Chapter 39 Witness X
Witness X
Don’t Stand Out
Do not stand out from the crowd. If you want to get ahead, you need to fit in and be like everyone else. Never underestimate the power of the tribe.
He always told me that people don’t suspect those who blend into the background. That it’s vital you never draw attention to yourself when executing other rules. They must be carried out discreetly.
However, there is an exception.
The only time it’s acceptable to stand out from the crowd is if you do it for the right reasons.
Dad said people don’t like cocky or brash; a big ego will never be liked or trusted.
You must have “something” about you that people will gravitate toward.
Whether it’s charisma, a unique fashion sense, or enough confidence to say what you think in an eloquent way without offending anyone.
Whatever it is, people must admire it and want to possess that quality.
But you can only rely on this to stand out if you are both likable and relatable. She was very good at this, just like Dad was.
Blending into the background was never an option for her. She needed to shine.
And she used me to do it.
It happened so gradually, she thought I didn’t notice. But I notice everything. I’d catch her paying close attention to what I wore, what I said, how I talked, even down to the way I walked. It became her personality.
I became her personality.
She morphed into a different person; her real self fused with a copycat version of me. That’s when I suspected that she had a dark side even I had not yet seen. The thought scared me.
“You’re the only real friend I’ve ever had,” she said to me the evening of our graduation.
“Don’t be silly.” I laughed. “You’ve got millions of friends.”
“No,” she replied in a serious voice. She wanted me to understand. “You get me. No one else does.”
I don’t know if she was telling the truth, or if it was part of the deceit, but I’ve thought about those words a lot over the years. We shared our deepest, darkest secrets, and we promised never to tell anyone.
Likable and relatable; I’m neither of those things.
But Leila Reynolds is.
I’m real and she’s fake. Or is it the other way around? I don’t think I even know anymore.
I know what her colleagues would think if they knew the truth about her, and the mask is starting to slip.
It’s going to be a horror show when it falls off.