“That’s what I was just thinking,” said Holly. “I would imagine it wouldn’t be too hard to find one.”
Seth nodded. “And fairly easy to tell who the culprit is,” he said. Standing up quickly he continued. “Well, it looks like you’re in good hands, Chloe. I’ll leave you to it.” He turned to the others. “Steven, Lissa, good to see you again. And Holly?” he said looking directly at her. “I hope to see you again, soon.” He winked before turning and leaving the room.
“Ugh, brothers,” Chloe scoffed.
“Hey, we aren’t all bad,” Steven said, mockingly acting as though he was offended.
“Maybe the sister should be the one to say that,” Lissa said as she raised her eyebrows and gave him a sideways look. Chloe and Holly laughed.
“Well, the first thing we need to do is find out where these people were when the vandalism occurred,” Holly pointed out. “But I think your brother is right. We should keep our eyes open for your jacket and a wig that looks similar to your hair.”
“Whatever you say,” Chloe said with a sigh. “I just hope we can save the bonfire.”
“Me, too,” Steven said. “Everybody looks forward to it all year and it’s so much fun. It’s kind of a highlight of the year,” he said clearing his throat. Holly watched him and was pretty sure he had a crush on Chloe.
“We’ll figure it out,” Holly said. “It’s just a matter of covering all the bases.”
CHAPTER 13
“Since it’s on our way, why don’t we stop and talk to Stephanie?” Lissa asked as they walked down the street. The sun was starting to sink lower in the sky, but they still had plenty of daylight left.
“Good idea, Lissa,” Steven said thoughtfully. “You up for a little detour, Holly?”
“Sure, where does she live?” Holly asked as they began to take a shortcut between two houses.
“Just over that way and up one street,” Steven pointed. “It won’t take very long at all. The others will probably have to wait until tomorrow, though.”
“Might as well see what we can find out,” Holly shrugged. “Time is of the essence. The quicker we can figure out who did it, the sooner we can clear Chloe’s name and save the bonfire.”
Steven nodded and led them on a shortcut to Stephanie’s house. Soon they were walking up a stone pathway that led to the front door. The house wasn’t particularly fancy, just a single-story home with a few bushes planted along the front. After he’d knocked on the door, Steven turned around and looked at his sister and cousin.
“This is probably a waste of time. Stephanie and Chloe have been friends for forever. I can’t imagine she’d do anything to hurt her,” he said softly.
“Steven, trust me. You just never know what a person is capable of,” Holly said just before the door was opened by a girl about their age.
“Steven, Lissa, what are you guys doing here?” she asked.
“Hey, Stephanie. I’m sure you’ve heard about Chloe’s parents cancelling the bonfire,” Steven began. “We’re trying to change that and thought maybe you could help us.”
“Yeah, I heard about it,” she said stepping to the side and gesturing to them, “Come in.” They stepped inside as Stephanie closed the door behind them.
“This is our cousin, Holly,” Lissa said politely. “She’s visiting from Colorado and is helping us figure out what happened.”
Stephanie and Holly said hello to each other before Stephanie led them through the house. They ended up in a living room with two couches facing each other in front of a fireplace. Tall bookshelves lined one wall.
“We’ll have to stay in here. My little brother’s sleeping, and I don’t want to wake him,” she said softly.
“We won’t take long,” Holly assured her. “We just have a few questions we’d like to ask you. To start with, can you tell us where you were this morning?”
Stephanie looked taken aback. She shook her head to collect herself and began to speak. “I- I was here all morning. I watch my little brother during the day when I’m on summer break while my parents are to work. I’ve been here all day. Why?”
“Apparently someone looking like Chloe vandalized the high school this morning,” Steven said as he leaned back against the couch.
“How do you know she didn’t do it?” Stephanie asked. “Why are you coming over here and accusing me of doing it?” Her voice had become very shrill.
“No one is accusing you of anything,” Holly said calmly. “Chloe swears she didn’t do it, but she doesn’t have an alibi. We’re just trying to determine who may have had a motive to make it look as though Chloe did it. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make it look like Chloe did it. If they were capable of doing this to her, they could do it to anyone.”
Stephanie bit her lip. “Look, I know a ton of people like Chloe, but not everyone really does,” she admitted.
“What do you mean?” Lissa asked, leaning forward.
“Well, think about it,” Stephanie began. “She’s always number one, no matter what it is. Everyone else has to live pretty much in her shadow. There’s no way for anyone to shine when she’s around,” she muttered.
Holly was starting to wonder if there was more going on here than she realized. Stephanie seemed extremely bitter considering she was supposed to be her friend.
“Forgive me,” Holly began. “But I thought you and Chloe were friends?”
“Well, I mean, we are,” Stephanie stammered. “It’s just, sometimes I get tired of her getting all the attention, you know? It’s as if everyone thinks Chloe can do no wrong. Everybody treats her like she’s something special because of that bonfire. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like going to it. It’s fun and everyone goes. But it still totally sucks to live in her shadow,” she grumbled.
“How old is your little brother?” Holly asked. It wouldn’t be hard for Stephanie to claim she’d been watching him and really have been doing something else. If her brother was her alibi, Holly needed to know if the boy was old enough to vouch for her.
“He’s five,” she said smiling. “I know older sisters aren’t supposed to like their younger siblings, but I can’t help it. We played video games almost all morning until lunch.”
Holly nodded as she made a mental note. Stephanie could be crossed off. “Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. Do you have any idea who may have wanted Chloe to get in trouble?”
She shook her head. “Not really. I know a few of us on the cross country team were complaining about her recently. Some of us are hoping to impress scouts from colleges so we can get scholarships. When the scouts first started showing up at our meets, we’d all get excited. Especially when we could tell who they were. You know, big name colleges and things like that.
“But then we noticed they mainly wanted to talk to her. At least the good ones. She’s the star of the team, and with her around, everyone else looks dim by comparison.”
Holly thought about what Stephanie had just said. She understood where Stephanie was coming from, but that didn’t make it right. Was it possible that the bonfire being cancelled was just collateral damage? What if the culprit thought they could get Chloe kicked off the cross country team with the vandalism? It wasn’t that far of a stretch, and since all of the suspects were on the cross country team, it was something to think about. It might simply be a coincidence, or it could be a vital clue.
“Steffy?” a tiny voice said from nearby.
Everyone turned to see a young boy leaning in the doorway, rubbing his eyes.
“What’s up, Dylan?” Stephanie asked as she stood up and walked over to him.
“I’m really thirsty,” he grumbled.
“Okay, just hang tight,” she said. She turned back to the group and said, “I have to get him a glass of water. I’ll be right back.” She hurried into the other room. Meanwhile, Dylan came into the room and sat down where she’d been sitting
“What are you guys doing?” he asked.
“Just talking to your sister abo
ut a few things,” Steven said smiling to the little guy. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“I woke up and needed to go to the bathroom. When I was done, I decided I was thirsty,” the little boy said. “And I’m still too short to reach the cups.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll grow,” Steven reassured him.
“I hope so,” Dylan said. “I’m tired of always being the short one.”
“Hey, Dylan? Did you and your sister have fun this morning?” Holly asked. She didn’t have any reason to think Stephanie was lying, but since the opportunity had presented itself, she might as well check her alibi.
The little boy’s eyes lit up. “Yeah! We played racing games all morning. It was so much fun,” he said with a grin.
Stephanie returned with a glass of ice water a few moments later.
“Here you go, bud. Now go back to bed,” she said as she lightly touched his shoulder. He nodded and waved as he took a big drink and wandered off. They waited for him to get out of hearing range before they continued.
“Well, I hope you find whoever did it,” Stephanie sighed. “I was really looking forward to the bonfire this year. It must be upsetting to Chloe for someone to make it look like she did this. She’s got to be going out of her mind. I remember when we were in first grade and the teacher thought she’d stolen an eraser out of some other kid’s desk. She cried even after the teacher apologized.”
“She’s not quite that worked up, but she’s pretty upset,” Steven said. “And she has plenty of reason to be that way. I can’t imagine how betrayed she must feel right now.” It looked like he was staring a hole through Stephanie, but she seemed oblivious.
“Well, thanks for taking the time to talk to us,” Holly said, doing her best to wrap things up. She had a feeling Steven wasn’t very happy with Stephanie. “If I have any more questions, I’ll let you know.” They all stood up and began to walk towards the front door.
“Sure, yeah. Let me know if you find out who did it,” she said. “I’ll keep my ears open in case I hear anything.”
“If you do, let us know,” Steven said pointedly. They stepped out the front door and into the cool early evening air.
“Well, it looks like that’s one person we can mark off the list,” Lissa said brightly.
“Yeah, but it may have opened up a whole new can of worms,” Holly said as they started walking along the sidewalk.
CHAPTER 14
“Mom wants us to head home,” Steven said after checking his phone. He sighed and sent a reply before tucking it back in his pocket. “I can’t believe so many people don’t like Chloe.”
They were walking in the direction of their home when Holly said, “You know, sometimes people are just ignorant. They see someone who’s better than them at something and rather than just trying harder or accepting that maybe someone else is just more talented, they become envious. Envy can turn people into monsters if they let it.”
She may not have been very old, but Holly had seen it plenty of times already. It didn’t help her make friends when she was naturally good at learning. Other kids her age would insult her when she did better on a test or something like that, but what was she supposed to do? Not try, because they didn’t learn as fast as she did?
“I know,” Steven said as he kicked a pebble on the sidewalk. It made soft little crackling noises as it skipped over the cracked concrete. “It just sucks that someone would do this to Chloe. I’ve never seen her do a mean thing to anyone. She always tries to help anyone who asks and like I said, she invites literally everyone to her annual bonfire. I mean, who does that?” he scoffed.
“Doesn’t hurt you’ve had a major crush on her for forever,” Lissa teased.
“Shut your face,” Steven said over his shoulder to his sister, but Holly could tell he wasn’t angry with her. She smiled as she turned and saw Lissa stick her tongue out at her older brother behind his back. It may have been something simple, but that little exchange made Holly wish she had a sister or brother, someone to tease and bicker with as well as take care of and spend time together.
“I’m sorry you got wrapped up in all of this,” Lissa said after they walked in silence for a little while. They were just a few houses down from theirs.
“It’s totally fine. Don’t even think about it,” Holly said with a smile.
“Yeah, but you didn’t come here to help someone you don’t even know,” Lissa sighed.
“No, I didn’t,” Holly conceded. “But I did come here to get to know my family. To find out where I came from and all of that good stuff. The way I see it, helping your friend is helping me get to know you guys. Gives us something to do so we don’t have to have weird awkward silences.”
They turned and began to walk up the driveway to their house. “Do you think we can really find out who did this?” Steven asked.
“I do,” Holly said confidently. “We’re going to need to do some hard work, but I absolutely believe we’ll figure it out eventually.”
Steven smiled as he held the door open for his sister and cousin, “I hope you’re right.”
“Hey, guys,” Katie said cheerfully when they entered the house. “What have you been up to?”
“I think you know that someone framed Chloe by making it look like she vandalized the school. Holly’s going to help us prove that she didn’t do it,” Lissa said brightly as they all entered.
“Is that so?” Katie asked eyeing each of them. “I hope you’re being careful.”
“What do you mean?” asked Steven. “It’s not like we’re searching for a murderer or something crazy like that. This is just some jealous high school thing that went too far.”
“That may be so,” Katie said putting her hands on her hips. “But you need to make sure you know the full story before you start pointing fingers at someone. There are always two sides to every story. Don’t ever forget that. If you only listen to one side, you only get half the story.”
“Okay,” Steven and Lissa both said almost in unison. Holly watched as they excused themselves and headed upstairs. Once they were gone, she turned to her aunt.
“Aunt Katie?” she said.
“Yes, Holly?” Katie had been watching her children as they went upstairs. She turned towards Holly.
“Were you and my mom close? Like Steven and Lissa?” Holly asked. It had been on her mind since she’d spent time with her cousins. What had her mom and aunt’s relationship been like? She wished she could have asked her mother, but instead her aunt would have to do.
“I think so,” she said smiling warmly. “We did a lot together when we were younger.”
“So what happened?” Holly pressed. “Why is it that, if you were so close, you never came to visit? You never helped my mom?” She could feel the tears that wanted to go along with those questions threatening to fall. What she really wanted to ask was Why didn’t you help me? Why did you let me live like that? Alone, scared, and with no one to help me.
“Like I said before, there’s always more than one side to every story, Holly. I’m not sure if I could even explain.” Katie began looking around the room, anywhere but at Holly. The questions obviously made her uncomfortable, but at least for the moment, she wasn’t shutting down.
Katie crossed her arms, sighed, and looked at Holly. “Your mother changed when she left,” Katie began. “It didn’t take long before I felt like I didn’t even know who she was anymore. Maggie started making stupid decisions and…,” she stopped herself with a sigh. “We shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. Your mother made decisions I didn’t agree with. We drifted apart. It’s as simple as that,” she said definitively.
Holly searched her aunt’s face for something, anything to explain what she had been going to say before she caught herself.
Katie smiled faintly. “I better go finish up in the kitchen,” she said quickly before disappearing.
Holly was left standing in the entry, wondering exactly what Katie meant. As she shuffled up the stairs, she tried to p
iece together what she’d figured out so far. Katie said her mother had changed and was making decisions she didn’t agree with. Did it have something to do with how they ended up in Colorado?
What would make her mother pack up everything and move a whole state away from her family? Not to mention have a child, live in poverty, and become addicted to drugs and alcohol. The way her mother had always been so against speaking about her family… it reminded Holly a lot of how Katie was acting now.
The way Katie acted was almost an indication that whatever hurt her mother had felt from her family, Katie had also felt from her sister. Both seemed to feel as though the other had wronged them in some way. She remembered the diary she’d found at her grandfather's house and wondered if there were clues in any of its pages. Like it or not, the answers were here in Missouri, and she only had so much time to figure it all out. It seemed that although Katie didn’t offer up any information, she would answer direct questions.
Holly thought about it and realized what she needed to do. Rather than trying to pry the entire story from Katie, she needed to ask the right questions. Maybe then, Holly could at least learn what happened from Katie’s perspective. Her words were still echoing in Holly’s mind about two sides to every story. Was she telling Holly she wanted Holly to see her side of what had happened?
CHAPTER 15
After dinner Holly changed into her favorite dinosaur pajama pants and a clean Green Day shirt, grabbed her mother’s diary, and climbed on the bed. She wasn’t ready for sleep yet, but it felt good lounging around like she would at home. She’d stopped in the kitchen on her way to her room and grabbed a bag of chips and a can of pop for fortification, not knowing what secrets the diary might hold.
She opened the diary and tried to encourage herself to read, but after several minutes, she had to admit she was nervous. What would she find in it? Deep dark secrets or just the ramblings of a teenage girl? It was always possible her mother never wrote anything important and there would be nothing in it that would help her discover what she wanted to know.
Holly and the Framed Friend Page 7
