I’M AT THE STOP & SHOP today when I hear a couple people in front of me in line talking about Tabby’s case. Two women, probably midthirties, carrying Michael Kors bags. Literally everyone is talking about Tabby, and that’s when I see it—her eyes, staring out from one of those tabloids that usually have stories about, like, Meghan Markle’s baby or Justin Bieber’s married life. But there’s Tabby, up there with them, a picture from her Instagram. The headline is what really slays me. Girl, 17: Guilty or Innocent?
She’s not just Colorado news. She’s national news. This is different than seeing her on People’s homepage, because I stumbled onto that when I was online stalking her (come on, you do it, too), so I guess I deserved to find it. This feels like a violation, like she’s the one seeking me out. Here she is, taking up the spot of a perfectly good celebrity with cellulite. And you know what? She would love it. A bunch of us were talking about Amanda Knox once at lunch, about whether she did it (um, definitely, without a doubt). And there was Tabby, hovering over us, saying something like, “Don’t believe everything you read.” Like anyone asked her opinion.
That’s why she did this. To become infamous. To be the next Amanda Knox, the next pretty girl accused of something. I mean, she’s not good enough at anything else, right? She’s the kind of girl who has probably been told a hundred times that she needs to apply herself. I’ve seen her in front of Mr. Mancini’s office, tugging the waistband of her skirt up. I’m sure she wasn’t really in there looking for advice on what colleges to apply to. No, she didn’t want to study or apply herself like the rest of us, which sounds like we’re stick-on decals that just need to find the right surface to cling to.
Tabby may not get the best grades, but I’ll give her this. She’s resourceful. She knew she wasn’t smart enough to get into a good school on her own, and she knew Mark was going to get tired of her drama and dump her eventually, so she had to do something else. And now she’s in a tabloid, right next to the Kardashians. She’s graduated from the local news and crime blogs to People and TMZ. Her pretty face, those blue, blue eyes. Now, I’m sure somebody will make a movie about her life. She’ll hire some doormat to ghostwrite her memoir. She’ll end up rich and men will be terrified of her but they’ll want to sleep with her anyway. And nobody will ever know the truth about what happened to Mark in the woods.
I slap down the tabloid, then I realize the checkout guy is Mark’s friend Keegan, the one who came to all the parties with Mark, obviously trolling for high school girls to hook up with.
“She did it,” I say, because I feel like I have to say something.
“Yeah,” he says, practically thrusting the tabloid back at me. “I know.”
I pay, like, five bucks for the crappy magazine. I’m sure Tabby would love that.
“Anything else?” he says, because I’m still standing here and there’s a guy coughing behind me, all impatient.
“Yeah. We should find a way to prove it.”
THE VANGUARD
October 2, 2019
Second suspect questioned in death of Princeton student
By Mason Livingston
Police in Coldcliff, Colorado, released a statement Tuesday evening that another suspect is being considered regarding the death of Mark Forrester, 20, on August 16.
Thomas Becker Rutherford III, known as Beck, is an ex-boyfriend of Tabitha Cousins, and while police wouldn’t elaborate on their lead, they have sufficient evidence to suspect Rutherford’s involvement. A source reveals that a call history between Cousins and Rutherford tipped police off to the fact that Cousins may not have acted alone.
The Coldcliff Tribune first broke the story of Forrester’s death when it was believed to be a hiking accident. Since then, it is believed that Forrester did not fall from the Split, the lookout point for the Mayflower Trail, as Cousins told police.
Rutherford, 17, has previously been arrested on charges of assault. He has had multiple suspensions from Coldcliff Heights High School, where he is a classmate of Cousins. Sources say the two were previously romantically involved, and that Rutherford would have done anything for Cousins.
“He loved her,” the source, who asked to remain unidentified, told the Vanguard. “That doesn’t just go away.”