' That bracelet looks just like Vanessa's. Where did you get it from?'
Maddie could still remember the question a fellow classmate had asked when she found the bracelet in her hands.
Where did she get it from? To that question she had just shrugged hoping the classmate named Rose would get the hint that she didn't want to be bothered.
She didn't buy the bracelet nor did she have an explanation on how she got one. she didn't have an explanation to anything that had been happening to her since this morning.
She stared at her reflection from the only mirror in her bedroom. Taking her right hand upwards, she reached out for a fist full of her dark brown hair as she used her left hand to wrap it in a band, holding it up in a ponytail.
She stared at the baby hair at the sides of her face as she smoothened them. She checked herself properly in front of the mirror. She looked fine, no mud stains on her clothing. Her cream cropped top was clean, her black Jean shorts didn't look dirty, stain free.
So now she could agree that everything that happened from this morning till the end of the day was nothing but a dream.
Except from the bracelet, which laid on her bed, that was real, she was resisting the urge to not burst into tears right now.
Just imagine going to bed last night all clean and relaxed only to wake up and find yourself covered in mud, wet mud.
Who on Earth is playing a deadly prank on her? Now the only one who she was so sure could do this was missing and the girl's friends were not at school as well or she couldn't find them anywhere at school.
Her room door was knocked softly and before she could compose herself, a particular twelve year old barged in.
" Are you crying?", the twelve year old looked taken aback at the sight of Maddie who didn't even realize that while inwardly venting, she had started shedding tears.
" I thought you would be happy that Vanessa is missing yet you are crying or is it about the incident that took place at your school today?", the twelve year old asked as she watched her cousin wipe her tears.
" How do you know about the incident? The principal asked all the students to not spread the news", Maddie said, subtly drifting the conversation from herself to the incident at school.
" Well nothing gets past me for a start and Vanessa's two stupid friends are downstairs with Cousin Julianne, talking all about the incident", Leah the twelve year old said as she moved further into the room to observe the piece of jewellery on Maddie's bed.
" They are downstairs, I should go", Maddie said without thinking straight as she bolted out of the room.
Leah only sighed, she picked up the bracelet, walking over to the mirror which Maddie was just staring at, she stared at her own reflection as she tried the bracelet on.
All of a sudden, everywhere turned absolutely dark, the darkness only lasted for a second before she returned back to the bright room. The girl looked around sort of confused.
Was there a power cut just now or was it just her imagination. She stared at the bracelet on her wrist. She quickly removed it, dropped it back on the bed and bolted out of Maddie's room.
Maddie headed downstairs barefooted, her slender legs were quite a catch as they were exposed due to the black short Jean she was wearing.
She didn't move further from the stairs as she sat on one of the staircases eavesdropping on the conversation downstairs.
Knowing very well, what her sister and the two girls who sat downstairs were like, she made no attempt to move further than that.
" It's so shocking you know. Mr Garrett was a very cheerful man, I don't see any reason why he would kill himself", a sharp and precise voice spoke, it was Maddie's sister, Julianne.
" Maybe he used his cheerful demeanor as a cover, you know some kind of people, cheerful on the outside and lonely on the inside", Avery one of Vanessa's friend spoke with a voice filled of pity.
" Yeah Avery's right but let's not talk about him he's dead and gone", Lilian, a black haired female said, she was also one of Vanessa's friends who cared less about others but more about herself.
" Yeah he is. So which of you last heard from Vanessa, the last time I heard from her, was on Monday and she didn't tell me she had plans to elope or go missing or something", Julianne said with a thinking feature on her cute face.
Her strawberry blonde hair made her stand out, making her look exceptionally beautiful than other girls. Her grey orbs held an emotion of worry.
Vanessa might not be the best when it came to being nice but she was their friend after all, they were bound to worry a bit.
" She didn't tell me either, it came as a shock to me. I do know she was panicking about something that day but she didn't tell me what, she just kept throwing a charade here and there", Lilian said in thoughts.
" Do you think she was kidnapped. I don't think we would have anything to do about it though, her parents said she was home the other day before she went missing, they just don't know if she sneaked out when they weren't watching or when they were sleeping", Avery said remembering what she had heard Vanessa's mom saying to the sheriff.
" I just hope Nessa's found in one piece, I don't want to have a scar in my high school life", Julianne concluded the issue as the other girls nodded in agreement.
Maddie sighed deeply, why was she with Vanessa's bracelet? Even if Vanessa and her friends would want to pull a prank on her, Julianne wouldn't, after all they were sisters, right?
She stood up and dusted her buttocks ready to leave there when she heard voices.
" If it isn't the jinxed one, eavesdropping on our conversation so you can figure out how to make Vanessa not come back isn't it?", Lilian asked as she and Avery made their way to her.
Lilian and Avery were sisters, twins actually with the same features. You could only tell the difference between them through their hairs. While Lilian always let her black hair loose in curls, Avery always had hers tied in a neat bun, she was an epitome of neatness.
" When will you learn? What we and Julianne discuss has nothing to do with you. If you want to be in our circle, find a way to uplift your curse, no one wants your bad luck alright", Lilian said as she flipped her black hair to the side gradually moving up the stairs.
On reaching where Maddie currently stood, she widened her shape making sure to bump into Maddie pushing the girl off balance.
Maddie gripped the stair rails tightly but said nothing. She had never replied them once and today wouldn't be any different.
" Avery are you coming? If I can recall, Julianne said she had something to show us and considering the fact that her jinx sister is around you should hurriedly leave the stairs, you don't want to have a bad day now", Lilian said using her words as weapons to hurt Maddie but Maddie was already used to it.
Avery hurried up to meet her sister but did her best to stay far from Maddie as she headed up the stairs looking like someone who was preventing having contact with germs.
Julianne just climbed up without sparing Maddie a glance. What the two girls said might have actually not affected Maddie that much but what Julianne does actually affects her the most, they were sisters not sworn enemies.
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Sweet kisses
Gossip Tessa away....