Foolish Temptations by Danielle Stewart

Author:Danielle Stewart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random Acts Publishing

Chapter 18

Maribel

* * *

Something in the room shifted. Something between her and Aden had as well. It would be easy to blame the kiss, but that wasn’t it. They were sitting on her bed feverishly skimming passages from old journals and acting like their old selves. Ideas passed between them like lightning from the clouds to the ground. They were the familiar dynamic duo working on something together. Ignoring time. Challenging each other to think bigger. When one became discouraged or tired, the other would step in with coffee and a pep talk. This is what she’d been missing most.

Nothing had really changed. No promises had been made. No apologies accepted. But for the sake of what they were doing, she’d put that reality aside.

“Here is something.” Aden skimmed the page again. “This girl is two years younger than Elsie. They must have gone to school together. This is four months before Elsie died.

Timing is everything. Little miss perfect was in the bathroom sick again and I finally pieced it together. She and that dummy are gonna have a kid. It’s morning sickness. I guess everyone will stop saying how amazing she is once they find out she’s a whore. I want to be there the day the whole school gets the news. She’s going to get so fat.

“I guess teenage girls are the same almost everywhere in the world.” Maribel took the book from him and added the passage to her list of notes.

“I think we’re starting to get a clearer picture.” Aden lay back on the bed and tucked his hands behind his head. His shirt lifted, exposing his smooth flat stomach and Maribel licked her lips. Thirsty for him but forcing herself to show restraint. Her heart couldn’t survive another rejection from him. Not right now. “Some people adored her but others were jealous. When word got out that this great hope for Gallamare was pregnant by a man like Ian, and unwed, emotions ran the gamut. Outrage, validation of her flaws, even a few people who seemed to be happy for them. But after her death all the entries are somber and almost apologetic. People memorializing her as this angel, a victim.”

“People always tend to remember things better than they had been after someone dies. It feels wrong to harp on the bad stuff.”

“But this is downright disingenuous. Even our little pal here is gushing after Elsie is found dead. She’s trashing her here.” Aden scratched his head. “I haven’t read anything from anyone in here who seemed to actually be her friend. Admirer maybe but not close friend.”

“Well it’s only six people.”

“But in a town this size you would think it would be more personal. Elsie was a straight A student. She was president of her class. An active member at church. She helped run her family’s food stand. Babysat all the kids in town. It’s like she was a part of everything, but a part of nothing all at once. Everyone knew her, but no one seemed to know much about what made her tick.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.