The sister

The truth

"I spent all last night trying to see if anything sketchy showed up in their finances." Ben said as we ate breakfast.

" Before they started paying the asylum, they paid off three board directors at our school. They also gave way more money to Elle Smith's parents." Ben showed me all the receipts proving this.

I recognized Elle's name. She was Sophie's best friend. She always came over to hangout with us.

"Who is Elle?" Ben asked me.

"Sophie's best friend. She left right around the time Sophie did. I thought she moved away with her parents, but now I'm not sure." I said. I had a weird feeling in my stomach when I heard her name. 

His mom came downstairs after that, so we paused our discussion. We talked about upcoming exams instead.

"That's interesting." Ben mumbled while thinking. "Maybe she has something to do with Sophie being sent away. Did they have a fight or something?" he asked as we got into his car.

"I don't know anything, Ben. It's like that whole week before she was sent away disappeared from my mind. It's really foggy." I complained on the way to school.

"I'm going to see if she is at home and if she isn't I'm going to find her tonight." I told him.

"Well, be careful about your dad." He warned. I nodded and went off to class. School passed quickly and I couldn't focus on anything except Sophie. When the final bell rang, I didn't even wait for my friends. I bolted off to my house.

I ran through the door and found the whole house empty. I dialed Sophie's number, which I didn't remember having and it went straight to voicemail. I sat in the living room like a statue until I heard a car pulling up.

My mom and dad pulled up and Sophie was sitting in the car. I ran outside and met my mom at the car door.

"¿ por qué Elle se fue de la ciudad cuando Sophie fue expulsada?" I asked. Why did Elle leave when Sophie got sent away? Sophie's head turned when she heard Elle's name. My dad scowled because he didn't know the context. Something was definitely up.

My mom turned her head and all three of them got out of the car and went inside.

"You deserve to know the truth." she said when we were all inside. "Your sister left town because she did something very bad. accidentally. We had to send her away for her own good." My mom was beginning to make some sense.

Sophie looked at the ground most of the time.

"We had to lie to you and everyone else to protect her." My mom said,

"Then why did you pay Elle's parents money? What do they have to do with this?" I asked. My parents scowled at each other. They weren't happy about me finding out this information.

"Sophie wasn't in a good mindset. She got a gun and brought it to a football game. She tried to kill one of her classmates that had bullied her." My dad said. I looked at Sophie.

She looked ashamed.

"You killed someone?" I gasped. No! This isn't right.

"I killed my best friend." She sobbed. I was shocked. 

Elle was dead? My sister killed someone! My parents covered it up! They didn't even tell me about it!

"So I went to abuela's while you paid people to hide your secret and send Sophie away? You made me hate her, when it's you I should hate!" I yelled. I needed to get out of here and think.

I walked outside and found Ben with Rachel and Pearl.

"What the hell did I just hear?" Rachel yelled.

"I can't believe your family hid this for so long. I-I don't know what to say. You're a damn good liar." Pearl yelled before walking away. Rachel just kept staring at me like she was betrayed.

"Ben? What is going on?" I asked. He showed me a social media page with my family on it. The tag was 'murderers next door'. No! No!This can't be happening.

"Ben, I didn't know. I just found out about it." I yelled.

"That reaction just proves you knew all along. I really hoped you would've been freaking out with me, but instead you're trying to convince me you weren't part of it." He sighed. I looked between him and Rachel.

"So that's it? We're done then? You won't believe me." I asked.

"I'm sorry." Rachel said before running off. I couldn't believe this.

"Ben! Why would I drag you into this if I knew all along? Please, you have to believe me!" I begged. I was trying to get him to believe me when I looked at the street. Our entire town was coming up the street screaming, 'Justice'.

I was absolutely terrified. I was sucking in air trying to get it to my lungs. I looked back at Ben, who kept looking between me and the mob.

"I-I'm sorry." He stuttered. He was about to run off, when I grabbed his arm.

"Ben! Please! I didn't know. I found out two seconds before I saw you. That's why I was running out of my house." I yelled. He looked down at me with black eyes.

His head swerved to the mob coming up the street.

"I know where you can hide!" He yelled over the mob and grabbed my arm. He was on my side!

"Wait, I have to bring them!" I yelled.

"Seriously?" He asked. 

"They're my family." I said running back to my house. 

"Wait!" Ben yelled.

I ran into the living room and was blasted back to the door. Ben's arms were on my head.

I looked up and saw my mom with a bunch of things in her arms, my dad with a gun and bullets, and my sister with a small handgun. My mom rushed to my side immediately.

"Hailey!" She screamed. 

"Get Towels!" Ben yelled. What was happening? Why did I get thrown to the ground?

"Towels?" I coughed. 

"Shh, don't talk!" My mom said, rubbing my head. 

"What is-" I asked.

"You were shot." Ben said. He seemed angry. I coughed, unable to form words anymore. My dad's face came into view.

"Oh god, what have I done?" He was pulling his hair.

He shot me? Why would he do that? 

"Sweetie? Hailey!" I could hear people yelling, but I couldn't stay awake. I slipped into a bleak whiteness. It was relaxing, and I wanted to stay there. It felt like nothing was wrong. 

I could forget about everything and just be. This was my new favorite place.