A World Of Lies

Chapter 27

Ally's POV

I was really worried to go back to school in a few days. My grandfather had been getting worse and worse since the sleepover. At least my parents had come home for the week, yet they were leaving again soon.

Also, I didn't want to face Troy and Lauren. I was excited to see Lauren, but I might blow my cover. I was much more scared of seeing Troy because we had known each other since we were little kids, so he could tell when something was up.

These thoughts went through my mind most of that Friday. That was until Normani had texted me. I had known Normani for the amount of time that I had known Troy. We met Dinah just the year before when she was a freshman because she got lost in the school.

Normani: Hey Lemon Head! What's up?

Ally: Not much, just thinking, you?

Normani: Going out to the movies, do you want to come?

Ally: I'm not sure.

Normani: Come on, it'll be fun. I promise!

Ally: I really want to hang out with you, but can we just hang out at your house or something instead?

Normani: Sure, we have to talk about this thing that you're thinking of anyways.

With that, I put on my shoes and headed downstairs to the living room. "I'm going out," I said to my parents and grandfather. "Why?" my dad asked. "I'm going to Mani's house," I replied. "Okay, be back by tomorrow morning," he said. I nodded, then hurried out the door.

Normani lived two houses away. The only person who lived in between us was Ashley, which I didn't really enjoy. She was usually outside whenever I was, as if she was stalking me or something.

Unfortunately, that day was no different. Ashley was exiting her house with her dog in her purse. As soon as she saw me, she gave me a huge smile.

"Hey loser, how's your life going? Oh wait, that's right, you don't have a life, so you should just go kill yourself," Ashley said with fake enthusiasm.

I decided to ignore her and walk past her. "Where are you going?" Ashley called after me after a moment. Once again, I didn't answer. Instead, I walked up Normani's steps and knocked on her door.

Gratefully, Normani whisked me inside her house. "Will that girl ever stop?" she asked, clearly annoyed by Ashley. "I hope," I sighed. With that, she pulled me inside and we went up to her room.

Once in Normani's room, we immediately began to talk. Thankfully, Normani had seemed to forget to ask me about what I had been thinking about earlier, or at least she didn't ask about it.

For a while, we chatted about absolutely anything. It began to get late when Normani asked me if I wanted to sleep over. "Sure, I only have to be home by tomorrow," I replied. I borrowed some of her pajamas and hoped into her huge bed with her.

Soon enough, we fell asleep and awoke late the next morning. Well, I woke up, and Normani looked like a little goddess still sleeping beside me.

Cautiously, I got out of the bed and went to the corner of the room. Then, I ran to the bed and jumped on it. "Wake up Mani!" I sang in my Shakira impersonation voice. "Get off me Lemon Head," she groaned, yet got up after I got off of her.

Normani and I decided to go to my house for breakfast. We ran quickly to my house and went inside. No one was home, which was weird, but I decided not to think too much of it.

We headed to the kitchen together and Normani started taking out some stuff to make pancakes when I noticed a note on the fridge.

"Please call when you see this. -Mom," the note said. Upon seeing this, I got worried and called her immediately.

Camila's POV

I awoke the next morning to Lauren calling me. I walked to the kitchen slowly and sat down next to her. "Bryce gave us the weekend off," she said. "Why?" I asked. She shrugged.

Before I could ask anything else, there was a knock at the door. Lauren went to answer it with me closely by her side. She opened the door and our mother immediately walked in.

"Good morning girls," she said with a warm smile. "Hi mama," I said. Lauren stayed silent yet acknowledged her with a slight head nod. "What are you doing here?" I asked kindly.

"Your father and I have finally finished settling in our place. So, we wanted for you girls to move back in with us!" our mother exclaimed.

Excitement came over me. I was going to get to live in a house with my parents, Lauren, and now Sofia. That meant that we wouldn't have to pay the bills. That meant that we could quit our jobs!

Lauren sighed from beside me. "That's nice, but we can't just drop everything here. We go to school, we have a lease on the place, and our boss certainly won't let us quit so easily," she said. I sighed. Even though I hated the reality, I knew what Lauren was saying was true and I had gotten my hopes up for nothing.

"Just come for the weekend. If you don't want to move in with us after that, I'll understand," our mother suggested.

I turned to Lauren for approval. She shrugged, so I took that as a yes to our mother's suggestion. "Deal," I said with a smile.

"Okay great. Now come on let's get a move on," our mother replied with a clap of her hands. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Get your stuff together so we could leave," she replied.

My sister and I went to our rooms and grabbed some clothing. My sister also took our money stash. She took it with her everywhere in case someone broke into our apartment. Anyhow, we got our stuff together within a few minutes and headed with our mother.

Quickly enough, we arrived at our parents' house. Just from the outside, this place looked ginormous. I realized immediately that it was the house that we lived in while we were little kids. So many memories came flooding back to me, especially my last one in that house.

**flashback**

"Lolo, when are they coming back? It's getting dark, and I'm hungry," I whined to my sister. "I don't know, they've been gone since noon," Lauren replied. "That's eight hours," I commented, causing Lauren to nod.

We stayed silent for a moment as we were looking out the window and onto the street. "I think they left," Lauren said to herself. "Of course they did, but when will they come back?" I questioned, getting annoyed.

"You don't get it Camz. They're not coming back. They left us forever," Lauren said angrily.

Tears came to my eyes. "Why?" I asked softly. "I don't know," she replied. After a minute, she continued, "I think we have to leave. You don't want to end up in a foster home, do you?"

I shook my head, still in shock. "Promise me you'll never leave me," I muttered after a moment. "I promise, now come on, let's go," Lauren replied as she grabbed my hand and we left the house for the last time.

**end of flashback**

Selena's POV

Miley was coming over that Saturday, even though I wanted to talk to Demi about my call with Camila. Yet I knew I had to sort things out with Miley, even if I didn't have a crush on her because she was still one of my best friends.

Noon came around and Miley still wasn't at my house. I decided to call Demi and talk to her until Miley showed up. I dialed her number quickly and the phone rang twice before she answered.

"Hey Selena, what's up?" Demi asked when she picked up the phone. "Not much, you?" I asked. "Oh not much," she replied. "Cool. By the way, I talked to Camila yesterday," I said excitedly. "Ooh, what did she say?" Demi asked eagerly. I told Demi quickly all of the details of our conversation.

"Of course, it could've gone better, but at least I get to see her on Monday and things will probably go better then with the phone call," I finished. "That's the spirit," Demi replied, and I could tell she was smiling on the other line.

Knocking came on my door downstairs then. "Demi, I have to go. I'll talk to you later or tomorrow okay?" I told her. "Okay, bye," she said, and with that we hung up at the same time. I then headed downstairs and went to open the door and Miley walked in.