A Web Of Lies

Chapter 3 - The change of plans

A/N : This chapter is dedicated to Hatchu2 (thanks for everything) Enjoy!!!
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She sighed, "Give it a break will you?All I did was not pick out an outfit and I was supposed to do it today so I don't see the-"
"Cut it out, Autumn. You know that's not what I meant right. It's not just about an outfit. You were looking forward to this the entire year. What happened all of a sudden?",Zab seemed genuinely angry.
"Well, it's like"
"What is it like"
"Do you not trust us?"
"I do but...."
Autumn racked her brains to think of plausible justifications. Something partly true that she could use. "Umm, it's cause my parents changed the party location last minute
and I don't like the new location."
"What?",screamed Gabrielle, "Where is it now and why didn't you tell us?"
"It's umm on this yacht that my parents rented out for me.", stammered Autumn.
This time Zabella joined Gabrielle, "What!!!".
"Like a real life yacht with like a fancy deck and hot crew and .....",Gabrielle had began to blabber again.
"But aren't yachts like expensive?", asked Zabella.
"Yeah, yeah they are. But this one's just rented and my parents have to work an extra shift to afford it and that's why they can't make it to my birthday and that's why I was so sad. It was totally unnecessary.",Autumn explained.
"Oh you poor thing", Gabrielle sympathized.
"Wow, you've got great parents. My parents would never do all that just to make me happy.",said Zabella.
Autumn cringed at the whole web of lies one had to weave just to get away with one.
The three friends fell into a group hug while Gab took selfies of them all-together.
"Wait, wait", interrupted Gabrielle, "Don't we like need to inform everyone else about this sudden location change?"
"Done. The minute Autumn told it, I posted it online. The whole school must have gotten to know it by now", said Zabella.
Autumn looked concerned, "The whole school? Just how many people are coming to this party? Oh well, now that there's been a location change, most people will probably cancel."
"Oh Autumn, you are just so naive. Now that it's on a yacht, even the few people who weren't charmed by Zab will turn up to your party",said Gabrielle knowingly. Autumn gave a frightened look and the other girls burst out laughing.

Zab could disagree all she liked, Autumn thought, but she knew that she was a great liar.
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After what seemed like an eternity, the final school bell of the day rang and all of Hunter High sighed in relief. There was a wave of unmissable restlessness and excitement going around the school. The unmistakable anticipation of Autumn's sweet sixteen was in the air. This was exactly the kind of thing Autumn hated the most about her life. Unwanted attention from people who were attracted solely to her possessions. She heaved her now heavy satchel and exited the room with no Gab to stop her this time. Her friends were too busy discussing her birthday preparations.
But of course she wasn't lucky enough to leave the school building before Zabella caught up with her.
"Heya."Zabella's smiley face popped up next to Autumn. "So watcha wearing hon?"
"Umm, I wasn't kidding when I said I hadn't planned it it",was Autumn's feeble reply.
Zab shook her head as if expecting nothing else. "Gab mustn't know or she'll die of heart attack. Meet me in an hour and we'll figure something out", said the ever-optimistic Zab.
Autumn nodded first at Zab and then at the man standing behind her dressed in school security uniform.
As Zab ran off to catch up with a group of friends, Autumn walked to the man as inconspicuously as possible.
"Do you have to be SO obvious?, whispered Autumn angrily.
"My apologies, but I'm ordered to keep you in sight at all-", the man started explaining.
"Look, I don't care what orders my dad gave you, but if my friends find out about you, you can be sure I'll get you fired", snapped  Autumn.
"I'll try to be a little-"
Autumn didn't give him a chance to reply and simply strode away in exasperation. The man now followed her maintaining a much larger distance between them.
Just as she was about to walk out of the school premises, she was greeted by a loud "Happyyyy Birthdayyyy, beautiful".
Autumn turned her head to come face to face with the tall and flawless figure of Zach.
She smiled and returned the greeting with a cheerful "thank you".
In the long list of lies and complex relationships of Autumn's life, the one with Zach was one of the top ones. Sometimes, even Autumn thought it was stupid to date a popular guy that Zab threw at her that she had no interest in whatsoever. All the bribing and hiding from her Dad's security only to be with a guy she didn't like. Perhaps, she did it for the thrill and rebellion. But with a taste of guilt, Autumn had long realized that dating Zach had its advantages. It would grant her a higher place on the totem pole of popularity. Also it would secure everyone's belief that she was as straight as the next girl. However, Autumn's belief in her own sexuality was shaky at best.
Autumn's trail of thoughts snapped as Zach's hand pulled her closer to him. He was just leaning his face into hers when she noticed that the man had inched in dangerously close. She gently pulled him away. "Save some for tonight", Autumn winked, making her best impression of Zab. Zach reluctantly pulled away and began to walk towards his football teammates.
Autumn gave the man one last glare and finally walked out of the school doors.
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry for the short chapter. Yours truly also had a birthday today along with Autumn 😉 and got too lazy to write.