The Lies He Spoke

FOURTEEN

OLIVIA

Olivia sat at the end of the nearly empty lunch table, the side of her head resting against her hand, eyes closing. She had hardly gotten any sleep last night after she lied to Logan that she was just worried about Elijah, and nothing else. She could see she hadn't fooled him, but he didn't make her say anything else.

After she got to the bottom of this rumor, after she found out whether it was a truth or a lie, she promised herself that then she would tell him everything.

"Mind if we sit?"

Olivia opened her eyes and looked blearily at Kendra and Hillary, the two girls she had met on her first day at school, staring down at her. She shrugged. "Sure."

As soon as she was sitting, Kendra leaned across the table so far that Olivia could practically taste her strong, cloying perfume, thick against her tongue. "So," she began, her eyes huge, her voice low. Olivia fought the urge to roll her eyes at the drama of it all.

The sooner she talked to them, the sooner they would leave, and the sooner she could sit in peace again. She heaved a sigh and asked, "What is it?"

"Is it true? You had a fight with your boyfriend yesterday?" Kendra asked.

Olivia's jaw fell slack, all thoughts of sleep banished.

"Did you kiss and makeup?" Hillary added.

Olivia's hands clenched into fists underneath the table.

"Did you-"

"Oh my god, shut up," Olivia growled. Her blood boiled. "Stop being disgusting-"

Kendra waved her hands wildly in front of her face. "No, no, no, we totally don't judge that he's older, I mean, aren't they, like, more experienced and-"

"He's my brother, alright!" Olivia burst out.

They both gasped, and for a moment, Olivia naively thought they would finally be silent and leave her alone.

Then Hillary ruined it. "You're dating your brother?"

Olivia threw up her hands at their stupidity. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Just as she was about to get up and walk away so she wouldn't punch them in the nose, she was stopped by the person beside her. "Hi, Olivia," Angel said, sliding into the seat next to her. "Hey Hillary, Kendra."

"Hi, Angel," they said in unison, their grins stretching across their faces. Olivia resisted the urge to bang her head against the table.

"You mind if I steal Olivia?"

To her surprise, both Hillary and Kendra nodded. As Olivia gratefully got out of her seat and escaped with Angel, she heard one of them murmur, "I wish he would steal me away."

She nearly gagged.

Angel dragged her all the way to the school library. When he finally stopped, she asked, "What is it?"

His face morphed into one of panic. "Do you have a partner for the history project? Please say yes. I'm not going to do it with Christina, please."

Olivia narrowed her eyes. "I'm working by myself."

"You're allowed to work by yourself?"

"Mr. Anderson said I could."

"No, no, no!" He shoved his hands into his thick, dark hair, his dark eyes panicked. "He didn't say I could. Come on, Olivia, she's going to eat me alive."

"Christina's not going to eat you. She's got the hugest crush on you."

"That's the problem," he protested. "Please be my partner."