The Sinner

10

A couple of days go by, and Sarah had finally managed to answer me.

She still hasn't told me the full story of where she disappeared to for the entire day. But now that she's invited me over, I'm sure I'll be able to pull something out of her. It's Sarah, she tells me everything.

Late one Friday afternoon, I pull into the Cameron's fairly long driveway in Tannyhill. It was the day before Midsummer's, so Sarah and I had to go dress shopping. It was entirely Rose's idea, and it sounds like she is coercing Sarah to go.

And of course, Sarah's forcing me to go.

I close my car door and notice a figure move out of the corner of my eye on the front porch above the door. I look up to see Rafe drinking something dark from a small transparent glass.

He smirks at me as he leans on the black railing that runs along the whole front of the home. We don't exchange any words, he simply continues to stare at me.

As I walk into the cold, air-conditioned house, I clamp my lips together. Ward's loud voice was the first thing I heard. He was definitely on the phone with someone, as this was his usual routine. Wheezie and Rose were in the kitchen, each discussing something.

I walk up the stairs slowly, seeing Rafe again through the glass door straight ahead. I walk into Sarah's room and she smiles once she sees me.

"Hey stranger," I say and plop down on her bed. I give her a look as she continues to beam at me from across the room. "Wanna talk about anything?"

"What would there be to talk about?" She asks innocently. I give her a look as I sit up and rest on my elbow.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you disappeared for a day without contacting anyone," I tell her. She shrugs and digs through her closet. We always tell each other everything.

"I went to UNC," She explains with a shrug. "I did my own tour type of thing."

I furrow my brows, "Did you want to go by yourself or something?"

"Yeah," She explains, avoiding eye contact with me. She turns her back as she pulls out a shirt to match the shorts she was wearing.

I could easily tell when my best friend was lying. She may have gone to UNC yesterday, but she definitely wasn't alone. And if Topper had no idea where she was, that meant she was with someone she shouldn't have been with.

But, who could that have been? We know the same people. She wouldn't lie unless she didn't want me to know who she was with.

Sarah has cheated on both of her exes in the past. I don't tell her what to do, obviously. I'm not her mom. But I try to give her good advice when I can.

Cheating is and will always be a big problem to me; I would have assumed it was a big deal to everyone, but clearly not, given Sarah's last relationship. No judgement there though.

"Stop over thinking," Sarah says. I blink out of my gaze and look up at her, she was grinning. "I'm safe, I've returned, and now we're going dress shopping."

She grabs my hand and pulls me off her bed. "You promise that's all you were doing?"

"Promise," She says with a smile. I push out my lips and stare at her for a couple of seconds. I don't know why she would lie, she has no reason to.

"Okay," I tell her with a nod. "If you say so."

"Great, I was done talking about that," She says and opens her door. She walks out, and I hear her footsteps recede down the hall. "Come on Cory."

I follow her out of the room and almost immediately someone spins me around. Rafe gives me the same smirk I saw he was wearing outside, I couldn't help but smile myself.