"Thanks for the lift, Bex!" Harper said as the car came to a stop in front of a fairly large house.

 " No problem! " Bex replied as Harper opened the door, "I hope you get home okay!"

 Harper smiled and got out of the car, shutting the door behind her, "I do too. See you later."

" Bye, Harp! "

Harper waved as the car drove away. when it was out of sight, she turned and walked towards the house. Bex had said Merindy lived there, but she was still worried about who would answer the door. Slowly, she approached the door and knocked.

Harper released a small sigh of relief when she saw Merindy looking through the window. Quickly, Merindy opened the door, "Harper?!" She exclaimed with a smile, " What are you doing here?!? "

 "I'm trying to get back to Oshkosh." Harper explained

 " Why don't you have Wyatt or your dad take you there?"

Harper looked down at her feet, "They both had a funeral about two weeks ago." 

Merindy wrapped an arm around Harper and led her inside, "I'm sorry."

 " It's fine. You couldn't have prevented it anyway. " Harper mentally slapped herself as tears filled her eyes.

Merindy shut the door, "What happened? How'd they both die?"

 " They were both shot. "

 "Who killed them?"

 Harper took a shaky breath, "I guess... I guess I did." She looked up at Merindy, " My dad shot Wyatt because Wyatt was protecting me. Then I shot my dad because he killed and was ready to kill me."

Merindy wrapped Harper into a hug. "Gee, that's gotta be terrible."

 Harper didn't say anything. She just stood there in the living room, trying -and failing- to keep herself from crying.

A voice called from the stairs, "Merindy, who was at the door?"

 Merindy let go and called over her shoulder, "One of my friends, Cindy."

 " Which one? "

 "You don't know her."

 A girl with dark hair pulled back in a low bun and brown eyes peered around the corner. "Huh, you're right." She walked towards Harper, "Hi, I'm Cindy."

" Harper. "

 "Were you at Holiday's sleepover? "

"Yeah."

" That explains why I don't know you. What are you doing here? "

"Ironically, hiding from Holiday. I'm trying to get to Oshkosh."

Cindy nodded, " You don't happen to know Mrs Smith, would you? "

Harper thought for a moment, "There are a lot of 'Smiths ' in the world. "

"She has a daughter named Sofia and a son who's name I can't remember."

Harper gave her a half smile, "Yeah, I know who you're talking about."

Cindy looked at Merindy and very obviously gestured towards Harper. "I know! I know!" Merindy exclaimed before looking back towards Harper, "Mrs Smith told us you would get here in a few more days. How'd you get here so quickly?"

" Bex and her dad were willing to take the 3 day trip here to get me home faster. "

"Geeze." Cindy exclaimed, " Well, you can stay here as long as you need. "

" It probably won't be very long. I want to get home as fast as possible. "

"Well, don't leave now. It's almost 11 at night."

Harper smiled, "Are you sure your parents are fine with me staying?"

Merindy nodded, "Mrs Smith called us last Saturday and told us you'd probably be here this upcoming Sunday. We didn't know it'd be you, though."

"I didn't realize she knew you guys."

" When they lived here, she taught at our elementary school. Then three years ago she moved away to live closer to her son, since he was the only one who could calm down Sofia when she was angry. "

"And he moved in the first place because of me," Harper muttered quietly to herself before speaking up, " Well, if you're really okay with it... "

"Of course we are!" Cindy exclaimed, " You can stay in the first room upstairs! "

"Thank you guys so much!"

" No problem. " Merindy replied with a smile, "I'll show you where the guest room is."

Harper followed Merindy up the stairs. The room she was given was at the end of the hall. Compared to the room she had had in the apartment when she lived with her dad, their guest room was pretty small. It had a bed, a dresser, and a closet, with little room for much else. It was perfect.

Harper put her bag on the dresser and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She hadn't checked it since the incident in the lab, so Bailey had had plenty of time to panic.

What do you mean?

Are you okay?!

Harper!!!

Okay, if you don't respond soon, I'm going to tell mom!

HOW DOES MOM ALREADY KNOW YOU'RE NOT REPLYING?!?!

Harp, why is mom convinced she only has three kids?

You'd better be okay, Harper.

Harper re-read Bailey's texts many times.

To be fair, I have no idea how mom knew, or why she doesn't think I exist.

HARPER!!!!! YOU SCARED ME!!!!!!

Sorry, but, in my defense, I actually thought I was going to die.

Why would you think you're going to die?! You have dad and a bodyguard! You're more protected than most people!

They're both dead.

... You're joking, right?

Sadly no. Though I wonder...

What?

Mom thought I was dead?

I thought so, but maybe not, since she knew you weren't replying. I'll ask her now.

Okay.

Bailey didn't respond for about 45 minutes. I can't believe this woman is our mother.

What did she say?

She said she knew you weren't dead, but that she "wasn't technically lying".

Didn't she say she only has three kids?

Yep. The only explanation I can think of is she's thinking of Thomas and Hayden as one kid, or something.

Harper thought back to a conversation she'd had with Wyatt. Well, dad said the same thing. He told Wyatt he only had three kids.

Really? I hope that's a strange coincidence.

I doubt it. The chances of them both coming up with the same lie about my existence is really slim.

Hold on, what?

I never told you, did i?

Told me what, Harper?

A lot.

Then you'd better get started. Now.

Story word count: 1023

Alright, I just wanted to tell you all that I won't be updating for a week since I'll be camping. I'll probably be writing during that time, though, so be on the look for some new chapters in a week.

Also, I'm sure some of you saw the new cover for this story! It was created by marinadesantis07 and I really like it!! So a quick shout out to her!
See you all in a week! Bye!