Control Z // Season 1

Victims ~ Part 4

MARIA POV

"So you told Mom and Dad that the purses and everything were borrowed?" I lay out, trying to understand all of the information my sister had just told me. As it turns out, the videos weren't lying at all. Nati is a lying thief.

"And you told Quintanilla that the rest of the money is still with you?"

"Uh-huh." She nods hastily, clearly annoyed at this whole situation. Why did she even take the money in the first place? Why couldn't she had applied for a weekend job like the rest of us sane people? Oh right, because she imagines herself to be an innocent princess who gets everything given to her without her lifting a small finger.

"But it's not with you." Natalia scowls at me, shaking her head in annoyance, but I continue,

"Because you spent it on purses and stuff."

She flails her arms, signifying that its obvious. "Come on, Maria. What's so hard to understand?"

I'm fed up of her treating me like I'm a child, taking her bullshit as she acts likes she's better than everyone. I step in front of her, crossing my arms in frustration.

"Okay, Nati. How are you going to pay for the party with half the money?"

She rolls her eyes at me. "Well, Maria, with sponsors and discounts, the same way anyone would do it."

I see the underlying message beneath her words crystal clear. "So stealing."

"I didn't steal it, Maria! Try to understand. I used the money for something else, but that won't affect the party."

How could it not affect the party? If people turn up and see a few cheap balloons scattered everywhere, they won't want to go next year, or any of the years after, and then there will be no NONA at all. Opportunities like this are important to some people. Is she that self-centred she can't see that?

"Why?" I shrug. "Why take the money at all?"

She says the answer in a tone like its obvious, and I am a stupid child, "Because if I want people to think I'm a winner, I need to look like one. Do you think Mom and Dad would help me out?"

"No, Nati." I shake my head. She knows they wouldn't, even in her time of desperation. She's going to have to return everything she bought, which she also knows but won't admit. "Mom and Dad always told us that we need to earn the things we get."

"Well, that's exactly what I did."

And that's when it hits me. The realisation is so painstakingly clear that I'm surprised I didn't figure it out sooner: She was only interested in organising the school events so that she could use the money for her own bidding. She didn't care about the NONA, all she wanted was the cash so she could show off her all the expensive things she got with it.

Looking over my shoulder, she strides past me and I turn to see who she is pursuing. Its Isabela, who leans slightly over the rail of the balcony. When Nati arrives at her side, she begins demanding answers. I quickly follow to over-hear what the commotion is about.

"Can you explain why you're treating me like this? You too?"

Isabela's head whips around in surprise, but her surprise quickly transitions into rage.

"You really don't know?" she snaps. "You stole my phone. That's how they got the video?"

The birthday video? I touch my sister's arm, grabbing her attention. "Is that true?" I demand, expecting her to beg and apologize to Isa, but she would never do anything as vulnerable as that. Natalia is speechless, before she adopts an innocent voice to try to guilt trip her way out of the hole she dug for herself.