One Stupid Thing

1:5:17

I knew that there was something that Sarah wasn't telling me, granted I hadn't told her everything either, but I had no idea about the extent of her adventures.

Yesterday, when Sarah disappeared, she had been in Chapel Hill with John B. That's right. John B Routledge. Apparently she was helping him retrieve some documents from the archives there. It wasn't difficult to connect the dots. John B was going to finish what his dad started. Finding the Royal Merchant gold. But that's not all.

"So, you're telling me that you spent the entire day yesterday traveling all the way to the mainland with the John B Routledge because he needed some documents that were found when Dad first bought the house?" I summarize.

"Yes, Stella, now be quiet!" Sarah shushes.

Our whole family returned to Tannyhill after the scene the Pogues made at the Club. Now, Sarah and I need to find a plat map of our property and bring it to John B at midnight. Still in our formal dresses, we make our way silently up the stairs and to the study. We enter and slowly close the door behind us, however instead of rushing to search for the map, Sarah turns to me with a wistful look in her eye.

"Stella... there's something else that happened yesterday," she whispers.

"Um, okay. What is it?"

"We just had so much fun together and it felt like it was only us in the whole world. I just got carried away in the moment and I—I kissed him." She searches my face for a reaction.

"Sarah... I'm not mad at you," I say. "And I truly don't blame you. I have always sensed a little tension between you two."

"Oh God, Stella. I know I should've waited until I had broken up with Topper." She takes a seat on one of the chairs and rests her head in her hands. "I just feel like such an awful person."

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't say that." I crouch down in front of her and rest a hand on her knee. "You are not a bad person just because you have feelings for someone else. You are human."

She looks up at me and takes my hand in hers. "Thank you."

"Okay, come on. Let's find that map."

A look of determination flashes on her face. We dash towards the desk and begin searching each drawer.

"What are you guys doin'?"

We look up and there is Ward, still wearing his button down shirt from earlier.

"I...just wanted a copy of one of the old plat maps," Sarah pulls them out of the bottom drawer and we stand to acknowledge him.

"A plat map," Ward laughs. "Of Tannyhill."

"Yeah," I tell him. Sarah brings it over to a table and lays it out. I sit on the couch beside her.

"You guys never wanted to look at those things when I tried to show 'em to you," he walks over.

"Well, since then, I have become so appreciative of this beautiful property that we call home, and they're so beautiful, I thought maybe I could get them framed and hung in my room," she lies. She unfolds them and studies them with fake interest.

"It's true! She's been talking about it for awhile now," I confirm.

"Okay, come on, you two, seriously. What is this, a school thing?" He doesn't buy our excuse.

"No, it's July," Sarah says.

"A Topper thing?"

Sarah sighs, plucks one map from the pile and folds it back the way it was. "It's not a Topper thing." She stands. "But it is a boy thing."