She’s the prom queen, ranked number one in the class, captain of the varsity soccer team, involved in every extracurricular activity imaginable, respected by her peers for having immense ethics, and now she’s the accused culprit and nonstop talk of Southeast Wisconsin?! Sometimes people think they know someone for who they are, and one day they discover they’re not the person they pretend to be. I can confidently say that 100% of her peers would concur that she’s their idol, but this mess has left people in utter confusion.
People say they know Ryley. But if they truly knew her like I do, then they’d know she’s a high-class bank robber. Covered by the front she gives out, there wasn’t any possible way she could be accused of such a crime. The first time she stole money I feared for her safety and thought the whole idea was sketchy and impractical. As Ryley’s best friend I gave her my advice and admonished her about the consequences that came along with her unusual hobby. Yet, she proved me wrong and the robberies continued to succeed. The press deemed the “sticky bandit” inexorable.
The next day I woke up to the 6am breaking news, to learn that my best friend—the rampant sticky bandit had been caught. I about peed my pants, could this really be happening? The one question the reporters asked was “Why did you do what you did?” Then I remembered the day Ryley told me her plans to rob the first bank because she was under duress from school, being labeled perfect, and on top of that her parents not having enough money to keep their house. I understand why she did what she did. Maybe it’s because I knew her clandestine from the beginning. People thought they knew my friend Ryley for the person she presented to be. So now the question is, do you really know your friends?