Lie to Me (A Touched Trilogy) (12 page)

Nathan appeared in the door and my already hot face seemed
to burst with fire. No way was I going to admit I’d been fighting over a boy.
How many times had I laughed at other girls who did that? Technically, I’d only
been defending myself, but still, if Nathan hadn’t dumped Vivian like he had,
there’s no way she’d have come after me. Looking at him now, I wondered what he
thought. I could see concern as he took in my eye, which was swelling shut, but
there was also humor. He wasn’t going to let this go.

“It was nothing,” I said when Vivian remained silent. “Just
a misunderstanding.”

“Well, both of you are going to the office.”

Vivian seemed to finally realize the trouble we were about
to get into, because she stood up and rushed over to us.

“Mr. Arnold, please, it was just a mistake. It won’t happen
again. Please!” she said, and this time when I saw the tears in her eyes, I
could actually believe they were real.

“I’ll let it slide for now-”

“Thank you, thank you!” Her voice grated on my nerves.

“But after school, I expect both of you here for detention.”

I barely contained the snort of laughter as horror swept
across Vivian’s face. Unlike me, I doubted she’d ever had even the threat of
detention before.

“But-”

“Your other option, Ms. Winters, is to take this to Mrs.
Peters and your parents.”

“We’ll be here,” I said before Vivian could say anything
stupid.

“Good, now inside. Both of you are late.” Mr. Arnold turned
around and looked at Nathan standing alone in the doorway. “Mr. Lauer, I trust
you’re not encouraging these ladies?”

“No, sir.” He turned tail and practically ran back to his desk.
Definitely not one to stand up for his girl. Then again, was I even his girl?

  Walking to my desk, I was surprised not to see Tonya. We’d
compared our second semester schedules the day before, so I knew she was
supposed to be there. I sank into an empty seat, ignoring a smirk from Chloe
when our eyes met. As if Vivian’s presence wasn’t enough to make me hate the
class already. I gave Chloe my best evil eye and winced at the pain in my right
one. She could have at least warned me that I was going to get socked in the
eye.

I probed gently at the tender flesh, sucking in a breath at
the pain.

“Phoebe, do you need to go to the nurse?” Mr. Arnold asked.

“No, I’m fine.” The nurse meant going through the office and
having to explain just how I ended up with a black eye. I preferred to suffer
until I found Lily.

When the bell rang, I slid out of my desk and headed for
Lily’s locker. I was almost there before realizing someone was following me.
Twisting my head around, I found Nathan right behind me. I turned back,
ignoring him.

“Are you really okay?” he finally asked when I stopped at
Lily’s locker. I rested my back against the cool metal and he leaned his
shoulder on the one beside me.

“I will be.”

“Then what’s wrong? You seem pissed about something.”

“Gee, I wonder.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, your ex-girlfriend attempted to beat the crap out of
me and you didn’t even try to defend me.”

“Seriously?” His shock seemed genuine, but could he really
be that dense?

“Yes, seriously. I thought we...you...” I didn’t know what I
thought we were, but still he should have done something.

“I’m sorry. I guess I should have hit her or something?”

“No.” I sighed.

“Maybe I should have told Mr. Arnold you and Vivian needed
to go to the office and be suspended or even expelled.”

“No.” This time I cracked a smile.

“Oh, then I should have started yelling that you’re my new
girlfriend and Vivian is a jealous bitch.”

I wanted to say yes, but I was in shock. “Am I your new
girlfriend?”

“Yeah, sure. I mean you’re a girl and you’re a friend,
right?” His lips twitched and I slugged his arm. “I’m kidding!”

He leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, lighter than last
time, but the shivers that ran through me were the same. I could so get used to
being his girlfriend.

“Is there a reason you guys are making out in front of my
locker?”

We pulled apart at Lily’s words. I ran my fingers along my
lips, as if I could hide the fact that my sister had caught us kissing.

“Wow, that’s a nice shiner,” Lily said.

“Yeah, I was hoping you might be able to fix that.”

Lily stepped closer and laid her fingers lightly on my eye.
I watched her as the pain faded. She grew quiet and still. Her face paled
slightly and I wondered what she felt as she healed me, but it was a subject
she always managed to avoid talking about. After a moment, she dropped her
hand. “Better?”

“Much.” I poked at it gently to check for tenderness. She
swatted my hand down.

“Don’t touch. It’s still a bit pink, but if you leave it
alone, it’ll probably be fine in about an hour. It’s a good thing Chloe warned
me this morning, otherwise I wouldn’t have come back to my locker.”

“She told you Vivian was going to punch me?”

“No, just that you’d need me. Why did Vivian punch you?
Never mind, I think I can figure that one out.” She looked pointedly at Nathan.

“I’m hoping to avoid a repeat,” I said.

Nathan chuckled. “Apparently you don’t know Vivian very
well.”

I managed to put the thought of detention right out of my
mind until the last bell rang. It helped that Nathan was in a couple of my
classes and had eaten lunch with me. Wondering about Tonya took up a good chunk
of time as well. After a series of painfully typed texts done under my desk in
class had gone unanswered, I decided to call before heading to detention.

“Hello?” Tonya answered.

“Hey, where are you? You should have told me you were
skipping. I so could’ve ditched today. Vivian went ape-shit on me this morning
and Nathan totally flaked out.”

“I’m not skipping.”

Liar
. Crap, I was getting really sick of these
cramps.

“What’s wrong then?” I asked.

“I’m sick.”

Liar
.

Forget about it. It didn’t matter.

“Oh. Well, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sure.” She disconnected before I could even say bye.

She was lying again and I had no clue why. A hollow pit in
my stomach formed. Maybe it had to do with her mom. The last time Shondra James
was released from jail, Tonya had missed almost two weeks of school before her
gran got her back when Shondra took off with her latest boyfriend. Of course,
Tonya could be sick. I could be hearing things. If she truly was sick then her
grand would know. I started scrolling through my phone’s contact list for Mrs.
Robinson’s home number.

“Miss. Matlin, don’t you have somewhere to be?” My shoulders
sagged as Mr. Arnold appeared at my side.

“I’m coming right now.” I shoved the phone into my pocket
and closed my locker.

I barely remembered the last time I’d had detention. A year
ago? Definitely not the daily occurrence like in elementary and middle school.
Dad liked to think it was because I grew up. I thought it had more to do with
the teachers in high school realizing they couldn’t really make you stay after
school.

Mr. Arnold walked down the hall and I followed. As much as I
wanted to skip out, I couldn’t risk him taking it to the principal if I didn’t
show. Then again, if Vivian didn’t come I was definitely going to bail, because
there was no point in wasting an afternoon if my Dad was just going to kill me
for getting expelled.

 Walking into the room, I found Vivian already at her desk,
a sheet of loose-leaf paper in front of her. On another desk was an identical
paper with a pencil sitting next to it.

“Have a seat, Phoebe. The two of you are going to write an
essay about what happened, why it happened, and what you’ll do to avoid a
similar situation in the future.”

I sank into my seat and started.

Nathan dumped Vivian and she’s pissed at me for it. She
called me a bitch then pushed me into the door. I pushed her back and she fell.
From now on, I’m going to stay the hell away from her.

I wondered if he was going to give me shit for cussing in
it, but really, I was just being factual. Satisfied with my paper, I placed my
pencil on the desk and glanced over at Vivian. She was working on the backside
of what looked like her second page. She was probably going to make me out to
be the bad guy. I picked up my pencil and began writing again.

Thirty minutes later, Mr. Arnold collected our papers. I’d
managed another paragraph at least. Not really my greatest work, but it at
least looked like I made an effort, although compared to the novel Vivian
handed in, it wasn’t much.

Mr. Arnold sat on top of a desk at the front of the class,
looking back and forth between us.

“I’ve given the two of you girls an opportunity here,
because I believe that both of you know better than to do something like this
again. But... if I ever see one of you even speak harshly to the other, you’ll
both be in Mrs. Peter’s office so fast you’ll leave skid marks of fear behind
you.”

I dutifully nodded and kept my eyes averted. The best
practice was to show shame and fear. Vivian, stupid as she was, smiled at him,
then waltzed out the door ahead of me. Starting toward the exit, I looked over
my shoulder. Mr. Arnold turned back into his classroom and tossed the papers in
the trash. At least I hadn’t slaved over the thing.

I pushed through the outside door, welcoming the cool
breeze. Some school district idiot figured since it was winter, the heating
should be on inside, despite the mild southern Cali climate.

“Hey,” Nathan said from where he lounged on the steps.

“Hey yourself.” I bounced down the steps. “Who’re you
waiting for? Me or Vivian?”

“Ha-ha.” He followed behind me and slung an arm over my
shoulder when he caught up. “I don’t double back.”

“Good to know.”

“So, I was thinking, maybe we should go out on a date or something.”
He shrugged, and the shy Nathan I typically saw around other people peeked out
for just a moment.

“Ya think?”

He gave a crooked grin, shyness completely gone. “Yeah. What
about a movie? There’s some kind of girly movie coming out this weekend.”

“I’d rather see the new Wes Craven movie.”

“Horror? God, why did I wait so long?” He pressed a kiss to
my cheek.

When we arrived at my car, he reached around and hugged me
close. Our lips met and my entire body tingled. The gentle sweep of his hands
along my back made me press closer. Only the sound of an approaching car pulled
us apart. Engine revving, Vivian’s sporty red convertible sped past us.

Laughing, I dropped my head to his chest, feeling his
matching chuckles against my forehead.

“I need to go,” I said.

“Hot date?”

“Yeah, with my trig text.”

“Well, I was thinking of chasing, but I suck at math. I’ll
see you tomorrow.”

I gave him a quick kiss and got in my car. Through the
window, I watched him walk to his own vehicle and wondered if I was dreaming. Then
I almost slapped myself. There was no way I could be turning into one of those
silly girls, fawning over some guy. As hot as Nathan was, no way was I going to
let myself become obsessed again.

If Tonya were there, she’d be laughing her ass off at me. Tonya.
The lies she told me over the phone popped back into my mind. She could really
be sick. It was possible. I pulled out my cell and opened up the contact list,
searching for Mrs. Robinson. When I located her, I pressed send and listened as
it connected and started ringing.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs. Robinson, it’s Phoebe. I was wondering if Tonya
was feeling any better?”

“Better? She’s fine, or at least she was when she left for
school this morning. Did she leave sick?”

“No, well, just at the end of the day she mentioned not
feeling well.” Yes, I lied. What else could I do? “I guess she hasn’t made it
home yet. I’ll try her cell.”

I said bye and hung up. Guilt and indignation warred inside
me. I’d lied to Tonya’s grandma and doubted Tonya. But damn it, she’d lied to
me again.

So, if she hadn’t been at school and she wasn’t at home
sick, then where was she? And more important, why had she lied to me?

The next day at school, I slid up to Tonya as she grabbed
her things for class from her locker.

“Where were you yesterday?” I asked.

“What do you mean? I was sick.”

“Tonya? Please, give me some credit. I’m not an idiot.”

“What makes you think I was lying?” She paused and looked at
me.

I hadn’t mentioned the whole hearing voices thing to her
yet, but it seemed like the perfect time, especially considering the fact that
I’d already told Nathan. If she found out I’d told him first, she’d probably
kill me.

“Well, you know how I told you about not having a gift, like
Lily and Chloe?”

“Yeah, you were supposed to tell the truth or something.”
This would have been so much easier if she’d at least pretended to be
interested.

“A truth teller.”

“Whatever. So what, you can’t lie anymore?”

“No.” I rolled my eyes. “I can tell when someone’s lying to
me.”

“How?” She looked sideways at me.

“I get cramps-”

“Come on Phoebs, isn’t that a little Buffy?” She slammed her
locker shut and we started walking to class.

“Ha. Seriously. And then there’s like a voice in my head
that calls the person a liar.”

“How can you be sure they really are lying?”

I tried to gauge her reaction, but her eyes were averted.
She seemed to find everything and everyone around us fascinating.

“The first time it happened was right before Christmas break
when I called you a liar. You even admitted that you’d lied. Remember? You told
me you were going to see your mom, but really, you were meeting up with Trevor.
It happened again after the accident and then yesterday when you told me you
were sick.”