Heart Scraps

ii | lies we tell

Lies. A minor thing we say on a daily basis. Whether we're saying something sarcastically or exaggerating a point. You're lying. And the hardest part isn't saying the lie, no, the hardest part is dealing with the guilt. The guilt that you committed the offence willingly.

***

Rita Remmings was sitting beside her best friend Jordan Louis, the 16 year old stunner of Macville High, on the rusty, silver benches located outside the high school building. The wind tousled her hair as it flew past her in search for the next, unprepared victim. She looked up at him from under her eyelashes to glance at the Italian beauty.

'You coming over tonight?'

Her heart fluttered at the thought, until she realised what he actually meant. Tonight was their night. The night were they were able to eat like pigs and not be judged, watch hundreds of movies and not be told to study.

Because tonight was their night.

'Can't tonight. Mum's having guests over.'

She didn't dare look up at him, afraid the truth would come pouring out if she so much as stole a peek at the hurt look on his face. As the silence between them grew awkward, she couldn't help but wonder why she lied. She could feel her innards wrestling against each other, begging her to tell him the truth. They continued to eat their lunch in silence, the only noise being the hum of the wind as it rushed past something. She almost succumbed into the need to tell him the truth that her parents didn't have guests coming over, and if it wasn't for the shrill bell breaking the silence between them, she probably would have.

Her last period was break, she didn't have to attend class or suffer through an hour lecture, she could just go home and relax in her own bed. But Jordan had a free period too and the plan was that they would both come to her house and start watching movies. As she left the school grounds, she couldn't help but feel empty, and the only thought that was running through her mind was how she wouldn't be able to admire his laugh when he found something funny or how she wouldn't be able to smell his intoxicating scent when she cuddled to him. But what she wouldn't be able to handle is if he never spoke to her again because of the stupid lie she told him.

About twenty minutes into her walk home, she seated herself down on one of the benches outside of a two-story, brick house. The pain in her chest was becoming unbearable. Tears slid down her cheeks, staining them with her guilt, they followed the track until they reached the end of her face and landed on her jeans.

'It's all your fault, you shouldn't have lied. Why did you lie to begin with?' She chided herself. She wiped the tears that were streaming down her face and just stared at the house across the road from her, taking in every little detail. The rose bed that surrounded the table setting in the front. The blue curtains that were drawn over the windows, hiding the inside from prying eyes. She marveled at how something so ordinary could be breathtaking. She stood up and continued the walk to her house. Rita pushed open the front door and froze, because there he sat, in all his glory.

'Why did you lie to me Rita?'

The words caught in her throat as he rose to his feet and made his way towards the staircase. He was going to her room.

His reaction was scaring her. His face was blank as he walked pasted her. His eyes bloodshot, as if he had been crying.

He made his way to his room, and seated himself on the bed, his arms crossed.

'You lied,' he began, 'you lied for no good reason. Why would you do that? You're my best friend Rye. Do you know what it was like for me to find out that my best friend of eight years has lied to me?' He looked like he was ready to break down any second. 'But I'm guessing you really don't care about me anymore. This friendship is over. You clearly don't want to spend any more time with me, and I don't want to spend any time with you.'

By the time she had mustered up the courage to open her mouth, he had slammed her bedroom door shut.

He was gone.

***

'I don't know what to do with you, Rita.' Delilah spoke. She was cuddled beside Cato, her boyfriend of three years. 'You shouldn't have lied. It was wrong. Why didn't you ring up and tell him that?'

She had had it with people telling her off. It was becoming a daily routine. Eat, be told off, go to school, be told off, have lunch, be told off, go home, be told off. It had only been two weeks since she had last spoken to Jordan, and within those two weeks she had managed to die a thousand times.

She just rose from her seat across from Delilah and left. She was going to apologise to him.

***

They say twenty seconds was all it took. Twenty seconds of confidence, craziness and courage. In those twenty seconds you could do something so crazy that after you have completed the deed in mind, you feel complete.

In those twenty seconds, she was going to ask for her friend back.

She was walking down the school corridor when she first laid eyes on him. She was jittery, her body a bundle of nerves. She raised her head in confidence and started down the hallway.

'Jordan?'

He turned around at the sound of his name. He took one look at her tear stained face, bloodshot eyes and pale skin and opened his arms.

All that had to be said could wait, they could discuss about her foolishness later, but she couldn't receive the same relief twice, couldn't receive the same hug twice. Because now she had her best friend back.

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Unedited