"The Diary," by Mia K.

It was just a normal Tuesday when I went up to my attic to grab a blanket. As I stepped inside something immediately caught my eye. It was a book, but instead of being old and dusty like everything else in there it looked new and clean. “That’s weird,” I thought to myself, so I stepped closer and realized I recognized it. I just didn’t remember why. My curiosity got the best of me so I

opened it and started reading. 

“June 25th” it read.

“Today was our last day of school and I couldn’t be more excited. Tomorrow I am going on vacation with my friends Elena, Eli, and Noah. It is going to be so fun! We’ll spend all day on the beach hanging out, tanning, surfing and so much more.” 

“That sounds nice,” I thought. Then, I grabbed my blanket, the book and brought them both downstairs. I was going to ask my mom about it. 

“Mom!” I yelled.

“What is it?” She replied.

“I found this weird book in the attic and I was wondering where it came from,” I said while holding it up for her to see. 

“Lucy!” She screamed, “You are not supposed to have that! Put it down immediately!” There was a weird expression on her face. She didn’t look as angry as her voice sounded, she looked worried. Very worried. 

“That’s an odd reaction to have to a random book,” I thought, but I wasn’t in the mood to fight so I put it down and moved on. 

A few hours later I was on my way out to meet my friend for dinner when I overheard my parents talking. “She found it in the attic,” My mom said angrily at my dad, “Do you know what would happen if she read it?” That’s when I got really confused, because I did read it and there was nothing abnormal about it. 

“I am going to get to the bottom of this” I thought, so I spent my whole dinner plotting and I came up with a flawless plan. I would wait until my parents fell asleep, find the book, and read all of it until I find out what is up. 

Once I got back home the clock read 10:00 P.M. For my plan to work I would have to wait until at least 1:00.

After waiting anxiously for what felt like hours, the clock struck 1:00 and it was time. I snuck into the safe where I watched my mom put it just a few hours earlier and entered the code. I quickly took out the book and tip-toed back to my room. As I sat on the bed I flipped to the middle of the book and started reading the pages. 

“June 26th” 

“I’m writing this on the plane. I’m currently sitting next to Elena and we just finished planning our first day on vacation. I got a text message from a random number this morning. It was from a boy who said his name was Cole, he was our age and went to a school nearby. He and his friends were staying at the same hotel as us and asked to hang out tomorrow night. Elena was skeptical. She said it was weird that he started texting us out of nowhere and thought he was some sort of psychopathic murderer. I assured her it was fine though, she has always been a little paranoid. Anyway, I'll get back to you and let you know how it goes tomorrow.” 

After reading that I was even more confused. It just seemed like a diary, there’s nothing weird about that so I kept reading. 

“June 27th” 

“Cole is not who we thought he was! My friends are in danger. We were all having dinner together when I went to the bathroom.  When I got back all of my friends had disappeared and the only thing that was left on the table was a note that read ‘HELP! COLE IS DANGEROUS!’ I’m writing this in hopes that if we don’t come back someone will find this and know what happened.” 

“Who are these people?” I thought, “Do they need help? Why do my parents not want me seeing this?” I needed to find out whose diary this was so I flipped to the front and that's when I saw it. 

“Lucy Miller’s diary,” 

That’s me. 

That is when it clicked. I was reading my own diary. All the memories slowly came back. My best friends' names were Elena, Eli, and Noah. I’ve known them since we were babies and we used to do everything together. We went on vacation together last year but I didn’t know what happened next. I started to freak out. What happened on this vacation? Where did my friends go? Who is Cole and what did he do? I needed my answers and I needed them now so I ran into my parents’ room and woke them up. 

“Mom, dad!” I yelled “Why did you want to keep my own diary from me?” 

“You read it,” My dad replied, looking concerned. 

“How much do you know?” My mom asked me. She tried putting on a calm face but I saw right through it, she was terrified. 

“I remember my friends, I remember planning the vacation but I have no clue what went on while we were there,” My mom just stood there staring at me like she was debating what to do next. “Give me an answer now!” I screamed, getting angry now, “Why did you not want me to read this and why am I just remembering all of this now?” 

“There’s something we have to tell you,” My mom said, “As you know Elena, Eli, and Noah were your best friends. You went on vacation together and met up with someone you thought was your friend named Cole. What you didn’t know was that he was actually a bad person, a very bad person. While you were in the bathroom he took your friends. You tried to run after them but you tripped, fell and hit your head. That’s why you couldn’t remember what happened.” 

“I don’t understand? Where are my friends?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. Then my mom gave me a look that confirmed all of my suspicions. 

“I’m sorry,” She said, “We didn’t tell you because we didn’t want to upset you,” 

I was in shock, how could all of this happen and how bad could my head injury be that I couldn’t remember my own best friends? I already knew what I had to do though, I was going to get my revenge.