Hide and Secret (Wattys2015)

(2) Jill's POV

I was extremely surprised to see me ex-best friend... the one who ditched me to go off to boarding school with no explanation... standing outside my room door. She still looked the same... Maybe she was a little taller, her hair was a little longer, but she still oozed Serena. She was still the girl I knew, and admittedly sometimes hated. "Serena?" I spoke for the first time, my voice confident even though I was freaking out on the inside. I had gotten good at acting self-assured, even if my world was tumbling down. I learned it from Serena herself.

She looked up from her phone, then saw me and pasted a smile on her face. "Jill! Hi!" She went over to give me a hug.

Emory and Kai looked up from what they were doing. Emory was giving Kai a pedicure, and Kai was leafing through a magazine. When they saw Serena, they dropped what they were doing and walked over. Well, Emory walked over. Kai hobbled, because it's hard to walk with wet nails. "Serena," Emory said, shocked. "Hey..."

There was a lot of awkward tension as Serena stood beaming at us. She was clearly waiting to be invited in, to be enveloped into that old circle of friends. Normally, Serena Marsden wouldn't have been this timid. She would have walked right in and taken over. Because even though she was a major party girl, she was also good at manipulation. Serena had a knack for making you feel in control when it was obvious to everyone else who was really pulling the strings.

But no way would I let her do that to me. I worked my ass off to be the new It Girl when she left here with no explanation, and I'm not going to give it up. I'm finally exactly where I want to be, and Serena is not going to take that away. You know what? I don't even want to be her friend anymore. Unless she's willing to do things my way, I don't want her here at all. I turned to Emory and Kai. "Come on, girls," I chirped. "Let's go back to our gossip sesh."

We began to walk into the room, and then I casually turned to Serena. "Oh, and you can come too... If you want."

Before I turned back around, I saw Serena's smile slowly fade. Yep, she'd clearly expected a queen-like welcome. Well, she wouldn't be getting one from me.

Serena, shrugging, followed us into my room. She looked around. "Your room changed," she commented. "It looks really cool!"

I gave her a small, condescending smile. "I know." My room was amazing. Daddy had hired an interior designer from Italy to make it look nice. It had polished, dark brown hardwood flooring, and the walls were a soft pink. My canopy bed was pink with a furry quilt on it, and the little drapes on the side were white. My dresser, in the corner of the room, and the vanity and mirror were all white as well. My multiple trophies for academic excellence, horseback riding, tennis and field hockey all stood proudly at attention where everyone could see.

In other words, it was a room fit for a queen. And that queen was me.

My mom rapped on my door. "Jill," she called.

I looked up, and realized there was someone else beside her. Mom quietly left, leaving me staring at my boyfriend. "Hey, you!" I said happily, before giving Theo a kiss on the lips.

Theo grinned back. "Hey." He kissed me, too, but as he was kissing me, he saw who else was in the room. Emory and Kai were enthralled by our utter cuteness, but Theo was focused on someone else in the room. "Serena! Long time no see!"

Serena smiled. "Hey, Theo."

Theo walked over to her as he sat on the bed, and I stood at the door, completely forgotten. "So, how was boarding school? Why did you need to leave so quickly, and without saying good bye?"

Serena launched into a lengthy description about boarding school... and Theo actually looked interested. Emory and Kai both gave me shocked faces. Theo had just blew me off. And Serena was clearly back to her old tricks. I remembered a time when I was too scared to talk to Theo, because I had no experience flirting, so Serena would go up to him and talk to him for me. "See, Jill?" she'd say mockingly. "It's not that hard. I think I could get him to like me."

I had always played second fiddle to Serena when she was around. And when she left, I finally got to show everyone how I could shine better and brighter without her here. Since her disappearance, I had gained a ton of confidence. I was the It Girl now. And nobody would take that away from me.

Channeling my inner dictator, I took control. I lightly rested a hand on Theo's shoulder. He looked up from his conversation with Serena, confused as to why I was stopping their train of a conversation from continuing.

Well, this train was about to be wrecked. "Sweetie, the maids aren't here today. Do you think you could get me a green tea?"

Theo gave me his trademark grin. "Of course."

"Make that two," Kai called.

"Three!" Emory added.

Everyone looked at Serena, who shook her head. "I'm good, thanks." Theo went off to go get the three green teas.

I waited until he was completely out of earshot before staring Serena down. Emory and Kai clambered to get beside me as my backup. "Look," I said. "I don't know who you think you are, but if you think you can just waltz right in here and charm everyone and control everything again, you've never been more wrong. There's a new bitch in charge, and it's me. You aren't going to come in and start being the puppeteer again."

Serena opened her mouth, surprised. "Jill, can't we just..."

"We're through talking," I said coldly. "You left me, Serena. You treated me like I was your little puppy and then you just disappeared without a trace, without even saying a freaking good bye! And what, you think you can just come back and control everything? Well, guess what, princess? This is a whole new ballgame. And we're playing by my rules."

Serena simply stared at me, looking upset and pitiful.

Did I feel bad? Not at all. Serena left me. I was supposedly her best friend, even though she treated me like I was her plaything. Then she jetted off to boarding school. And does she text me or call me while she's there? No. I had to deal with everything going on all on my own, before finally clawing my way to the top of the A-List. I finally had a grip on my life and it would not spiral out of control.

My phone buzzed with a text. Subtly, I opened it up.

Uh-Oh, is this trouble in paradise for Jill? Better watch out, sweetheart. Something tells me that Serena's gonna set some fires... you know, the way you did? Or have you blocked that out of your perfect little world? How about a game of truth or dare, for old time's sake?

I stared at my phone in horror. Nobody knew about that night. No one. At least, no one living did. All of the girls who had known about that night were... dead.