Tell Me Pretty Lies

by Charleigh Rose

  Grey takes a deep breath, then exhales through his nose. “Yes.”

  My mouth drops open, my head whipping in his direction. “What?” I ask in a stunned whisper. I trusted him. Defended him. How could he keep something like this from me?

  Grey looks at me, his eyes contrite, before focusing his attention back on Thayer and Holden. “I was supposed to meet up with him at the falls, but I found him on the shore. So yeah, I called the fucking cops. To save him.” He works his jaw. “But I was too late.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t you just say that to begin with?” I ask, confused. I want to believe him more than anyone in this room, but something isn’t adding up.

  “I waited for the ambulance. I even tried to give him CPR for fuck’s sake. But Samuel got there before they did.”

  “My uncle?” Holden asks, disbelief evident in his tone.

  Grey nods. “He told me I needed to leave before anyone else showed up. Said there was no way anyone would believe that I just happened to stumble upon Danny’s body, and they’d take me to jail. I told him I’d already called the cops and he told me he’d take care of it. But then the police showed up before he could talk me into leaving, and they were asking all of these questions like I was some fucking murderer, and I realized he was right. They thought I did it, and there was no way to prove otherwise.”

  “But my dad had the recording,” Thayer says. “He knew that you were the one who called it in. He had the police report. Why would he go out of his way to protect you?”

  “Because he’s my son.”

  I jump at the sound of August’s voice. It takes a second for his words to sink in, but when they do, my world tilts on its axis. My ears ring and I’m suddenly dizzy. No. No. I look over at Thayer who looks about as horrified as I feel. It’s not true. It can’t be true. But when I see Grey’s face harden with contempt, I know it is. Slowly, everything starts to click into place. My stomach rolls, and I legitimately think I’m going to throw up.

  “Breathe, Shayne. I’m not your father,” August says knowingly, putting me out of my misery. “But I am his.”

  “You knew,” I say to Grey. That’s why he’s been acting so strange. Well, that and the fact that he was the one to discover Danny’s body. That would fuck anyone up.

  “Danny found out somehow and told me about it a few days prior. I didn’t believe him. I wanted to confront Mom and August, but Danny wanted me to wait until we had all the facts.”

  “You’re my half-brother,” I say to Grey as it dawns on me. Why would our mom keep something like this from us?

  I look over at Thayer and Holden to see how they’re handling the news, but they both stand there, stoic, not giving anything away.

  “So, we’re back to square one,” Thayer says as if he didn’t just find out that his dad fathered another child, clasping his hands behind his head. “We still don’t know who killed Danny.”

  “We don’t know that someone killed him,” August says, sounding surprised.

  “I need to get out of here,” I mumble, my brain on information overload. I need air. I don’t give anyone a chance to respond before I’m heading down the stairs and out into the fresh air. I inhale deeply, pulling as much air into my lungs as I can, and then the dam breaks. I’m crying, again, and I can’t stop it.

  “Shayne,” Thayer’s voice calls out behind me. I turn around, meeting his eyes. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

  “Then imagine what would happen if you actually tried.”

  Shayne

  Thanks to Taylor’s creative expression on my locker, I had to go see Miss Thomas and the principal the next day. I honestly couldn’t even tell you what was said. I sat there, nodding at the right times, giving yes or no answers. My locker had been cleaned over the weekend, but I didn’t care. The damage was already done. The days pass by in a blur. I walk through life on autopilot, feeling that same detached feeling I felt last time I had my heart trampled on. I can’t concentrate in class and I’m off my game when it comes to volleyball. I wasn’t exactly Miss Personality when our team visited colleges either, so I’m sure I made a fantastic impression on the coaches. That coupled with the fact that I didn’t play my junior year—which is arguably the most important year when it comes to scouting—doesn’t bode well for me.

  After my mom got home from her trip, Grey finally confronted her. All this time, he knew August was his biological father, and he never once let my mom in on that fact. The longer she kept it from him, the more his resentment grew. She finally broke down, confessing all the details she’d kept to herself for so many years. Apparently, she and August were having an affair even though he was already married to Thayer’s mom. My mom is a few years younger than August, so a teen pregnancy and adultery weren’t a good look. Especially back then. Her parents told her she had two options: get an abortion or get out.

  She chose to get out.

  But here’s the real kicker. August never knew. My grandmother called William, August’s father, to fill him in on the scandal. Instead of confronting August with the information, he opted for bribing my mom with a nice stack of cash if she left town. William told her that it was what August wanted, and since she was pregnant and on the verge of homelessness, she accepted his offer. Then came my dad, whose identity is still a mystery to me. Honestly, I haven’t had the desire or the energy to ask her about it. I have enough drama in my life as it is, and you can’t really miss someone you don’t know.

  My mom was never close with her parents after that, but eventually, they were able to be civil for our sake. That is, until my mom ran into August the first time we ever came to visit Sawyer Point. He took one look at Grey and knew he was his. Cue another fight between both my mom and grandmother and August and William once they put the pieces together. From what my mom says, August wanted an opportunity to get to know Grey. My mom wasn’t ready to tell him, and August wasn’t quite ready to claim him. So, they got engaged, and he supported us financially, sent Grey to a good college, and the rest was history.

  Her phone call with August makes sense now. He wasn’t tattling on me for underage drinking. He was warning her because he was afraid that I was hooking up with one of his sons without knowing that Grey was also his son.

  There are still so many unanswered questions. What happened to Danny? Who was targeting me and why? The ‘pranks’, if you can call them that, have stopped, but it still weighs heavy on my mind. Is my dad going to pop up out of the woodwork next?

  But the biggest thing that plagues my thoughts?

  Thayer. Always Thayer. If it wasn’t clear that the universe didn’t want us together before, it sure as hell is now. We’ve gone through more loss and deception and trauma than most people do in their entire lives, and I haven’t even graduated high school.

  I’m stabbing a fork at my uneaten salad, lost in thought, when Valen kicks my ankle under the table.

  “Ow.” I frown at her, and she jerks her chin, motioning toward the cafeteria doors. I look over to see Thayer stalking toward our table with a scowl on his face. A hush falls over the cafeteria as he makes his way toward us, his eyes burning through me like a laser beam.

  “Oh, shit,” Holden says.

  He comes to a stop in front of me, and my heart pounds, not knowing what to expect.

  “Can we talk?”

  I shake my head, steeling my voice. “Not here.”

  “You won’t answer my calls. You don’t answer your door. You’re not leaving me much of a choice.”

  I glance around, not wanting to make a scene. Everyone’s watching us with rapt attention, and Thayer doesn’t seem to care. If they didn’t believe the rumors before, they do now.

  “I don’t give a fuck about any of these people,” he says, reading my thoughts. “I have no problem airing my shit out right here in front of everyone.”

  That spurs me into action. Standing from the table, I tug on his wrist, pulling him through the lunchroom and into the lobby that
connects the gym to the cafeteria. I cross my arms, waiting for him to say something. Thayer reaches a hand out to touch me, but I take a step back, putting some much-needed distance between us. His eyebrows draw together, hurt by the move.

  “I can’t do this.” It hurts. It physically hurts to be this close to him.

  “Stay with me. Fuck our families. Fuck everyone else. Stay with me. Be with me.”

  I shake my head as tears prick the backs of my eyes. “How can you ask me to stay when all you ever do is leave? All anyone ever does is leave me. You. Grey. My mom. Hell, my own dad left before he even knew me.” I sound like a crazy person. I feel a tear roll down my cheek and I swipe it away with the heel of my hand. “What is wrong with me? Because clearly, I’m the common denominator here.”

  “Nothing is wrong with you,” he says vehemently, bringing his hands to cup my face, his thumbs rubbing my cheeks. “I wasn’t leaving you, Shayne.”

  I pull away from his grasp. “You were, though. You found out about Grey and you shut down. You told me to leave without an explanation.” I swallow past the lump in my throat, trying to get through my next words without crying. “And now we know it wasn’t him and you’re here, thinking that changes things, but it doesn’t.”

  “I heard that recording, and all I could do was worry about how I was going to break it to you. I stood there, watching you sleep, and I chose you. I chose you over my own brother. Because I’m supposed to be with you, Shayne, and we both fucking know it. And yeah,” he says, shoving a hand through his hair, “I had a guilt-ridden drunken breakdown, but that wasn’t me leaving you. That was me coming to terms with the fact that I had to let go of Danny to move forward with you. That’s why I came to your house. Before I knew Grey was innocent.”

  My tears come hard and fast. He’s saying all the right things, and I want so badly to believe him. “There’s just too much shit between us. You’re Grey’s half-brother for fuck’s sake—”

  “And? How is that any different than when I was your stepbrother? Our parents aren’t even together. This changes nothing.”

  “I feel like all I do is fight for us. And I’m just…tired, Thayer.”

  “Then I’ll be the one to fight. Because I’m not letting you go.”

  “Well, I am.”

  I watch the way his throat bobs when he swallows, his jaw clenched tight.

  “We both knew this wouldn’t last forever, right?” I walk away before I do something stupid like take it all back. When I walk back into the cafeteria, all eyes are on me. It’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

  “Eat your fucking lunch, ya nosy bastards!” Holden yells, breaking the silence. Most people have the decency to avert their eyes. He and Valen flank my sides, walking with me.

  “I can’t be here today,” I say once we’re out in the hall.

  “Want me to come with you?” Valen offers.

  “No, I’m fine. Seriously,” I say, forcing a smile when she sends me a doubting look.

  “I’ll come over later.” I nod and she pulls me in for a hug.

  “Come on. I’ll walk you out,” Holden says, tugging me into his side.

  We make our way down the hall and through the double doors that lead to the student parking lot. When we get to my car, I climb into my seat, leaving the door open. Holden props his hand against the roof.

  “This past year has fucked all of us up,” Holden says, seemingly out of nowhere.

  I huff out a laugh. Ya think?

  “But Thayer seemed to take it harder than any of us. He wore that chip on his shoulder, shutting all of us out. But when you came back…so did he. You literally brought him back to life.”

  My chin wobbles, and then I’m crying again. I sniff, wiping my tears, feeling stupid. But Holden pulls me out of the car and wraps his arms around me, his hand stroking my ponytail. I hug him back, my cheek against his hard chest, taking the comfort he’s offering. If there’s one silver lining through this whole thing, it’s that Holden and I have our friendship back.

  “He’s stubborn and moody and self-loathing, but I don’t think he loved a single thing until he met you.”

  He said he’d fight for me. I always thought heartbreak was an emotional pain, but the ache in my chest says otherwise. I don’t see or hear from Thayer for days. I should be glad that he’s letting me go. Why wouldn’t he? I made it clear that I planned to do the same. But some part of me wanted him to fight for me like he said he would. The fear of him leaving, along with my stupid pride, wouldn’t let me give in so quickly. Why do girls do that? Wait for an acceptable amount of groveling before they give in? All it does is prolong the pain. On both sides.

  “The last thing I ever wanted to be is like my mother,” my mom says. My eyes fly up to see her in the doorway of my room. I frown, not following.

  Hello to you, too.

  “You’re nothing like her.” I didn’t know her well, but I knew her well enough to know the two are polar opposites.

  “Not true,” she says, coming to sit at the foot of my bed. She glances around, taking in the posters and pictures on my walls. “Did you know this used to be my bedroom?”

  I shake my head.

  “I snuck out of that window more times than I can count.”

  I want to laugh, but a small smile is all I can manage. I’ve never snuck out that way, but I have had a boy sneak in. And I’d give anything to have him crawl through that window again.

  “I left every chance I could. I spent a lot of my life hating my mother. She always tried to make me fit in this box. She wanted me to be something I wasn’t. She was overbearing and made all my choices for me. And I told myself when I got pregnant with your brother that I’d never do that. I’d never intervene in his life the way she did mine. Yet, here I am, making the same mistakes.”

  “How?” I sit up, hugging the pillow in my lap, genuinely confused.

  “I’m not around nearly as much as I should be, for one. I depended on Grey way more than I should’ve. I took you guys away from Shadow Ridge where you were happy and threw you to the wolves, knowing how the people in this town could be. I was so focused on providing the life I thought you deserved that I neglected to give you the things you needed most.”

  “Mom. This isn’t the same.”

  “I don’t want you to resent me.” A tear rolls down her cheek. “I don’t want you to run away one day and never come back.”

  “That will never happen,” I assure her.

  She wipes her eyes, collecting herself before she shakes her head. “Sorry, I didn’t plan on saying all of that,” she says with a laugh. “I just want to make sure you’re happy. If you want to go back to Shadow Ridge, we will. If you want to stay here, we can do that, too.”

  Am I happy in this moment? Far from it. Could I imagine myself being anywhere else?

  “I want to stay.”

  She blows out a breath, her shoulders sagging a little. “I thought so. Okay. Here’s my attempt at doing the right thing and not the mom thing.”

  “Okay…” I hedge.

  “I’ve known about you and Thayer.”

  I think my heart stops for a beat. “Oh?”

  “I found you asleep in his bed right before Danny’s accident.”

  “Oh God,” I groan, dropping my face into my hands, embarrassed.

  “Obviously, our situation is…complicated. So, I thought it was best that I separate you two.”

  So that’s why she moved us back to Shadow Ridge?

  “And I’m not saying it was the wrong thing to do. You were seventeen. When we moved back, I thought he’d be away for college and that you would’ve moved on. But as soon as both of you were in the same place, you were like two magnets. That kind of love—the kind that doesn’t fade with time or distance—it’s rare. Like catching lightning in a bottle. And if the only thing holding you back from being happy is the fact that he’s Grey’s half-brother, then you should be with him.”

  I blink, not expecting the conversati
on to take this turn.

  “It’s not just that,” I say, wanting to open up, but not quite sure how. My mom and I have never had the kind of relationship where I felt comfortable talking to her about guys.

  “I’m not telling you what to do. You’ve always been responsible enough to make your own decisions. I’m just letting you know that whatever you choose, I’ll support it. And Grey will come around, too.”

  Thayer

  I’m outside Shayne’s house like a lovesick fuck under the guise of checking on her. The truth is, no one has tried anything since the night of the fire, but I can’t stay away. I’ve tried. All the lights are off except the lamp in her room, and her window’s open, like I knew it would be. It’s barely sprinkling, but the wind is blowing and thunder rumbles in the distance.

  I make my way over to the side of the house and hoist myself up and through her window, trying to keep my entrance as quiet as possible so I don’t wake her mom. Shayne’s curled up on her side and she must have fallen asleep not very long ago because “The Freshman” by The Verve Pipe plays from her phone’s speaker on the bed next to her. As I get closer, I notice the tip of her nose is red, like she may have fallen asleep crying, and I feel a pang of guilt. I’ve been the source of her tears too many times, but I’d kill anyone who dare made her cry.

  I brush a wayward strand of hair off her cheek and tuck it behind her ear before I crawl into bed behind her. I kiss the back of her neck, curling my hand around her hip.

  “Our scars are called Lichtenberg figures,” I say, dropping my forehead to the top of her spine. I’m not even sure she’s awake, but I keep going anyway. “You asked me why I’d get a permanent reminder of that night.” I use the tips of my fingers to trace the curve of her hip, feeling goosebumps break out over her warm skin.

  “It was the night you told me you loved me.” I kiss her again where her shoulder meets her neck. I hear her breath catch, and I know she’s awake now. “Because in some fucked up way, I felt like that night branded us together, whether we liked it or not.” Another kiss. “But more than that, it was the night that I realized I loved you. And I couldn’t handle it. My mom left us. Danny had just died. I was fucking scared to love anyone else. So, I did what I do best, and I shut down. I pushed you away. But I wanted to remember what that felt like.”