As the party wound down, Emily walked me out to her car.
"Thanks for coming tonight, Alex," she said, smiling. "I had a really great time."
"I had a great time too," I replied, smiling back at her.
But as we drove away from the mansion, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
"Emily, can I ask you something?" I said, turning to her.
"Of course, what is it?" she replied.
"I don't know if I'm just being paranoid or what, but you seemed a little...distracted tonight," I said.
Emily's smile faltered for a moment, and she looked away.
"It's nothing, Alex," she said. "Just family stuff."
I didn't push the issue, but I couldn't help feeling that Emily was hiding something from me.
As we pulled up to my house, Emily turned to me and smiled.
"Thanks again for coming tonight, Alex," she said. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."
I nodded, smiling back at her.
But as I watched her drive away, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was just starting to scratch the surface of Emily's secrets.
The next day, I decided to do some digging.
I started by asking around school, trying to see if anyone knew anything about Emily's family.
But everyone seemed tight-lipped, and I couldn't get anyone to spill any secrets.
Just as I was about to give up, I received a mysterious text message.
"Meet me in the park at 5pm if you want to know the truth about Emily," it read.
My heart racing, I wondered who could have sent the message, and what they might reveal.