Learn To Lie (BOOK TWO)

CHAPTER SEVEN- Snowy Challenges (TACO'S PERSPECTIVE)

I stared at Mic hopefully, whose face displayed an unsure look. "I don't know," she murmured. "For one, our door is completely broken, y'know we should probably fix that. Another thing is we'd freeze. We don't have jack squat for winter clothes."
I rolled my eyes. "You're so vanilla! Just tough it out, we can fix the door later, we have hoodies in your closet."
Finally, she sighed. "I guess so.. I just-"
"Yay!" I shrieked and hugged her. She smiled softly and hugged me back, gently kissing me on the head before sighing. "Well, go get ready. And bring me a hoodie too!" she called after me.
I dug through our closet, throwing pieces of clothing around until I found four pairs of leggings and four hoodies to layer up.
I carried the bundle of clothes in my arms, barely being able to see over them as I strolled down the hallway to the living room.
Mic took one look at my bundle and took half of it, laughing. "What's so funny?" I scoffed, suppressing my own laughter.
"You looked so small compared to the clothes. I couldn't help myself," she snorted, looking me up and down in a playful way. I rolled my eyes and nudged her towards the bathroom. "Go get dressed!" I laughed.
She went into the bathroom and left me to get dressed. I pulled the shirts over my head and stretched. Maybe staying in would be better..
No, no! We're going out.
I finished getting dressed and knocked on the bathroom door. "Hurry up!" I yelled, leaning against the door. My eyes began to droop as I felt sudden exhaustion wash over me. I yawned as my consciousness slowly slipped away, and finally, my vision was overcome by darkness.
When I opened my eyes, I was back at the prison. I stood, panicked, desperately trying to locate where Mic was. The prison was void of people, spare the one prisoner that WAS in his cell- Pickle.
I glared wordlessly at him. I knew he wasn't real, but I still felt a strong tug of resentment toward him. He smiled coldly back at me, the look in his eyes coaxing me to join him in the cell. Against my will, I walked to the cell, wrapped my hands around the bars, and I looked in.
Pickle was still there, smiling at me still- although this smile seemed murderous. I backed away numbly and shook my head.
"You're not real," I managed to say, glaring at him. Seemingly instantaneously, he disappeared and appeared behind me. He whispered in my ear, "You were always too weak to kill me."
I heard someone calling my name faintly, although I didn't know who was calling it. I looked around, trying to pinpoint my name as it got closer, the voice becoming more and more familiar.
He smiled, brought an axe down over my head...

And I woke up.

"Taco!" Mic yelled, jolting me awake. I blinked my eyes, adjusting them to the light. "God, what...?"
"I told you to get up like five minutes ago!" Mic scolded, leaning over me with a hand offered. I took it and she helped me up, sighing as she did so. "If you're tired, I'm all for staying in.."
"No, no! I'm not tired, just sleeping out of boredom," I said quickly, smiling weakly at her. She rolled her eyes and hugged me before wrapping a scarf around her neck and handing me one.
When we were finally ready, I glanced out of the window to see the blizzard had died down. Good!
We exited the apartment and got in the elevator. I hit the first-floor button and hummed to the elevator music. "I wonder who's gonna flake out first," I teased, looking knowingly at Mic. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, if you want to make it a competition I know exactly where to go to stay warm."
I glanced quickly at her, raising my eyebrow disbelievingly. "Where, the hotel?"
She smiled. "Better. Your arms."
Shock jolted me, making me nervous. "I- uh-"
I was a blushing mess. Mic howled with laughter and wrapped her arm around me.
We heard a small ding that signified we were on our floor, and I stepped out, making an immediate beeline toward the door.
Mic grabbed my hood and stopped me. "Hey OJ!" she called to the front desk, where OJ was. She dragged me to him and I grumbled as we walked.
OJ noticed us and smiled. "Oh, hey guys! If you're asking about the garden day today, it's kinda.. cancelled, as you could tell."
Mic nodded and I kept my eyes glued to the door as they talked. Eventually, they waved bye to each other, and I finally rushed out the door and immediately dived into the snow. The warm feeling of the hotel was instantly replaced with the harsh, bitter cold of the incoming winter, and I smiled. I called for Mic, who pulled me out of the snow, looking amused. "You're gonna lose that bet quick, huh?" she jabbed at me, smiling slightly. I scoffed and pulled my scarf over my mouth to hide my red face.
I dived back into the snow, losing Mic. She tried to run after me, but she didn't know where I was going- the lake.
I ran all the way to the dock, slowing down as I got near. I peeked over the dock and saw that the lake wasn't frozen as I had planned. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Mic looking for me, but for once being short was a perk because she couldn't see me.
I took a deep breath, and..
I jumped in the lake.

my thingiez being dumb so stupid ewee