Red Herring ✔️

33. Carrier Pigeon, Carry Me Away

11 Days to Halloween

"Good morning, sleepy head," Felecia greeted when Mazie finally descended the stairs ten minutes before she dipped out for school.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" Winter and Willow repeated with soft giggles hidden behind their sticky gooey hands from eating without forks.

Mazie ruffled their soft blonde hair as she passed but couldn't manage a simple smile. She was tired. Really tired.

"Coffee?" Felecia asked, waving an empty mug at her, standing beside the coffee maker.

Mazie nodded, fetching a granola bar from the pantry.

"Didn't sleep well?"

More like not enough. A tornado dropped into her life and wrecked everything, tossing about her normal schedule and wreaking havoc and chaos on her stability. The destruction ranged from teenage girls who were raped to boys who kissed her publicly and then didn't text her at all that night. Oh, and it might include her late night romping through the school for harmless pranks and illegal robbery. Altogether, it accounted for her loss of sleep and cranky morning mood.

"Travel mug please," Mazie stated, retrieving the creamer from the fridge and a strawberry banana yogurt.

"So I have a question," Felecia teeter tottered along, metaphorically dancing around the topic she really wanted to get to which wasn't much like Felecia at all.

Instead of engaging verbally, Mazie lifted her gaze, quirking an eyebrow curiously. Felecia smiled like she were about to break some bad news.

"So I heard...about something that happened at school," Fe said.

Mazie blinked.

"A prank," Felecia declared.

Feigning innocence, Mazie lifted the mug to her lips and took a sip after she added the proper amount of creamer. Thankfully, she was tired enough that she truly didn't have the energy to make any sort of facial expression.

"Mazie Oliver." Picking up a spatula which she used to flip pancakes, Fe pointed the utensil at her chest and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I know what you did."

On some level, Felecia was obviously right. She knew that Mazie participated in a school prank. Mazie didn't know how Fe knew, but she did. However, there was a crucial piece of the puzzle she didn't even know was missing. Breaking and entering had nothing to do with the senior prank and a different goal entirely. And Mazie knew without a shadow of a doubt that Fe had no idea about that.

The fact that she knew but she didn't really know bolstered Mazie to lie. "What did I do?"

Glancing sideways at her children to ensure they weren't listening, Fe scooted closer and lowered her weapon. "I heard something in the middle of the night. I went to check on the kids and noticed your door was cracked open which you never do." True. "So I went to close it and noticed you weren't in your bedroom at all. And the bed was cold....so you had been gone for awhile."

Excellent sleuthing skills. Mazie was a little impressed. When it comes time for her kids to grow up and become teenagers, nothing will slide past her. Mazie almost cracked a smile at this but maintained her composure.

In the absence of her explanation, Fe continued, drilling Mazie with a hard stern glare. Mazie had never seen her like this before. "I waited until you got home. I saw you sneak in the back door."

Again, she casually sipped from her coffee. "You think I was off in the middle of the night doing this prank then."

Felecia tilted up her slender chin. "I know you were."