by: Alex Richter
The invitation was on thick black cardstock. No pictures. No posts about it. Just a thin silver line across the top of the card and one matching sentence written in clean, precise handwriting:
You’re Invited! After-prom party. Midnight. Private. – Jonathan G.
I stared at it for a long time before deciding to go. Not because I liked Jonathan Gutierrez. Because I didn’t understand him.
Most of the popular people at Stormlake made sense once you watched them long enough. You could see what they wanted and how they played the game. Jonathan didn’t.
He was the hockey captain. Track captain. Volleyball player. Choir co-leader. A sixteen-year-old senior who had skipped a grade and still outran, outperformed, and outworked almost everyone else.
People called him a friend to all. But I’d always noticed something strange. Jonathan treated people politely… without ever actually getting close to anyone.
Perhaps like a scientist observing his test subject.
——————————
The parking lot was nearly empty when I arrived, save for two black limousines under flickering yellow lights. Nine other students stood nearby, and I immediately regretted coming.
Enid Shaw leaned against a limo, chewing gum loudly and smirking when she caught my eye. Katsu Ego hovered near her, while Jack White awkwardly tried to look relaxed, glancing at Blossom Fitz, who chatted with Violet White. Olivia Jennings scrolled through her phone, bored, while Charley Goodman fussed with his jacket as if preparing for an audition. Helen Fredrickson watched us quietly, and towering overhead was what we knew him as, “Bones” Gutierrez, Jonathan’s older brother, built like a football player in a tux.
“Where’s your know-it-all brother?” Charley asked.
“Right here,” Jonathan said, stepping out from behind the limo, looking perfectly composed.
“Alright then, let’s go,” he said, gesturing to the vehicles.
“How do you want us arranged?” Olivia asked flatly.
“However,” Jonathan replied. “Get comfortable.”
Bones snorted. “You seriously paid for this?”
“I didn’t,” Jonathan said simply, his tone truthful.
Enid shrugged and opened the door.
“Relax, it’s a party, not a hostage situation.”
One by one, we climbed into the limos. When I got in, Jonathan locked eyes with me for a moment longer than necessary before shutting the door.
——————————
The lake house we arrived at appeared deep in the woods; tall pines surrounded the clearing, their branches scraping the sky.
When we stepped out of the limos, Jack immediately got on his phone.
“No signal.”
Everyone else checked, too. But Jonathan didn’t say anything as he walked up and unlocked the front door.
Music played softly somewhere in the house. But there were no other guests. Just us.
“Wow,” Enid said. “Private party really means private.”
Charley glanced around. “Where’s everyone else?”
“There is no one else,” Jonathan replied.
Bones laughed. “So it’s just us then?”
“Yes.”
Olivia sighed. “Thrilling.”
“Relax,” Jonathan said.
A few minutes later, he stepped outside. I noticed, but no one else did.
——————————
Enid disappeared first.
At first, we assumed she’d wandered outside to do something she shouldn’t… like start a fight with the trees. But then everyone’s phone buzzed.
The different text tones cut through the music like a knife.
UNKNOWN NUMBER
“CONFESS.”
Jack frowned. “What the—”
Another message appeared.
“Enid Shaw shoved a freshman down the bleachers last fall and called it an accident. The freshman broke her leg.”
Helen whispered, “I… remember that.”
Katsu’s face turned red.
“Okay, who’s messing around?”
Another buzz.
“Tell the truth.”
Then: “Or else.”
“Enid?” Katsu called.
No answer. We checked the bathroom. The porch. The dock. Nothing.
“This is stupid,” Katsu muttered.
Then his phone buzzed. Everyone else’s did too.
“Katsu Ego falsely accused someone of stealing his valuable property from the locker room.”
“Yeah… you ruined that guy’s season,” Helen said.
Katsu spun toward her. “Shut up!”
Another message appeared.
“Confess.”
Katsu shoved his phone into his pocket.
“I’m not playing some psycho game.”
He stormed outside to the dock, and the screen door slammed behind him. We waited. One minute. Two minutes.
“Katsu?” Helen called.
No answer. And after that, the house started feeling smaller.
Charley’s was the next to go. He rolled his eyes before even reading the message, then his face tightened.
“Charley Goodman threatened freshmen in drama club to stay loyal, or they’d regret it.”
“Please,” he scoffed. “They worshipped me.”
Another message:
“Confess.”
Charley laughed too loudly.
“You people really buying this?”
No one answered, so he muttered something under his breath and walked down the hallway.
Then, he was gone too.
Olivia lasted maybe ten minutes longer. Her message listed things she’d said about people at school. Cruel things.
“Oh my god,” she said, emotionless.
Helen stared at her.
“You told Mia her wheelchair made her ‘look like a prop?’”
Olivia shrugged.
“So?”
Another buzz.
“Confess.”
Olivia rolled her eyes.
“I need air.”
She pushed open the porch door and stepped outside.
The lantern flickered, the door drifted shut, and she didn’t come back either.
Bones lasted longer than anyone expected, mostly because he refused to take it seriously.
“Probably Jonathan screwing with us,” he said.
Then his phone buzzed.
“Bones Gutierrez publicly humiliated freshmen during football tryouts in front of visitors.”
Bones laughed.
“Yeah? Alright, wise guy.”
Another message appeared.
“Confess.”
Bones’ smile faded.
He grabbed his jacket.
“I’m gonna go find my brother.”
The door slammed behind him, and his footsteps faded across the dock.
The house felt enormous after that, no longer small. Empty.
Jack kept glancing toward the door like it might swallow him, too, and when his phone buzzed, he looked like he might throw up.
“Jack White manipulated every girl he’s been with to make others jealous.”
Helen crossed her arms as Jack looked at the floor.
“Confess.”
“I didn’t…” he started.
Then he walked into the kitchen, frustrated.
Now he’s gone, too.
Violet, the manipulator and controller of her friend group, vanished upstairs.
Blossom, the bored “why not” queen bee, disappeared on the porch.
Each message peeled away another layer of the room, secrets spilling into the air like poison.
By the time Helen and my phone buzzed, there were only two of us left inside, and her hands shook violently while reading it.
“Helen Fredrickson embarrasses people for laughs.”
“You… make fun of people every day,” I said quietly.
“Come on, take a joke…”
Another buzz.
“Confess.”
She looked at me.
“I… what? Hannah… I’m sorry,” she said.
And for the first time since I’d known her, she sounded like she was sincere. Then, she too walked outside.
The door closed softly behind her.
——————————
After that, I was alone. Then, my phone finally buzzed, and my stomach dropped.
“Hannah Agreste cuts people off without explanation.”
“Confess.”
“I get overwhelmed,” I type into my phone as I murmur the words aloud.
The words felt strange to admit.
“I stop talking. I disappear from people’s lives instead of explaining why.”
Send.
Silence. Then the final buzz.
“Accountability matters.”
The front door slowly opened.
Cold night air poured inside.
I stepped onto the porch.
The forest was pale with early morning light. And someone stood at the end of the dock. It was Jonathan.
I walked toward him carefully.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
Jonathan looked out at the water, the lake reflecting the first streaks of sunrise.
“They’re gone now,” he said, turning to face me.
My chest tightened.
“Gone where?”
He didn’t answer immediately, just looked back at the water.
“They had chances.”
The wind rippled the lake as I thought of the messages, the secrets, the empty house behind me.
“Jonathan… did you do this?” I whispered, horrified.
Jonathan studied my face.
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
Another long pause, then he looked back toward the woods.
“Your car is waiting for you on the road,” he said. “You should go home.”
I didn’t move.
“My car?”
Jonathan nodded his head slightly.
“I stole it from the lot.”
The sky brightened, and the birds began waking in the trees as I looked once more at the lake. Then back at him.
“Why me?” I asked.
Jonathan’s expression softened, just a little.
“Because you took accountability.”
After that, I walked toward the road without looking back. But even now, sometimes I think about that lake, all of the horrible, troubled people I’ll never see again, and the way Jonathan Gutierrez stood there at sunrise. Perfectly calm.
Like everything had gone exactly the way he planned.
