No one had appeared to have noticed that Sandy had been missing for a short period that Saturday night. Not the police, not her temporary guardian, not even Celeste, her roommate. Life went on for Sandy with nothing out of the ordinary happening. She went to school as usual and endured the boring lessons. She still spent time with her friends and daydreamed of wealth.
Selina was at school as well. And her brown hair was as long it had always been - it was likely that she had a spare clip-in hair extension to replace the one she had lost when she rescued Sandy. The taller girl never did mention anything about that dangerous night. In addition to the fact that no one else had noticed her kidnapping, Sandy sometimes wondered whether that incident had really occurred.
Ariel was still cold towards Sandy. Not so much while they were in their gossip group, but she definitely avoided being alone with her short-haired classmate for any extended period of time.
Sandy had to admit that she was concerned. Ariel was her closest friend and well, maybe Sandy felt a little regret for all the trouble she had put her blond friend through. Maybe she would make it up to her once she had received her inheritance. With lots of money, certainly she could find the perfect bribe to win back Ariel's friendship.
Two weeks had passed since Sandy had last seen that man who had tried to kill her. Nothing had happened since. At least, nothing life-threatening. So maybe things would be quiet all the way until she received her inheritance. Her fortune was going to come true!
Her fortune card had survived thus far. It was a bit hard to read the words with all the fingerprints on it - the police had processed it after her first kidnapping, hoping to find Nick's fingerprint. The card was at that moment safely in the back pocket of Sandy's pants.
It promised to be an ordinary Tuesday morning at school, right up to the moment Saki burst in through the front door. The little girl ducked behind Sandy's desk, pulling her lavender cloth bag close to her.
"Annie's after you again?" Sandy asked the girl crouching beside her desk.
Saki shook her head.
"What's wrong?"
Saki looked up. "I'm not sure."
"Then why are you hiding here?"
"When Annie tells me to run and hide, I do so without question," Saki told her.
By then, Selina and the rest of her gossip group had gathered at the front of the class. They had arrived in time to hear Saki's last statement. Selina went out the front door to investigate.
A minute later, Selina was back. "Looks like Annie's older sister is after you," she reported.
"Annie has an older sister?" Esper asked. She was standing in front of Ariel.
"Yes," Selina confirmed with a nod, "She's a junior and is in the Basketball Team."
Sandy looked down to the girl crouching beside her. "Did you do something? Like maybe steal her boyfriend?"
"I wouldn't do that!" Saki denied, "And shouldn't I be hiding? What if she comes here?"
"You can stand up," Selina said, "She's just keeping watch in front of your class. I seriously doubt she'd try anything here."
Saki slowly got up. "What does she look like?" A good question, if she was to avoid the older sister.
"Tall, blond with short curls," Selina described.
"Sounds totally different from Annie," Ariel commented.
Selina nodded. "Yes, they look different. Except for the eyes." She tapped the side of her spectacles. "Both have blue eyes."
"Do you know her name?" Esper asked.
"It's Carrie," Selina answered.
"You seem to know everyone," Esper noted.
"Carrie's hard to ignore," Selina replied vaguely, "It's her personality."
Saki stayed with them until it was almost time for the bell. Then she returned to class.
But the Asian girl was back again at break time.
"Annie's sister's very persistent," Ariel observed as she regarded the temporary addition to their gossip group.
"You must have stolen her boyfriend," Sandy accused the little girl.
"No, Gould. I told you, I didn't," Saki denied, "I don't even know who he is."
"Any ideas, Selina?" Esper asked her tall friend.
"I'll see what I can find out," Selina promised.
***
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