Hope You Love Me

Chapter 34

It was silent. The five of them hadn’t had much to say over the last few days, but today, there wasn’t even small talk. It was like they had nothing left to say to each other. Or they were too afraid to say anything at all. 

Hope knew Lizzie was. They kept exchanging small glances across the room over the tops of their phones every few minutes. She knew what Lizzie was thinking too.

Which one do you think it is?

Hope hadn’t had the heart to tell her that she honestly suspected all of them. Or maybe she didn’t trust her as much as she thought. Hope glanced away, going back to her mindless scrolling. Now she really felt like paranoia was getting the best of her.

But didn’t it make sense for it to be Lizzie? Lizzie liked her, and like Lizzie had said, eliminating the competition was a good motive. No. No. Hope couldn’t keep suspecting her friends. 

Except now she was glancing around the circle, wondering. What if Josie secretly had a crush on her? What if she was the one behind all this? No. No. What if it was MG who secretly had a crush on her? What if he was the one doing all this? No. No. God, no, Hope. Stop.

She sank deeper into her chair guiltily. She couldn’t really be thinking all these horrible things about her friends, could she? It had to be the trauma. She was no expert, but she could almost guarantee paranoia came with PTSD. She was just about to look up local therapists to maybe - maybe - look into it when Josie shot to her feet, staring at her phone.

For a moment, no one moved. Then, Hope dared to ask,

“What?”

“Penelope is calling me.”

The four of them relaxed at once, grinning and urging her to answer. She did with the world’s biggest smile.

“Hi.” The smile quickly dropped. “What?”

Hope’s heart pounded in her chest. She knew this scene all too well. Josie sat.

“No, I haven’t talked to her since … well, can I come down to the station to talk about it?” 

Now, everyone else was on edge with Hope. They held their breaths as they stared. Josie’s eyes filled with tears, and she pressed a hand to her chest as she struggled to breathe. 

“I understand.” Josie nodded along. She was barely holding it together. “Thank you.” She couldn’t speak for a moment after she hung up. And then the tears came all at once. “They found Penelope dead.”

A moment passed. Hope thought she could hear everyone's hearts stop beating at once.

“They think her parents …” She couldn’t even finish her sentence. The lump in her throat choked her before she could get the words out. 

“It’s okay.” Hope shot forward, almost beating Lizzie to her sister. The blonde was just a second faster. The two of them piled on. 

“We’re here for you,” Lizzie said. “Anything you need.” 

“I just … I just keep thinking it’s my fault,” Josie sputtered. “I mean, I was the one who suggested we make a sex tape in the first place.”

“No. No, it’s my fault,” Hope said. She held Josie tighter. “I’m the one who had a creepy stalker who decided to leak it.” 

Lizzie shook her head. “Actually, it’s neither of your faults. It’s no one’s fault except that fucking weirdo who’s obsessed with Hope and decided killing Penelope sounded like fun.”

Josie looked at Lizzie with wide eyes. “You think it was creepy stalker guy?” 

“Yeah.” Lizzie nodded and looked at her sister strangely. “Who else would it be?”

“The cops think it was her parents. They found her journal. They know about the sex tape and how Penelope’s parents felt about women who like other women and …” Her voice cracked. “... they think it drove them over the edge.”

Hope’s voice came softly, “They think her own parents killed her?”

Josie nodded and burrowed deeper into Hope’s side. “I told you, it is my fault. If I never suggested we make that sex tape, it would’ve never gotten leaked, and her parents never would’ve found out.” 

“It’s not your fault.” Lizzie smoothed back Josie’s hair. “No matter who killed her, it wasn’t your fault.”