Grace

November 15, 2016

Oh my god. It actually worked.

We were all in Julia's room, waiting for her to finish getting ready so we could go to the movies. While she was in the bathroom, I "happened upon" the journal. The girls' curiosity got the best of them, because, what the hell, she swore she didn't keep a diary!

At first, they were all smiles. But, as they flipped through the pages, their amusement turned into anger.

"Oh my god," Maia snapped. She looked so hurt, so disgusted. I'm not going to lie, it sucked to see them all in pain because of me. But I reminded myself that this was really to hurt Julia, not them.

When Julia returned from the bathroom, she couldn't understand why everyone was staring at her like she betrayed them. It was all I could do not to smile triumphantly as they waved the diary in her face and demanded to know why. Why she hated them so much and yet pretended to be their friend. Why she would do what she did to Maia. How could she?

Julia tried to tell them that she had no idea what they were talking about. She'd never seen that diary in her life.

They just scoffed. "Yeah, like we're supposed to believe that," Maia said. "It's in your handwriting, asshole."

And one by one, they left.

I was the last one to go. God, the bewilderment and sadness on her face. It was beautiful.

As I passed her, I heard her whisper, "I don't understand."

So, being the kind girl that I am, I decided to help her out. I turned to her, crossed my arms over my chest, and asked, "Sucks, doesn't it?"

She just looked at me, confused. I relished the look before elaborating, using the words I'd been rehearsing in my head for weeks. "All of your friends, gone. Just like that. Kind of like how it was for me when you decided that locking my sister up was a better idea than telling the truth."

Her confusion slowly shifted to realization and horror. "You're—?"

"Tessa Adams. Grace's sister."

For a moment, Julia just stared at me, uncomprehending. Then the questions started: What was I talking about? I did this? I wasn't Olivia Tanner? Why would she lie about Grace?

I didn't answer any of her questions. Instead, I looked at her and said, "You can either tell me the truth about what you did to Grace, or I can make your life hell. It's up to you."

Julia didn't have a reply. I said, "Hell it is then," and left.