ASHES TO EMPIRE

The Best Friend

Sophia's POV

My phone buzzes with a text at 11:30 PM, just as I'm editing the party pictures on my laptop.

"URGENT! Call me NOW! Something terrible happened to Zara!"

The text is from my college friend Ashley, who lives in Zara's town. My blood runs cold.

I call her instantly, my hands shaking as I hold the phone.

"Sophia!" Ashley's voice is breathless with joy. "Girl, you are NOT going to believe what happened at that engagement party tonight!"

"What? Is Zara okay?"

"Okay? Sophia, she's gone! Disappeared! And get this - everyone thinks she stole like fifty thousand dollars from her family's business!"

The words hit me like a truck. "That's impossible. Zara would never steal anything."

"I'm telling you what I heard from my mom, who was AT the party. Zara's little sister Lily was crying, saying Zara struck her and ran away. They found bank records with Zara's signature on them. The whole town is talking about it!"

I feel sick to my stomach. This morning I was editing pictures of Zara looking beautiful and happy at her engagement party. Now Ashley is telling me that same party ended in disaster.

"Where is she now?" I ask.

"Nobody knows! She just disappeared! But Sophia, this could be HUGE for your social media. I mean, you were her best friend, right? People will want to hear your side of the story."

My stomach drops even further. Ashley's right. This is exactly the kind of drama that makes people go popular on social media. My follower count has been rising slowly for months, but this could change everything.

"I have to go," I tell Ashley, hanging up before she can say more.

I stare at my laptop screen, looking at the pictures I took tonight. There's Zara laughing with her parents. Zara hugging Lily. Zara and Marcus looking like the perfect match.

But now that I think about it, something was weird about tonight.

I drove two hours from college to be at this party because Zara begged me to come. "I need my best friend there," she had said on the phone last week. "This is the most important night of my life."

But when I got to the party, Zara seemed busy and stressed. She kept checking her phone and looking around nervously. I asked her three times if everything was okay, and she just smiled that fake smile she uses when she doesn't want to talk about something.

And Lily... Lily was acting really strange too. She kept staring at Marcus when she thought no one was looking. She also kept asking me questions about my social media achievements.

"How many followers do you have now?" she had asked while we were getting drinks.

"Almost ten thousand," I told her proudly.

"Wow. That must make you feel so important. So powerful." She said it with this weird smile that gave me chills.

I thought it was just normal Lily weirdness, but now I wonder if she was planning something.

My phone buzzes again. This time it's a notice from i********:. Someone tagged me in a post about the party.

I open the app and my heart stops.

Someone has already written about what happened, using one of MY photos of Zara and Marcus together. The description reads: "BREAKING: Local Girl Steals $50K from Family Business and Disappears on Engagement Night! Her best friend @SophiaMartinez was there taking pictures. What did she know? #Drama #Scandal #BestFriendBetrayal"

The post already has hundreds of likes and dozens of comments. People are asking if I knew about Zara's "crimes." Some are calling me a fake friend for not helping her. Others are demanding I tell them what "really happened."

This is exactly what I've been dreaming about - going viral, having thousands of people interested in my work.

But not like this. Not because my best friend's life is falling apart.

I read through more posts and find three other accounts sharing the story. They're all using photos from tonight, and most of them are photos I took and shared to my own account earlier.

One post makes my gut twist: "Sophia Martinez, Zara's so-called 'best friend,' was too busy taking selfies to notice her friend was having a mental breakdown. Some friend! #FakeFriends"

That's not fair. I was there to back Zara, not to spy on her. I took pictures because that's what friends do at parties. How was I supposed to know she was going to steal money and run away?

But as I think about it more, I realize I did notice things that seemed off.

Zara kept leaving during the party. She said she was "checking on things" but she was gone for long times. Once, I saw her coming out of the house looking upset, and when I asked what was wrong, she said she had a headache.

And that moment when I saw Lily coming downstairs looking nervous, with her hair messed up. She said she fell down in the bathroom, but that didn't make sense because her dress wasn't wrinkled or dirty.

Then there was Marcus acting weird too. He kept checking his phone and seemed nervous about something. When I asked him if he was excited about the engagement news, he just mumbled something about "hoping everything goes according to plan."

Looking back, all three of them - Zara, Lily, and Marcus - were acting like they were hiding something big.

But I was too focused on getting the right shots for my i********: to pay attention to what was really happening with my friends.

My phone rings. It's a number I don't recognize.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Sophia Martinez?" The voice sounds skilled, maybe a reporter.

"Who is this?"

"I'm Jenny Walsh from Channel 7 News. We're doing a story about Zara Winters' missing, and we heard you were her best friend and were at the party tonight. Would you be willing to do an interview?"

My heart pounds. A real news interview. This could launch my social media job into the stratosphere.

But it would also mean talking about my best friend's worst moment on live television.

"I... I need to think about it."

"Of course. But we're going live in an hour, so please let me know soon. This story is going to be big, and everyone will want to hear from someone who knew Zara personally."

She hangs up, and I stare at my phone.

An hour to decide whether to help my best friend or help my job.

I open my laptop and start typing a post: "Hey everyone. I know you've seen the news about my friend Zara. I was at her engagement party tonight, and I want to share what REALLY happened..."

I stop typing. What AM I going to say? That I was too busy taking pictures to notice my best friend falling apart? That I ignored all the warning signs because I was focused on building my follower count?

Or should I support Zara and say I don't believe she stole anything?

But what if she really did steal the money? What if I defend her and then look stupid when more proof comes out?

My phone buzzes with another text. This time it's from a number I don't recognize:

"Sophia, this is Lily. I got your number from Zara's phone. I need to talk to you immediately. Can you meet me tomorrow? There are things about Zara that you don't know. Things that might shock you. But if you're really her friend, you need to hear the truth."

I stare at the text, my heart racing.

What could Lily possibly tell me about Zara that I don't already know?

And why does something about this text feel like a trap?