Second Chance

“You may now kiss the bride,” the minister announced.

Danya, looking ravishing in a silver satin gown, smiled using all her teeth. Her red lipstick was smudged. Her heavily applied eyeshadow gave the impression that she had been punched in each eye.

But Jude Daniels, dressed in a traditional black and white tuxedo, grinned happily. He leaned in and gave Danya a smooch loud enough for the whole crowd to hear.

“God. How did they even end up together?” Wyatt whispered to the person he was sitting beside. His mind was completely disoriented. As a last-minute decision, Danya had invited her entire high school grad class to her wedding. It was clear she wanted to rub it in her classmates’ faces that she had managed to marry the most popular kid at their school. Jude had been the typical high school jock back then: buff, popular, and rich.

Wyatt had lost contact with both Danya and Jude since senior year, so the wedding invitation had been a complete surprise.

The person beside Wyatt turned to him. She looked familiar. Her blonde hair was done in two French braids. She wore a simple black strapless dress, but she still managed to stand out.

“Grace?” Wyatt said, confusion overtaking his brain yet again.

“Wyatt. It’s a little embarrassing how long that took you. We were high school sweethearts after all.” Grace smirked. “As for Danya and Jude, I think it’s about the money. I heard Jude’s family business is going bankrupt. Their family is no longer rich. Danya has enough money to save the business.” She shrugged. “I don’t care about Danya. She was a real pain in high school. I’m here for the shrimp cocktails.”

Wyatt smiled, shaking his head. Grace hadn’t changed a bit. When they had been together, they had been unstoppable. They had a little side business customizing cars, which had earned them a lot of money. Even with all the cash, the two of them always seemed to end up in trouble. There had been several close calls with the police. It was honesty a miracle they hadn’t gotten arrested. Wyatt had done a few things he wasn’t proud of that year. Grace was a bad influence on him, but she never failed to be fun.

Wyatt chatted with Grace for a bit before making his way over to the wedding reception, which was a swirl of people, drinks, and excessive laughing. Everyone seemed eager to please Danya. She was swept up in dozens of conversations at once, not a moment to herself. Jude, on the other hand, sat in the corner, sipping lemonade. He looked lonely. Wyatt decided to approach him and offer his congratulations.

"You’re lucky,” Wyatt began. He sat down beside Jude, who remained silent. “Danya’s, uh, an entertaining person. I’m sure you’ll be happy together.”

“No,” Jude muttered. He took another sip of his drink.

“Um.” Wyatt cleared his throat. “What do you mean, no?”

“I hate her,” Jude said quietly. “She’s dramatic and loud and doesn’t want kids. I just want to have a simple life, maybe live on a farm, something like that. I put on a show for people, to make it seem like everything’s fine, but I don’t want to marry her.”

Wyatt gulped, feeling out of place. He didn’t want to break up a marriage on their wedding day. “I didn’t know you wanted to live on a farm,” he said, trying to change the subject.

Jude smiled thoughtfully. “It’s my dream to live in a giant house, full of kids and old pianos, right beside a river. There would be cattle roaming the fields, a chicken coop, maybe a tire swing hanging from an oak tree.”

The last place Wyatt imagined Danya living was a farm. She was a city girl to the core.

“What about your family business? The pen shop?”

Jude sighed. “You think I want to spend the rest of my life sitting in a dusty shop helping old men buy fountain pens? When that place started going bankrupt, I celebrated. That shop needs to close. But it’s my father’s lifeline. He demanded I marry a rich girl to save the business. So I did.”

“So you’re torturing yourself just for your father?” Wyatt had never known his real father. Only his stepfather, Stefan. He couldn’t imagine doing a single favour for that man. He was an ugly creature that resembled a burlap sack more than a human.

“I have a plan to make it all better. Speaking of plans, remember that one we concocted in senior year?” Jude said. He drained his glass, staring off into space.

“What plan?”

“You don’t remember?” Jude smirked. “I guess that was thirty years ago.”

“I kind of remember something…” Wyatt knew there had been one party, one night, different from the rest. He knew Grace had been involved, instrumental. She had wanted to do something. But that was all Wyatt knew.

“You, me, Grace, and Capri, the exchange student. We were at Danya’s cabin. There were hundreds of other students partying there, but it was the four of us who came together. You and Grace were arguing. I was annoyed with Danya. Capri had a secret crush on me, so she was following me around. The four of us had never talked to each other before, but it was that night that brought us together. Does that ring any bells?”

Wyatt took a breath, closing his eyes. He pictured a cabin, which was more of a mansion, really. Teenagers mingled on the lawn and down by the shore of the lake, drinks in hand. A group of seniors had managed to get on the roof, and they were throwing pinecones down at the lawn, attempting to hit some freshmen.

The events of that night flooded back into Wyatt’s brain. He had been dressed in an orange tank top, blue rolled-up jeans, and a backwards baseball cap. He had been so full of it back then. Grace had been towing him around, ranting about Danya.

Stefan had argued with Wyatt again that day, so he wasn’t in the mood for a party, but Grace never gave up the opportunity to have a drink. She had dragged him all the way out here, only to get into a fight with Danya. They were always at each other’s throats.

“We don’t need to do this now,” Wyatt said to Grace as she marched into the cabin’s modern kitchen. The cabinets shone pearlescent. The marble countertops were covered in chip crumbs. It was incredibly fancy for the 80’s.

“I’m not arguing with you about this. I hate Danya, and I can rant about her as much as I want,” Grace said.

“I hate her too,” a voice said from behind Grace. It was Jude Daniels, the most popular and most good-looking guy at their school. He was wearing his blue and white letterman jacket.

“What did she do to you?” Grace asked, unfazed.

“She told everyone I went out with her on Saturday. Which I didn’t. She’s kind of ugly,” Jude Daniels said. Wyatt didn’t like him. He picked girls out like clothing. “So I confronted her about it. Then she tried to kiss me. I backed away, so now all my friends are calling me a coward for rejecting her. Apparently, everyone else likes her.”

“Well I don’t like her,” Grace said. “She’s made my life hell ever since I told her I didn’t like her leg warmers in ninth grade. Now she tortures me every chance she gets. Danya has made every guy at school think I have a disease or something. It’s a miracle Wyatt doesn’t care what other people think, or else I wouldn’t have a boyfriend.”

Wyatt wasn’t sure how to take that comment. Sure, he was laidback and didn’t believe in cliques or popularity, but he still cared. He wasn’t completely checked out.

Jude nodded. “Yeah, I heard a rumor that you have some sort of contagious—"

“I don’t want to hear it,” Grace interrupted him. “I could kill her.”

“Then we should,” came a new voice. Capri, the tiny Italian exchange student, stepped forward into the kitchen. It was only the four of them standing there. The party raged on behind Capri, but in their circle of the kitchen, there was only silence.

“What?” Wyatt was confused. He hadn’t spoken a single word to Capri since she had first arrived at their school six months ago. Truthfully, her droopy black hair and shiny eyes were a little scary.

“I mean it. Danya doesn’t deserve to live. She told everyone I killed my mom.” Capri stared off into the distance. “We could push her into the lake. She doesn’t know how to swim. That would take care of her for good.”

“Gone for good.” Grace bit her lip, clearly thinking through the idea.

“Woah, woah, woah. You’re going to kill someone just for spreading rumors? That doesn’t seem worth it. Besides, killing someone is a crime! It’s murder! You can’t do that,” Wyatt said frantically.

“It wouldn’t be murder though, if, perhaps, Danya got a little too drunk, and was wandering over by the lake. Maybe she tripped on a rock and fell in by accident. A tragic accident, yes.” Jude grinned.

Wyatt couldn’t believe they thought this was a good idea. “Do you really hate her that much?”

“Yes!” chorused Grace, Jude, and Capri.

“You can’t kill her,” Wyatt hissed.

“Well, I can’t let her live either,” Grace said. “She needs to go.”

“Her rumors don’t affect you. It doesn’t matter if all the other guys think you’re gross. You already have a boyfriend. Me. Just forget about Danya,” Wyatt begged.

“I can’t forget,” Grace said. “We have to do this.”

“And if you get caught?” Wyatt asked, appalled.

“We won’t,” Capri said firmly.

“Alright. I’ll get her drunk, then lead her outside, making sure someone sees us. I’ll take her to the north shore, where it’s quiet. You guys can wait there and push her in. Then we make a run for it. They’ll find her body in the morning. That one witness will confirm they saw Danya going that way with me. I’ll tell the cops I turned back and left her by the lake. They’ll deduce the death was an accident.” Jude grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge. “Are you ready to do this?”

Grace nodded. “I want to be the one to push her in.”

Capri opened the sliding door to the back lawn. “Let’s go then.”

“Wait. I can’t do this,” Wyatt said.

“Oh come on. If it was Stefan we were scheming to kill, you would go right along with it,” Grace said.

Wyatt looked down, feeling his hand clench into a fist. He hated Stefan with a passion. “That’s not fair. You can’t compare a high school girl to my stepfather.”

“Why not? They’re both evil.”

“I don’t want to see her get pushed in. I’ll stay with Jude and make sure things go smoothly inside,” Wyatt said.

“Fine. We’ll see you later.” Grace and Capri strode outside and headed off into the evening fog. Wyatt could just make out of the glitter of the lake past the lawn.

Jude headed into the living room to look for Danya. Wyatt watched him go, feeling helpless. A student was about to murdered! He couldn’t let that happen.

All around him, he saw teenagers drinking, dancing, and laughing. Some sang karaoke and kissed while others played pool and arcade games. It was a raging party and would probably be talked about for years. Unless Wyatt ended the fun now.

He spotted the landline on a table. He walked up to it in a trance. Grace probably wouldn’t get in trouble, since she was all the way over at the north shore, waiting for Jude. And most students would run as soon as they heard the sirens. Maybe nobody would get arrested. And even if they did, no one would know it was Wyatt who called the police.

He dialed 911.

“Do you remember now?” Jude said.

Wyatt brought himself back to the present. He was sitting beside the groom at his wedding reception, talking about the past.

“Yeah, kind of. I remember there was a plan to kill Danya. Why didn’t it work?” Wyatt asked, trying to play dumb.

“Someone called the cops on us. They cleared out the party before I could lead Danya away. Grace and Capri waited on that shore for hours before they realized the plan wasn’t happening. After that, well, we never got the chance to try it again.” Jude shrugged. He looked up at Danya, surrounded by fluttering people chirping about her outfit and the beautiful weather and economics. Jude glanced at Wyatt. “I’m not the type of person to abandon my family. It’s my duty to get the family business back on its feet, but I have no intention of running it. I can’t live with Danya, but I need her money.”

“You want her money, but you don’t want to marry her?” Wyatt started to connect the dots.

“Our honeymoon will be a nostalgic trip back to the lakeside cabin she used to spend summers in as a teenage.” Jude put his hands on his knees and stood up. “A tragic accident, like we always planned.”

Wyatt knew what was going on now. Jude was going to kill Danya, the exact same way they had planned it thirty years ago. Now that they were married, Jude could use all her money, but he had to get rid of her first. He would save his family’s business, then live his dream life in the countryside without Danya.

“Jude. You can’t do this. It wasn’t right back then, and it’s not right now. Think clearly here. You’ll be committing murder.”

Jude didn’t seem to hear. He was walking towards his wife.

Wyatt had to do something. He had to stop this murder. He started to follow Jude.

Someone rudely jostled past him. He was about to call out to them when he noticed their blonde braids. And their gun.

“Jude Daniels, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Danya Daniels,” Grace said. She grabbed Jude’s hands and hooked them into a pair of handcuffs. He didn’t even have time to protest.

Grace marched past Wyatt, who had his mouth hanging open, towing Jude along with her.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m a cop now. I got tired of running from the law, so I decided to become it.” Grace winked at Wyatt. “I heard Jude tell you his plan to kill Danya. I just couldn’t let it slide. High school was fun, but this is real life.”

Wyatt watched her leave, the entire room filled with a stuffy silence. Danya looked close to tears.

“What just happened?” she wailed, and everyone started murmuring to the people around them.

A woman with droopy black hair sidled up to Danya and put an arm around her shoulders. “Do you remember me from high school? I’m Capri, the exchange student. I’ll take care of you. Just come with me. It looks like you need a strong drink.” Capri led Danya away.

It was Danya’s scream ten minutes later that alerted Wyatt to the real plan. Grace and Jude had been the distraction. Capri was the real killer. The trio had gotten their wish after all. Danya Daniels was dead.