Tell Me A Lie

Chapter 7

"I feel like we're drifting apart," Jai said, walking me to the bus stop.

"We talk everyday," I said, raising an eyebrow as I noticed how concerned he looked. "You're my only friend."

"You're bad at people. Losing me wouldn't be a surprise."

We had reached the nearly empty bus stop and I stopped in my place. Facing him with a frown on my face, I wondered why he was acting like this. A week ago I had literally told him that he was the only guy I didn't hate. Was that not enough?

Then, I suddenly remembered something. Something that made me feel smug.

"Is this about Jared?" I asked. "Do you feel like you have to compete with him for a spot of only guy I don't hate?"

Jai flushed a dark red and I smiled, amused. Earlier today Jared had came to my locker and talked to me about the art assignment. It was fun and after the start of my project, I was thrilled to share my ideas. That was until Jai came along and dragged me away. The only reason he was walking me to the bus stop was because he felt guilty after I snapped at him.

"No," Jai said unconvincingly. "It's just that we haven't done anything outside of school ever since we went rollerblading."

"And you want to do something?" I asked.

"Of course." He looked down and I noticed that his ears were bright red. "Rollerblading was a lot of fun."

I stared at him and found my heart melting at how shy he became. It was actually adorable and despite everything, I knew I had to agree. Rollerblading had been a lot of fun - before my parents ruined it - so I knew it would be worth my parents wrath.

"Okay," I said, smiling as he grinned at me. "But if you hear about the death of a seventeen year old girl, know it's because of you."

His grin grew. "Of course."

*****

Sometimes it was easy to forget that life sucked. It wasn't like things were great either, but sometimes you just felt nothing and that itself was the best feeling you could get when you were fucked up. Sadness hurt, but nothing felt like nothing.

Right now, I felt nothing. As Jai and I sat in front of a bonfire without saying a word, I forgot the cruel world I lived in and all I could think about was Jai. Jai and how the fire illuminated his handsome face in the darkness that surrounded us.

If I were to be honest, the best thing about Jai was that he made me forget. He made me forget about my horrible parents and the dark ideas I had. No one could ever do that before, which made Jai all the more precious to me. He understood me and he had made me less likely to go insane. Jai was my rock.

"Why are you staring at me, again?" Jai asked, suddenly looking at me from where he sat across the bonfire.

My cheeks heated up, but I was glad to hear that he wasn't smug about it. "I don't know... It's weird, you know. A few months ago I had no friends and now I have you who makes my life... Different."

"How different?" he asked.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "When I'm with you my... Dark thoughts almost go away. I just forget about everything and just focus on you."

Jai smiled at me warmly and I couldn't help but smile back. It was strange. Smiling had never come so easily to me and now it did. All because of one boy.

"I can say the same," Jai said, eyes softening. "Everyone wanted to get at me for all of the wrong reasons. I hated people for so many different reasons, but then I met you. You who's just like me. Honestly, I can't imagine a life without you."

My heart melted as I just stared at him. He stared back at me with those emerald green eyes of his, and I looked down shyly. This moment felt so intimate and I couldn't help but ruin it.

"Why do we always talk about such deep things together?" I asked. "I doubt most teenagers tell each other how much they mean to each other."

"They don't," Jai admitted. "But when you have so little you can't help but admit what you care about. Knowing everything good in life eventually leaves, you try to cherish what you currently have."

My eyes widened as he said what I had always thought. With everything good in life leaving, you had to cherish what you had now. If not, you would spend the rest of your life living in regret. I knew that and was happy Jai and I made a habit of telling each other we cared for one another.

"That's true." I smiled. "Thanks for talking to me that day in the forest."

"You're welcome." He smiled as well. "You're lucky I fight for things that intrigue me. I know you wanted to get the hell away from me that day."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, I did. You were a stranger to me and I hate guys. The situation was also timed horribly."

"You were running away from your parents, right?" Jai asked, eyes softening. "That's why you were in the forest?"

I nodded and tried to hide any sort of emotion at the mention of my parents. Jai knew I hated them and that they were assholes, but he didn't know what they did to me exactly. I preferred it to stay that way.

"That's ironic," Jai said.

"What is?"

"The fact that you were running away from hell and met heaven." He pointed to himself and I rolled my eyes. "I think I believe in fate now."

I scoffed, but then I began laughing. Jai joined in too and my heart lightened up despite the topic at hand. This was nice. Just talking to Jai was really, really nice. But, it also brought on some questions.

"Jai, could I come over to your house one day?" I asked.

Jai froze at that and I regretted asking him the question instantly. As he looked down, I had this urge to touch him. To comfort him even. This was the first time I had seen him look so vulnerable.

"Sorry Scarlett," he said, looking back up at me. "But no. I prefer if you never came anywhere near my home."

"Why?" I couldn't help but ask. "Are your parents... Like mine?"

"No... Thankfully not." His eyes softened. "I rather not talk about it."

"Okay," I said, knowing I should give him space. "But if you ever want to talk, know that I'm here."

"Of course." He suddenly smiled. "Thank you."

I smiled back and we started talking about lighter things. Even though it was late and I should be heading home, I just sat where I was talking to him. Just talking left me feeling lighter about everything in my life, so I didn't care about any of the consequences. When you were fucked up, the future never really mattered. Only any sort of happiness in the present did.