It was strange how life could change in such a drastic way, after being stagnant for so long.
Larissa's arrival at the Billage had worked in our favour, as it would make her realise we were part of her world now. Well, that's how Darius sold it to me anyway. I unpacked a designer top and marvelled at the soft tissue paper the shop assistant had wrapped it in. The fabric felt luxurious.
I curled the shining diamond bracelet around my fingers, wondering how long it would take for Larissa to trust me. Not that she ever had ever trusted me in the past. It would be especially difficult now after the stand-off in school, I didn't think she'd even want to look at me, let alone come to my house. But, this was Larissa we were talking about, if there was a chance for her to gain more popularity – or notoriety, she would take it. I glanced at the clock watching the hands tick closer to five o'clock.
Less than an hour to go and I still hadn't decided what to wear, partly because whatever I chose would be completely ruined by the lake water, and because I wasn't sure if it would be up to Larissa's standards. An image of her and Clara walking arm in arm popped into my head. Their flawless legs were always on display and there was always some sort of jewellery twinkling in the light.
What would Clara wear? I sorted through the pile of outfits I bought yesterday and imagined her pin thin fingers picking through the clothes and accessories. I hoped the employees working in the Billage knew what they were talking about when recommending me clothes. I'd trusted them and bought everything they suggested, even the trendy oversized jumpers, which seemed a little too oversized on my thin frame. If wearing the latest fashion items would make Larissa want to be seen with me in public, then I was willing to try it. I didn't want to let Dad down, he was counting on me to complete my part of the mission. He only had the best in his team and I didn't want to be the weakest link.
17:00, time to start the mission. I took a deep breath, vowing not to make an emotional fool of myself.
Adrian greeted me as I entered the living room, and I nodded at him with as much friendliness as I could muster. He was in butler mode so there was no more interaction from him apart from a curt smile, but I saw his eyes linger on my bracelet and I self-consciously put my hands behind my back.
I felt like a fraud.
Mum smiled at me confidently and I forgot about everything in that moment. She looked beautiful, regal, in her deep purple smart blazer and salmon pink blouse. The colours almost cast a glow on her face and enhanced her light makeup.
"Ah, there you are Holly." Mum smiled and tucked a loose strand of hair back behind her ear.
"This is Mr. Richards, and you must know Larissa already. They came over for some tea."
I smiled, feeling weaker at the knees as I matched eyes with Larissa.
"Yeah, hey," I said casually somehow managing to keep the smile on my face, which Larissa surprisingly returned. "Hi Mr. Richards, it's nice to meet you," I added, trying not to stare at his hair which looked too perfectly styled to be real.
He stood up and reached his hand out enthusiastically.
"It's lovely to meet you darling, call me Will, I don't care for all the formality, really!"
I thought I saw his hair wobble a little from his energetic head nods, confirming the fake hair theory of him wearing a wig. I shook his hand lightly, but his grip was firm, and a little sweaty.
"So you and Larissa go to school together, what a shame you don't have the same classes! She's never been interested in IT, despite me telling her for months to take the subject! It's your favourite isn't?" Will sounded interested but I could feel undercurrents of something else.
He was trying really hard – too hard.
Larissa's expression fluttered into a stony glare for a second, but she masked it well by flicking her hair back and going back to her usual better-than-you facial expression.
"Ah, yeah I do like IT it's quite useful for life generally more than anything, but my favourite subject has to be English though," I replied with the same apologetic tone. Something in me wanted to prove Will wrong and that he had all the wrong facts, I wonder how he had gotten information about me in the first place anyway.
"That's lovely! Well now we're neighbours, you and Larissa can spend more time together, you're always welcome to come over our house," Will said with a million-dollar smile.
I smiled and thanked him, unsure if Larissa shared the same sentiment as her father who seemed ready to praise and sweet talk anything I said. Before it got awkward, I thought of something to say to Larissa.
"I like the lipstick you're wearing," I said with as much genuineness as I could. Everything looked good on Larissa so it wasn't technically a lie. She could make people like anything she was wearing because it looked so good on her.
Her eyebrows rose in surprise, and she bit her lips seemingly at a loss for words.
"Oh, my wife launched a makeup brand in South Korea so she's always sending Larissa new products, and she'd be happy to share, wouldn't you?" Will turned to look directly at Larissa with something too menacing to be called a smile on his face.
Larissa nodded mutely. I smiled even though I really didn't want to, while trying to work out what was going on, I'd never seen Larissa like this.
"Don't you want to sit down Holly?" Dad asked, breaking the awkwardness Will had created.
This was my cue. If I made the plan and indirectly invited Larissa in front of her Dad and my parents, she'd be less likely to say no. Social pressure. It didn't feel right to use psychology knowledge in this way, but I needed to make sure the plan went ahead.
"Ah, no Dad I was going out. Hey Larissa, do you wanna come?" I looked at her with a slight smile, still not being too friendly as it might put her off.
The difference in her and Will's reaction was almost comical. Her Dad was one second away from rubbing his hands with glee.
"Oh, that sounds lovely! You girls go have fun, let us grown-ups do all the boring talking here!" he said with a booming laugh as he looked at Dad, but he laughed alone Dad didn't even raise an eyebrow.
Dad matched eyes with me and I saw the cringe he was trying to hide.
"Yeah sounds fun," Larissa echoed.
It sounded hollow, but it was an agreement nonetheless. I couldn't ask for anything more, this was difficult for me too. She stood up woodenly and followed me out of the room.
It felt beyond weird to have Larissa out of all people walking side by side with me. I took note of how she visibly relaxed and surveyed the chandelier with giant eyes. I looked away out of habit.
"It's so pretty, must've weighed a ton!"
I hesitated before replying.
"Yeah it's really heavy, it was already in the house and Dad didn't really have time to get it removed."
"Why does he want it off? It looks great! Really reminds me of like, Disney," she said as she looked back up at the impressive piece in wonder.
"You know, it reminded me of the exact same thing," I said with a true smile.
We reached the top of the stairs and Larissa's eyes only got bigger as she saw the paintings.
"Woah, these are so dope! I've always had a thing for paintings, I feel like they say so much, kind of like a whole book frozen in time, caught in a painting."
"Yeah, I've always wanted to go to the Tater Modern Gallery but never got the chance to, it would be nice to see," I said hesitantly, unsure if this was really Larissa or just rehearsed information about my interests that her Dad had told her. Which was highly unlikely as I hadn't really told anyone about my interests, but anything was possible if you had money I guess.
"We should totally go! I've been a couple of times but didn't have the right people, I didn't want to be the boring one so just took pictures with the paintings," she said as she leaned in closer to the Battle of Thermopoly painting. "Oh my God is that a book in her hand? That's so symbolic I love it!"
Larissa seemed so much more at ease, and real. It was as if I was speaking to another person entirely. She caught my expression and her smile dimmed a little.
"I know you must hate me, and honestly you can hate me if you want – just know I won't be leaving you alone any time soon," she said with a deflated edge.
"So years of picking on me wasn't enough? I don't get it."
"There's nothing to get, I just need to have you in my life, as weird and yucky as it sounds," she said and examined her nails, rubbing the smoothly filed edges of her fake nails against her fingertips.
I shuddered visibly and started making my way towards my room.
"So because I'm rich now, I fit into your world of unnecessary expensive stuff which is necessary for every person who wants to be called rich," I said over my shoulder.
"No, it's not like that! Look, you can think whatever you want. I probably deserve it anyway."
Larissa's tone was defensive and I didn't think it was wise to push the subject as I still needed her to come out with me, but something in me just couldn't keep up with the pretence. I turned to face her halfway up the stairs, the thousand pound bracelet sliding over my wrist.
"Probably? You do deserve it! You spread lies about me all over the school! Everyone said horrible things about me, and I hated coming to school every single day. If it's not money, then what is it? Because last time I checked, you wanted nothing to do with me, mainly because I lived in a gutter."
Larissa blinked so fast that it looked like she flinched.
The silence that followed was full of tension. She was on my turf now.
I jogged up the rest of the stairs hoping I hadn't annoyed her so much that she'd want to leave. I held my breath but heard the door to my room close softly behind me.
"Holly, I'm sorry okay?"
"Of course you're sorry. Now you can be nice, because I'm actually rich" I said heatedly. The urge to just tell her to leave my room and to take her fake father and leave my house. The urge was definitely there but I didn't want to have to resort to that.
Larissa looked down and I saw shame in her face, but I couldn't stop.
"This is what it takes to be your friend? Money? I didn't know your friendship was so cheap."
"You can say everything you want, but I can't leave okay?! My Dad... I have to stay!"
I frowned at her.
"What do you mean, your Dad?"
Larissa pressed her lips together firmly and crossed her arms. She wouldn't meet my eyes, and my stomach rumbled uncomfortably. She looked like a child, a scared one. Her glittery eyeshadow was perfectly applied, elegantly enhanced by a thin line of black eyeliner. She looked up at me hesitantly, and I felt like the tables had turned.
"Look, my Dad is... pushy. He has all these opinions and business ventures and whatever. I don't really want to ruin his plans or come in his way, so I'm just trying not to mess up, okay?"
The business plans of course. Dad had already found out about that, so it was true – Larissa's Dad really was a slimy businessman. I'm sure there was more to it, but I didn't want to find out any more information. The thought calmed my anger a bit and I slumped onto my bed. Larissa looked uncomfortable and it soothed my irritation. Seeing her behave like a real person was making me feel more inclined to be nicer to her, despite all the anger that I should be directing her way for the years of bullying.
"You can sit wherever by the way. The bean bag is pretty comfy," I said casually, hoping to put her a little at ease.
She smiled gratefully and plopped onto it. My phone buzzed and I grabbed it instantly.
TheGreatWallofKai: 20mins to go before showtime. u ready?
Me: Of course. I know what I'm doing.
I locked the phone and tried not to toss it aside.
Larissa grinned at me knowingly.
"What?"
"Nothing, it's just that I know that look," she said with a bigger smile.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I continued to play dumb as I could feel a blush working its way up to my cheeks.
"Oh come on, I know it's a guy, who is it?" she asked as she leaned in.
I laughed nervously as the blush settled on my cheeks in all its glory.
"Ah well, it's not Tom for sure," I said nervously.
Larissa's smile dimmed a little at his mention.
"Hey, I'm really sorry about that whole thing with Tom, I was just making sure that everyone knew..." her voice trailed off.
"What do you mean? Everyone and their Mum knew you liked Tom, and that's why no one dated him," I said seriously, all thoughts of Kai into the background for now. I didn't even acknowledge her apology until she explained more.
"My Dad told me to stick close to Tom, he invited him and his family over for dinner a couple of times too. Tom just kept trying to kiss me and it grossed me out, but I had to make it seem like he was my boyfriend and that I liked him, because of my Dad."
So it was all just a facade, a ploy her Dad encouraged her to keep up, she didn't like Tom for real that's why she never asked him out.
"I was scared at what my Dad might do if he found out we weren't going out.. so I just made sure he never dated anyone else, the next best thing."
My phone vibrated and broke the moment.
TheGreatWallofKai: message when u leave
Larissa raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow with a smile, and I blushed again.
"Sorry," I didn't know what else to say and I felt irritated at Kai's ridiculous timing. Surely it was risky to message like this mid-mission.
"It's fine, really, go ahead! The conversation was getting too heavy anyway," she said with a light smile.
I found that I liked this side of Larissa, but I stayed vigilant, she wasn't to be trusted so easily.
Me: I'm going to leave in 2mins.
GreatWallofKai: message when u leave, not when u r still inside
I rolled my eyes, so engrossed in messages that I forgot about the spectator, whose gleeful smiles were making me feel more shy than necessary.
"Shall we go shopping?" I said as I threw my phone onto the bed.
"How about just getting some ice cream if you want?"
I didn't even try to hide my surprise.
"What? I don't like shopping that much, I usually just go with Clara or others because they don't want to do anything else."
"Yeah I'd never have guessed that if I'm being honest," I said with a shrug and stood up, signalling Larissa to do the same.
"There's a nice little place just outside the Billage, I liked their Toffee gelato," I suggested as I pulled on a jacket, I'd be needing all the layers I could wear without looking silly.
"There's gotta be an ice cream truck driving around here, we'll just get a cone, I mean you can get whatever you want,"
"Yeah I get you, don't be so apologetic it doesn't suit you," I said with a raised eyebrow.
Larissa smiled, not yet comfortable enough to laugh, and we headed out.
I said a silent prayer and closed the door behind me. Sending a quick text to Kai, I hoped the slight change of plans wouldn't cause a failure.
Me: Change of plans. Going to stay local and get ice cream from a truck. L doesn't want to go shopping pls tell everyone
"I've had a 99 cone after years! It tastes good," Larissa exclaimed.
My fingers were cold and I folded my arms together tightly. Larissa shuffled closer to me as we walked into the park.
"Here it is, the place where I come to read," I announced with a half-hearted sweep of my arm. This was hardly a tour, but I couldn't think of any other reason to bring Larissa here.
"Under this tree?" she asked looking up at the drooping branches warily.
I sent off a quick text to Kai, his lack of response worrying me.
Me: We are in Purslane Park, there's a small lake here too plan can still work
I watched Larissa's eyes scan the park and stepped closer to her before replying.
"Yeah, it's a nice spot because you're hidden,"
"Why would you wanna hide though?"
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket glad for the distraction.
GreatWallofKai: be ready, approaching in 5
I took a deep breath and starting walking towards the lake, hoping Larissa would follow.
"I've always wanted to hide, now that I think about it," I said over my shoulder.
"I'm guessing I was a big reason for that," she said quietly.
She was following, and we were only a couple of steps away from the lake now. In my nervousness I had walked over way too fast.
"You were, but honestly I'd always felt like that. There's a lot you don't know."
Larissa nodded, unaware of my rapid heartbeat. I stared at the park entrance without trying to make it obvious.
"What you said that day in the hallway, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I still think you're a bitch for saying it, but I'm kinda glad you did."
"I'm the bitch? And also, I didn't plan on saying anything, it kinda just came out."
Larissa turned away from me and looked down her boots, right when I spotted Darius striding into the park with Luke stalking behind.
"My Mum wasn't supposed to die, she should've still been here." Larissa's statement ripped my focus from the plan entirely.
"I'm sorry," I said quietly and reached over to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
She shrugged and I moved my hand away.
"The one who should be sorry is living his life happily, continuing to do things without a care for her at all," she said with such a dark anger that I almost felt it course through me as well.
"She should've been here with me."
The pain on Larissa's face was one I recognised and it made my heart ache. Before I could say anything, I was dragged backwards and I saw Luke pounce on Larissa. The movement refocused my attention on the plan and I tried not to let fear overtake me. This was all part of the plan. Darius swung at me and I dodged, just how we practised. A shriek cut through the air and I twisted in Darius's grip to see Luke writhing in agony on the grass. Larissa was breathing heavy, wide-eyed but on her feet and unharmed. She took one look at me and advanced towards Darius, looking murderous. Sensing her intentions, Darius skipped the rest of the moves and launched me into the lake. I screamed and heard Larissa call out my name.
Dirty water rushed up my nose and down my throat despite me holding my breath. Panic clawed at my chest and I kicked wildly in the water trying to reach the surface blindly. After what felt like minutes I finally came up and gasped for air, but bobbed back down again and took in another mouthful of disgusting water. I tried to stay calm, Stephan would come for me, I just had to wait. Larissa was holding out something to me, a branch I think, but I kept going back underwater. The water was stinging my eyes and I was getting tired. I tried to stay afloat by kicking my legs but they felt so heavy. I was finding it difficult to hold my breath.
"Help! Help me!" I screamed in a full blown panic as I realised no one was coming to get me out.
I took one final breath of air and I couldn't feel my arms anymore, and felt myself sinking.
The sound of a splash still reached my ears underwater. I tried opening my eyes but it stung and I closed them tightly. Something latched onto my wrist and I felt myself being pulled. Stephan had finally come! Feeling the fingers I kicked with as much energy as I could to help him pull me out. I slid out onto the stone edge of the lake like a dead fish. It was still difficult to breathe. A forceful push on my abdomen made me choke, followed by another one and I felt like vomiting. My head was turned to the side and one more push to my stomach made water spew out of my mouth back into the lake.
"That should help."
I opened my eyes despite the stinging to confirm if it really was Kai who was speaking. Through my blurred vision I could see his dark eyes watching me carefully. Larissa was next to him, she wiped my face with something and cleaned my eyes. I sat up coughing to clear my rough throat.
I saw Stephan jog over to us and put an arm around Larissa.
"Are you alright?"
She shrugged his hand off and came closer to me. "Call the police, what the hell are you doing?! We just got attacked!"
"Don't worry about it, we already called them and dealt with the guys who grabbed you."
Larissa narrowed her eyes, unconvinced. "And who the hell are you exactly?"
"The Hessians," Kai said.
Larissa's eyebrows raised in surprise but she looked at me and then at Kai, before smiling ever so slightly.
Stephan held out a hand to me and I took it, allowing him to pull me up.
"Let's get you home before you get sick," he said in an easy tone and motioned for Larissa to follow.
I was starting to shake but Stephan switched the car heater on.
What do you think of Larissa and Holly's relationship?
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We are all like the bright moon, we still have our darker side~ Khalil Gibran