by Akaku Red
‘Good morning, Mum! How are you? We haven’t talked since yesterday. Don’t overwork yourself and stay healthy. Love you.’
My gaze went to the time which showed me it was 7 am.
A minute passed, then my mother messaged me back.
‘Good morning, beautiful! I am fine, how are you? Yesterday, was stressful but I am okay! I won’t work too much, it’s just that somehow, I don’t know when to stop. What are you doing?’
I smiled while reading her text.
‘I am preparing breakfast. Tyler is still asleep. How about you?’
As I finished typing the message, I started to set the table. I put the food on it and finished everything by placing the coffee on Tyler’s side of the table before I took a look at my phone again.
‘Send me a picture!’
I tried to find the right angle for the picture since Amy and Charlotte had taught me it was very important for good ones.
As I took the picture and pressed ‘Send’, strong arms suddenly wrapped around my waist and pulled me against a warm body.
“Good morning!” Tyler whispered with his head hovering around my shoulder. Then he placed a gentle kiss on my neck.
“You should have woken me. I would have loved to see you in my arms while I woke up.”
My face felt hot.
“But to find you like this is also not bad at all.”
At the same time, my mother texted me back.
‘It looks good, you are spoiling him too much!’
Tyler read it out loud and laughed.
“That’s true, you do.”
Agreeing to her message, he helped me sit down on the chair.
‘No! That is not true. I am not really doing much.’
I responded to my mother and waited for her to reply. Then I put the phone on the side and we started to eat.
Tyler was in a good mood.
He looked fine and well rested, different from the days before.
After we had finished cleaning up, he drove me to school where Linette was already waiting. She smiled happily when she saw me.
“After school, I will take you out,” Tyler said as I got out of his car.
“That sounds good.”
His breathtaking smile was on.
“See you later, my lady.”
I closed the door, and he drove away. My gaze followed the car.
“Stop daydreaming, Jenny.”
Linette approached me and waved her hands in front of my face.
“Yeah…” I muttered.
She linked her arms with mine and tried it again.
“Morning! You ready for two hours of maths?”
I was still in a daze, but I managed to look at her.
“Yeah, I am. I love maths.”
She sighed because it was her worst subject, and she couldn’t believe that there was a person who loved maths.
Well, for me it was a beautiful subject because you could find a solution many different ways. Also, it was more about writing and not so much about verbal communication, which meant you didn’t need to talk much in lesson.
“I am glad you like it, so you can help me out if I don’t understand something. Which is, by the way, always the case!”
She giggled and guided the way to the classroom. But before we went inside, I stopped for a moment.
“Linette, there is something I need to tell you.”
Her look got serious.
“What is it?”
“Tyler knows about Alice, and he knows about our visit at the orphanage and Cambridge, too.”
Linette went pale, her eyes wide open. She was shocked, but there was also something else… She looked terrified…
“You don’t need to be scared. He wasn’t mad, and he didn’t tell Elise about it.”
Her hand was shaking.
“How did he know?”
“His boss had a case. He saw us at the orphanage…”
Linette sighed deeply as if she was relieved.
“So, what are we going to do now?”
“I guess … We can keep on searching.”
I shrugged and looked down.
“But to tell you the truth, I don’t know what to do. I have a lot of things in mind…”
Those were my last words before we went to class.
The days flew by. Dean didn’t show up at school for the whole week, and Bob was watching my house, but he couldn’t find anything suspicious. My mother needed to extend her stay in Australia for two more weeks since her boss needed her at work.
Also, Tyler flirted with me every day, but I managed to control my feelings around him. We weren’t officially in a relationship, so I tried to maintain a safe distance, and I tried to get to know my own feelings by doing so.
Sadly, I didn’t have any clue where the letters from Alice could be or where Alice was living now.
I didn’t want to ask Bob since I didn't want him to risk his job for me, so I needed to find out on my own.
It was Friday, the last day of school before the weekend.
Everything had seemed normal until a few days ago.
Linette and Charlotte had stopped talking to each other.
Even during the school breaks, there was a tense atmosphere around us.
Amy and I were totally overwhelmed with the situation since we both didn’t know what made them like this.
She wanted to smooth out the situation by talking about funny things.
Yet, since the two of them had long faces, they didn’t laugh or get into the conversation — which was really … awkward!
“YOU KNOW WHAT! YOU NEED TO TALK IT OUT RIGHT NOW! I CAN’T STAND YOU BOTH!” Amy suddenly yelled. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the bench we had been sitting on seconds ago.
“Ugh! I am so mad! They are acting like kids,” she said while she guided us straight to the exit of the rooftop.
“Their secrecy, I can’t stand it anymore! It’s getting on my nerves.”
Amy ran through her hair impatiently. She looked pissed— and I felt guilty.
“I am sorry.”
“Why are you apologising?”
“I also have secrets I haven’t told you about.”
She sighed while she leaned up against the wall in the hallway.
“You don’t need to. I am patient, someday you will tell me about it… But these two are out of character! Since yesterday they have been ignoring each other, the atmosphere is tense. I don’t like it. I don’t like that at all! Also, Charlotte isn’t a person to cry. She called me last night… crying like crazy, but she wouldn’t tell me the reason.”
My heart felt heavy.
I wouldn’t have thought that their situation would be this serious.
“Don’t look like that!”
Amy pinched me.
“It’s not your fault! She was mad about Linette, she must have done something bad, but Charlotte wouldn’t tell me about it.”
A soft smile appeared on her face.
“Charlotte doesn’t like to talk badly about her friends, and she also doesn’t tell others about the problem until she has talked about it with that person herself.”
Yeah, she was like this… She was very loyal, and she didn’t like to talk behind people’s backs unless was about her exes.
“Let’s go grab some drinks so they can cool down a bit.”
Said and done.
We walked over to the canteen and grabbed some drinks for Linette and Charlotte.
Amy looked happy. Her anger vanished as she changed the subject.
“Yesterday, my favourite series started again, I have been waiting for so long for the new season.”
She smiled happily from ear to ear.
“We should watch it together. I am sure you would like it, too! The actors are so handsome, and my ultimate soulmate is also in it.”
Her brown eyes sparkled when she mentioned him.
“Yeah, we should do that!”
Then she mentioned all the ac
tors she had fallen in love with before she stopped.
“I think we should go back. I am sure they have talked everything out by now and that everything is okay!”
Even though she had been talking about other things, her mind was still with Linette and Charlotte, and I felt the same way.
I really liked them all… Our friendship had grown stronger over the past few months, so I was really sad that the situation had become like this.
We reached the door to the rooftop, and Amy opened it quietly so we could check out the situation.
We stood behind the door, surprised to hear screaming.
“YOU SHOULD TELL HER! DO YOU THINK WHAT YOU DID IS GOOD? DO YOU THINK SHE WILL EVER BELIEVE ANYONE LIKE THIS?”
Charlotte was standing in front of Linette, and both were glaring at each other.
They were so focused on each other and their anger that they didn’t notice us.
“What do you even know?”
Linette pushed her away.
“YOU THINK IT’S EASY FOR ME? I DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD TURN OUT LIKE THIS!”
Charlotte pushed her back.
I wanted to stop them, but Amy got her free hand on my shoulder to stop me.
“You should tell her!” Charlotte insisted.
“Sure, should I start like this? Hey, Jenny! I knew about you before you came to our school! Tyler told me to be friends with you, so I could tell him about what you were up to. He thought it was a win-win situation since he knew that I didn’t have any friends! All I needed do was to tell him about your doings and what you are up to! … Do you know what that sounds like? This is impossible!”
The drinks, which I had been holding in my arms, crashed to the ground.
I stopped breathing for a moment. I felt dizzy.
It seemed like time had stopped.
As the bottles smashed on the concrete, Charlotte and Linette turned instantly. Both looked shocked when they finally noticed us.
“W-What?” I stuttered.
“Oh no! Jenny, this is-”
Linette tried to say something and came closer, but I stepped back.
“Girls, you need tell me right now! What is going on?”
Amy was confused. She took turns looking at Linette, then at me.
Charlotte sighed and sat back down on the bench— totally defeated from the situation.
“Please, listen to me! I can explain-”
My mind was filled with thoughts, but I managed to speak.
“S-So Tyler told you to become friends with me?”
She wanted to deny it, but eventually she gave up and nodded.
My vision went dark.
“But-”
‘All I needed to do was to tell him about your doings and what you are up to!’
“What do you mean … You needed to tell him about my doings?”
I asked, my heart heavy.
“I-I … Jenny! I needed to tell him what you were doing because he wanted you to be safe!”
Tyler had suggested this school to my mother … Tyler knew Linette and told her to approach me.
From the beginning, I had thought they knew each other, way before I even got to know them. I just hadn’t known why they would keep it a secret!
Even Charlotte had the same thought as me… but this … was making sense now.
I mean, this was way over the line!
He had told her to become friends with me so he could watch me better. Linette needed to keep the role as my friend and tell him everything…
No wonder that they kept it a secret.
Well, of course…
I should have known better.
It was not typical. A beautiful girl like Linette would speak voluntarily to me first. Too good to be true… Nobody had done that before.
“What does telling him about her doings have to do with being safe? What did you need to report?” Amy asked, even though she didn’t seem to follow the conversation.
She was evidently trying hard to understand …
Even I really tried hard to understand their behaviour.
“Anything she wanted to do if she wanted to do some research…”
But then it clicked …
“You told him about Alice?”
She nodded again, ashamed.
In this very moment … I didn’t know why … but I felt deeply hurt.
“Jenny.”
Amy wanted to touch me because I was shaking badly, but I managed to back away.
Right now, I didn’t want to be touched by anybody.
I was too shocked.
Why did she play me like this?
We had promised to keep this secret, we had promised to do this! Yet she never meant to keep this secret … And now I recalled. Tyler and Linette had indeed behaved suspiciously on occasion.
The time by the car when he asked me what Linette had been doing with me that Sunday, how she had reacted when I told her that Tyler knew about our visit to Cambridge….
Then I realised …
My eyes widened.
“Peter never saw us in Cambridge. And he never saw us at the orphanage… You told him about it…”
This wasn’t a question. It was me talking to myself loudly.
Linette nodded, tears sliding down her face.
Amy didn’t speak, neither did Charlotte.
And I… I couldn’t believe this situation, both… Tyler and Linette had lied to me.
Yet the worst part was… If Tyler hadn’t told Linette to be friends with me, she never would have talked to me– It hadn’t been her decision.
Why would they do something like this?
Did she get something in return by playing me like a fool and by pretending to be a friend?
“So, you pretended to … like me?”
“No! Jenny, please listen!”
Linette wanted to approach me again, but I stopped her with my next question.
“Is there anything else? Is there something else I should know about?”
She sobbed and took a moment to find her voice again.
My heart was beating fast.
“Y-You …were never meant to find Alice. Because … we covered up everything which could lead to information about her.”
My heart shattered.
It was breaking into pieces…
The petals slowly fell from the stem.
I couldn’t move, I was paralysed.
Why am I so paralysed?
If she hadn’t told me about the fact that they had hidden information from me about Alice, I would have tried to understand their actions.
But now …
I couldn’t.
I couldn’t explain, but I felt terrified.
Why am I so terrified?
Everything was fake.
“Charlotte, how do you know about this?” Amy asked.
“I visited Linette… I found out about this matter when I saw the text messages she exchanged with Tyler, and I found a letter … which was meant for Alice, written by Jenny.”
I grabbed my chest. My heart was hurting badly.
I couldn’t breathe.
“Y-You received my letters, too?”
“NO! Just this one! I swear, I only got this letter by accident. Normally, the people at the orphanage would send the letters to the right address of the children. But someone changed it into mine, I am still looking to find out who it was.”
I stumbled backwards.
“Wait, Jenny! Don’t go. Let us talk it out!”
I shook my head. I didn’t want to listen to anyone.
Everything has been faked.
Our friendship had started with a lie.
From the beginning, I was told lies.
I turned and started running. I ignored the desperate calls from Charlotte, Amy, and Linette, ignored the offended glares by the people that I accidentally bumped into while running non-stop, and I ignored the strong feeling of being watched.
I ran through the streets to my house. I al
ways had the keys with me.
I managed to open the door, and with heavy steps I made it into my room, where I locked myself in.
I didn’t want to see anybody. Didn’t want to believe the words I had just heard.
Silently, I let my tears fall.
I was on the floor with my knees pressed against my head. I made myself as small as possible.
All this… for what?
Why did they do this?
I just wanted to live a normal life.
Wanted to find Alice.
Was I asking for too much?
I wanted to remove this from my mind, from my life.
And there I thought I was able to live a normal life.
It took me a long time to control my heavy heartbeat and my burning tears. I couldn’t really see. My vision was blurry from the tears.
I couldn’t understand …
I just couldn’t understand why they would do something like this.
Why did they do this?
Everything could have been normal!
But why did it end like this?
They could have told me about it…
I sobbed loud and rubbed my eyes harshly with my bare hands.
I should stop crying.
I should stop pitying myself.
This was meant to be!
I couldn’t change the facts or their doings. I should accept my fate, I was an unwanted child with an ugly past and no real future— nobody would like me!
I didn’t even like myself.
I sighed loudly as I opened my eyes. My head was hammering hard, I felt dizzy, but I couldn’t care less.
I should have been careful …
I was looking blankly at my bed when I heard footsteps coming closer, behind the door…
“JENNY!”
The knocks on my door were loud.
“Jenny, please let us talk.”
“What happened to Miss Brown?”
A female voice appeared next to Tyler’s.
“Olivia, you may leave… I am going to look after Jenny. I am sorry for taking your time by calling you over.”
Tyler was pounding against my door. It sounded like Olivia had let him inside since she was the first one to enter the house, and she found me locked in my room.
“Jenny, open the door! We need to talk.”
I covered my ears with my hands. Hearing his shaking voice made my heart ache even more — But even so… I wanted to be alone.
I needed time to process my thoughts and to keep a clear mind even though everything was spinning like crazy!