Lie to Me (A Touched Trilogy) (18 page)

“Ha-ha.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him down beside me.
“Lily happened. I borrowed her notes for Calculus and she needed them back, so
she started looking, and voila! Clean room.”

“You are truly devious, you know that right?”

“Hey, I never said she had to find them. I would have
looked.” I tried for an innocent look.

“Yeah, but she probably needed them this year.”

Any comeback I had was stopped by his lips. I pressed
closer, deepening the kiss, letting any thoughts of Lily and Trevor drift away.
Being with Nathan always felt so right. I never felt uncomfortable with being
me. Not even my family made me feel that way. Dad tried to be accepting, but he
looked at me the same way Nanna did, with the expectation that I be more like
Mom. Chloe wanted me to be more like her, and Lily, well, she might be the only
one who could accept me as me. It’s just that she wanted me to be happy. All
the time. Not me, at all.

Thoughts of my family drifted away as the feel of Nathan,
the taste of him, consumed me. Somehow I ended up lying on top of him, and his
hands roamed across my back and down to my hips, pulling me against him. He
tasted like chocolate and mint. He’d been snacking on the candies in the
kitchen when I wasn’t looking.

My shirt crept up and his hands followed. I lifted up
slightly to help him get closer, until the cloth bunched under my chin. We
pulled apart and my shirt came off, along with his. I took a moment to look at
him. I’d been right about the working out at the gym. He was definitely on his
way to a six-pack.

He reached behind me for the clasp of my bra, but stopped
when his watch beeped. It was five o’clock and my dad would be home soon. Ever
since Nathan had started coming over, Dad had come up with a no boys in the
bedroom rule, which I thought was unfair since Lily had been dating Dylan for
almost four years and the rule had never surfaced for them.

I rolled off Nathan and lay on my stomach, my face turned to
watch him. Standing he pulled his shirt back on and then adjusted his jeans,
bringing a smile to my face. I loved knowing that he was so affected by me. He
grabbed my shirt from the floor and tossed it over my back.

“Let’s go before I get banned from your house.”

I pushed off the bed and tugged the shirt on. He opened my
bedroom door, and I trailed him down the hall. We reached the top of the stairs
just as Dad walked into the house making me wonder if he was picking up on some
of Chloe’s gift.

“Mr. Matlin,” Nathan said, nodding. His reddened cheeks were
probably only confirming my dad’s suspicions.

“Nathan, nice to see you upstairs.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled Nathan into the kitchen. Dad
hung up his coat and then joined us. It took a moment to register his empty
hands.

“I thought you were picking up fried chicken from that new
place downtown?”

“Nanna called and said she was feeling lonely, so I invited
her over. You know how she is with fried foods. Lily is going to pick up
sushi.”

Nathan gagged and I looked over to see him swallowing
repeatedly.

“Maybe I should head home,” he said, ending with another
gag.

“Too late,” Chloe said, coming into the kitchen. She hopped
up on the counter, ignoring the look Dad gave her. “Don’t worry, Nathan, I
already told Lily to pick up enough for you.”

His face paled and I swore a hint of green tinged his
cheeks.

“Yes, Nathan, please stay,” Dad said, and then turned to me.
“Nanna said she was looking forward to meeting the boy Phoebe has been fighting
over. Which has me a bit curious as well.”

“Dad-”

“Save it for now,” he said, cutting me off. “Once will be
enough for this story. Nathan, no need to look so green. Lily only gets enough
sushi for the girls. She’ll pick up some cooked food for us.”

   “Dad! You spoil all the fun.” Chloe slid off the counter
and went the door, opening it as Nanna reached the porch. She came in, giving
Chloe a kiss on the cheek.

“Chloe dear, you look so lovely in that dress. I’m so glad
Phoebe didn’t ruin it.”

So that was how it was going to be. I took in a deep,
calming, breath and went over to give her a hug. The exchange felt a bit stiff,
and I wasn’t sure which one of us still held the grudge. Okay, it was probably
me, but Nanna was pretty stubborn, too.

“Nanna, this is Nathan.” I let go of her and motioned to
Nathan across the room.

“Well, you’re certainly an improvement over the last boy
Phoebe went out with.” She reached out her hand to shake his. He came toward
us, extending his hand. I surged forward and grabbed his hand before Nanna
could get a grasp. She chuckled behind me.

“No need to make it easy for her,” I said under my breath
when he gave me a curious look. I gave Nanna a tight smile. “We’ll go lay the
table.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” Nathan gave a slight nod and then
went with me to the dining room. “What was that about?”

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was
listening, but the three of them had wandered into kitchen.

“Nanna can see things you’ve done, but she either needs to
touch you, or something belonging to you, to do it.”

“Ah, so you were saving me. Shouldn’t I be worried that my
jacket is hanging off a chair in the kitchen?”

I shrugged a shoulder. “She’ll do it anyways, but it’s
better if you’re not there to see her reaction. It’s why Dylan never comes over
when he knows she’s here.”

“What did she do to him?”

“Nothing, they were fine for a while, and then about six
months ago she stared at him real hard, but it totally freaked him out. I
thought it was because he and Lily started, you know... but it must have been
something else.”

“Is there anyone in your family I’m safe around?”

“My dad and Lily.” I saw him give me a skeptical look.
“Okay. Lily.”

I handed some place mats to Nathan, and while he laid them
on the table, I pulled the plates and silverware from the china cabinet. We
were setting the last of the silverware when Lily arrived with dinner. Chloe,
Dad, and Nanna followed her into the room and she placed the carryout bag at
the head of the table. Nathan, eyeing the bag with disgust, shuffled to the
side until he was at the opposite end as the food.

“Don’t worry, Nathan, I ordered some teriyaki beef for you
and Dad.”

“I believe it’s the smell that’s bothering him. Or at least
it was the last time he was around sushi,” Nanna said as she took a seat.

 I gave a groan and rolled my eyes as I put the last of the
utensils on the table, then sat down next to the chair Nathan hovered behind.
Lily casually made her way behind me, and reached for something on the china
cabinet. I watched as her hand darted out and touched his back. She was done in
a second, moving to the empty seat beside me.

“You’re looking a bit better, Nathan,” Chloe commented when
he finally sat. She opened the food containers and started passing them around.

“Actually I am.” He took the carton of sushi from me, giving
it a tentative whiff.

“Lily only settled your stomach, she didn’t change your
taste.” I snatched the container from him and scooped out salmon rolls.

“She what?”

“I’m sorry, Nathan. I can’t stand the sight of people gagging
or getting sick.” Lily handed him the teriyaki beef, with an apologetic smile.

“No, that’s okay. I guess I just thought...”

“What?” I asked.

“That I’d feel something, you know, when she was doing it.”

Chloe gave a snorting laugh followed by a cough as she
choked on a bite of food.

“Chloe, that’s enough.” Dad took the teriyaki beef from
Nathan and shoveled a heap onto his plate.

The conversation ended as we all started eating. I slowly
chewed my food, watching Nanna. She’d been quiet. Too quiet. I kept waiting for
her to pounce on me about Vivian, or at the least going to Mom’s grave again.
She glanced up at me, a knowing smile on her face.

“So Nathan, how long have you known Phoebe?” Nanna speared a
small piece of tempura with her fork.

“Um, a couple years.”

“I’m surprised it’s taken this long for the two of you to
start dating.”

“Uh, yeah, well...” Nathan faltered and glanced at me for
help.

“Do we really have to play this game?” I asked her. “Nathan
was dating Vivian. Then he decided not to date her anymore.”

“Is this the girl you’ve been fighting with?” Dad looked
from Nanna to me.

“I haven’t been fighting her. She attacked me twice.”

“And you walked away?” He wore that look that said he
already knew I didn’t.

“This is so unfair! I only defended myself.” Everyone was
staring at me, with expressions ranging from amusement to concern to
disappointment. “Okay, so I may have hit her back the first time. But I didn’t
touch her the second time.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me about this?”

Because I
had
tried to hit her. Not that I was going
to admit that to Dad.

“I just wanted to forget about it.”

“Maybe I should go,” Nathan said.

“No! We can go eat downstairs.” Holding my plate, I started
to stand.

“Sit down, young lady,” Dad said. “We’ll put this to rest. For
now. But if I hear about anymore fighting, there will be consequences.”

Chloe and Lily tried to fill the room with a semblance of
normal conversation, chatting away about school and friends, although I noticed
Lily didn’t bring up Dylan. Nanna must have wondered about it too, because she
reached over and touched Lily’s hand, and followed it up with a long stare.
Lily didn’t meet her gaze, which only added to my suspicions over the last few
weeks that something was going on with her and Dylan.

 While Chloe and I cleaned up after dinner, Nanna made small
talk with Nathan. It seemed innocent enough and Lily and Dad were there to make
sure that she didn’t go too far. Although I’m not sure why she even bothered.
She’d already grabbed one of his hairs from the sleeve of his shirt under the
pretext of brushing it off, but I saw her slip it into her pocket. Now she’d be
able to check up on him whenever she wanted. When I went back into the dining
room, Nathan looked up at me, an expression of pure relief shining there.

“Ready to watch our movie?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said and practically jumped up. His chair teetered
on its back legs, and he grasped it before it fell backwards into the china
cabinet. “Nice meeting you, Ma’am.”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll see you again.”

I hated the cheeky little smile she gave. Hopefully the
implications of her comment would go straight over Nathan’s head. Having him
realize that my grandma could use the strand of his hair to check up on him was
not the best way for me to enjoy having a boyfriend.

Lily giggled as I snagged Nathan’s arm and got him away from
Nanna before she could freak him out anymore than she already had.

“Is your grandma always so strange?” he asked once we were
safely downstairs.

“Yeah, though she fits in pretty well with the rest of my
family.”

“You included?”

“Ha ha.”

We sat on the sofa and I flicked on the television,
scrolling through the menu until I found the movie we’d planned to watch, then
I got up to throw a bag of popcorn into the microwave Dad had finally allowed us
to put downstairs. When I ran up to get us a couple of sodas, I hoped Nanna
would be gone, but luck was never on my side. She sat at the table with Dad,
sipping a coffee.

“He’s a good boy,” Nanna said. Thinking she was talking to
me, I looked at her from around the fridge door, but she was staring at Dad. I
knew she was referring to Nathan. At least she wasn’t revealing any of his
dirty laundry.

Dad coughed and stood up, holding his coffee mug with both
hands. “I’ve got to make a quick call for work. I’ll be right back.” He snuck a
peek at me, and I rolled my eyes.

“Nanna, if you have something to say...” I let my voice
trail off. Confrontation with Nanna hadn’t been working well for me lately.

“He’s right, you know,” she said, finally turning her gaze
on me.

“Dad?”

“Nathan. You spend more time talking about Tonya and her
boyfriend than you do...well, enjoying him.”

Was Nanna actually telling me I should be getting it on with
my boyfriend?! Thank God, Dad wasn’t around.

“Your gift is still new, Phoebe. And you lack control.”

“So, you’re saying I should just forget about the fact that
Trevor is a jerk and might be hurting my best friend?”

“No, I’m not saying that, but do you trust your gift?
Absolutely? Can you say that the voice you heard was the truth, beyond any
doubt?”

She sipped her coffee and I watched her hand tremble
slightly. She was getting old. Almost ninety.

“Of all my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I worry
about you the most. Your gift has come to you so late, and you have no
experience controlling it. You hear the voice and blurt it out, not stopping to
think if you have influenced it with your own ideas and desires.”

“So this voice is all in my head? I’m just making it up?”

“No, dear. But you need to listen with your heart as well as
your head. I meant it when I told your father that Nathan was a good boy. But
you are consumed by the certainty of what is happening with Tonya to the
exclusion of everything and everyone else around you.”

The sound of machine guns rose from the basement, reminding
me that Nathan was waiting for me. I didn’t say anything to Nanna as I left
mainly because I didn’t know what to say.

When I got back down to the rec room, blood and gore filled
the screen as zombies took over a town. I snuggled in next to Nathan, stealing
some of the popcorn he’d dumped into a bowl while I’d been talking to Nanna.

I thought back to the day Chloe had tested my gift. How I
hadn’t caught lie after lie, until the very last. But that one lie had been the
only one she truly hadn’t wanted me to know. Everything else had been...what?
Lies? Fibs? Nonessential untruths?