Secrets & Lies

Chapter 14

Well sorry for the late upload :/ Promise to do more soon, just bear with me! Thanks for sticking with the story and all the reads/votes/comments :D I read each one and treasure them all! <3 You guys are inspiring xx

Anyways, I'll stop rambling so you can start reading ;)

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 Lauren gulped, glancing around. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had everyone gone insane? Kelly might have been an exuberant girl who thrived on making a mountain out of a molehill, but even this was too much. And Jen? That girl was supposed to be the voice of reason in their exclusive group, the one who remained calm and rational in desperate times. Instead, here she was making up fantasy tales were based off of fluff. Air. Nonsense. Nothing.  Where had their brains gone? Where had their minds gone? What was wrong with them?

“Guys, look,” Lauren began, her voice quiet but unwavering. “Honestly, your idea,” she shook her head, her gaze flickering from one face to the other. “It’s fantastic. Brilliant. Incredible. Mind-blowing.” With a start, Jen sat up straighter, and Kelly stopped picking at her nail polish. Both girls stared directly at her.

Lauren wanted to laugh. “It’s phenomenal,” she paused before finishing her sentence. “It’s phenomenal if you’re planning on writing a mystery novel.” Kelly groaned softly, sitting back and rubbing her bleary eyes. Jen shook her head and slumped back.

“Come on, Lauren. Quit being so stubborn and just listen,” Kelly pleaded, turning to Jen for support. Jen nodded vehemently, shaking her head up and down, her face morphed into a begging expression.

“No you listen!” Lauren cried. She eyed the stairs warily, hoping her outburst didn’t startle anyone out of bed before continuing in a more hushed tone. “What is wrong with both of you? I don’t understand why you must make everything so freaking dramatic. This night,” she shuddered. “It hasn’t been a great experience for any of us. But we’ve learned our mistakes and know we’ll never do it again. Okay? Case closed.”

“Case not closed. Hello? The lady?” Jen reminded her sternly, tossing Kelly an exasperated look. Lauren scowled at them.

“Yes. Case closed. The lady means nothing,” she grimaced. “Look,” Lauren sighed, running her fingers through her hair in a frustrated manner. “I don’t know why you want to make such a big deal of nothing. The lady was probably a figment of your imagination, a trick of the light. It could have easily just been the flames playing with your mind. I know you couldn’t have gotten a good view of her. She probably didn’t even exist! The police said so, remember?”

“So you’re trying to tell us that we all coincidentally happened to somehow conjure up the exact same gruesome image of one specific lady?” Kelly commented dryly, cocking an eyebrow at Lauren wearing the same skeptical expression Jen had on.

“Very likely,” Jen added sarcastically.

Lauren slumped back, unsure what to do. “Okay, fine,” she agreed finally. “Let’s pretend there was some lady in the house, the one you guys are positive you saw.”

“We did!” Kelly retorted indignantly. Jen placed her hand on Kelly’s arm, calming her down.

“Let’s just listen to this,” she whispered softly. Kelly huffed but acquiesced, crossing her arms defiantly. Jen ushered Lauren to continue. Clearing her throat, she started up once more.

“Right, so, there was this lady,” Lauren began again but paused. What should she say? How could she convince them that pondering over something so unrealistic and gory was doing no one any service?