Rough Draft

Preface

"I'm Elliot Joseph Manning. I was born April tenth. I am currently sixteen years old. My hair is a lovely dark brown, about chin length and unevenly parted down the middle. My eyes shine a bright blue. I'm about six feet tall. I don't do sports, I'm more artistic. I love painting and writing. I hope that one day I will become an artist. I enjoy long kisses under the stars, or watching a romantic comedy whilst feasting on fish and sipping on Doctor Pepper."
        "Mr. Manning, please get on with the confession! This video is evidence in your trial, not a dating profile." Officer Keys presses. Elliot smirks and leans his elbows on the table. His chin rests on his folded knuckles.
        "Alright, alright," He says with a sly smile frozen on his lips. "What happened is, is that some things were said, secrets were spilled, and a few punches were thrown. And now here we are." Elliot retains a chuckle as Officer Keys' face turns purple.
        "Mr. Manning!" The officer states sharply. He's obviously annoyed by Elliot's cockiness. "This is not the time to be joking around. You disappear from your foster home in Hart's Location, New Hampshire with a girl named Jessabelle Lacefield when you were both fourteen. You resurface two years later in Falls City High School, Oregon -that you don't even attend- beating up a student. You'd better get explaining." Elliot sighs heavily.
        "I'll start from the beginning." He confirms as he slips into memories of two years ago. "It was my first day of high school. A regular first day, you know? It was a new school, with new teachers and even more people than middle school. Kennett High was a big school. Too me at least. And it seemed even bigger when I realized that everyone changed.
        "Emma cut her hair over the summer, my best friend Alec dyed his hair brown with green streaks. That short kid I was lab partners with in eighth grade shot up about a foot. And of course I changed. I decided in the beginning of June I would put my past behind me and let my hair grow out to the length it is now. So I guess they weren't alone.
        "And because of all of the summer changes that occurred, I didn't recognize her. We had been friends a little bit, I guess. We didn't hang out constantly. She was President of the Debate Club. Her face was littered with acne scars. Her hair was, I guess about shoulder length and always frizzy. Her dull green eyes hid behind the frames of black glasses. Not to mention the braces. She was the stereotypical nerd.
        "But I think summer affected her most. She went from stereotypical nerd catastrophe to, well, the woman she is in the video. She became a strong, brave, outgoing and all around beautiful young woman. It amazed me, really." Elliot is cut out of his memory by Officer Keys. Elliot rests back on his chair as Keys leans across the table to get in his face.
        "How is this useful to my investigation?" He demands of Elliot. Elliot chuckles under his breath. Elliot's blue eyes bore harshly into Officer Keys' brown ones as he explains.
        "All in good time, my friend. You'd better take a seat because the last two years have been more like twenty for me. It's a very long story."
                        And so it was.