Never Trust a Truman

Chapter 3

Once Rachelle got back to her house, she was surprised to notice that Ryan, Troy, and Lyndsay were in her house, waiting for her to get back. Rachelle gasped. "Huh...guys," mumbled Rachelle. "Hey Ray," said her friends. "What are all of y'all doing here?" she wondered. "We were just waiting patiently for you to come home," replied Lyndsay. Rachelle was half confused and half upset. What was worse was that was speechless, and that she didn't know how to spill the beans to them about Paisley's death.

Lyndsay immediately rose up from the couch and headed toward her best friend who seemed like she was about to tear up. "Ray...Ray, is everything alright?" questioned Lyndsay, rubbing her friend's shoulders. "Yeah, yeah, everything is smooth," answered Rachelle very softly. "Rachelle, even Ryan and I know that there's something fishy going on," exclaimed Troy. Rachelle sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Fine..."said Rachelle. "I guess I have to come clean...um, you know what...You just spoiled the surprise." "What?" the three of them said in shock. "Yep, that's right...I was throwing you guys a surprise party and now the secret's out, thanks to you guys, I'm just devastated, devastated I tell you," replied Rachelle. Rachelle's mind was so blank that she wouldn't even give her friends a chance to open their mouths. "Nope...nuh-uh...get out, get out, all three of you," said Rachelle as she pushed her friends out the back door. "Devastated...," sighed Rachelle as she slammed the door in their faces. She then turned around and backed up into the door, letting out a depressed sigh.

A few seconds later, her parents walked in through the front door. "Hey, sweetie, we're back from running errands," said Rachelle's mother. Rachelle was speechless. "Ray, honey, is everything alright?" wondered her mom. Rachelle's mouth dropped open: she was speechless. Just out of nowhere, she bursted into tears and quickly ran up to her bedroom. Her parents didn't know what was going on with their daughter. Once Rachelle got upstairs, she stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her and jumping on her bed, stomach first, crying her eyes out.

Moments later, there was a knock on her bedroom door. "Rachelle...," questioned her mother. "Go away," shouted Rachelle before her mom spoke again. Her mom just couldn't bare of opening the door, so she turned around and headed back downstairs, hoping that Rachelle would come to her senses. Once Mrs. Truman arrived at the bottom of the staircase, there was a banging at the front door. It was Lyndsay.

"Hi Lyndsay, what seems to bring you here," greeted Rachelle's mother.

"Hi, Mrs. Truman, is Ray home. I need to talk to her: you know, make sure everything's okay," greeted Lyndsay.

"Yes ma'am, she's up in her room," replied Mrs. Truman. Lyndsay quickly closed the front door behind her and began to sprint up the staircase to Rachelle's bedroom. "Ray, may I come in: I need to talk to you," said Lyndsay as she walked through the door. There was complete silence coming from Rachelle's mouth. As soon as Lyndsay quietly walked through the door, she was in shock to discover her best friend lying flat on her stomach, bawling her eyes out.

"Oh my gosh, Ray, what's wrong?" shrieked Lyndsay. Rachelle slowly began to lean up from her stomach to where she was sitting on the edge on her bed next to her best friend. "Nothing," answered Rachelle as she was drying up her face. "Rachelle Lynn Truman, don't you even dare lie to me," said Lyndsay. "Now, I know something is wrong, and I want to know now." Rachelle looked at her, giving her a look with those big lamentable, puppy dog eyes. Her eyes commenced to fulfill with salty flavored water drops.

"Rachelle, it's okay, you can tell me these things," alleged Lyndsay. She dried up her eyes.

"She's...," began Rachelle. Filling up with depression, she was experiencing a difficult time of spilling the beans. "She's, she's gone," admitted Rachelle.

"What do you mean?" wondered Lyndsay.

"What do I mean?" repeated Rachelle. "I mean she's dead...dead...dead, dead...D-E-A-D, dead!"

"Wait a minute, who?" asked Lyndsay. Rachelle put her head down, feeling a tunnel of sadness coming on upon her. "Paisley...," she replied quietly. Lyndsay's mouth dropped open wide with shock. Rachelle stared at the picture of her and Paisley together that was sitting on her night stand. Just a few seconds later, she bursted into tears. Lyndsay grabbed a hold of her best friend and hugged her tight as Rachelle's head laid down on Lyndsay's shoulder. "I'm so sorry Ray," said Lyndsay as she rubbed Rachelle's head. As she was bawling her eyes out, moments later there was a knock at her bedroom door: it was her mother. "Ray, I know you're in there, come on, open up," said her mother.

Lyndsay rose up from the bed and approached toward the door. She turned towards Rachelle and kept flashing her eyeballs from the door to her friend and back to the door. Rachelle noticed what she was doing, so she kept shaking her head "no" like a crazy person. Lyndsay immediately sat on the bed.

"Look, you're going to have to tell your mother sometime," exclaimed Lyndsay. Another big knock at Rachelle's bedroom door occurred. "And if nothing else happens, it looks like that that time is now." Rachelle twinkled a disgusted look on her face towards her friend. Lyndsay put her hand on top of Rachelle's and held it with all of her strength. "You can do this: I know you can," said Lyndsay as she looked Rachelle in the eyes with a smile.

She rose up from the bed once more and went to open the door. "Lyndsay...," said Mrs. Truman as the door opened. She saw her daughter with tears running down her cheeks. "Oh honey, come here," demanded Mrs. Truman. She took her daughter and hugged her as tight as she could. "I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to Paisley," she said.

"Wait a minute: hold up, how did you find out," demanded Rachelle.

"Apparently, it looks like your mother was eavesdropping through your bedroom door," suggested Lyndsay.

"Okay, fine," confessed Mrs. Truman. "Yes, I was eavesdropping on y'all, but it was just because you wouldn't tell me and I needed to know."

"I'm sorry, mom," said Rachelle.

"It's okay," replied her mother. "Now, are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be alright," she answered. Her mother gave her one last hug, and left the room to go tell Rachelle's father the news.

"Now, was do we do?" reflected Rachelle.

"Well, now it's time to go to the crime scene and investigate," said Lyndsay. "So...let's go!" Lyndsay jumped up from the bed as quick as she could and went for the door.

"Wo, wo, wo, wo, wo," said Rachelle as she was stopping her. "You're kidding me, right...go to the crime scene, no way, that is so not happening."

"Ray, come on," began Lyndsay as she walked over to Rachelle. "This is Paisley, your cousin, the one you thought of as a sister: are you really gonna give up on her...". "The one you spent all of your life with when you two were little...Ray, she needs you, she needs you to find out her killer, she needs you to find out who ruined her life. I know you want to help her...and another thing, I know that she would want to help you and find your killer if it was the other way around."

Lyndsay took her hand and laid it on Rachelle's shoulder. "Don't give up on her." Rachelle looked up at her best friend, feeling down. "Because she needs you," finished Lyndsay. Rachelle held up her head, looked down at Lyndsay's hand with her eyes, and finally turned her head towards her picture on her night stand, glancing over at it carefully. Moment's later, she stared back at Lyndsay. "Okay...I want to get to the bottom of this mystery...let's do this," said Rachelle. Lyndsay took Rachelle's arm and dragged her out the bedroom door, down the staircase, and out the front door to Aunt Bonnie's house.