A White Lie

CHAPTER ONE: Losing Battles

"Truth or dare?" I asked.

"Dare," Louisa answered without hesitation.

"I dare you to ask Mr. Julius if he's married, since you're interested in him."

"I'm not interested in him, plus it'll be so awkward," complained Louisa.

"You were totally checking him out and he's only a substitute teacher, it's not like he'll be permanently teaching us." Emily nodded in agreement.

"Fine." Louisa shyly raised her hand to get the teacher's attention. Mr. Julius got out from his seat and came over to our table.

"Yes?" Mr. Julius asked.

"Are you married?" Mr. Julius looked taken aback by the question, but he shook his head.

"No, I'm not."

"Are you sure? I thought you had three children!" I interjected, causing Emily and May to crack up and laugh.

"I thought you had two grandchildren too," added May.

"Do I look that old?" Mr. Julius asked, horrified. The four of us laughed while he shook his head at us and went back to his seat. Grinning, I high-fived May.

"When are you leaving for Melbourne?" Emily asked after the four of us stopped laughing.

"Tomorrow. I'll be there for the whole three months of summer."

"Why are you going for such a long time? I had so many activities planned out for us to do during summer," whined May. I rolled my eyes at her.

"I'll be back. It's not like I'm moving there forever, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Promise me we'll Skype at least once a week." Before I could promise them I would Skype them, the loud shrill of the bell rang, signifying the start of the summer holidays and causing all the students to pack up and immediately rush to the door. Once I packed up my own stuff, I joined the throng of students at the door with my friends beside me.

Without another word, we all went our separate ways to collect all our books from our lockers. Once I cleaned out my locker, I squeezed my way through the throng of chattering students and waved back at the occasional people who waved goodbye at me. I made it out of school, thankfully unscathed, and waited under the big oak tree like always.

"It's crazy in there," Louisa said, once she arrived, out of breath.

"When has it ever been normal?" questioned Emily as she came over to us.

"Never," I answered, waving at May who was running towards us.

"I'm here, I'm here!"

"Snail," Emily teased.

"It's not my fault people keep stopping me to talk to me," defended May.

"It's your fault for being so popular," muttered Louisa.

"Anyway, I'll see you guys after summer, alright?" I interjected, changing the subject before an argument starts.

"So this is goodbye?" asked May.

"Yeah."

"I wish you would let us go to the airport to send you off."

"It's too much trouble, May. It's fine, really."

"So this is goodbye?"

"Yeah."

"Take good care of yourself, okay?"