"Didn't Blake say you should call him before you got on the plane?" Jenna reminded me.

I scoffed. "Blake has been so possessive lately. He acts like he owns me."

"Girl, I told you, get out of there!" Taylor sat up from her slouching state and leaned in forward, closer to me. "It starts with being possessive. He'll act like he owns you, like you owe him something. You go against his will? It becomes abusive."

"Tay, I don't think Blake would ever get physical. He saves all his anger for the field," I assured her.

Taylor put up her hands in front of her. "Hey, hey, whatever you say. Just wondering though...are you the one studying to join the BAU?"

I rolled my eyes in her direction. Jenna and Clarity caught my look and laughed. Taylor was always going on about how she can analyze people. She's read almost every book on profiling. I don't think I've ever seen her this dedicated to anything before.

We were all studying something. We all managed to get ourselves into different colleges and universities. After being best friends since grade one, we just couldn't say goodbye like that, so we've decided to spend every spring break together, starting with this one.

I'm Venus, like the planet. Does it help to say my parents are a little nuts? I kind of like it, but sometimes I wish I just had a normal name. Especially when I first meet people. I would say I'm the quietest one. I like reading and I'm perfectly content with staying in and listening to music all night. Although, I'm still a twenty year-old girl, so parties are definitely in my lifestyle.

Taylor is the bold one. She tells people straight up what she thinks of them, which makes it difficult to be her friend, but it also has it's up sides. Whenever we get into fights, she tells us what we did wrong and it makes it easier to get over these things. She was also outgoing and adventurous...and the best at making guys look stupid.

Jenna is the motherly one. She loves having fun and going out, don't get me wrong, but she's the one that cares about everyone. She makes sure everyone is okay and has tons of empathy.

And Clarity is the party animal. She can't go to a party without getting totally plastered. She goes with guys she shouldn't trust and gets herself in the stupidest situations that we bail her out of. It doesn't help that she's gorgeous, so guys go out of their way to get her.

"So you're not going to call him?" Jenna asked.

I shook my head. "He can call me in Cancun if he really needs to get a hold of me. He'll probably be doing football practice all the time though, since he thinks he's all professional now."

"He did get a scholarship for playing football, Venus," Clarity reminded me. "Why are you acting like you don't even like him anymore?"

"I do like him, I love him, but I'm not going to Mexico just so I can call him and keep him updated on everything I do."

Clarity laughed, "You better hold on to him. He's hot, man."

"And you'd do him," Taylor confirmed. "Can you stop being a total whore for, like, five seconds?"

"Taylor, relax," Jenna said. "We're boarding now."

We all picked up our carry-ons and headed towards the terminal.

*****

I sat beside Clarity while Jenna and Taylor sat behind us. We knew Taylor and Clarity would kill each other on this flight if they had to sit beside each other. Clarity wanted the window seat, so I gave it to her. I would have vomited if I had to sit there.

"Are you gonna throw up?" Clarity asked me.

"I don't th---" But I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence. I jumped up and ran towards the bathroom. I rejoined Clarity a few minutes later.

"Wow. Planes really do scare you," Clarity laughed.

"You okay?" Jenna asked from behind.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I told her.

"Are you sure?" Clarity asked. She was looking nervous. You'd think for someone who threw up so much, she'd be used to it by now. On the other hand, Clarity is used to throwing up herself, not other people.

"You think you'll make it the rest of the flight?" Taylor piped up.

"Guys, I'll make it.. And even if I couldn't, I can't be like, 'oh excuse me sir, can you stop the plane?' Yeah, no."

"We'll be there soon anyway," Jenna pointed out.

I couldn't wait to land. My stomach was like a hurricane and I wasn't sure if I could stand it much longer.

*****

"WE'RE HERE!" Clarity cried. "Finally! Oh man, there's going to be some sick times."

"For you. Not so much for the people with you," Jenna reminded her.

"We're going to hit up every club here!" Clarity exclaimed. "We only have a week, so we're starting tonight."

Taylor laughed, "Calm down, Clare. How about we go to the beach first?"

"I could so go for some swimming right now," I added in.

Jenna checked us in and we headed up to our room. It was on the second floor, which wasn't so bad since we could see the pool area from our balcony. We could see the beach too, but in the distance.

"Look at this view, Clare!" Taylor hollered to Clarity who was inside.

Jenna came outside instead. "She's doing her make-up."

"Did you tell her we're going swimming?" I asked.

"Oh I tried."

"Well me and Venus are heading down now," Taylor said as she grabbed my wrist and headed for the door. I waved at Jenna before we left.

The pool was crowded just like the beach. A billion other people picked this place for their spring break, too. The only upside was that there were tons of guys. We couldn't have picked a better resort. They had a bar connecting to the pool, so you could swim over to it. I think that's the best idea I've ever seen.

Taylor dropped her beach bag on a lounge chair and asked me if this spot was good. I dropped my beach bag too and took off my sunglasses.

"This place is actually perfect," I told Taylor.

"I know," she laughed, "It'll be a perfect start to our new tradition."

Taylor and I stood at the deep end of the pool. We were planning to jump in together when someone pushed me from behind. I screamed as I flew into the water. When I surfaced, I saw Taylor, Jenna and Clarity laughing.

"Real funny, guys," I said as I splashed water at them.

They finally got in too and we headed to the bar. Clarity was talking about some girls from our high school, bad things obviously. Taylor and Jenna were listening intently, but I was distracted by someone else's conversation. The bartender and two guys who I would say would've been cute if they weren't such guidos.

"Yeah, they found another girl this morning. They're thinking both murders are linked," the bartender said.

"Really? Man, that's crazy. Were they both girls?" one of the guys asked.

The bartender nodded. "Yeah, they were both visiting here. I heard both their throats were slit and then after he stabbed them a whole bunch of times in the face and stomach."

"Shit, dude. That's intense," the second guy commented.

"Weren't the bodies found like right around the corner from this place?" the first guy asked.

The bartender leaned in closer to them. "Don't tell anyone, but both the girls were actually staying at this hotel. We're not supposed to tell anyone, because people will freak, you know? So keep it on the D-L."

"Yeah, yeah man, no problem," the first guy said.

"What are they doing about it?" the second guy said. He seemed a lot more concerned about it than the first guy did.

"They're getting the FBI here," the bartender replied.

"Venus?" Clarity splashed some water at me. "Venus? Hello, I was talking to you."

"Yeah, sorry Clare, what's up?"

"We were talking about Tasha, do you remember her?"

"Slutty Tasha?"

"Yeah, you remember her," Taylor laughed.

I laughed too. I could barely pay attention for the rest of the conversation, though. I was too worried about what I had just heard. 'That's stupid,' I told myself. 'It's not like the killer would actually get one of us,' I continued to think, even though I knew it was perfectly possible.