sinister liars ✓

001. of death

ONE
they can kill without warning.

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"I MESSED UP SO BAD, MOMMY."

          Beneath her tough facade was a girl of taunting memories, a girl who left everything for nothing. Her dark hair enhanced her features (like the hazel eyes that had her peers on their knees). She wore a crown and, with every step, brought a hurricane down on earth. Blue was her name — well, no, her name was actually Adalia Blue (those being her first, the former being defined as 'nobility') but, to be frank, there was nothing honorable about her.

          Where most sophomores were concerned with climbing the social ladder until those standing still were ants, she was already at the top. Along with the obvious Blossom twins, she was who sophomores envied and freshmen despised. She could bring hell on earth with a single sentence.

          (That was why no one looked for an enemy in her. She was as nice as one could be, but morphed into a cold-hearted serpent when targeted; she fed off the misery of her schoolmates.)

          When said there was nothing honorable about her, there was an endless amount of evidence spanning from videos, posts on her social media, and mainly sprouts of gossip spread by her aforementioned peers.

          The most memorable piece of evidence highlighted a girl in her English class — Betty Cooper, the outsider — and she had been nothing but honest. It didn't help that Adalia and her two partners in crime (Ingrid Newton and Cheryl Blossom) were drunk off their asses. In this video, they were sat on Cheryl's bed, empty bottles of champagne littering the floor.

          "I've got one," Cheryl hiccuped, shoving herself in between Adalia and Ingrid. "Blueberry . . . what do you think about Betty Cooper?"

          Ingrid made a face. "Don't even, Cheryl; that girl is easier to fool than anyone I've ever met."

          "Hey, hey . . . lemme tell you a secret," Adalia whispered dramatically, inching closer to the camera as Ingrid and Cheryl argued in the background. She grinned mischievously, giggling behind her hand. "Betty Cooper really thought we were friends. I was just using her for her English skills. Only reason I got an A last year."

          She threw herself back onto the bed, laughing hysterically as if she hadn't just ruined Betty Cooper's entire ninth grade summer.

          "Screw the Coopers!" Ingrid shouted, giggles from both Cheryl and Adalia filling in the silence that came afterwards.

          —brutal, right?

          What Adalia didn't realize was that, though she may be the resident bitch of Riverdale, Karma was the biggest bitch of them all.

          And, when her father left earlier that summer, her entire world came crashing down on her. Thanks to Cheryl, she'd been able to keep her head high in front of her classmates, but the two knew just how broken she was on the inside. In fact, this brokenness of Adalia had only brought her closer to Cheryl, which slowly tugged on her tether to Ingrid, the rips in it quite prominent.

          Perhaps Karma was the reason she laid in her bed: a mess of tears and carelessly discarded tissues.

          Even moving her fingers was an arduous task, requiring most of her strength to crack the bones in her hand. Her eyes were purple and swollen and she couldn't bring herself to wipe the tears that came from the next sob that went through her body.

          A sullen Marjorie Shay came into the room in a hurry, hushing her daughter as she held her close to her chest, feeling tears spring to her own eyes. She wiped hers away quickly and focused on taking care of her daughter, whispering soothing words in her ear to try to calm her down.

          "He's dead, mommy," she croaked, pulling away from her mother to wipe her tears away. She took a short breath, fearing that if she took in too much oxygen that she would burst into tears once again. "He's just . . . gone."

          Adalia was always shitty at conveying her emotions. It was as if she was just doing something wrong every time she tried to cry. She was a ruthless and shallow bitch (and prided herself on that fact). She could make anyone cry with just a few words, which came from her love of being able to control the emotions of other people.

          —this wasn't one of those times.

          This time, Adalia had no problem in letting her guard down for hours, just so that she could mourn the death of the boy she'd seen as her best friend. (She hadn't even cried when her mother told her that her father had asked for a divorce.) Memories she'd thought as pointless once upon a time ago flooded her mind, mercilessly reminding her that she never got the chance to say goodbye.

          ("I never want to see you again" were her final words to Jason.)

          "It's okay, darlin'," Marjorie cooed. She took her daughter's hands and placed them in her palms to make sure that she was taking her words into account. "I know it seems like it's the end of the world right now, but it all gets better in the end, my love. Trust me."

          Adalia shook her head, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

          "Then why does it feel like I'll never be okay?"