Two Truths and a Lie

I know I haven't posted in a while - life gets in the way, sometimes. But I'm here now! And no, I have still not finished Pretty Little Secrets. I will - soon, I hope! For English, I have to read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, so I haven't focused on books for fun - with AP US History, God knows how little time I have for anything else :/ 
I had to choose course selections for next year. My school's an IB school, and so I chose to do the IB diploma. IB English, IB European History, IB Biology, IB Pre-Cal, IB Music, and IB Spanish, as well as AP government, Theory of Knowledge, and Physics. In other words, goodbye, social life. Goodbye, sleep. I shall enjoy having you guys before next year *tear* 


I bought The Help (the movie) today! I have yet to buy the book, and I plan on doing so very soon! 


But first, I want to talk about two things. One is friends' issues (AGAIN). I know - I just have to tell SOMEONE, even if I don't personally know them. The other is a book I did read recently (I was able to find the time to read the book - it was only 200 pages on my Nook, so I could finish it in two consecutive days.) 


1. I have a friend, James, who I haven't seen in the LONGEST time. He told me he'd go to my school's talent show with me. However, he texts me today, saying he can't, because his girlfriend is sick and her mom wants him to tutor her in math. Are you kidding me? For one, if I was sick, I sure as hell would not want to think about math. That would just give an even bigger headache. Two, he sees her every day. He says "she's crying and sick and needs to see me." Couldn't she just see him tomorrow? Seriously. And three - they don't even take the same math! He takes algebra, and she takes geometry. They are two very different maths. Ugh - he knows how other people (cough, cough, Patrick) treat me, so why does he do it too?? 


2. Hannah. How I loathe her. My friend Caitlin's mom is a housecleaner. Caitlin and Hannah are BFFs. They went to go see a concert, but they had an argument before or after the concert. They aren't really speaking to each other. Hannah and I have choir together, but we were in the auditorium that day because our choir teacher had to help set up for the school play. Hannah leans over to me and says, "You know, Caitlin's mom seriously is a maid" - or something along those lines. The word "maid" was definitely in that sentence somewhere. I didn't tell Caitlin because I knew she and Hannah would get over this argument really soon and be best friends again, and I didn't want to get involved in something that didn't concern me. So I kept my mouth shut. I stopped sitting with Caitlin and Hannah and the other girls because of Hannah's bullying of me. I sat in the office instead and helped out there. I had been there for a couple of months, but last weekend, she, Patrick, and my other good friends Stephanie and Andrea,  decided to have like a mini-sleepover. And I guess I couldn't take it anymore. I asked them flat-out why they excluded me. Of course, they had no decent explanation, no excuse for it. Caitlin, in defense, says I stopped sitting with them. I had ditched them. I explained to her about Hannah's bullying, how she talks bad about her friends behind her back and how I was tired of that. I told her, then, that even she had been talked about. That got her interested, obviously. I told her the truth. Monday, I walk through the school doors and Hannah pounces on me like a tiger. She immediately accuses me of lying, of making everything up. I held my ground, defended myself like I had never done before. She leaves me alone for the rest of the day (and week) but she's angry, as she's deleted me off Facebook. Not that I care. I'm just glad she's leaving me alone. But it's kind of tense between me and my other friends because they are friends with both of us. What should I do? 


And now, I shall talk about Two Truths and a Lie by Sara Shepard. Although I can see where some reviewers would find the book a bit sloppy in terms of writing, I actually am interested in who killed Sutton Mercer. Warning for those who have only seen the show on ABC - the books and the show are pretty much unrelated. Sutton's dead in the books, while she's very much alive in the first season of the show, at least. Sutton's dead before the book even starts. Two Truths and a Lie is #3 out of 4 novels in the series. Sara Shepard had better reveal Sutton's killer in the fourth book, because if she hold it out for 8 books like in PLL, I will die. The first two books are called The Lying Game and Never Have I Ever. 


DO NOT CONTINUE READING IF YOU PLAN ON READING THIS BOOK. SPOILERS! 


 Emma Paxton has crossed out Sutton's best friends Madeline and Charlotte, and Sutton's sister Laurel, as well as the Fiorello twins Lili and Gabby from the suspect list. However, mysterious bad-boy runaway Thayer Vega has returned to Tucson. Or has he been there all this time? After his frightening break-in into Emma (well, actually, Sutton's) room, Emma doesn't know what to think about him. He's been arrested (Emma screamed, waking up the whole house) With Sutton narrating and giving us pieces of the night she died, we don't know what to think either. According to Sutton's narrations from beyond the grave, we discover that Thayer returned to Tucson on August 31 (the day Sutton died), to be with her. Apparently, they are in a secret relationship (Sutton at the time was dating Garrett) Despite her protests, Thayer doesn't tell Sutton where he's been. The evening starts off romantically in Sabino Canyon, until Thayer becomes upset with Sutton about Garrett. He walks away, but then grabs her from behind. She runs, terrified, to her car, but drops her keys and he gets her. However, he's protecting her, not trying to hurt her, because once they move away, Sutton's car comes barreling at them, hitting Thayer. Sutton, without a car, tells Thayer to call her sister, Laurel (who considers him her best friend - she also probably has a crush on him) for help, and then she runs off, abandoning him. Laurel comes dutifully and gets him help. However, she spots Sutton hiding in the nearby trees, but doesn't say anything. 
Thayer Vega is off the suspect list, but is it possible that Laurel came back for Sutton to kill her? But even if she did, who was behind the wheel of Sutton's car? 
Thayer may be out of prison due to Laurel bailing him out, but Sutton's real killer is still on the loose, tracking her every move, it seems, in the shadows. Who could it be? 


MY personal suspect list is:
1. Mr. Vega - His motive would be that according to rumors, Sutton was the reason why Thayer ran away in the first place (however, this is not the truth - he was running away from his father. He got into alcoholic issues and entered rehab.) Thayer was the soccer star, seemingly Mr. Vega's pride and joy. If Sutton was the reason why his son was gone, wouldn't he try to get revenge? 


2. The Mercer parents - I don't know what their motive could be, but hey, anything's possible. 


3. The Chamberlain parents - Emma was assaulted in the Chamberlain's house by an unseen attacker. Either the intruder knew the alarm code and had a key (Mr. Vega could've had both of these) or already was inside the house. As all the girls in the house were cleared, it could've been Mr. or Mrs. Chamberlain. Although I don't know what their motive could be, it seems a bit sketchy and foreshadowing that Mr. Chamberlain was in town the day Emma arrived in Tucson when he was supposed to be out of town, and the first person who recognizes "Sutton" when she arrives. 


4. Ethan Landry - I don't know why, but even though he's helping Emma find Sutton's murderer, I can't help but suspect him because he knows who Emma really is. Plus, he would have a motive to kill Sutton - she ruined his chances of getting a college scholarship. I'd be VERY pissed off if anyone did that to me. 


5. Garrett Austin - He could've known for sure that Sutton was cheating on him with Thayer (he'd be personally hiding that info from Sutton and everybody else, of course, so as not to give himself away) and killed Sutton in revenge. 


5. Emma's and Sutton's real mom, Becky - This seems a bit far off, but like I said earlier, anything's possible. 


6. Nisha Banerjee - It doesn't seem likely, as she was hosting a party on the night of Sutton's death, but as Sutton's nemesis, you can't help but feel just a bit suspicious of her. 


7. Somebody completely random. In PLL, Alison (Courtney's) real killer wasn't even introduced until the 8th book! And her killer was logical, but random at the same time because nobody even knew Courtney had a twin (the real Ali). Therefore, you never know.