Devils Roses 01 - Cursed

"Giselle didn’t have a clue who it was?”
    She shrugged, driving us back home to get the dress fittings started.
    I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked at the million texts Giselle had sent me. It was pages of new texts, she went from excited to completely desperate. Guilt flooded me, seeing the anxiety in my friend's words.
    I pressed talk and waited for the cell to ring.
    “ Hello.” Her voice was so weak it sickened me.
    I closed my eyes, fighting back tears. “Hey.”
    “ Dude, where have you been?” Her weakened words cut me deeply.
    “ I’m so sorry. I slept through the last five days. I just couldn’t seem to shake it. How’s it going there? Your dad said something about a donor.”
    I could hear her shallow breath in the phone as she tried to talk. “Yeah, I hear the final verdict tomorrow, I think. Right now, they’re just trying to get me through the days. My dad was the only match in my family, but his liver is damaged from all the drinking. I think he feels pretty bad.” I cringed—how could he not feel bad?
    “ I am coming to see you this weekend, liver or no liver. I will be there this weekend, but right now, I need to ask you a question. It's going to sound awful, but just look past my snooping.”
    “ Okay, I’m not too worried about you and snooping, to be totally honest.”
    I sighed. “I went to your place to get the dress and when I was there, I looked in the closet. I found the secret admirer letters you got last fall. I have been looking them over, and I think the person who sent them, poisoned us. But I need to know, who you think it was.” I waited in silence for her to tell me to eff off and hang up.
    “ I don’t know. They just kept showing up in my locker. I guess I always thought it was Tommy. I assumed, because he had a crush on me, and he always got such good grades in English. It's surprising the way he comes off as a hamtard.”
    I burst out laughing. “See how easy it is to use that word? Even Alise has been using it. Okay, so Tommy gets good grades in English? Really? I never would have guessed that. Were you sure he had a crush on you? Did he hit on you?”
    My sister, who was listening in, rolled her eyes at me. “Who hasn’t he hit on? He’s a pig.”
    I nodded, imagining him being smart enough to drug someone and plan it out. I had a hard time seeing it in my head.
    “ You think about the letters for the next little bit, as much as you can, and I will see if I can get some dirt on Tommy. I’ll get Alise to help me; she's good with dirty boys.” I smiled at my sister, who flashed a grin and turned off the car.
    “ I'll text you if I think of anything. I’m telling you if I don’t get a response, I’m coming for you, Miss James. I am coming for you.”
    The thought of that, made me smile. “Deal. I will answer anything you send.”
    She hung up the phone, no doubt from loss of strength. I couldn’t believe how weak she had gotten. I looked at my sister as we sat together in the driveway, feeling not only bleak about Giselle, but also confused about the drugging pervert.
    “ It can’t be Tommy. I mean it could be, but I just can’t see him being smart enough,” I spoke, breaking the silence.
    My sister nodded. “Yeah, he’s a goof. He’s a perve, but more of a harmless perve. Trust me, I went there once; he was very sweet and almost grateful. It was creepy, in a ‘he’s not as dirty as he seems’, sort of way.”
    I frowned at her. “You had sex with him?”
    She frowned back. “At least I know what sex is. You’re like a Mormon. No booze, no smoking, no drugs, no sex. Do you even drink coffee?”
    I laughed, shaking my head. “Not really, every now and then I have some espresso. I don’t like to put that much strain on my adrenal glands.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Oh well, yes—I forgot about that nasty little side effect. Let’s go see if the dress fits, Cinderella.”
    As Alise and I got into the house, we heard a man's voice talking to our dad. I knew that voice, immediately. Instead of smiling like I normally would, I cringed.
    “ Shane, what are you doing here?” my sister asked, smiling at him and Dad. They were having, what seemed to be, an afternoon tea. I raised an eyebrow at them.
    My dad started laughing. “They make the same faces, do you see it, son?”
    Shane laughed nodding. “That is funny. Grey-blue eyes and silver eyes making the same expression. I was hoping you were feeling better.” He smiled