They Lied (Liar Duology #1)

Chapter 4 / Olivia

DAY THREE

"Hey love," my mom said, just as I was going to eat breakfast.

I said nothing.

"Via?"

How dare you use my nickname when you've hidden something so terrible from me? Especially something that is causing me amnesia?

"Are you okay?"

How can I be okay? I just forgot five whole minutes of my life after calling you to the bathroom. When. I. Was. Taking. Bath.

"Sweetheart?"

Nope. Still not talking to you.

"Leave her alone, Brianna," another voice said.

Oh, no. This isn't going to be pretty. The psychologist is in the game.

"But, Nate-" my mom began.

"Bree, what happened yesterday night?" my dad probed, while I flipped my omelette.

What happened yesterday night was I forgot! I, Olivia Bree Mason, forgot something! And you both know why!

"Nate, she forgot. It's about Khy," she replied.

Who the hell is Khy?

"Do you think it's time to tell her?" dad asked gently.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

"She's not ready, Nate," my mom replied.

Why can't you just tell me?

"I think we should tell her," dad said.

Oh, dad, forget it. If mom doesn't want it, it's not happening.

"I'm going," I announced, putting my omelette into a tiffin box.

"Where?" mom asked, but dad whispered, "She needs her space. Let her go."

And so I left the two people who loved me the most (trust me, under normal circumstances, the feeling would be mutual) at home while I went to the house of a guy I had known for less than forty-eight hours.

***

What I witnessed at the Matthews' was not pretty. 

"I get that you're friends with her, but you can't tell her every detail of our family life!" a girl screeched. 

I had a few suspicions on who she was talking about.

"Acacia, love, calm down," said a woman.

"I will not calm down, Aunt Petunia! Atlas just told this Via-girl everything there is to know about my situation! I do not like it!"

And, my suspicions are confirmed.

"Darling, please, you must listen to me. If anything happens to you, Atlas needs somebody to count on. And, the way you're acting right now is definitely no way to support him. Don't you get that this is hurting him as much as it is hurting you?" a third female said, sternly.

But, Acacia would not leave it alone. "But, mom-" she whined.

"SHUT UP!" resounded Atlas's voice, "You guys sort whatever this is out. I'm going."

"I bet he's going to Via's house," Acacia seethed, "The coward! You're a coward, Atlas!"

Atlas's footsteps stopped, and he wheeled around, "You know what? I am going to Via's house. Maybe I need a voice of reason that is not my angry and jealous twin sister. So, forgive me for being a coward!"

"I am so not jealous! Atlas Liam Matthews, you come here right now!"

"Leave me alone, Cee!"

"Acacia Maria Matthews! You leave my nephew alone!"

I realized too late that Atlas was walking right into me, after he opened the door that my ear was pressed against.

"I'm- I'm so sorry, Atlas," I said, wiping my hands on my skirt, refusing to meet his gaze, "I just came and I didn't want to walk into that."

"Turns out we think pretty alike," Atlas tried, and failed, to joke, "You wanted to come escape to my house, and I was going to escape to yours."

"I really am sorry, Atlas," I said, finally trusting myself to meet his stormy gaze. I tucked my raven hair (which I had messily stuffed into a braid) behind my ear as I realized his features were not contorted with anger rather seemed hurt and disappointed.

"Let's just go to the park," he said dismissively.

And so that's exactly what we did.

As we leisurely strolled in between old couples and new mothers trying to console crying children, we exchanged no words.

Not. A. Word.

"'Livia?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse. He cleared his throat afterward.

"Yes?" I asked gently, encouraging him to continue.

"I'm so sorry," he replied, "I thought it would be good if we shared our problems and helped each other solve them but this is not working out. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," I said, stopping him and making him turn to face me, "I actually think it's a great way to distract ourselves from our problems. We are working out great! If this is about Acacia, I can speak to her, or ask your-"

"No, Olivia, no," he replied, his eyes bloodshot and threatening to overflow as his cheeks tinged slightly with pink, "Don't you get it? You're making this worse for me. This is the second argument Acacia and I have had in two days, and we would never argue before. Not to mention my sister has cancer. Brain cancer! Grade III tumors!"

"But, Atlas, this reaction is normal. These are the side effects of her shock and her inability to express her fears and disbelief. It is scientifically-"

"Don't you give me all that scientific jazz! Sometimes I just need you to listen, why don't you get that?" he said, his voice becoming louder. People started to stare at us but moved on when I contorted my face in annoyance. "Olivia! Why don't you get that the fear of loosing my sister is bleeding into every. Area. Of. My. Life? And, to top that off, she's not listening to anything! In fact, she's not letting me get a word in edgewise! And. It's. All. Your. Fault."

"My fault?" I sneered, before I could control myself, "You think all of this is my fault? Who wrote the first email to me, huh? And who decided to call some random girl to his house because he found out his sister was diagnosed with cancer? All of that just because you thought I could be your, 'voice of reason'," I said, making air quotes, "I never asked you to text me for the math homework which we didn't get. I never asked you to call me to your house. I never asked you to be the first person apart from my parents who gave a damn about me!"

I left him momentarily speechless.

But then, he recovered his senses.

"You aren't 'some random girl'," he replied, a little less scathingly than before, "You are the first person I actually thought would want to be my friend."

"Well, congratulations, Matthews, because you messed this up just like everything else in your life," I replied, putting my face right next to his.

I turned around with a flurry of my navy-blue skirt and went in the other direction of the park, all while Atlas Liam Matthews stared at me, his mouth hanging agape. 

Having the last word isn't as oh-so-satisfying as I thought it would be. Especially because I revealed a part of myself that even my parents hadn't seen.

The lonely and misunderstood thinking woman inside of me.

Oh, God. What had I just done?