A Beautiful Lie

Chapter 1: Little games

September 1st 2006

The phone rang a few tones before Megan could answer. "Hey there, Meg speaking." She said enthusiastically to whoever was calling.

"Great. I'm Jared. I'm on town, you wanna hang out tonight?" He asked bluntly. They knew each other for almost 5 years, and it was a tradition to meet whenever they were on the same city. Or, more precisely, when Jared was in LA, considering his busy schedule.

"Ah Jared! It's been ages!" She smiled biting her lip with eagerness even though he couldn't see her. "I'm glad to hear your voice. I missed our little games."

"Yeah, I know. Me too. So?" Jared urged fidgeting with the hem of his old shirt on the other side of the line.

"So, yeah of course. Pick me up at 7!" The blonde girl finished the call and went back to the kitchen where a ginger girl was cooking. "Change of plans, I'll be out tonight. You'll be fine by yourself, right?" She said to her friend, Kathleen.

"Yeah, sure." She replied amiably chopping some vegetables. But deep down she didn't want to be alone that night. She was still having a rough time adjusting to the new reality, and the nights were the worse part of the day.

Kathleen needed a place to crash for a few weeks until she was able to find a new apartment. She found herself without one the day she decided to break up with her boyfriend. Matthew was her sentimental partner for more than 3 years, and he appear to be a great guy, until something radically changed. He and Kathleen had been living together for 9 months when one night he arrived completely intoxicated.

She didn't understand what happened to Matt that night, but it started to become an erratic pattern. She persistently tried to talk some sense into him, but he just transformed himself to a hostile creature. One day, they were arguing, and he violently smacked her slim figure against the wall before trying to choke her. In that instant, Kathy realized she desperately needed to escape from that relationship. The idea of sharing her life with him frightened her because she didn't recognize the person she had fallen in love with years ago.

Those circumstances were the ones that forced the redhead to ask a favor to Megan, her closest friend since high school. She knew Meg would help her no matter what. It was the last week of August when the blonde helped Kat to move out and hosted her in her cozy domicile.

The reason Kathleen doesn't want to be alone when darkness arrives it's because the terrible nightmares she still has. But she didn't want to be a bummer for her friend, Meg deserved to have her fun because she had done enough for Kat; at least those were Kathy's thoughts.

Megan Collins and Kathleen Turner are the same age, 26 years old. Their friendship began more than a decade ago: it was a science project that brought them together on their freshman year of high school. From the first moment, Meg was the extroverted of the two, and in certain aspects, they were like yin and yang; they complemented each other. When Kat needed a little push to do something, there was Megan to encourage her; or when Meg had dreamlike plans, Kathleen would put her feet on the floor.

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Megan was staring at her herself on the bathroom's mirror when she heard her friend's voice. "I'm going to take a walk. Have fun!" She tucked a blond lock behind her ear before replying.

"I will!" She screamed back. "Don't stay up, by the way." Kathleen chuckled shaking her head while she caught the keys.

"Okay, bye!" After those words, Meg was alone. It was almost seven, and Jared should be there any moment.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang and the attractive blonde smoothed the fabric of her red dress while she went towards the door. When she opened the door Meg saw Jared dressed all in black, from head to toe.