Secrets & Lies

Chapter 10

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Jen blinked at Kelly’s sharp tone. This wasn’t like her. Well, this wasn’t like any of them. With a inward groan, Jen opened her mouth and began to speak, observing how Kelly’s jaw seemed to drop lower and lower with every sentence.

“Fine. You want to know what happened? I’ll tell you, but I guarantee you won’t like it.” Jen blew out a long breath, staring hard at the ground. “We ran back, and everyone was freaking out. Seriously. I mean who knew that there would be logs in the fireplace?” She shrugged, resuming the story. “So after we ran off, cutting through the bushes and yards of practically everyone on the street, we made it back here. Of course, Courtney has the brilliant idea of climbing up to the balcony so we could see what was going on. I don’t know if you remember this, but both of us hung back. Lauren,” she gestured to girl asleep in her arms. “She went with Courtney instantly.” Jen made a face. “You know her. Always loyal.”

Kelly rolled her eyes. Lauren was utterly devoted to Courtney, and the other girls too. She fought for them no matter what and refused to believe anything the slightest bit demeaning about any of them.

Jen continued. “In the end, we both went up, but I could tell you were just as uneasy as I was.” Her voice took on a far-off tone as though she was in a trance. “It was like we knew something was wrong before it was.”

Kelly gulped, her stomach churning. She could remember bits and pieces of the night. Jen’s rehashing of the events helped piece the puzzle together in her mind, taking the floating images and connecting the dots in chronological order. Vividly, she located that particular memory. Her stomach queasy and eyes wary, she followed Jen up the rickety stairs, knowing something wasn’t right. And as always, her gut was correct. Nothing was right.

“We gathered along the vantage point of the balcony where the whole neighborhood was visible. Same with the house. And then, after a moment, I’m not sure exactly what happened,” Jen admitted. “All that I really remember is that Lauren was trying to make peace everyone down, but the truth was sinking in, the horror at what we’d done and,” she shrugged. “You flipped.” Kelly cringed, knowing the words were true though she felt guilty for taking it out on Lauren. It wasn’t Lauren’s fault they were in such a scary predicament. But Kelly had a shrewd feeling Lauren was used to being a punching bag for others.

“Why?” Kelly whispered weakly, not entirely sure what she was saying. She was pretty much pleading to the world, begging them to tell her that it was mistake. That they hadn’t pulled such an awful prank. The house wasn’t actually on fire because of them. That lady…she didn’t suffer because they had committed such a heinous crime. Jen gazed longingly at her, feeling Kelly’s pain. She too wished for an undo button. But unfortunately, every action has a consequence. And this act came with a particularly grave one.

“I remember,” Kelly murmured, twisting around the auburn strands that fell forward and covered her face. “It’s coming back to me,” she stopped, hating what she had to say next. “I remember her.”