A Completely Different Story

{Sixteen}

-Sarah-

I sat by Miranda the whole time, bouncing my leg up and down as she typed on her laptop, opening many windows on it. She's been doing that for exactly two or three hours, and my mom has been asking the same exact question. "So, you're sure what you're doing is legal?" She looked uneasy and I sighed.

"Mom, she's trying to find whoever sent that message to Luke. She's practically helping Maggie. I doubt it's illegal." Of course I knew it was illegal, but I needed to calm my mom down. Besides, I wanna know who the person who tried to kill Maggie is. I already ordered a grave at the cemetery. Miranda nodded slowly, not paying attention to anything but the screen. "Yeah, yeah. It's legal." She said to no one in particular. Mom nodded and sat back in her chair, leaning against dad's shoulder. He was holding Graham on his lap and staring warily at Luke, who was sitting on a chair close to Maggie, stroking her hair and holding her hand.

I can't even. Half of my phone gallery is of them right now. "At least two percent of it is." Miranda muttered. Unfortunately, mom heard and widened her eyes. "W-what?! No, stop that right now. Let's just leave this to the police and that way no one will get in trouble!" She protested, getting ready to stand up. Miranda let out a sigh and looked up at my mom, her fingers were still typing rapidly. This chick has skill.

"Mrs. Brown, with all due respect, the police will take more than six days to get information, and the first three will consist of cracking typical cop jokes with a donut in one hand and coffee in the other. That's not just some joke people make about them, I've seen it myself. Don't ask how. I just need five more minutes and I'll be able to see who exactly threatened your daughter and tried to harm her. This is Maggie's life on the line, and if we don't find this person now then who knows what will happen next?"

Mom bot her lip and slowly sat back on the chair, once again resting against dad's shoulder. "I send those donuts to the police station every week." She muttered to herself with a frown. I ignored her comment and looked at Miranda. "I've never seen anyone convince her so fast. As well as type so fast." I said. Miranda smirked and went back to her laptop. "Thanks. I'm like Spencer Reed and Penelope in one. Except Penelope would've gotten this faster than me. Whoever this person is knows how to cover up his or her tracks." I nodded my head and looked at Luke and Maggie.

"He's the only person that didn't look at Maggie differently after he found out about her life story. Everyone else at school treats her terribly." I stated. Miranda glanced up at Luke and smiled before turning her eyes back to the computer. "Back in Baths when we were younger, he had changed so many people's lives by giving them new perspectives. He never liked judging people. One time he had told me, 'If I'm not a jury, then I have absolutely no right to judge others'. That actually helped me more than anyone could imagine." I quirked an eyebrow and glanced back at Luke.

"I can actually imagine him saying that. Maggie was sort of whizzed out when he didn't turn his back on her. It's always been a revolving door of undeserved hatred towards her. How did you two become friends?" Miranda smiled instantly as if she were remembering something. "Besides our families being really close, I was actually one of the people he helped." I looked at her in surprise, but let her continue.

"I used to be bullied since middle school because of my body. Back in Baths having a thigh gap meant being one of the next top models. Every time I entered school people would pinch me, commenting on how much skin I had. They even had a new name for me, floppy Miranda. I ended up having an eating disorder. I ate less, had constant restless nights 'cause all that I saw when I closed my eyes was those people and their evil grins as the laughed at me. And I would start pinching at my own body, also known as Excoriation disorder. They even diagnosed me with Anxiety."