for, liar

Chapter 86

The universe falls perfectly into place when Christmas falls on a Monday. Monday's are hard enough to make it through any other average day. Knowing that we get one extra day of the weekend because of the holiday makes Christmas even more exciting.

The party is tonight at one of our college buddies' house. I'm sure it's going to be the same people we've seen at all the other parties so I have to expect to see Ben tonight. Thankfully I've moved past the incident from Thanksgiving and am actually looking forward to festive partying. 

"Are you making Miles our designated driver? If not, I could always call my Uber fr-."

"No!" I interject. No need to see that guy again. "Miles said he's fine with being the driver. He didn't want to drink much tonight anyway."

She presses her lips together and walks over to the coffee pot to pour her third cup.

"Alright, well if things change I've got his number."

"We'll be fine."

She smirks and walks off to her bedroom. We still have a few hours before we should start getting ready so I take my time in the shower and watch a few episodes of Family Feud to pass the time. Miles had to work early this morning but said he would be over as soon as he got off.

I get up to grab some juice from the kitchen when I hear buzzing on the countertops. I look around for a second and notice Maddy's phone next to the coffee pot. She must have left it when she came out earlier to eat lunch. I pick it up and see Ben's name flash across the screen. I'm not the kind of friend to be nosy but my subconscious works too fast and I read the text message before I even mean to.

"You're coming tonight right? I really want to see you"

No way this is the same Ben. This can't be.

Maddy's bedroom door opens and I put the phone down quickly and shift over to the fridge. She walks in there and looks at me, grabbing her belongings where I left it.  

"You okay? Why do you look scared?" She asks.

I laugh and shake my head trying not to act suspicious. I already know I'm the worst liar.

"You startled me. I didn't hear your door open."

It would be great if I could just be honest for  two fucking seconds to avoid this awkward situation of assuming the worst possible thing and not even asking about it to resolve it. I would be much better off that way, I just don't have it in me to be confrontational. If anything, I trust Maddy. She wouldn't be going around with my ex boyfriend without consulting me first. Besides, the text was vague and I basically know nothing about the situation yet.

"You're fixing your hair right? You're not leaving it like that are you?"

I roll my eyes and push the refrigerator door shut. She checks her phone notifications and immediately shoves it in her back pocket. Now I'm even more on edge. If it wasn't a big deal she wouldn't have done a hasty hideaway.

"Of course I'm fixing my hair. I was waiting for it to dry."

"Let me do it for you! I have my curling iron plugged in. Let's bump 'em up." She says and reaches over to push at my ringlets.

I swat her hand away and step out of the kitchen. "Fine. Miles should be here in an hour though so we need to hurry."

She gives me a thumbs up and drags me into her room where she has her entire vanity covered in makeup and hair products. She pushes me down on her stool and lowers it so that my head is at her stomach.

I can hear Taylor Swift playing from her bluetooth speaker and chuckle to myself when she starts singing along. Her infatuation with Taylor Swift is horrifying at times but I can't blame her because I also fall victim to corny love songs.

She focuses hard on getting every single group of hair she sectioned off into the perfect curl. I close my eyes and zone out listening to her playlist. My mind goes blank and I don't even sing the lyrics in my head even though I know every single one. It's relaxing to not be in the present for a few minutes until I realize it was actually way longer than that and I open my eyes to Maddy calling out my name to tell me she was finished.

She laughs at me when she sees how startled I am. "Is it that bad?" She asks.

"No, no. It's great I just totally zoned out for like an hour." I admit.

"I thought you fell asleep."

I smile and stand up. It looks way better than anything I could've done myself. Even better than paying someone to do it. What can this girl not do?

Maddy takes a seat to touch up her makeup. "I think I just heard your boy toy get out of his car."

I didn't even notice she did mine. How the hell did I zone out that hard?

She was right. The doorbell rings and I rush out to let Miles inside. He looks at me with a full smile and steps inside. He's already wearing his sweater and he looks ridiculously adorable.

"I thought you weren't getting dolled up." He says and leans down to peck my lips.

"I'm not. Maddy just did my hair and makeup. We're still wearing our matching sweaters."

"Dammit." He mumbles and laughs when I playfully hit his arm.

"Shut up. I'll be right back, I'm going to get changed."

I walk down to my room and grab my sweater from the back of the door where I left it hanging. The more I look at it, the more I feel like I should've bought the cute cartoon ones like the Grinch or Star Wars instead of looking like a rejected elf. The pattern gets more hideous the longer I stare at it. The colors honestly don't even go together that well and I'm starting to rethink this entire thing.

There's no reason to do all that. We're supposed to be at the party in two hours and the whole point was to find an ugly sweater.

I yank off the t-shirt I had gotten into when I got out of the shower and switch to the sweater. Maddy and Miles are talking when I walk back to the living room.

"Everyone is super nice and they throw some crazy parties." Maddy brags.

"As if you remember any of them. You always get trashed." I tease her.

She scowls at me and grabs her phone from the couch. I wonder if Ben has sent any more ambiguous text messages. I would seem crazy if I asked about them.

"Let's get going ladies. Traffic is going to be hell." Miles says, stepping out the door to get the car cranked.

I grab Maddy's wrists and swing them back and forth. "Promise to be on your best behavior?" I ask.

She pulls her arms away and nods. "Yes, mom."

Revised;