Page 8 of Hexes and Hiccups (Mystery In A Bottle #3)

Tessa let out a frustrated sigh as she knelt down, pulling something out from beneath the truck. “You won’t believe what I just found.”

“Please tell me it’s the Book of Gossip.”

Tessa held her hand up, a familiar-looking torn strip of paper with golden edges, the same words on the truck written upon it. “That’s wishful thinking,” she muttered.

“Good grief,” Daisy snapped. “When will we find the actual book?”

“Beats me.”

“Look,” Daisy began, “how about we –”

The loud rev of an engine cut Daisy’s words short. A luxury car whipped through the empty parking lot, coming right towards them. The tires squealed as it came to a rushed stop, the drivers’ side door whipping open to reveal a familiar face.

Rebecca rushed out of the car, leaving the door wide open.

Though they had known her for so long, neither one of them had ever seen her look so haphazard before.

The button-down she wore fell down one shoulder and was full of rips and holes.

Her denim jeans were far too big for her, falling beneath her ratty shoes with every step she took.

Even her hair, which was usually seen in a professional blow out, was frizzy and unkempt, shooting out in every which direction possible.

She staggered towards the truck, her hands running through her hair.

“Oh no,” she breathed, her eyes incredibly wide. “I-It’s really here!” Rebecca’s head fell into her hands as she shuddered and wept, the sound echoing through the empty lot.

Daisy eyed Tessa before reaching forward and patting Rebecca’s back. “It’ll be okay,” she muttered, not at all feeling in the reassuring mood.

“There, there,” Tessa snapped, her hand resting against her shoulder. The magic radiated off her, but before the calming power could seep into Rebecca’s skin, she whipped backwards, swatting their hands away.

Breathing heavily, Rebecca pointed a trembling finger at them. “This was your doing, wasn’t it?” She shook her head, an unsteady laugh leaving her untinted lips. “I just knew it. You two have been so jealous of me that you spread these senseless a-and ridiculous rumors!”

“What point would there be in us doing that?” Daisy snapped, no longer reassuring her. “Some of us aren’t bullies!”

Rebecca scoffed. “Don’t act like you haven’t tried to be me all this time! You’re taking it too far with this! You want to sully my family’s hard-earned name?”

“So it’s a lie?” Tessa blurted, her arms crossed stubbornly.

Rebecca faltered. “W-What?”

“The rumor,” Tessa replied. “It’s a lie, then?”

“Well, I-I said –”

“Because just by looking at you,” she continued, pressing closer to her, “I feel like something’s up. Don’t you think, Daisy?”

Daisy shrugged. “All I’m saying is that that doesn't look like Chanel to me.”

“What would you know about Chanel?” Rebecca spat.

“More than you, it seems.”

Rebecca pressed her lips together as her face grew redder and redder with each passing second. “You have no business questioning me!”

“Seems to me like you can’t really answer the question,” Tessa said. “All I asked was if it was a lie, right? So, looks like –”

“It’s true, alright?” Rebecca screeched, her feet snapping against the floor as though she were a toddler in the middle of a tantrum.

Angry, hot tears streamed down her cheeks as she stomped her feet against the pavement, not caring how high pitched her voice became, her oversized clothes barely hanging on.

“The government is looking into my father’s businesses,” Rebecca continued, entirely unloading upon them.

“And until they figure things out, all my accounts have been frozen a-and m-my…my…my…” Rebecca’s voice trailed off as she wailed.

“My clothes have been seized by the government. What else could I do than push all my credit card limits, to take out loans a-and more loans to stay the same?”

Daisy pressed her lips together tightly, desperate to keep herself from laughing.

She side-eyed Tessa to see the same expression on her face, her round cheeks growing pink as she held her breath.

Daisy began to back away, stepping closer to Tessa.

They had everything they needed, and as far as Daisy was concerned, there was nothing keeping them there.

Rebecca’s karma seemed to have caught up to her, and Daisy had no intention of standing in the way of it being delivered.

Tessa was slowly backing away from the truck. “Well,” she murmured, “now that that was all cleared up, we will just be –”

“Wait !”

They froze as Rebecca pointed a finger at them.

“Y-You can’t just go,” she cried. “I need help!” She waved at the truck. “I need to clean this off before people start showing up!”

Tessa shook her head rapidly. “You created this situation yourself, Rebecca.”

“Sorry,” Daisy muttered. “But we can’t help you.”

She jerked forward, her hands pressed together in a pleading manner.

“You want me to beg? Is that it?” Tears fell down her face.

“I am desperate for your help! N-No one else will help me and if the entire town knew the truth, I’d be the laughingstock of the town!

Please,” she paused, her eyes wide and holding onto Daisy, “I know you have a good heart. Please.”

Daisy couldn’t take her eyes away from the other woman, even when Tessa started tugging at her arm to urge them away faster.

Daisy shook her head at her friend, frustrated that she couldn’t have a harder spine when it came to those things.

But how could she turn away, when she had already made such a deal about halting in her gossiping?

How fair was it to turn a blind eye? Daisy heard her own voice repeating in the back of her head, her conscience annoyingly on time and present.

“Fine,” she groaned. “But you need to turn over a new leaf, or something. Stop bullying people and rubbing your wealth in their faces. Mitchells pride themselves on their classiness, and yet, you are the least classy of them all!”

Rebecca winced but nodded, already running to her car to retrieve much-needed cleaning supplies.

Tessa stood beside Daisy. “She came prepared,” she muttered. “Thanks a lot, goodie goodie.”

“Thank me later,” Daisy replied as she elbowed her friend playfully, “when your conscience is clear.”

“Oh, no,” she drawled as Rebecca retrieved buckets. “You’ll thank me with a tonic for achy bones and muscles when we are out of here. Right ?”

Daisy laughed. “Whatever you say.”

They stepped forward to begin to help Rebecca paint over the words written on the side of the truck, hoisting tall brushes and buckets over.

Though Daisy had hoped that the good will of doing something nice like helping out Rebecca could have simmered out that nervousness in her stomach, it seemed to just do the opposite.

Daisy kept her attention focused on clearing away the sharp, red words, and ignoring the incessant need to ask if someone was watching them.