User blog:Metool Bard/Fanfiction: Missing Linc (Chapter 13)

Chapter 13: Gossip and Slander
“So, how’re you gonna convince the director to let you play the Queen of Diamonds? I mean, c’mon. You were made for that role, girl!”

“Do you know where I can buy these comics? They sound so cool now!”

“You should have totally dressed up as the Queen of Diamonds. I mean, she’s a detective too, right? That’s like a policeman.”

Okay, all of this attention was great at first, and it’s still nice. But now everyone’s pestering me questions that I just don’t have the answers to. I never even heard of this movie until Winston told me a few minutes ago! What am I supposed to say?

“Everyone, please. Y-you’re smothering me,” I said.

“Indeed,” said Winston. “A Queen of Diamonds must be treated with respect.”

Oh, thank you, Winston. I’m glad I can count on you~. I wonder if I can convince Lincoln to make him the King of Diamonds. That would be…

Ugh, doy~! I should be getting info on Lincoln, but I’ve wasted so much time talking about nothing! I haven’t found squat! Maybe Lana’s right. I should start pulling my weight. And I know just where to start.

“Um, Winston? Do you mind if I ask you some stuff?” I said.

Winston smiled a cute smile. “Not at all, my dear. What do you want to know?”

“Have you told Lindsey Sweetwater about this movie?”

Winston’s smile disappeared. “Um, no.  I didn’t have to.”

“What do you mean you didn’t have to?”

“She already knows.”

That set off a warning bell in my head. I know Lindsey Sweetwater. She doesn’t follow Ace Savvy stuff. Heck, I don’t think she even likes Ace Savvy. It’s not her style. So how could she have known about the movie?

“Where did you hear that?” I said.

Winston took out his smartphone and showed it to me. “This video was posted to the pageant forums last night. It’s the trailer. I was going to post it myself, but Lindsey beat me to it.”

I looked at the page displayed on Winston’s phone. Sure enough, the author of the post was SweetVictory128, Lindsey Sweetwater’s username. But that still doesn’t make any sense. Why would she do that?

“Well, I guess now that Lindsey is celebrating your success, you two can finally bury the hatchet,” said Ariel.

“Don’t be so sure,” said Belle. “This is Lola’s big break, and Sweetwater has been her rival for years. Shouldn’t she be more jealous?”

“But you heard Winston. She’s the one who posted that video,” said Jasmine. “You can’t argue with the facts.”

Except we don’t have all the facts. For all I know, Lindsey posted that video to lure me into a trap. I don’t know what kind of trap, but I should probably figure it out soon.

“Um, speaking of Lindsey, has anyone seen her today?” I asked.

“Not since she came in this morning,” said Roxanne. “She’s been holed up in the dressing room all day. Something about preparing for some special guests from out of town.”

That got my attention. “Special guests from out of town? Who?”

“She didn’t say,” Roxanne said with a shrug. “I did see three girls come in earlier asking for you, though. They looked really fancy and rich.”

Hmm. I can’t think of anyone off the top of my head who fits that description. I’m sure I’ll recognize them when I see them. For now, I’d better keep the focus on Sweetwater. She’s sounding more and more suspicious every second.

“Did she say anything else?” I said. “Lindsey, I mean.”

“Not really,” said Roxanne. “She was pretty vague about the whole thing.”

“I’m just hoping she’s not planning on roping those lovely ladies into one of her schemes,” Winston mused. “She has a really nasty habit of doing that.”

Yeah, I get it. Lindsey Sweetwater’s a scheming snake. Tell me something I don’t know. Like why she’s suddenly interested in Ace Savvy; that would really help right now.

“Tell me about it,” said Roxanne. She then leaned in and dipped her voice. “Y’know, just the other day at school, I saw her drag a couple of boys into a broom closet.”

Ah-ha. Now we’re getting somewhere. “You don’t say. Any idea why?”

“Nope. But I did hear she got sent to the principal’s office when the janitor caught her,” said Roxanne. “He had the whole thing recorded on the security cameras.”

Part of me wants to laugh, but that just raises more questions. Yes, Lindsey is known for hiding in closets to spy on people (don’t ask me how I know that), but she’s usually a lot more careful. She should know better than to pull that kind of stunt at school where the cameras can catch her. Something must’ve forced her to take the risk, but what? And who was she meeting with?

“And there she is. Told you I’d bring you to her.”

I know that voice. Speak of the devil, and she appears. I looked up and sure enough, there was Lindsey Sweetwater. She was being accompanied by three girls, just like Roxanne said. Hmm, now that I’m looking at them…

“Chinah? Jackie? Claudette?”

Chinah smiled at me. “Looks like you do remember us. Good to see you again, Lola.”

“You know these ladies?” asked Winston.

“I competed against them at the Little Miss Southeastern Michigan pageant,” I explained. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

“We’re here to congratulate you on your success, of course,” said Jackie. She showed me her phone, which displayed the Full House Gang movie trailer. “I knew we’d have to watch out for you.”

Wow. I would not expect that from them. I mean, yeah, I don’t know them very well, but the first time we met, um…  I’m not sure how to put it. They weren’t unfriendly, but they weren’t really friendly, either. I dunno. The point is, it’s nice to be appreciated by girls who have had so much success.

“Yep. Lola really is successful,” said Lindsey with a sneer. “It’s just too bad that her brother went missing last night.”

Everyone gasped, including me. I had my suspicions that she knew about that, but I did not expect her to drop that bombshell on everyone.

“Lola, is that true?” Winston asked. “Is that why you didn’t hear about the movie?”

I sighed. No point in denying it. “Yeah, it’s true.”

“Oh, Lola. You poor thing,” said Roxanne. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I know why,” said Lindsey, leering right at me. “It’s because you had a hand in his disappearance, didn’t you?”

I-I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I know I don’t have the best reputation in the world, but c’mon! That’s not something I would do, ever!

“H-how dare you!” I barked. “Where do you get off saying that?! I would never hurt Linky like that!”

“Oh no?” Lindsey said slyly. “Because I think you would. After all, if you really cared about him, you wouldn’t just be standing around basking in your own glory, would you?”

…

She planned this. I don’t know how she planned this, but I know she planned this! She knew I’d get caught up in all the attention and praise, and now she’s using that to make me look like a monster! Oh, why didn’t I listen to Lana?!

“I-I didn’t hurt Lincoln!” I cried. “Y-you can’t prove it!”

“I don’t need to. Your actions speak for themselves,” Lindsey scoffed. “Why else would you pretend that everything’s fine if not to hide your own guilt?”

I-I was going to bring it up. Maybe. I-I just got distracted.

“My word, Lola. I didn’t know your drive for fame would be this cutthroat,” said Claudette darkly. “And here we were, worrying that you couldn’t handle the pressure of being famous. We were going to give you advice on coping with it, but it looks like you have a different problem.”

Remember how I said before that this was gonna turn into a nightmare? Yeah, that’s happening right now. Lindsey is using Lincoln’s kidnapping to turn everyone against me! Even Winston and Roxanne are looking at me weird, like they don’t know what to believe. How could I have been so stupid and selfish?!

“P-please! You guys have to believe me!” I pleaded. “I-I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“You can keep yelling that until you’re blue in the face, Lola Loud,” said Lindsey, looking at her nails. “But unless you have some proof, no one’s gonna buy it.”

And whose fault is that?! Ugh, dang it. What am I gonna do? No matter what I say, she’s just gonna twist it around and make me look like the most terrible person ever! I-I’m so scared. Linky. Lana. A-anyone. H-help…

“Not so fast, Sweetwater!”

Wait, that voice! I-it couldn’t be, could it? I looked up at the ceiling where the voice came from. I saw that the vent cover was missing, and a pair of nervous eyes were peering through the blackness. I have to make sure.

“Lana? I-is that you? H-how’d you get up there?”

“Long story. I’ll tell ya if you help me get down,” said Lana nervously. “I-it’s a bit high up.”

Lindsey laughed. “Oh, that incorrigible rascal. Playing in the vents again?”

That laugh sounded a bit too nervous. I don’t think she planned for this to happen. Well, time to ruin her script a little more. If she insists on slinging mud at me, the best thing to do is clean myself up.

“Lana, jump down!” I hollered. “I’ll catch you!”

“You promise?”

“I promise!”

After a pause, Lana dropped down from the ventilation shaft. In that moment, I realized that I did not think this through. I should’ve gotten a ladder or an adult. I didn’t have much time to regret it, as she crashed right into my arms. I held her tight as we both hit the ground hard. Owie~.

“Sheesh. Sorry, Lola.”  Lana struggled to her feet and dusted herself off before reaching out to me. “You okay?”

I looked over at her and smiled. “I am now.”

I accepted her hand and pulled myself up. Lana then pointed at Lindsey.

“Whatever that jerk said about Lola, it’s not true!” she proclaimed.

Lindsey scoffed and rolled her eyes. “And why would anyone believe you, pageant pauper? You’re just some punk who plays in trash all day.”

“Yeah, so?” Lana said with a shrug. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“It means you don’t know her like I do,” said Lindsey. “You don’t know how evil she really is!”

Lana deadpanned. “She’s my twin sister. I think I know her a lot better than you do. And yeah, she can be a real pain in the pajamas sometimes.”

Normally, I’d get mad at her for saying that, but after how I’ve been acting, I think it was deserved.

“But I know she can be better than that. And I definitely know she’s better than you,” Lana continued. “After all, she’s not the one who locked me in the dressing room.”

Chinah raised an eyebrow at Lindsey. “You locked Lola’s body double in the dressing room?”

Wait, body double? What’s she talking about? I looked over at Lana to see if she had any answers, but she just shrugged.

“I-it was an accident!” Lindsey sputtered.

“Then why didn’t you get someone to let her out?” asked Winston. “Why force her to climb through the vents?”

“I can answer that,” said Lana. “It’s because I found something she didn’t want anyone to see. Something that has to do with Lincoln going missing.”

“Sacre bleu! So Sweetwater was planning to frame Lola for a heinous crime?!” Claudette gasped. “Unbelievable!”

So while I was being the life of the party, Lana was doing actual detective work. I seriously owe her an apology.

“L-look, i-it’s not what you think,” Lindsey stammered. “I was just…  Lola, she…  It’s all a…”

Heh. Doesn’t feel so good when everyone turns against you, does it, Sweetwater? Let’s see how you like it.

“Lindsey, I think it’s high time you told us the truth,” said Roxanne. “What’s all this about?”

Lindsey scrunched her eyes shut and trembled. But just when I expected her to launch into a huge tantrum, she simply took out her makeup compact and opened it.

“You think you’ve got me, don’t you?” she said, admiring herself in the mirror. “Well, think again!”

She blew into the compact, spraying all of us with talcum powder. Ugh, that little minx! Does she ever give up? When we recovered from the ordeal, she was gone.

“Dang. Never in my five years of pageants have I ever seen anything like this,” said Jackie.

Lana shrugged. “Welcome to Royal Woods.”  She then turned to me. “We should go after her. Can you walk?”

I chuckled weakly. “Yeah, I can. Trust me, I’ve had worse than you falling on me,” I said. I then sighed. “I’m really sorry, Lana. I should’ve taken this more seriously, b-but I just…”

Lana patted me on the shoulder. “I get it, Lola. And I’m sorry, too. Turns out you were half-right about Sweetwater.”

I blinked. “Wait, half-right?”

“I’m sure we can get her to explain if we work together,” said Lana. She reached out her hand. “We doing this?”

I nodded and took her hand. “We sure are.”

“Um, sorry to interrupt, but I can’t help but feel lost,” said Winston.

Lana scoffed. “If it makes you feel any better, we’re kinda lost, too,” she said. “But we’ll get to the bottom of this. Isn’t that right, Queen of Diamonds?”

I had to smile at that. “Absolutely. After all, nothing beats a Royal Flush.”

We then took off after Lindsey. That… was way too close. I don’t know what I’d do if Lana didn’t come in to save me from those hurtful lies. Now it’s time to tie up the loose ends and take her down. Say your prayers, Sweetwater. Whatever you did, you’re not getting away with it…

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