Only liars live forever

Sandra ~ Ch: 4

Penelope didn't even know how to answer the text. She didn't want this person to think that they had something on her.

*PING*

Another text arrived.

"You know, the Cartier bracelet with green diamonds worth half of your moms' salary that you conveniently slipped into your pocket on a dare"

*PING*

"My dare"

Penelope was stunned. How could this stranger know this, Abbie was the one with her when it happened and that bracelet also marked the end of Penelopes' stealing.

She opened the car door, forgetting her bag in the car and marched straight up to her room.

-Hey Pen, I didn't know you were home! She heard her mother say in passing.

The second she reached her room she went straight to the vent atop her desk, gently removed the grill and there it was. The bracelet. This is where she'd kept most of her contraband growing up, the perfect place to stash things you didn't want to be found.

She had to reply. She didn't want to, but she had to know how this person knew about the bracelet.

"Who told you this?"

*PING*

Instant reply.

"How about this, I don't spill this secret too keep the impressive Harper name intact and you do something for me"

Now calmer, Penelope didn't actually think her boss would care that much if she'd done some dumb shit as a young kid growing up. Maybe it would knock her down a peg compared to her coworker to have something on her record. And sure the Harper name might be tarnished a little since it was a big thing in this small prestigious town when something extremely valuable went missing from the local jewelry store, but whatever. It wasn't the end of the world and she suspected surely not worth the hassle of whatever this person was planning.

"I don't know what you think you know, but one thing's for sure, I won't be doing anything for you. Go ahead and tell your lies. Don't contact me again." Penelope replied.

A long silence and no reply.

Finally. Hopefully this freak was done texting.

------

Malia opened the door to her old bedroom. Every corner of her old house was haunted, but her bedroom even more so. Haunted with memories of her, Abigail, Stacy, Penelope and Emma. It had felt so good after high school to just leave. Nothing had worked out in this town for her anyway. It was too small for someone with dreams of becoming an artist.

Hailing cove didn't exactly cater to aspiring painters and the closest she had gotten to an actual showing of art during high school had been through google.

She walked into the room, most of it packed up in boxes and the rest filled with her mother's workout equipment. Her parents had turned it into a kind of storage space for everything from Christmas decorations, to old clothes her and her younger sister had long since grown out of.

She sat down on the bed.

She remember the last time she saw Abigail, it had been in this room.

---

Hailing cove 2005 (two days before Abigails disappearance)

-I can't believe your dad is bringing you back clothes from Paris after his work trip, I'm so jealous. Abigail said with a spiteful tone while lazily breezing through the latest issue of cosmo.

Malia looked up at her from where she was laying on her bed looking at a girl in a weird looking dress in some old issue of vogue.

-Oh I dont know, It's not like it's Miu Miu or anything. He might honestly just come back with a souvenir from the airport, he probably forgot already. She answered.

Abigail was just about to reply when her sister knocked on the door. They were nearly the same age but you could hardly tell from the way Malia dressed.

-Hey, I'm going out to get food, you want anything? She asked looking rather upset.

-No we're good. Malia answered while Abigail looked at Sandra intensely.

-Are you sure it's just food you're picking up? Abigail said to Sandra while meeting her eyes.

Sandra looked shocked and hurt by the comment. But answered just as quickly.

-Watch it Abigail.

Just as she said that, Sandra walked out and shut the front door hard enough for the hinges to come off.

-Jeez, Abbie, is everything good with you two? Malia closed the magazine and stared at her while laughing slightly at the teenage drama of it all.

Abigail looked up with her usual confidence, not batting an eye.

-Yes, probably just her time of the month.

They both laughed and Malia picked up another magazine and kept reading.

---

Present:

Sandra and Abigail had never gotten along, but Malia had just assumed it had been due to Abigails constant bullying of Sandras best friend Bailey.

Now, the comment just echoed in her mind for some reason.

Maybe there had been some unspoken thing between them that Malia had missed. Something more serious than Abbie had let on..?

She heard her parents shuffling with dinner downstairs and just as she was about to stand up from the bed, her phone went off.

Malia looked at her phone unbothered. But something about this text left her speechless.

"Do you know why I always hated your sister? Ask your soon-to-be fiancé. "

Love A.