Page 56 of Faux Real
“Yeah,” she murmurs, tucking her golden hair behind her ear. “So, believe it or not, Corrine, Max, and I used to be best friends.”
I blink. “What? Are you serious?Friends?”
“Yes.”
This is why women are frightening. Not in a million years would I have guessed that Kennedy and Corrine were once friends. They’re horrible to one another. Ruthless in their verbal attacks.
Friends?Good God.
“What happened?” I ask with a smirk, shifting my body closer to Kenny, ensuring that our voices are low enough to remain hidden from the homeowners stationed outside the shed. “Did you rip the head off of herBarbie doll?”
“Yes, once when we were like seven but that’s not the reason.” Kenny rolls her eyes, her lips twisting up into a little smile. “Honestly, I don’t really know what happened but once we started at Hilton we just drifted apart and she started hanging out with Larisa and Maya.”
“Okay...” I draw out slowly, intrigued by her story. “And?”
“So for all of Freshman year, it was pretty chill, we weren’t friends but we also weren’t like enemies or anything,” Kenny explains. “I was kind of hurt that she just stopped talking to me, and I sort of missed her—” She pauses, scrunching up her face. “I missed her a lot actually. I know that’s probably weird to hear but it’s the truth.”
Shemissedher? The girl she calls Corn-on-the-Cob? I am mind blown.
Kennedy continues, “When Sophomore year rolled around, out of nowhere, she sent me a message on Snapchat saying that she wanted to reconnect and that she was sorry for cutting me out. She invited me to hang out at this park near campus where they host parties sometimes.”
I nod, sensing where this is going. Kind of. Not really. “What does this have to do withtrespassing?”
“I’m getting there, I’m just world-building right now, okay?” she says, adjusting her position and sitting cross-legged. “Obviously, I was a bit hesitant to hang out with her, I mean, why would she reach out to me out of nowhere, right? But Sawyer—” She freezes, her expression sheepish. “We just started dating that summer, um...he encouraged me to go and meet up with her. He said it might be my only opportunity to patch up our friendship and he wasn’t wrong, she was extending an olive branch so I—I said yes.”
My body tenses at the sound of Sawyer’s name. Fucking prick. And they dated for two years? Bloody hell that’s a long time. My longest relationship was maybe six months, perhaps shorter.
“So, you went?” I ask, surveying Kennedy’s face as it falls. She’s like a picture book. So easy to read. She tries hard to conceal her emotions, but she can’t. Not from me.
“Yeah, I was on my way to the park when Corrine sent me another message on Snapchat, she said that Maya forgot her wallet at home and asked if I could go get it for her. She gave me an address and everything and told me to go through the back gate. I’ve never been to Maya’s, I didn’t even really know her, but her house was on the way, so I thought why not.”
I’m not liking where this is going. “It wasn’t her house, was it?”
Kenny clicks her tongue. “Bingo,” she sings in a defeated tone, tapping her index finger against her nose. “It was definitelynother housebutI didn’t know that at the time, so I just went in, went upstairs toMaya’sbedroom, and started looking for her wallet like a fucking idiot.”
“And someone caught you?” I ask, my veins thrumming with hatred for Corrine. What a bitch.
“Yeah, the maid,” she says softly, absentmindedly playing with my shoelaces that are undone. “I had found Maya’s wallet, or at leastawallet when she barged in and started screaming at me, threatening to call the cops. And she eventuallydidcall the cops. It was a whole mess.” A sly grin clips her lips as she peers up at me. “But—”
I raise an eyebrow. “There’s a but?”
“There’s always a but,” Kenny chuckles, tying little bows on my laces. “So, Corrine sent me all these instructions on Snap, probably thinking I’d have no evidence ‘cause they disappear if you don’t save them but Ialwayssave my messages so...when the cops came, I showed them my phone and they called the Chief, who, if you remember, is Corn’s dad and he just made the whole thing disappear.”
“That isfucked up,” I muse, resting my forearms on my knees, surveying her handy work on my shoes. She better not tie knots that I can’t get out. “So you didn’t get charged with anything?”
“No, thank God, Corn’s dad convinced the maid it was just a prank and to not file a report. If she filed it against me, he knew I’d take Corrine down with me so yeah, it all went away.” She drops my laces. “Well, not really, Hilton Hears still posted about it, so for the next year I was a thief and a trespasser.” She takes a deep breath, forcing a smile. “Good times.”
My eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Hilton Hears? What the fuck is that?”
“Oh God, I forgot you’re still so new,” Kennedy says, retrieving her phone out of her jacket pocket and pulling up an app. Frowning, her mouth hangs open as she reads something on the screen. “Holy shit, they recanted...”
“What are you talking about?” I ask as Kennedy holds up her screen.
We hear that: we owe Golden Girl an apology. Turns out little Miss Perfect wasn’t lying about having a Knight in shining leather. Sorry Kenny girl, this one’s on us. But we’re curious...how long will it take for London Bridge to come falling down? Bets anyone? We give them a month.
I blink, yanking the phone from her hand and scrolling through the other messages posted on the app. “What the fuck is this shit?” I mutter, reading shady blasts about Kennedy, Corrine, Zeek, and randoms I don’t know.
“Thatis Hilton Hears,” Kennedy replies in a gloomy tone. “It’s like a gossip app. Innovative right?”
