Death of the Perfect Girl Book 2

2- Two Dead

        Poppy stood on the roof of her house looking at the ground. She imagined herself tumbling...slipping...having an "accident." The sound of the thump of her body hitting the driveway made her head spin with both fear...and hope...that things would end.

"Poppy!"

Poppy flinched almost losing her balance. Her leg launched forward causing her to fall on her bottom.

"Oh my God," her sister covered her mouth.

Poppy sighed then crawled over to her bedroom window and climbed back inside.

"What the hell?" Lisa pushed her shoulder.

Poppy rolled her eyes and walked over to her bed. She threw herself on it laying on her stomach.

"You're messing up your dress-"

"I don't care," Poppy buried her face in her pillow.

"The funeral is in fifteen-"

"I've changed my mind."

Lisa folded her arms. "Poppy-"

"I'm not going anymore-"

"Poppy?"

Poppy quickly sat up, turning to her door way. Liam stood dressed in an all black suit. He looked at her with a sad smile. "Hi."

Her heart felt ask if it was shriviling to pieces. "You haven't spoken to me in days."

"I...I had to figure things out," Liam fiddled with his sleeves.

"What?" Poppy shrugged. "Did you need time to figure out how you could not know that your best friend is a murderer -"

"POPPY!" Lisa shouted with wide eyes.  "How could you say that-"

"What? The truth? How hard would it have been to just tell them the truth?""

Lisa sighed. "I had to protect you-"

"Well, you shouldn't have." Poppy got out of bed. She slipped her feet into her shoes. Lisa and Liam watched her tie the ban around her black dress.

"I'm not looking at her in the stupid coffin." She grabbed her purse and headed towards the door, pushing her way past Liam.

*   *   *
As they walked into the church, Poppy immediately began to feel regret. Sadie's father sat in the front row weeping with his head bowed. A blonde woman sat beside him blowing her nose into a handkerchief. The church was full. But it wasn't with people from her school. There were young girls and boys sitting in the pews...taking pictures of themselves, the church and the body at the front. Poppy sighed, about to turn around and leave but her feet pinned to the ground when her eyes met his. Fisher held his little sister's hand as they walked down the sidewalk. His eyes landed on Poppy and he stopped walking. His sister let go of his hand and ran over to her. "Poppy!" She threw her arms around her, squeezing her tight.

Poppy smiled down at Hanna, feeling a little less glum. "How are you, Hanna?"

"Good," Hanna smiled up at her. Her smile faded. "I'm here for the funeral."

"Me too," Poppy nodded. She looked at Fisher.

He adjusted his black tie then walked up to her. "Hi."

"Hi," Poppy stared at him. He looked different. But so did she. They shared bags under their eyes and pale skin.

"Are you here," Fisher scratched the back of his head,"...by yourself?"

"No," Poppy replied with a slight shake of her head. "My family's inside...My sister came to support me."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Poppy nodded. She looked down at Hanna. "Go sit with my big sister, okay? She looks just like me, but bigger," she giggled.

"Okay." Hanna skipped into the church.

Poppy walked closer to Fisher. "I tried to get in touch with you."

Fisher turned away and sighed.

"Why wouldn't you answer your phone?"

He bowed his head. "Poppy, I love you."

Poppy stared at him then shook her head. She looked at the cars passing by trying to avoid looking at him. "I can't-"

"I know...And I want you to know the truth."

Poppy quickly turned to him.

"Sadie...," he stared into her eyes."Sadie wanted to kill herself-"

Poppy rolled her eyes. "What are you telling me-"

"That it's not your fault."

Tears filled Poppy's eyes. She quickly wiped her cheek. "I thought you had something to do with it," she giggled. "But I called your dad. He got so angry when I accused you-"

"I know...," Fisher looked down. "I heard him arguing with you."

"I was so relieved when you took the phone from him and spoke to me. I really thought you had done this."

Fisher looked down. "I would never...I'm too weak to hurt someone like that-"

"No," Poppy held his hand. "You're strong...That makes you strong. Sadie was...she wasn't the easiest, but to ignore that about her...you're strong Fisher. And I...I-uhm."

Fisher looked at her.

"Poppy," Lisa called out to her.

She turned back to the church.

"They're about to start."

"We're coming."

Lisa looked at Fisher, then at Poppy and squinted, before walking back into the church.

Fisher looked at Poppy. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Poppy nodded.

They both walked into the church together.

*   *   *

Poppy stood with her family at the cemetery. She watched as Sadie's body was lowered into the ground. She couldn't cry anymore. But her heart still broke. She looked at Fisher. Fisher stooped down, holding his sister tight and comforting her as she wept. He wiped his cheeks, staring at the casket with arched brows as if deep in thought. Poppy's eyes ran over to Sadie's father and the blonde woman beside him. They were staring at Hanna. Poppy furrowed her brows. Why were they staring at her like that?

Liam touched Poppy's shoulder. "You see the way they're staring at her too, right?"

"Yeah," she looked at him. "It's weird."

Liam squinted his eyes. He looked at Hanna, then at Mr. Wu. "They look alike."

Poppy lifted a brow at him.

He looked at her. "What? I'm Asian. Saying that's not offensive. Now if you had said it-"

"Guys," Lisa nudged Liam's shoulder, " we're at a funeral."

Liam shut his mouth. Poppy looked at Hanna. She did look a bit like Sadie. Poppy quickly shook the thought out of her mind. She didn't believe it.