Anniversary
Veronica can’t even hear herself think. Human screams fill the air and pierce her ears. It’s so hot, she’s sweating and can barely breathe. The bright lights are shining directly into her eyes.The ground’s shaking. “He’s going, He’s going, annnnd West Hawk High School scores another touchdown to tie it up 42 to 42!” The announcer yells.
The whole school is jumping up and down while screaming “I believe that we will win”.  All of the sudden, someone grabs her from behind. “How amazing was that?” Kyle screams over the chants of their school. Kyle and Veronica had been dating 2 years now, and tonight was their anniversary. It’s September 22, 1978. Before the game, He had given her a gorgeous bracelet with their initials on it. She loved it with all of her heart, just like she did him. Veronica had been wondering when was the right time to tell him, and she thought that tonight would be the perfect night to tell him she loved him. Veronica called Kyle her “Boo Bear”, a pet name she gave him after their second date, when he won her a green teddy bear at the school carnival.
Ashleigh runs over to them. “Did you see that touchdown?” Veronica says to Ashleigh once it had quieted down a bit.
“No, I was too busy fighting with Nathan again. After our fight he just ran off.” Ashleigh says while rolling her eyes. Nathan and Ashleigh were great friends, but once they started dating, they had been bickering non stop. Ashleigh continued, “You know what? I’m exhausted from this. I’m going to head home early”.
Veronica and Kyle say goodbye to Ashleigh and tell her it would all work out. Veronica and Kyle were the nicest kids in school. They weren’t part of the popular crowd, but everyone wanted to be friend with them because of their great personalities. “Actually, I’m pretty tired too. Do you want to head to my house and watch a movie or something? A little peace and quiet.” Veronica said to her boyfriend. Her house was in the unfinished part of their County, and was practically all by itself. “I also need to take the medicine for my leg. The doctor said only one more month until I can get rid of these crutches!” Veronica exclaimed. She was a track runner, and 3 months ago she got really hurt at a meet. She had a full ACL tear, full meniscus tear and a bone contusion.
When they get back to her house, Kyle grabs a pair of scissors, cuts the package open, and throws two cups of ramen in the microwave before plopping down on her couch. Veronica notices the oven was on, and quickly turns it off. When the microwave goes off, she grabs the ramen and sits next to kyle, who throws his arm around her. They start watching some scary movie that’s on tv. All of the sudden, the monster grabs the main character and flies away. Veronica jumps, and spills some of her hot ramen on Kyle. “Oh my gosh Kyle I am so sorry oh my goodness are you okay?What can I do?” Veronica says.
“It’s fine hun, it’s just a little hot that's all.” as he walks to the pantry to grab some napkins. Veronica hears the creak of the pantry door open followed by “Ashleigh?”.
Veronica runs over to see Ashleigh standing in their pantry with blank look on her face. “Ashleigh, what are you doing here? Are you okay? You look pale what’s wrong?” Veronica asks. Ashleigh just stands there and suddenly falls face first onto the ground. Kyle and Veronica both scream as they see a 6 inch dagger in the back of her head, and blood everywhere. Veronica starts crying as Kyle just stands there, frozen. He grabs Veronica and pulls her head close to his heart, making sure she can’t see it. He grabs Veronica by the shoulders and looks at her in the eyes. “We need to call the police. Now. Where’s the telephone?” She gestures to the kitchen, and he runs over and grabs the phone. He starts dialing, but the phone line was cut. “Someone cut the line, do you have another one?” He asks urgently.
Veronica shakes her head and says, “No, no that’s our only one.”
“We’re getting out of here”, Kyle says as he grabs Veronica and brings her to the front door. He runs her over to the car and then notices that all the tires were slashed. “You’ve got to be kidding!” As he slams his fist on the roof of his vista cruiser. “We’re running,okay? we can make it”, but before he can start running, she grabs him.
“No no, with my leg I’ll never make it.We won't make it, we’ll never make it” They run inside and lock all of the doors. As Veronica calms down, Kyle starts to freak out more and more.
She stares down at Ashleigh’s body and notices a slip of paper in her hand. As Kyle paces back and forth, she hesitantly, she pries open Ashleigh’s hand and grabs the paper as quickly as she can. She opens up the folded note.
“Only one of you is leaving here alive. you must kill the other to save yourself. If you don’t decide by 1, both of you will die. Don’t believe me? By the time you read this Nathan should be just fully cooked.”
Horrified, Veronica reads it over again. “Fully cooked?” Veronica mutters to herself. She drops the note and stares at the oven. She slowly walks over, and opens the oven door. The moment she does, Nathan’s burnt head rolls on the ground. Veronica gasps and stands there in terror. Kyle walks over and sees Nathan’s blackened face at his feet. Veronica is quietly sobbing as they both realize how real this is. Kyle picks up the note that she dropped, and reads it aloud. “Only one of us can survive,” Kyle says while looking away,”It has to be you.”
“Kyle look at me. Kyle, baby no. I love you. And, and, I will die for you.” Veronica says while tears are streaming down her face.
“Veronica I love you too, and, we’ll die together. I would walk to the ends of the earth with you. I really love you, and I am prepared to die with you.” Kyle says as he hugs her. “Even if we die in this life, we will be together in the next.” Kyle whispers to Veronica while kissing her forehead. She nods, and they both put their backs on the wall, and slide down.
“It’s almost 1 o’clock,” Kyle says, while staring blankly at the clock. It’s silent as both of  them contemplate what is about to happen.
The clock keeps ticking, and they both stand up and stare it. Watching and Waiting for death to take the both of them.
They hear the creak of a door open from upstairs, and Kyle stands in front of veronica to try to protect her. They hear the footsteps slowly coming down the stairs. Kyle and Veronica both grab a knife from the kitchen drawer. They have one minute until 1 o'clock. Kyle looks at the knife in his hand. Could he do it? Could he kill the love of his life to save himself? He kept thinking and thinking and thinking. He needed to do it to survive. “No,” He thought to himself,” No I will not do this to Veronica. We’re going to die together and be together fore-”
Kyle feels blood trickling down his chin coming from his mouth. His back hurts immensely for a moment, until he hits the ground and feels no more.
Veronica stands over his dead body, drenched in her lover’s blood.
“Sorry Boo Bear.” Veronica says while walking out of the house, knowing her debt has been paid.