Freya Arsov sits on top of a world of diamonds and sports cars. Her father is a billionaire, head of a world-renown company, her mother, an esteemed lawyer. She attends the most prestigious boarding school in England. She has four amazing best frien...
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MAYELLA'S EARS WERE RINGING. Herhead was buried in her hands and she debated on whether or not she should ever lift it again.
"And then I got a call during the party at Cyan Hall. . ." Freya's voice filtered past her ears. She registered the strain in it, felt the brush of her friend's eyes over her bowed head, but Maye couldn't bring herself to hear.
Freya carried on telling the story, her story, as Mayella struggled to understand in the distance.
Amelie's shrilly spoken words drew her back to reality, causing her to lift her head only a few inches to behold the blonde's astonished expression. "That was what that was about," Amelie said, eyes wide as they had been since Freya started. She started shaking her head, in an almost comical way as her feet dragged her back and forth along the living room floor.
She looked torn between hugging Freya or slapping her across the face.
Mayella's stomach was a swirling mess, her head was even worse.
Raina cleared her throat, thick from unspoken words and shock perhaps. The sound grated against Maye's already fried nerves. She had never felt less in control of her life than she did now, after her best friend had laid all her secrets out to dry.
"So," Raina ventured softly, "the lawyer is dead?"
Freya's eyes fluttered closed, giving the answer, then they were open again. She was surprisingly not a crying puddle on the floor. Even for Freya, this was a feat. In fact, the petit blonde was relatively poised, near rigid at times, and whenever a part of the story seemed to consume her, watering her eyes, trembling her lower lip, she'd shove those emotions down with an iron fist. This was how Maye knew that it wasn't a prank, wasn't a joke. It was exactly the Freya thing to do, to hide even as she told her truth.
As always, Mayella saw through those veils as easy as glass.
And she wished she couldn't. Which is why her head had been buried in her hands for the past hour or so.
They were missing second period now too. None of them seemed to mind. Mayella didn't know how to go back to class anyway. She didn't even know how to silence the ringing in her ears as Freya continued to speak.
"You said what?" Amelie's cry reverberated against Mayella's bones. A glance toward the pacing girl told her that Amelie was leaning more in the direction of slapping Freya.
Livid, her eyes were livid. It was rare to see Amelie angry. And beneath it all, fear.
Fear hung in the room like a suffocating blanket. And all of them were aware that most of it came from Freya, even if she didn't show it.
Raina answered for Freya, as if she knew that Freya couldn't manage saying it twice. How could she manage any of this? Mayella couldn't even manage to pass Social Studies. "You heard her, Amelie."
