Hateful Lies

by Liv Reid

  My conversation with Bethany disturbed me, and I don’t know why. I walk over to the liquor cabinet. With shaking hands, I pull out a twenty-year-old whiskey, twist off the top and down half the bottle to try to drown these feelings in expensive liquor.

  15

  V

  Driving my beat-up old car around the massive circular driveway of the Aston’s mansion, makes me feel physically sick. It also makes me realize how much I don’t belong here. Even if I didn’t hate this family with every part of my being, my ten dollar dress and fifteen-year-old car contrast with the opulence before me, making it painfully clear how much I don’t belong.

  I’m not here by choice, of course. One of the stipulations of accepting their money is I have to have dinner with Mrs. Aston at their palatial estate. This is the stipulation I’ve been dreading since the start of the school year, and now that it’s finally here, the dread feels like a rock in the pit of my stomach.

  I come to a stop directly in front of the large main door. I’ve never entered through this door before, despite my dad working for the family for years. I always used to go through the back—“the help’s entrance”. I wonder where I should park, or if I should just leave my car here. Before I can think about it for long, a man comes over to me. I reach down and turn the handle to manually roll down the window.

  “I’ll park your car, Miss, if you leave the keys with me,” he says, and my mouth drops open.

  “Valet?” I ask in disbelief.

  He nods.

  I shrug. This car is not a beauty, so I’m not protective of it. I hand him the keys and make my way over to the door. As the house looms up menacingly in front of me, I silently pray he doesn’t park it far away.

  Before I can knock, the door swings open. A housekeeper greets me and welcomes me inside. I don’t recognize her, but I know the Aston’s go through staff very quickly. My dad was one of the ones who lasted the longest, and he would have left long before he died if it wasn’t for me. My chest tightens painfully as she leads me into the front hall.

  The main entrance area is huge and beautiful—but also familiar. It feels so weird to be back here for the first time in four years. I’m walking into the lion’s den.

  “This way,” she leads me deeper into the house. “Can I get you a drink?”

  “Uh, sure. Something strong, please.”

  This is so different from how I was treated in this house before. It’s unnerving.

  Just remember, you’re doing this for your future, I remind myself. You just have to get through a quick dinner with Mrs. Aston, and then you can head home and study and eat snacks with Everly.

  I don’t know Mrs. Aston well. When my dad worked here, I never interacted with her much because she usually kept to herself and sent orders through the other staff members. Mr. Aston, I saw a lot of him because he would micromanage the staff. He was a tyrant and the main reason why the family could never keep staff members for longer than six months.

  I shiver when I think of how my dad told me if anything ever happened to him, it would be because of Mr. Aston. And now I’m back here having drinks and dinner with Mr. Aston’s wife. I feel like a traitor.

  I follow the housekeeper into the main parlor and stop dead in my tracks.

  Heston is sitting calmly on one of the plush couches. My tormentor.

  He turns when I walk in and smiles. He stands up to greet me, and I back away.

  This is a setup. He’s going to attack me or something. I need to get out of here.

  “Violet, nice to see you again,” he says sincerely, but I know it’s just for show.

  “What’s he doing here?” I ask Mrs. Aston accusingly, as she also stands to greet me.

  She’s dressed in a fucking ballgown like we are going to an awards show and not just having a casual dinner.

  She smiles like this is a great surprise.

  “Oh, well, Heston came back early from Europe, so I thought I’d invite him too so you two could catch up. You know, the more the merrier. Hope that’s not a problem,” she says casually. Lies.

  “It’s a big problem,” I say, never taking my eyes off of him.

  He’s grown in the last four years. He’s taller, broader, and his face is more defined. But he still has that same charming, but fake, smile. The one with nothing behind it. The one you don’t know isn’t real until he turns on you.

  He’s still as handsome as ever, but I know the real person that lurks beneath and that completely ruins his looks. He’s like a snake in the grass.

  He walks over to me with his arms outstretched in a gesture of peace, and I think about bolting.

  “Violet, look, I’m not surprised you feel that way, I understand. When my mom told me she was having dinner with you, I asked if I could come because I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

  “What?” I ask, stunned.

  His narrow, brown eyes look at me sincerely as he says, “I want to apologize to you for everything that happened between us in high school. I was just a stupid kid. I was immature, and I didn’t handle things between us well. I’m truly sorry for that. I did a lot of things back then I’m not proud of. I had a lot of growing up to do—still do, but I’ve grown a lot, and I recognize what I did to you in the past wasn’t right. I don’t expect you to forgive me right now, but I just wanted you to know how I felt, and I hope in the future we can be on good terms—when you’re ready, of course.”

  Never in a million years would I have imagined this. During the year he made my life hell, in my wildest dreams I never could have imagined my bully looking at me sincerely and apologizing.

  “Uhhh.” For once in my life, I’m speechless.

  “You don’t have to say anything right now. I know this is probably a lot for you to handle all at once. Please, come sit down and have a drink. We can talk about this whenever you feel comfortable—or not at all, it’s up to you.”

  I feel like I’m in an alternative reality, as I follow Heston into the parlor and stiffly sit down in a chair as far away from him and Mrs. Aston as possible.

  What is this? I wonder. What are they up to? I know there’s no way he’s actually remorseful for what he did to me. This isn’t the real Heston. The real Heston is hiding in the grass waiting to strike.

  This whole situation is awkward as hell. The two of them are being really nice to me. They ask about school, about my life and just generally try to make pleasant small talk. I give them one-word answers and wait anxiously for my drink to calm my nerves. I’m just waiting for them to finally spring their ulterior motive on me.

  Eventually, after what feels like hours—but I’m sure is only minutes—the housekeeper brings me a dry martini. We hear the front door opening, and the housekeeper rushes out to greet them. The next second, Logan strides into the room.

  Mrs. Aston admonishes him for being late.

  “As always,” Heston adds.

  “Sorry, this didn’t rank high on my Saturday night plans list,” Logan says, as he sits down in a chair across from me.

  I haven’t seen him since that night a week ago when he saved me. I don’t know how to act around him—and I can tell he doesn’t either. He barely acknowledges me and just pretends I don’t exist, but I can tell he’s tense. He sits with his legs spread wide, trying to look bored and like he’d rather be anywhere but here—that makes two of us.

  “Just you and I?” I can’t help but ask Mrs. Aston sarcastically.

  Logan looks at me pointedly for the first time.

  Before she can answer, the doorbell rings.

  “Oh,” Mrs. Aston says happily. “I also invited Bethany.”

  Logan groans.

  “Are you serious?” he asks irritably.

  “Don’t act like that,” Mrs. Aston hisses. “She’s a perfect match. Her family is one of the wealthiest and most powerful on the eastern seaboard. A union between our two families will ensure our survival.” I notice she can’t help but look at me when she says the last part, and it makes me burn. S
he clearly thinks I’m the reason her family has been disgraced.

  Bethany strides in, and she’s stunningly beautiful. Standing about six feet tall, and with her long black hair, blue eyes and thin frame, she looks like a model. I recognize her from the Dark Society meetings.

  Logan is not happy she’s here and isn’t even pretending. When she comes up to greet him enthusiastically, he gives her a lukewarm reception. She kisses his cheek affectionately and leaves a light kiss print of pink lipstick. Almost like she’s marking her territory.

  When she turns her back to greet Mrs. Aston and Heston warmly with a hug, Logan wipes off the side of his face roughly. Bethany greets me with a cold “hello” then goes to sit on the couch next to Mrs. Aston.

  The three of them, Heston, Bethany, and Mrs. Aston, proceed to spend the next twenty minutes kissing each other’s asses, and it’s nauseating. I look over at Logan, and he looks nauseated himself.

  16

  V

  The housekeeper comes into the parlor to tell us dinner is ready. The five of us make our way into the dining room and proceed to have the most awkward meal in the entire world.

  The only bright spot of the evening is the food, which is amazing. Mrs. Aston tells me they have a personal French chef who has worked at some of the finest restaurants in the world. She starts listing them, and it goes on for at least two minutes.

  “Oh, yeah?” I say when she finally finishes, then roll my eyes the second she turns her back.

  Other than that, I don’t say much the entire evening. It’s mostly Heston and Mrs. Aston sucking up to Bethany. The three of them laugh disingenuously and make pleasant small talk, while Logan just slouches in his chair, picking at his food and occasionally glaring at them. Even though I hate Logan and have no sympathy for him, it must suck to have your family try to force you to be with someone so badly. I can’t wait until this is over.

  The second dinner is done, I practically run out of there. I don’t even bother properly saying goodbye to anyone, and I’m out of the room when I hear Mrs. Aston call to me.

  “See you next month, Violet!”

  I stop in my tracks.

  “This is a monthly thing?” I ask in horror.

  She comes out of the room and says in an offended tone, “Of course. We will see you next month.”

  Fuck that, I think. I’m going to have an excuse for every Saturday until graduation. There’s no way I’m doing this again.

  Heston comes out to stand next to his mom. He tells me how nice it was to see me. He’s handsome and has been so charming this entire evening that it reminded me of the guy I used to have a crush on—before he turned into a huge asshole.

  “Looking forward to seeing you around campus.” He flashes his perfect, winning smile at me.

  I just grunt noncommittally and rush out the front door. My car is waiting for me. I hop in and start driving around the circular driveway to get the hell out of here.

  On my way out, I don’t know why, but I look back at the house. Off to the side of the front door, under a porch light, I see Bethany and Logan arguing.

  I try to ignore the Aston drama and just concentrate on classes for the next couple of weeks—that’s what I came to Crowned College for.

  In early October, we have another Dark Society meeting, and I am not looking forward to it. I have a million things to do, and my classes are kicking my ass. Pre-med is hard enough without all these pointless meetings where we just get dressed up to get tipsy and kiss each other’s asses.

  Everly tells me this is a more informal meeting, which makes me happy because I can just wear my own clothes. I already feel bad enough about ruining her silver dress last party.

  She encouraged me to go to the cops about what Byron did, but I haven’t. I have no proof, and I don’t think Logan would be willing to act as a witness for me. He may have helped me in the moment, but there’s no way he’d be willing to help me again. I still don’t understand why he did that.

  We arrive a bit late. I’m wearing jeans and a burnt orange-colored sweater, and I’m the most casually dressed person by far. All the rest of the members are wearing designer dresses and button up shirts, except Logan. He’s wearing scuffed boots, black jeans and a black t-shirt. He looks out of place in a sea of preppy clothes. I realize in surprise this is the first time I’ve seen his arms since I started at Crowned College. I didn’t know he had tattoos.

  There are chairs set up in a semi-circle, and we go grab seats quickly. I see Heston is here, and I make Everly sit as far away from him and Logan as possible.

  “Late, Sis,” Rogan says to Everly, as he walks to the center of the group. She just shrugs.

  He starts the meeting. We have a couple of people go up to speak, and it drags on for a while. They are talking about boring housekeeping issues for the club that I don’t care about. I kind of zone out and start mentally reviewing what we covered in my Biology class today.

  I snap back to attention when I hear my name.

  “Huh?” I ask.

  “You and Logan are paired together,” Rogan repeats with a smirk.

  I look over at Logan who’s looking at Rogan like he wants to rip his head off.

  “What the hell, man?” Logan is seething.

  I can see Bethany is shocked and then furious. I guess she assumed she’d be paired with Logan.

  Rogan shrugs good-naturedly. “Sorry, man. You two are together. Now, the next couple is…” He continues to read names off of the list.

  I turn to Everly and whisper, “What just happened?”

  “You weren’t paying attention? It’s a club tradition—”

  I groan quietly. “I hate these traditions. The last one got me locked in a coffin.”

  “Well, this one isn’t much better. All members are paired and they have to host a dinner party together.”

  “What??” I exclaim at full volume.

  “Shhhh,” she hisses. “It’s supposed to train you for your future, where you’re going to have to host these types of dinners all the time for business partners and society friends. You have to—what??” Everly spins around to face her brother when she hears her name called. She’s paired with Rhett.

  Rhett is the cute British guy who I think whispered to me I was going to be ok during the last ritual. I can hear him groan across the room. He and Everly hate each other for some reason, but she hasn’t told me why yet.

  “Are you serious, Rogan?” she asks. He just smirks and continues down the list.

  She leans back in her chair with her arms folded over her chest, and a pissed off look on her face. I decide not to ask her any more questions about the dinner party thing right now.

  At the end of the meeting, Everly and I just leave. I have studying to do, and this has taken up enough time. And Everly is in a bad mood and can’t wait to leave too.

  I don’t bother talking to Logan about this dumb party we are supposed to throw. I don’t want to be anywhere near him, and I couldn’t care less about the Dark Society. I’m only coming to these meetings because I’m forced to. If we throw a crappy dinner party—or don’t throw one at all—it doesn’t matter to me.

  17

  L

  I storm into Rogan’s room after the meeting ends—and after he’s finished flirting with all the girls who stuck around just to try to get a piece of him.

  “What the fuck?” I ask, slamming the door behind me so hard the paintings on the wall shake, and his bong falls off the dresser and shatters on the ground.

  “What the hell, man?” he asks, motioning to the colorful glass shards now littering the ground, but he doesn’t seem that upset. Nothing really seems to get to Rogan. He’s always calm and easy going—which pisses me off, because try all I want, I can never seem to be like that.

  “I asked you first,” I growl, arms crossed. I glare at him. I want to punch him in the face. “Why did you pair me with her.”

  Rogan shrugs, and his casual attitude to my fury just increases my anger.
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  “Your mom offered to fund the club for the next year if I paired you two together. Said it would look good to have your dad’s accuser working with you.” He shrugs again, and I want to kick his face in. Stop shrugging, asshole.

  “She seems like a nice girl, and your mom obviously didn’t have a problem with her, so I didn’t see an issue with it. Also, as the president of the club, I can’t turn down a donation that big—it would be irresponsible of me. It's not a big deal. You just have to host a dinner party with her. It’s one weekend out of your life. You understand.”

  “No. I don’t understand at all,” I say darkly.

  It’s taking all my strength to keep my anger in check. He should have run this by me first. We may be vice president and president, so we should be working together, but more often than not we act like adversaries.

  I pull out my new phone and call my mother. I put her on speaker, and she tells us she wanted Rogan to pair Violet with Heston, not me.

  “Oh, my bad. Sorry, man,” he tells me. But there’s nothing he can do. He can’t switch the partners now.

  I don’t like this tactic my mom and brother are taking with her. She’s already tried to screw my brother over once. Why would he be willing to put himself back in that vulnerable position again? Also, there’s no way Violet’s going to fall for this. She’s not going to take back her accusation against my father just because we suck up to her. She may be evil, but she’s not dumb.

  She might take it back if we give her enough money—she’s that type of girl—but we already gave her money and got her into college for nothing. Maybe that’s part of their plan? Get her comfortable and then threaten to take it all away if she doesn’t withdraw her accusation?

  I just know I don’t want her with Heston.

  I storm out of Rogan’s room, slamming the door on my way out so hard it cracks the frame.