The Truth In My Lies

06

     MADISON

ANDREW throws the cup of ice cold water on Kaiden. As soon as the water washes over him, he jumps up.

"What the fuck?"

I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding in.

"What the hell, man? Why wouldn't you wake up? I thought you were dead or something!" Andrew exclaims.

"Well, clearly I'm not. Why are you two in my room?" He narrows his eyes at me. His attitude is completely different than it usually is. He's usually joking around and laughing, but now he just looks pissed off and there's something not right about his eyes. I can't quite put my finger on it.

Andrew looks at me. "There's a pizza on the counter. Go get some."

I take that as my cue to leave. Andrew did say he needed to talk to Kaiden, and I guess he doesn't want me around when he does. I'll just ask him what he had to talk to him about later. He tells me everything.

There's a pepperoni pizza sitting on the counter when I walk into the kitchen. I grab a slice and sit down at the small table. Conveniently, the table's right next to Kaiden's door and I can hear their muffled voices. I can't really make out anything their saying, but by their tones it sounds like they're arguing.

I can only make out a few words that Andrew says. "In the elevator...for you...looked pissed...why?"

Kaiden's voice is louder, clearer. "Not really any of your business."

"Yes, it is...Madison...seriously?" I hear my name.

"Don't worry about it."

"Just...truth."

Kaiden's door opens and I pretend that I haven't been listening to their conversation. Kaiden comes out first, followed by Andrew. Kaiden looks unbothered, but Andrew looks pissed. Apparently, something happened in the elevator.

Kaiden grabs a piece of pizza and joins me at the table. "Me and Maddie here played a game earlier. We're getting to know each other. Isn't that cool, Andrew?"

Andrew rolls his eyes. "Yeah, that's really cool." He mumbles and grabs a piece of pizza. I notice it's already six and it's dark outside. I get the feeling we're not playing Monopoly tonight.

When I look at Kaiden, I can tell there's something not right with him. He's barely eating his pizza and looks as if he's about to fall asleep.

"Kaiden, are you okay?" I ask when he almost nods off.

His brown eyes fly open. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Because you're about to pass out at the table, dude. What the fuck's wrong?" Andrew asks for me.

"I don't know what you two are talking about! Jesus fucking Christ!" He shoves the table and stands up. The corner jabs into my side and I wince, but luckily neither of them notices.

I flinch when he slams his door. When I look at Andrew, he's just staring at his pizza in some kind of daze. Almost like he's not sure what to make of the situation.

"What did you have to talk to him about?" I ask after a minute of silence passes.

"Nothing," He stands up from the table. "I'm going to take a shower." He throws his trash away and heads straight for his bedroom. Seconds later I hear the shower turn on. He took a shower before he left this morning, so I know he's just trying to avoid talking about what just happened.

I clean up the leftover pizza and tidy up the kitchen before I walk over to the couch and grab the blanket off the back of it. When I'm mad I don't like talking to anyone and I know Andrew well enough to know he's the same way. I turn the T.V. on to the news station and fortunately the weather is on. The snow is supposed to stop tonight and melt tomorrow. What a mess that will be. My eyes flutter closed, and I fall asleep listening to the local news.