Pretty Girls Make Graves

I was so furious my entire body was shaking and dots were forming in my vision.

"Open up the fucking door, Allegra!" I pounded my fist against the wooden door, causing it to shake in its frame.

When she didn't answer, I shouted her name louder and banged on the door. I needed to take the bulk of this rage out on some inanimate object, because if I went in there straight away I would fucking kill her. I have never wanted to hit a woman so much as I had then, even though the mere thought of it went against all of my morals.

"Allegra!" I shouted again, still getting no reply.

Eventually, my rage got the better of me. I kicked the door in and stormed into the bathroom before freezing, my rage being replaced by panic. She was sitting in the bathtub, the running water slapping up against her bare thighs as it rose higher and higher. She was clad only in her bra and panties, and I swallowed convulsively when I noticed how her breasts didn't even fill up her bra anymore.
I remembered when I had first met her, and how I had spent many nights just fantasizing about running my hands up and down her slender legs. Now they were disgustingly thin. She was disgustingly thin. How had I not noticed how underweight she was? I always thought that her drug problem was our secret, something that only she and I knew, but now I realized that everyone probably knew. She looked like a drug addict.
I pulled my eyes away from her for a split second to take in the empty Vicodin containers scattered around the tub. I brought my eyes back over to her frail figure. She was sitting hunched over her knees with a razor pressed against her pale wrist.

"Allegra," I started softly, not wanting to do anything to provoke her.

"Stay the fuck away from me, Mikey," she hissed, pulling her dull hazel eyes away from her wrist and up to my face.

She swallowed hard and moved her eyes back down to her wrist, her hand shaking. I let out a quick breath of relief when I saw that she was panicking. She mightn't do this.
I couldn't let her do this.

"I'm warning you, Michael," she pointed a trembling finger at me when she saw me taking a step closer.

I held my hands up in the universal sign of surrender before I put down the lid of the toilet and sat down, my eyes never leaving hers. We sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, the only sound in the room being the noise of the water running and her heavy breathing.

"You're holding it wrong," I finally ventured.

"Shut up!" she shrieked at me, her eyes never leaving her wrist.

I remember her telling me that the name Allegra was Italian and it meant happy. She had thrown her head back and laughed, her auburn hair tumbling down her back in waves.

"My parents aren't even Italian."

And she wasn't even happy. How fucking ironic.



During my senior year of high school I seemed to have spent all of my time counting down the days to summer, and now that it was here I was bored out of my skull. All my friend Frank and I seemed to do was sit outside of the local 7-Eleven and smoke cigarettes and drink slushees. I was looking forward to college already, looking forward to getting some routine back in my life.
Like every afternoon, Frank and I were sitting on the curb outside of 7-Eleven, talking shit like we usually did. Frank was rambling on about some new band, but my attention was gaged on Allegra Adams. She was leaning against the wall as if she hadn't a care in the world, wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses and with a cigarette between her lips. Allegra seemed to disappear and reappear like a mist. One day she'd be sitting beside you in the homeroom, and the next day she'd be gone, for months at a time. She came in for the first month of senior year but then disappeared. No one knew where she had gone and now all of a sudden she was back.
I frowned as I watched her push herself into an upright position. She was tall for a girl, almost as tall as me, and I had always remembered her being lanky. Now, she had a more womanly figure. She was still pretty slim, but her chest had swollen slightly and when she turned her back to me I saw that her butt had an almost heart-shape to it in her black skinny jeans. I watched her as she flicked her cigarette to the ground and then smoothed out the front of her white tank top. When she turned back to face us, the sun caught her hair and it glowed dark red.

"I always thought she had brown hair," I muttered out loud, not even realizing that I had spoken those words until Frank turned his head to face me.

"Allegra Adams? Yeah, some days it looks brown, other days red. When did she get back in town?"

I shrugged my skinny shoulders, my eyes still on her.

"I thought you would know, didn't you have most of your classes with her?"

"Yeah, but she disappeared again at the beginning of the year. I wonder where she goes."

I made a humming noise and felt my mouth form a shocked 'oh' shape when she pushed her sunglasses onto her head and winked at me. I looked behind me, just to make sure that there was no one behind me. She slinked into the store and I found myself standing up.

"I want a slushee," I announced and walked towards the store, not waiting for Frank to stand up.

I don't know why I was following her; I didn't know what I'd even say to her if I bumped into her, all I knew was that I did not want to let this girl out of my sight.
Frank caught up with me and I followed her down the aisles, stopping at the end one when she quite literally disappeared into thin air.

"Hey freak and geek."

Both Frank and I turned around to see her standing behind us, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Ms Adams returns once again," Frank smiled.

She gave him a lazy one shoulder shrug and fanned her hand, acting like she was flattered.

"Where have you been?"

"Oh, here and there."

She smirked as she walked closer to us, her hazel eyes locked on mine.

"I hear you have a fake I.D," she said lowly, the richness of her voice sending goosebumps up my arms.

"It's not really fake...it's my brother's."

I sounded young and pathetic compared to her confident tone.

"And do you get served?"

I shot Frank a confused glance before nodding my head.

"Excellent."