Chapter Twenty-One: Maze in My Head:

Daniel made it back to the station. Already, he didn’t have time to rest. His phone rang.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Paige, you have to head out to 117 Granton Drive,” the chief said. Daniel narrowed his eyes. That address sounded familiar.

“Did something happen?” he asked.

“There’s a lead on your case,” his boss said.

“The Lanie case?” Daniel asked.

“Your partner is already there. The resident said that she’s been staying there with her,” the chief said. That caught the detective’s attention.

“I’m on it,” he said. Daniel hung up and got back into his car. His Saturday just got longer.

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Meanwhile, I made it home.

“I’m home,” I said.

“Did you get the tomatoes?” mom asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “Hang on.” I walked to the kitchen. Mom stood over a pot on the stove.

“What are you making?” I asked. She turned her head with a smile on her face.

“Chili,” mom said.

“Is there going to be rice?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said.

“Nice!” I said. I handed her the can of tomatoes.

“Thank you,” mom said. She took it and opened the can. “Was it crowded at Piggly Wiggly?”

“No,” I said.

“I see,” she said. Mom opened the can and poured it into the pot. She got lost in humming a little tune to herself. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I have heard it before. I slowly backed away.

“I’m going to take a nap,” I lied. Mom looked up.

“So soon?” she asked. “It’s not even twelve yet.”

“I’m just really tired,” I said. “It’s fine, really.” I backed out of the kitchen before she could ask anymore questions. I made it back to my room and closed the door. I fell face down onto my bed. I just wanted to sink into the sheets and disappear. I was hoping to get out of this without seeing anyone I know. At least it was someone nice like Danny.

I breathed in deep into my pillow. Two more days of this? Aside from Lanie, I just can’t stand this town. I am reminded why I left in the first place. I lifted my head with my eyes narrowed. Why did Danny have to ask me to help? What good would I do for him? This town isn’t in my jurisdiction. And I don’t really know much about Lanie ever since she got kicked out of school. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I picked it up and looked at the screen. Huh? What was this number?

“Hello?” I asked.

“Is this Celeste?” a small voice asked on the other line. I sat up with a jolt.

“Bree? How did you get this number?” I asked. I already had a guess about what she was going to say.

“I asked your mom for your number,” she said. Why was I not surprised? I need to talk to mom about that. Why does she keep doing this? She needs to stop giving away my number to former classmates.

“What do you want?” I asked. I could hear her pacing around on the other line.

“Um… I just want to say that I’m sorry,” Bree said in soft voice. A confused look came over my face.

“Why?” I asked. I could tell that she was trembling over the phone. That old feeling of being pranked rose in the back of my mind. Why was I thinking like that? We weren’t in high school anymore. Either way, I braced myself.

“This hasn’t been easy for me to say until now,” Bree said. “I never hated you at all. Looking back, I was just spineless.” That was true. Bree never really spoke up for herself back in the day. She would just go along with everyone just to keep them happy. Even if that meant hurting other people in the process.

“I know I don’t have any excuses for everything I did to you,” she went on. “But Lanie gave me hell too.”

“You and everyone else in school,” I said.

“I went of along with picking on you just so Lanie wouldn’t pick on me,” Bree added. She sighed. “Anyway, I just want to say that I’m sorry.” I dropped my shoulders.

“Alright,” I said. “Apologize accepted.” There was a pause on the other line.

“Thank you so much,” Bree said at last. “Goodbye.” She hung up before I could react. I stared at my phone. Part of me expected that her to call back and say that she was only joking before mocking me like the old days. But she didn’t. I didn’t know what to think. That was just random. I flopped back onto my bed, looking up at the ceiling.

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Bree put down her phone. She took a breath and looked up at the ceiling from her couch. The rest of the living room still needed to be cleaned up. Might as well get this over with before the police get here.