Chapter 3 - Secrets and Lies

Kenzie was awoken by the sound of her cell phone ringing. She groaned and pulled the pillow over her head. Then she realized it was most likely her parents calling, inquiring about why she'd failed to call them last night.

With a yawn and a sigh, Kenzie stumbled out of bed and dug around in one of her suitcases until she found her phone. It was indeed her parents. She answered it with a groggy, "Hello?"

"Kenzie?" her mother's voice asked, her father undoubtedly being at work.

"Hi, Mom."
"Kenzie! I'm glad you're okay. You didn't call us last night. "

"I know, I'm sorry. I just got so busy getting caught up with Jillian that by the time we were ready for bed, it was too late to call."

"We were worried that you got in a car wreck or something."

"Honestly Mom, I'm fine. I haven't seen Jillian in almost two years, so I'm sorry if I was a little preoccupied and calling home while on vacation wasn't my top priority."

"You don't have to use that tone of voice."

"I'm sorry, I just woke up. I haven't even gotten dressed yet."

"Well, how is everything? How's Jillian?"

"She's doing good, her house is really nice. It's a modern style one and I love the colors in the bedroom I'm staying in."

"That's good. What are you planning on doing today?"

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Hold on a second, Mom. I think Jillian's at the door."

Kenzie pulled the phone away from her ear and said, "Come in!"

Jillian emerged in the bedroom wearing a bright yellow sundress and white sandals.

"Good morning! I thought I heard you talking."

"Yeah, it's my mom. She and Dad say hello by the way."

"Tell them hi from me too!"

Kenzie put the phone back to her ear and said, "Jillian says hi."

"Hello to her too! "

"Anyway, to answer your question, I'm not sure what we're doing today, but Jillian mentioned there's a lot of places to do all kinds of fun stuff, like shops and the beach and clubs."

"Clubs? I hope not the kind of clubs like in Bridgeport."

"No, nothing like that. Just a place to hang out and have fun."

"Well, I hope not. You be careful though, Sunset Valley isn't like Riverview from what I've heard."

"I know, Mom. I can take care of myself."

"I just worry about you."

"I know. But listen, I think I better get going so we can eat breakfast and I can see the sites and such. Tell Dad I said hi too and that I'm fine."

"All right honey, have fun and keep in touch."

"I will, I swear."

"All right. Goodbye Kenzie."

"Bye, Mom."

Kenzie hung up and looked at the clock on the night stand. 8:45am. Constance had undoubtedly called before heading to work for the day.

"Sorry about that," Kenzie said as she put her cell phone on the desk. "You know how she is."

"Overprotective, but I'm not worried about it. Anyway, I hope you don't mind having eggs for breakfast."

"Eggs are fine."

"Great, I'll go get them started while you get dressed. I thought I'd take you around town today to see some of the shops."

"That sounds like fun."

"There's a great consignment store here, where you can get a lot of awesome stuff at reasonable prices.
What do you say?"
"Sounds good to me."

"Awesome! Okay, go ahead and get dressed and I'll let you know when the eggs are ready."

Jillian exited the room and Kenzie rummaged in her suitcase. After getting dressed in a light blue outfit and flip flops and using the bathroom, Kenzie walked into the kitchen where Jillian was serving eggs.

"Just in time," she said as she placed a plate on the table.

"Those eggs smell delicious."

"Hopefully they'll taste that way too."

Kenzie sat down at the table with Jillian and dug into her eggs.

"One other thing," Jillian said as they ate, "I forgot to tell you, last night I got a phone call inviting me to a beach party tonight, down at Old Pier. They really fixed the place up so it doesn't look as dull as it did when I was a kid. You're invited, too. Want to go?"

"Sure, but does that mean I have to wear a swimsuit?"

"Of course! Well, you can do what I do and wear it under your clothes, so if you want to go swimming, all you have to do is pull off your dress."

"I suppose that'll work."

"We'll make sure you look extra good too! Maybe you'll even draw some cute guy's attention."

"I doubt it, but thanks."

When they finished eating, Kenzie helped Jillian clean off the table and wash the dishes. She was excited to officially begin her vacation today. As far as she was concerned, she'd have a good time no matter what they did.

"So, where shall we go first?" Jillian asked when the dishes were in the dishwasher.

"Doesn't matter to me, you're the one that lives here."

"Okay, why don't we head to the consignment store? We should pick you out some new clothes."

"Sounds like in college. You insisted I needed new clothes for a party, so we went shopping."

"Hey, they looked good on you, didn't they? Plus, they got you a guy."

"I'd rather not think about him."

"Right, sorry."

"It's okay."

Jillian headed to her bedroom to grab a purse while Kenzie waited for her to return, trying not to think of her college love who'd betrayed her. She'd be happy if he never crossed her mind again.

Unfortunately, that was inevitable for a young woman's first serious relationship.

Jillian emerged from her bedroom with a purse and motioned Kenzie to follow her out the door. After locking the house, they both piled into Jillian's convertible and headed for the consignment store.

The whole time, they continued to talk and catch up. The store wasn't very far, and Jillian eagerly began browsing through the various clothes. Kenzie followed her, not knowing what else to look for. They had a consignment shop in Riverview, but she didn't spend much time in there.

Jillian browsed through some clothes hanging on a rack while Kenzie inspected them. She had to admit, she did see some cute choices.

"You should try this dress on," Jillian said as she pulled a purple flowered dress from the rack. "It would look so cute on you!"

"Do they have dressing rooms?"

"No, but they let you try things on in the bathroom, right over there."

"Okay, sure. It does look cute."

Kenzie took the dress and headed for the bathroom. She checked herself out in the mirror before exiting the bathroom and letting Jillian see it.

"That looks awesome on you!" Jillian exclaimed.

"Yeah, but me? Wearing this?"

"Girl, you have awesome curves, you should show them off!"

Kenzie looked down at herself. She never pictured herself wearing anything like this, just like back in college when Jillian helped her pick out clothes. Of course, Jillian did have a great fashion sense, so who was she to argue?

"How much is it?"

Kenzie checked the price tag.

"50 simos."

"Not too bad. I bet if you got it somewhere else it would be at least a hundred."

"I did bring money with me, and it does look cute..."

"You should go for it and wear it to the party tonight."

Kenzie looked down at herself one last time and caved. The dress did look good on her, so why not?

"All right, you convinced me. I'll get it."

"Awesome!"

Kenzie went back into the bathroom and put her regular clothes on, then paid for the dress. Jillian continued browsing and tried on about ten outfits before she found the perfect one, which was a tank top with beaded straps that matched the color of her eyes. The skirt was a very short black one with a silver sparkly belt. A little fancy for a beach party in Kenzie's opinion, but she said nothing.

Jillian was paying for her outfit when Kenzie looked up and saw that the store had an upstairs. She could also make out some Chinese items.

"Hey, Jill, mind if I check out the Chinese section?"

"Sure, go ahead," Jillian replied.

So Kenzie went upstairs and looked at all the Chinese furnishings. There was a bed, chairs, dresser, tables, and even a vase. Kenzie had been to China once before because she loved Asian culture, and she would be thrilled to own more of the beautiful things.

But not everything was a good price at this store, because Kenzie checked the price of a vase and saw that it was 1,500 simoleons. That was way more than she could afford.

Kenzie began walking back downstairs when she caught sight of Jillian talking in a hushed voice to a young man with red hair and shredded jeans. A stud earring sparkled in his ear and tattoos peeked out under his shirt. She ducked behind the stair banister but kept an eye on Jillian and the man. They seemed to be arguing.

The man pointed his finger at Jillian and she glared back at him before saying something to him. Finally, the man sneered and stomped off. Jillian's lip was trembling but she was trying not to cry.

Before Kenzie realized what she was doing, she marched down the stairs and asked Jillian, "What the heck was that all about?"

Jillian sniffed and Kenzie could tell that she was trying to hold back tears.

"That was my ex-boyfriend that I told you about. He didn't take it well when I dumped him."

"I can see that. You know, I have ties with the police department; we can get a restraining order."

"That won't stop him."

"Then he'll get arrested."

"That won't matter."

"What are you talking about?"

"It just...won't work, okay? A restraining order is a piece of paper saying he can't come around me. What am I supposed to do when he does? Throw it at him?"

"What's going on with you? There's more to it than you're telling me."

"It's nothing, okay?" Jillian finally burst out. "Just a bad relationship and a stupid ex who...wants me back. It's not worth making a case over."

"I'm not making a case, I'm concerned about my best friend, who I haven't seen in person for almost two years, who just got out of a bad relationship, and the guy shows up and yells at in public."

"That's one of the reasons I dumped him. Can we please just forget about it?"

Jillian spun on her heel before Kenzie could respond. What was going on? This wasn't like Jillian. The two told each other everything, but something was different this time. Jillian was hiding something.

What was the world coming to when even your best friend told you a lie?

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