39- Locked

Flashback (Elara Smith: 16 years old)

I am Elara Smith and the day I turned sixteen, my best friend Vicky Barone surprised me with a cake and a gift.

She gave me a bracelet that was made of tiny hearts surrounded by gemstones.

“Whoa. This is expensive, Vick.” I didn’t want to have it, but she was as stubborn as a mule, so she held it around my wrist and clasped the lock.

“Just shut up. OK? I am Vicky Barone, and I can’t hear a No.”

It was an expensive school, and I was there because my father who was a gardener used to work for an elite family.

The house next to ours was empty for many years.

“Every time, I try to gift you something, you start protesting as if I am asking you to pay for it,” Vicky said bitterly and stood up picking up her bag.

We were on the soccer field and were planning to go to a nearby pizza joint to celebrate my birthday. Of course, Vicky was the one who was financing this pizza party.

Being the daughter of a gardener, I couldn’t afford such celebration