It All Started with a Lie

Chapter 29

She knows exactly who I am referring to and stutters slightly, like she wants to take me up on my offer but feels like it would be wrong. She shakes her head with a frown. "It's fine. I'll stay home with you."

"I want you to go. She's your best friend." Bea has been talking about it for months. I will not take this away from her.

She doesn't get a chance to reply because Sonny comes back down and asks us what we are watching now that we've found a new movie. He takes his seat on the couch before he's seen that Estrella is curled in Bea's arms.

Estrella knows better than to claw at Sonny while I am there so she can do nothing but stare him down in anger which he reciprocates the second he notices her. When I get up to use the bathroom there is no one to save him.

As I wash my hands there is a commotion of yelling and hissing followed by a crash. I rush out to see the mess and find Bea on the floor laughing while Sonny fights Estrella off with a pillow. Beside him is the stool, lying face down with our junk bowl shattered beside it, the contents spilled everywhere.

"Estrella!" My voice is enough to calm her but I pick her up for safe measure and hand her to Bea. Sonny is thankfully left unharmed, at least physically. She might have given him ptsd.

"One day I'm gonna drive you to the woods and see how long you can survive without being handed all your meals!" Sonny threatens.

She is unbothered as she grooms herself, beside Bea who will never let him get rid of the cat.

I start to pick up the mess while Sonny argues with the cat and hides behind me. As I am throwing the pile of mysterious objects into a bag I find the lid of the now open ring box, completely empty and for a second I wonder if she didn't actually return the ring but then I find it just under the leg of the couch. It glimmers in the light of the lamp but one side shines particularly brightly. Opposite of the engraving of her name is another, mine, in shiny, new letters where another's once sat, long since worn away.

When did she get this done? I know I didn't see it the last time I was with her. I had a habit of fidgeting with her rings when we were together, I would have seen it. But if she got it done recently, what is it supposed to mean?

I remember the message on my phone and finally decide to check it. It is from Alexandria with a message reading 'come to the showcase, please'.

My fingers still above the trashcan icon to delete the message. The smart thing is to delete it, but then Estrella makes a lap around me, nudging the ring box with her nose towards me and it feels like a sign so instead I heart the message and I know she has seen it because she starts typing another message immediately.

I take a deep breath, shut off my phone, and tuck the ring into my pocket.
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When I enter the auditorium, it is already packed with people scrambling to find their seats. My sister is amongst the crowd with no idea that I am here, at least that's what I presume but honestly she probably already guessed I would show up tonight. I've been debating it for the last three days, going back and forth between my decision. When she left the house I was certain I wasn't going to go, and then ten minutes later I was on my bike driving here.

I don't sit with my 'brothers' or even Bea and instead choose a seat on the center aisle so I can make a quick escape if needed. I wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans before taking a seat next to a family. The little girl, no older than five, starts telling me about how this is her first show and that she is here to cheer on her mother.

Her father scolds her for bothering me but I am thankful for the distraction so I happily listen when she goes on to tell me about how she wants to be a dancer just like her mom but she doesn't like her dance instructor.