There was no time for shoes. As I clamber out of the pool, I briefly turn my head to see Darcie floating face down in the water, her pastel pink bikini glowing in the moonlight. Other girls chaotically sprint for the gate, their bathing-suits dripping and their wet hair slapping against their terrified faces. Anguished cries penetrate my ear drums while Darcie's brothers’ dive into the pool, heaving Darcie out of the water and starting CPR. It's official she's dead...

It all started at 8pm before Darcie’s 17th birthday party, I was getting changed in her bedroom while she was doing her makeup when her phone pinged. I couldn't help but look, it was from my boyfriend “Do you think Ava’s going to find out about last night?” My heart skipped a beat... What did he mean? What happened last night that I wasn’t allowed to know about? My thoughts led me to a dark and scary place in my mind. Darcie peeked her head around her bathroom door, her eyes bright with excitement, she snatched up her phone. I stared at the empty space left on the white bedcovers; I felt an empty space left in my heart.

As we walked outside to her pool, a horrifying mix of confusion and anger consumed me; of course he wanted her, she was prettier, funnier: she was just overall better than me. Soon enough friends started to arrive, each one of them dancing and splashing in the pool. Loud music pierced my eardrums like needles in a pin cushion. All I could see was red, my vision blurred with rage. In that moment I was an unnatural being, a person who had forgotten how to be. A body being controlled by an anger so vicious it could drown its best friend...