Chapter 18: Why Would She Lie?

 Part 1

One week after midterms, the world felt like it had finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The sun was warm, the breeze was soft, and the courtyard buzzed with the kind of chaotic freedom only teenagers could generate. Erika stretched her arms overhead, savoring the feeling of not having to memorize anything for at least two days.

“Finally,” she sighed. “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

“Good,” Olivia declared, hands on her hips like a general surveying her troops — her ankle finally healed and her ego fully restored. “Because Operation: Acquire Boyfriends resumes immediately.”

Sera groaned. “Please don’t call it that.”

But Olivia was already scanning the courtyard with laser focus.

“There!” she shouted, pointing at a boy who had the misfortune of making eye contact. “You! Face me!”

The boy blinked. “Uh… what?”

“A duel!” Olivia announced, marching toward him with the confidence of someone who had never once been told no. “Winner gets the loser’s hand in marriage!”

The boy turned white.

Erika slapped a hand over her face. “Olivia, you can’t just—”

“—challenge random people to death matches,” Sera finished, grabbing Olivia by the collar and dragging her back. “This isn’t an anime.”

“But it could be,” Olivia argued, kicking her legs uselessly as Sera hauled her away. “Think of the ratings!”

The boy fled like his life depended on it.

Olivia watched him go, offended. “Coward. If he can’t handle a duel, how’s he supposed to handle a relationship?”

“That’s not how that works,” Sera said, a tiny smile tugging at her lips.

Erika nudged her. “Keep this up, you’ll be the only one in the group not to get married.”

Olivia gasped. “Betrayal.”

Sera’s smile lingered — the first real one she’d managed all week.

But even as she smiled, Erika noticed something.

A tiny delay.

A half‑second lag.

Like Sera’s mind was somewhere else entirely.

Erika stepped closer. “Sera… are you sure you’re—”

Sera opened her mouth.

A breath.

A hesitation.

An almost‑confession.

Then—

Her phone buzzed.

Not a notification.

Not a group chat ping.

A call.

And the ringtone was wrong — unfamiliar, sharp, cutting through the warm afternoon like a blade.

Sera froze.

Her smile vanished.

Her shoulders tensed.

Her grip tightened around the phone.

Erika felt her stomach drop. “Sera? Who’s—”

Sera stepped back instinctively, as if the call had weight. As if it might crush her if she didn’t put distance between herself and the world.

She answered with a quiet, shaky, “Hello…?”

A pause.

Her expression tightened — not fear, not shock, but something smaller.

Something brittle.

“…Oh. I… yeah. Sure thing, Mom. No prob, I can come.”

Olivia and Erika exchanged a look — sharp, worried, immediate.

Sera hung up.

“What happened?” Olivia asked, voice softening.

Sera forced a smile — the kind that didn’t reach her eyes, didn’t even try to.

“My mom needs me to pick something up,” she said. “I should head home.”

Erika frowned. “Right now?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

She grabbed her bag, movements too quick, too stiff.

Olivia stepped forward. “Sera, are you sure you don’t want us to come—”

“I’m fine,” Sera cut in, a little too fast. “Really. I’ll see you later.”

She turned before they could argue.

Her steps were steady.

Her posture was normal.

But something in the air felt wrong — like a chord played slightly out of tune.

Olivia whispered, “That didn’t feel fine.”

Erika nodded, eyes still on Sera’s retreating figure.

“No,” she said quietly. “It didn’t.”

The courtyard noise swallowed Sera up.

And the warmth of the afternoon suddenly felt thinner — as if the sun had slipped behind a cloud no one else could see.

Part 2

An hour later, Erika and Olivia wandered down the street, the afternoon sun warm on their backs. They were trying — and failing — to slip back into their usual rhythm.

Olivia kicked a pebble down the sidewalk. “I’m just saying, if a guy can’t handle a simple duel—”

“How is that normal in any way,” Erika muttered. “You challenged him to a fight to the death.”

“Details.”

Erika rolled her eyes, but her heart wasn’t in it. Her mind kept drifting back to Sera’s face — the way her smile had cracked, the way her voice had tightened around that unfamiliar ringtone.

She tried to shake it off.

“Maybe she really did just forget something at home,” Erika said, mostly to convince herself.

Olivia didn’t answer right away. She was staring at her phone, thumb hovering over Sera’s name, her brows drawn tight.

“She didn’t look like someone who forgot something,” Olivia said quietly.

Erika slowed her steps.

The street was normal.

Kids on bikes.

A dog barking behind a fence.

But the normalcy felt thin — like a backdrop that didn’t quite match the scene.

“You’re worried too,” Olivia said.

Erika didn’t deny it.

“I just… I don’t know,” she murmured. “Something felt off.”

Olivia hugged her arms, rubbing them as if the warm afternoon breeze suddenly felt cold. “Yeah.”

They walked in silence for a moment — not comfortable, not companionable, just heavy. The kind of silence that made the world feel too bright, too loud, too normal.

Then—

A car engine hummed behind them.

A familiar silver sedan slowed to a stop at the curb.

The passenger window rolled down.

“Girls?” a warm voice called. “Is that you?”

Erika and Olivia turned.

Mrs. Rice leaned out the window, smiling warmly — the kind of smile that usually made both girls relax.

But today, it only made their stomachs twist.

“Girls! What a coincidence,” she said. “Did you just get out of class?”

Olivia forced a grin. “Yeah! We were just… walking around.”

Mrs. Rice nodded. “It’s such a nice day. I’m heading home from work myself.”

Erika blinked. “Wait… from work?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Rice said, tilting her head. “Why?”

Olivia and Erika exchanged a look — a quick, sharp one.

“Um,” Erika began carefully, “we thought you were with Sera.”

Mrs. Rice blinked. “With Sera? Why would I be?”

Olivia’s voice wavered. “Sorry — my brain’s still fried from midterms. I must’ve… misheard her.”

A small crease formed between Mrs. Rice’s brows.

“I remember that feeling,” she said gently. “But no — I haven’t checked my phone all day. I’ve been busy with patients.”

The air shifted.

Not dramatically.

Just enough for the girls to feel it — a subtle drop in temperature, a tightening in their chests.

“Oh,” Erika said, trying to keep her voice steady. “If that’s the case, we shouldn’t bother you—”

Mrs. Rice’s confusion softened into her usual warmth. “Were you two hoping to see her? You can come over if you’d like. I’m heading home anyway.”

Olivia hesitated.

Erika hesitated.

Something felt wrong.

Not dangerous — just off, like a picture frame slightly crooked on the wall.

But refusing would raise questions, and neither of them wanted to worry her.

“Sure,” Erika said, forcing a smile. “We’d love to.”

“Wonderful!” Mrs. Rice said. “Hop in.”

They climbed into the backseat.

The car smelled faintly of lavender — normally calming, but today it made Erika’s stomach twist.

Silence settled over them. Not the peaceful kind. The kind that pressed against their ribs.

Olivia leaned close, whispering behind her hand.

“Erika… why would she lie?”

Erika stared out the window, watching the world pass by in bright, sunny colors that didn’t match the heaviness in her chest.

“I don’t know,” she murmured.

But she did know one thing.

Sera’s voice on the phone…

Sera’s too‑quick smile…

Sera’s sudden retreat…

None of it had been normal.

And as the car turned toward Sera’s neighborhood, Erika felt the first real tremor of fear.

Part 3

Mrs. Rice hummed softly as she unlocked the front door — the same gentle tune she always used when she was trying to shake off a long day at work.

“Come in, girls,” she said warmly. “Make yourselves at home.”

Olivia and Erika stepped inside.

And immediately stopped.

The house was spotless.

Not tidy — untouched.

No shoes by the door.

No backpack tossed on the couch.

No jacket draped over the banister.

No faint scuff marks on the floor from someone rushing in.

Nothing.

The air felt still.

Too still.

Like the house had been holding its breath.

Erika’s breath caught in her throat.

Olivia whispered, “Where’s all her stuff…?”

Mrs. Rice didn’t notice their reaction. She slipped off her heels and headed toward the kitchen, humming again.

“Let me get you something sweet. You two must be starving after school.”

The girls exchanged a look — sharp, silent, uneasy.

Erika stepped forward slowly, eyes scanning the living room.

It was like the house had been paused.

Like nothing had moved since morning.

Like time had stopped the moment Sera walked out the door.

Olivia tugged on Erika’s sleeve, her voice barely a breath. “She’s not here.”

Erika nodded, throat tight. “Yeah.”

They followed Mrs. Rice into the kitchen.

The room was warm, bright, and smelled faintly of cinnamon. A carrot cake sat on the counter, already sliced — perfect, neat, untouched. Like everything else in the house.

Mrs. Rice smiled. “Oh! Perfect timing. Ken dropped this off a few days earlier.”

Olivia blinked. “Ken? As in—”

Mrs. Rice laughed softly. “Yes, that foolish boy of mine.”

But Erika barely heard her.

Her eyes drifted back toward the empty hallway.

Every sound seemed to underline the silence rather than fill it.

The house felt wrong.

Not dangerous — just wrong in a way she couldn’t name.

Wrong in a way that made her skin prickle.