How to Get Away with Lying

Chapter 19

I glanced back at the banner, feeling a tightness in the back of my throat.

Right, Adley?

By the time noon rolled around, I was ready to fall asleep standing up.

The five of us had managed to finish setting up the stage – with less than ten minutes to spare. Now, we were standing at the front of the crowd that had gathered, waiting for the parade to begin. First, I knew that there were going to be speeches from some of the Founding Families – the ones that bothered to show up, anyway. Despite being important in Ember Falls' history, as I've heard, some of the Founding Families were notorious for being absent on their day.

I don't blame them for not showing up.

I don't blame them for not showing up if it's this much of a drag every time, I thought, impatiently checking the time on my watch.

Finally, Mayor Shay made her way onto the stage. She waved as everyone applauded. "Welcome to Ember Falls' twentieth Founder's Day!" she announced into the microphone. "Today, we are honored to kick off this special day with speeches from two of our prestigious Founding Families: the Kennedys and the Morgensterns."

Everyone applauded at the names. I then watched as two women stepped onto the stage, going to stand beside the mayor.

"Presenting Ms. Kate Morgenstern and Ms. Cecilia Kennedy!" Mayor Shay exclaimed. She stepped aside, leaving the microphone to the two women.

Cecilia... Why do I know that name? I wondered, unable to place where I had heard it in the past.

I looked at Ms. Kennedy, who was standing at the microphone and smiling warmly. She had shoulder-length brown hair and tanned skin, and I noticed a large white scar circling over her right eye. I squinted at her, confused. I knew that I had never seen her before. But something about her features was almost familiar.

"Hey, E," Dylan called, breaking my focus. "Your plus-one looks like she's gonna pass out."

Alarmed, I glanced over at Jessi and realized that she was standing painfully stiff beside me. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and all the color was drained from her face. "Hey, Jess, are... are you okay?"

Jessi didn't respond, her eyes fixed on the mystery woman onstage.

"Uh, hello?" Kyle said, waving a hand in front of Jessi's eyes.

She still didn't flinch.

"What's so interesting over there?" Dylan questioned, but Jessi didn't answer.

Instead, she started backing away quickly. But she ended up running straight into Calvin, nearly knocking him over. He gave her a confused, wary look, then opened his mouth to say something. But Jessi shoved past him, disappearing into the crowd.

"Jessi!" I called, even though I knew that she wouldn't respond.

"What's up with her?" Calvin asked, adjusting his Badgers baseball cap.

"I have no idea," I admitted, shaking my head. "I'm going to go find out." Forcing myself to keep calm, I turned away from my friends and waded through the crowd I then searched for Jessi, though it was hard since she was able to hide easily due to her height. "Jessi?" I shouted, trying to get my voice to carry over the roar of the crowd. "Jessi, where are you?"

As expected, once again, I didn't get a response.

Standing on my toes to get a better view, I scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of Jessi. I then spotted a tree-filled clearing nearby, though, and knew instantly that that must have been where she ran off to.