Secrets. Lies. Murder. Betrayal. Guilt. Justice: Part 1

Chapter 3 - Erika

After our hair care and mani-pedi treatment at the Westfield mall salon, Kari-Ann and I came out, looking more refreshed than ever with our glamorous makeover and brand-new clothes for school. I had to admit, Kari-Ann looked gorgeous as a blonde. It really brought out her eyes. I know if I ever were to bleach my hair, Mom would kill me: literally and figuratively. Okay, maybe not literally, but Mom was really adamant that we didn't do anything "crazy" to our hair, skin or nails. So, I just did my usual mani-pedi, both in the same color: teal. It's a pretty color, but not my favorite. My favorite color was actually black, but I figured it would be pretty weird and a little "creepy" if I colored my nails black. Everyone at school, including Arthur, would assume that I just went through an emo phase or something, which was not true. I was far from an emo. Besides, teal was the color of Kari-Ann's eyes, so I'm pretty sure she would be flattered to know that I colored my nails that matched her eyes. Not that it was a planned thing... Just a random color I happened to choose because, why not.

We were fawning over each other's looks as we got into Kari-Ann's Porsche. I didn't even have my own car yet. Kari-Ann was just a bit spoiled like me because her parents let her get away with just about anything at home, so I knew they wouldn't be surprised if they found out she'd dyed her hair.

"You're gorgeous," I said.

"Shut up, so are you. We're both gorgeous." She stared at my toes, really taking in the teal. "Girl, you must be jealous of my eyes. I love them."

"Thanks. And not to rain on your parade, but I just randomly chose teal. I wasn't even thinking about you at all."

"I know." She grinned. "The world doesn't really revolve around you, Kari-Ann. I get it. But seriously, though... I think a certain someone would be impressed." Talking about Arthur, of course. Not that he ever noticed things like that so much.

"You got that right," I said in agreement. Pretty soon, we were headed our own way home. I got to my place, rang the bell and Mom answered the door.

"How was it?" she asked. "Bought lots of nice clothes?"

"Yeah, and Kari-Ann and I went for mani-pedis." I showed her mine.

"They're gorgeous. And cheap, right?"

"Yes, Mom. Always cheap."

The only one absent from the house at the moment was Paulo. Mom said that he'd just gone out to the store to buy more of his famous breakfast sausages, along with a million other things we might or might not need. During the week, we all took turns with the grocery shopping, and on weekends, Paulo was in charge of the shopping, being that he was the man of the house.

"Also, Lory said that she wants to talk to you about something really quick," Mom said. "She's a little down, so you might want to see what she wants. She's down in the basement, reading as usual." She gave me a small smile as I quickly went up to my room to settle down my bag of clothes I'd bought and went down to the basement to see Lory. The TV was on, she was playing music on her headphones while reading her book on the sofa. Just being her usual, reclusive teen girl self.

When she saw me, she put down her book and took off her headphones. "How was the mall?" she asked.

"It was okay. How are you?" I asked as I sat next to her on the couch.

"Okay, I guess."

"What's up?"

"I'm really sorry for the snappy thing I said to you earlier. You know, about how you get guys to notice you. I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

To be honest, I barely remembered her saying that to me, but that was because it was time for us to eat breakfast, and that moment was instantly forgotten. Even if I remembered, I wasn't that offended by it, even if it wasn't really true. Arthur was the only guy who'd ever paid close, intimate attention to me, unlike Eric Walker and the other loser jocks.