She was a wonderful liar.
Marie's fingers moved deftly from her sister's wiry black hair. Twisting, plaiting, twining. Anything to pass the time and keep her mind at bay.
But it was to no avail. Marie's dark fingers ached after braiding for three hours, but she resolved to finish her sister's mini-braids.
How did I fall for it, so many times? Marie's fingers quickened their pace. Marie's sister flinched when Marie pulled too hard.
How did she do it?
Marie still had no idea how her friend had managed to hide so much from her. They'd been school friends. They'd eaten lunch together, shared notes, gossiped, even decided to learn Afrikaan just so they'd have their own language to speak together.
And yet, Elise had lied to her at every turn.
She'd never been a normal blond schoolgirl, she'd never really been there for her. Marie had never even been to Elise's house. Elise was gone often after school. But Marie believed all the myriad excuses. Her mother didn't like others over, Elise was busy studying, even though she asked for notes on the way to school and crammed on the bus, and a thousand others.
"Elise? What's that?" Marie asked, seeing some white powder on her friend's locker bottom. Elise's eyes widened. Marie twisted a black curl in her finger.
"I have no idea. Maybe someone broke into it and left it as a prank?"
"Yeah. It's probably a prank." Marie conceided.
Looking back, Marie should have called the police. But there were other signs. Elise would randomly skip classes, even though the rest of her social circles were in class. It wasn't too often, but often enough to have caused suspicion.
But Marie overlooked it for her friend.
And then one day, it happened.
Elise and Marie were walking down the street, towards Elise's house. A police cruiser pulled up beside them. Elise turned white and bolted for the fence. Two cops pulled out their guns and chased her, calling,
"Elise Oakley! Put your hands in the air where we can see them!" Elise was caught and cornered. Marie's dark eyes quivered and widened.
"You are under arrest for illegal possession and distribution of cocaine. You have the right to remain silent..." The cops' words faded away. Elise was screaming, begging me to tell them she was innocent.
But I just stood there.
Elise had lied. Had lied to us all. Her web of deception had reached all across our high school. As treacherous as it was, it was beautiful. The skill, the time it took to weave such a web was beyond me.
She was a wonderful liar.
But that's all she ever was.
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