Don't Lie to Me

Chapter 5

~Mikhail~

She was standing completely still. The whole room was silent, waiting for a noise. I stood still, wondering what was going on, but not wanting to disturb her. Was this normal?

I couldn’t see her face but her shoulders were rigid. She was staring at an answering machine, one that had just stopped talking. I wasn’t listening to what it was saying, but I was starting to regret that I hadn’t.

After another few minutes of silence I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Elle? What’s the matter?”

She didn’t move for a minute. Then slowly she turned around. Her face displayed utter shock and confusion. I frowned, stepping towards her, not knowing what to do.

“My father...my father called my mother.”

I stopped in my tracks, a few feet away from her. I didn’t know what to say. Her father? Hadn’t she said he had left, and that he wasn’t coming back?

“Oh. What did he say?”

She looked around as if she was trying to make sense of it. I walked towards her slowly, trying to decide what I should do.

“He..he wanted to talk to my mother. I...I don’t know what to do.”

She was standing there awkwardly, her hands covering her face. I walked up to her and gently pushed her down so that she was sitting on the coach. I sat there quietly, letting her think.

We sat in silence for what seemed like minutes. She kept her head in her hands the whole time, hiding her expression from me. I knew she didn’t want to hear anything, so I stayed silent, gazing at her hands, hoping she’ll uncover her face so I can see her expression. I wanted to understand her better. Shouldn’t she be happy her father wants to see her mother?

All of a sudden Elle stood up quickly. I got up with her, startled by her sudden change.

“Are you ok? You want to talk about it?”

She turned towards the kitchen, walking quickly to her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

“No..no you are going to be late, you have to leave now. I’m going to school, I’ll see you tonight.”

And with that, she walked out the door, leaving me gaping at the place she was standing just seconds ago.

What was going on? She was obviously not ok. And I intended to figure out what was going on.

~

~Elle~

He didn’t understand, he couldn’t understand my confusion. I knew he was just trying to help, to figure out what was going on, but I didn’t even know. He was just a friend, not someone who needed to know my personal things. I couldn’t let him see how utterly confused I am.

I walked down the street, listening to the gentle murmuring both in my head and on the streets in the city. I tried to ignore the insistent voices begging for attention, and tried to focus on what I knew about my dad.