The Great Pretender

12: Crying Shame

"Ari, Len died."

Her sister blinked at her in shock for a minute, then set her fork down softly before asking, "What?"

"Len, she's gone."

Fumbling, that's what Ari was doing, unsure of what to say, unsure of whether to believe Cherish or not. Well, no doubt she believed her, it was really the only explanation to Cherish's weird behavior and sudden move to live with them.

"How?" it was so soft that Cherish had to strain to hear it.

She avoided looking at Ari and her watery eyes, "A car hit her."

Her father, who had been cracking lame jokes to keep the mood light all night, took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. At the other side of the table, he was doing the same for Ari, who smiled weakly up at him.

"I'm sorry, Rish."

She hadn't said much else after that, only looked at Cherish sadly every once in a while. Cherish could have sworn she'd heard Ari crying in her room that night, and she felt her own heart lighten. Ari had never really liked Len, sister stealing issues, Cherish supposed, but now Ari hurt so much for her sister that she would cry for the girl she disliked.

Paused at the lights on their way to school, Ari turned to her suddenly, "I'm sorry that I tried to force you back to- well..."

"It's no problem. Really, Ari. Thank you, because I needed it."

Ari smiled, taking her sister's hand in hers, her other hand steering them towards the school's parking lot. As they exited the car, Ari pulled her sister into a near suffocating hug, "Well, Rish what am I here for if not to slap you awake every now and then?"

"To annoy me and drive me nuts!"

"Ha. Ha. I'll meet you outside the art room, k?" she pecked her sister's cheek and disappeared.

Cherish turned on the balls of her feet, and sauntered towards the bike rack where she knew Harper would be locking up his bike. She wasn't surprised to see Delia with him; it was too normal.

"Hey guys. What's up?"

Now, in this situation, on a normal day, only Harper would have looked at her shocked, considering they weren't really speaking to each other. Today however, being a not so normal day, Delia also gaped at her, stunned!

"RISH?"

"Yeah, hi," she wondered why her face was burning red and she smiled shyly.

"What are you wearing?" Delia's smile reached her ears, brightening her face in a charming way.

"Uh, well I decided I should take these old clothes out."

Delia laughed, pulling her into a quick hug, "About time too!"

She couldn't be sure, but she thought that maybe Harper looked a little annoyed as he hitched his bag onto his shoulder, "Why the sudden change?"

The pause was very, very uncomfortable and Delia pinched Harper's arm quite obviously for asking the question.

"Yeah, I know I've been...er... odd. I kind of need to talk to you guys about something- at lunch maybe?"

"Sure thing, Rish!" Delia grinned and squeezed Harper's arm till he was forced to agree.

"Yeah, sure, we'll talk," he droned. "I'll see you later, I've got class."

-.-

She was hot! The way she walked with her hips switching slightly at each step. Her legs long and slender, but she had curves- Oh God! She had curves! Her waist was relatively tiny, but her hips were anything but- reminiscent of the women in the 40s and 50s. She didn't seem to know anyone, as everyone was looking at her strangely, but she walked confidently into the school.