White Liar (14 page)

 
 
 
Who would have thought that such a mindless prank could have turned out so disastrously?
 
Chloe didn’t.
 
All she wanted was for them to feel just a little bit of the humiliation that they had caused her.  Just a hint of it and that was it.
 
She definitely didn’t expect anything like this.

 
 
 
Sniffling and making all kinds of sniveling and runny nose noises, Chloe tried to compose herself the best that she could.
 
Wiping her cheeks with the back of her hands, she finally garnered the courage to lift up her head and met Justin’s accusing gaze.

 
 
 
His face was blank, not giving her any inkling as to what he was thinking.
 
He stood stiff with his long arms dangling by his sides. At first he just stared back at Chloe, a cold stare that she could have sworn she could feel all the way down to the marrow in her bones.
 
When the chilling silence between the two of them almost became too much to bare, he let out a tired sigh and broke their tense connection, giving Chloe his back.

 
 
 
She watched on, not sure if she should say something or just wait for him to speak when she noticed him running his hand through his already mussed up hair.
 
It was a habit that Chloe had seen him do several times before and she realized that it was a show of his pent of frustration.

 
 
 
“Chloe,” he breathed out in a dead tone, not even bothering to turn around and look back at her, “Now is not the time, nor the place, to talk about this.
 
I understand that you didn’t mean for this to happen but the fact of the matter is- it did happen.
 
And now my friend is in that hospital, fighting for his life all because of what,
 
 
a prank....... a freaking prank
!
 
The best thing that you can do right now is just go home.”

 
 
 
She felt like there were so many words on the tip of her tongue that she wanted to say but when she tried to open her mouth and say them, not one of them wanted to come out.
 
Chloe stared at his back, willing herself to speak, but still…nothing came out.  Not even a single syllable.

 
 
 
“Did you hear what I said Chloe?” This time Justin yelled and did turn around to face her.
 
Even in the blackness of the night, she could see the clear worry in his eyes for his best friend.

 
 
 
Feeling completely defeated, Chloe dropped her head and bobbled it in a nodding gesture.
 
“Yes.”
 
The one word response wasn’t much more than a squeak but she had heard him, loud and clear. And she knew that she was the last person he wanted to see right now.
 
Staring down at the concrete parking lot up under her feet, Chloe absently mumbled. "Yes I understand, I'm not wanted here but I had to come.  Not only for him, but for me, too."

 
 
 
Unable to meet his eyes any longer, Chloe quickly spun around on her heel and headed back towards her own car.
 
She didn’t know where she was going just yet.  All she knew was that she didn’t want to go home and that she didn’t want to see Erica- but there was really no where else to go.
 

 
 
 
Opening the door to her car, Chloe slid in the driver’s seat and slammed it closed behind her.
 
The pain that she was feeling burned deep in her chest.
 
She hadn’t hurt this bad since the horrific incident with Craig Conner back in Greensboro.
 

 
 
 
Chloe just didn’t have the energy to go anywhere right now.
 
Leaning her head forward so that it rested on the steering wheel, she squeezed her eyes closed and did the one thing that she hadn’t done in over two years … she prayed.
 
She prayed long, hard and with every ounce of her very being.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*****************
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Where in the hell have you been?”
 
Erica asked in a fierce whisper.
 
She had been sitting in Chloe's room for several hours now, in the dark waiting for her to return.
 

 
 
 
“Out!” Chloe bristled, not willing to give up anymore information than that.
 
Erica was the last person that she wanted to talk to right now.
 
If truth be told, all she really wanted was to be alone.

 
 
 
Erica stood up and leaned over to cut the lamp on by the bed.
 
Chloe immediately raised her hand to shield her eyes from the brightness of the light.
 
“Don’t give me that Chloe.
 
You went with him, didn’t you?
 
You went out with Justin even after I told you what he did to me.  Even after everything he has done to you.”
 

 
 
 
Erica's face contorted into an angry scowl and if Chloe hadn’t been so drained and exhausted, she would have been more than happy to give her the argument that she was instigating.
 
But the fact was, she was too tired and Chloe had about all that she could handle for one night.

 
 
 
Brushing by her, Chloe sat down on the edge of the bed and started removing her clothes, not caring in the least that Erica was still standing there.
 
Realizing that she wasn't leaving, Chloe sighed.
 
"Erica, it‘s three o‘clock in the morning and I‘m tired.
 
We will talk about this later.
 
Right now all I want to do is go to bed!"

 
 
 
Chloe tiredly pulled off her top and blindly reached behind her to draw the covers down, settling herself between them.
 
She was leaning over to cut the lamp on the night stand off when Erica spoke again.
 

 
 
 
“I bet you even let him kiss you and touch you, too.”

 
 
 
Now that blunt statement, needless to say, pissed Chloe off.
 
She had no right to even go there.
 
Throwing the covers back off of her, she jumped off of the bed and met her cousin toe to toe.
 
“You don’t know shit about what happened, Erica.
 
John is in a hospital right now, fighting for his life because of an allergic reaction he had to the powder.
 
Yes I saw Justin, but I was by no means
 
with him
 
so you can get those convoluted thoughts out of your head right now.”

 
 
 
For the briefest of seconds, Erica's face turned pale, just a shade lighter than her normal milky white complexion and then just as quickly, it returned to normal.
 
“So," Erica shrugged and just as casually, she added, "It’s not our fault that he had an allergic reaction.
 
We didn’t know that would happen.
 
Besides, they were the ones that brought it on themselves with what they did to me and to you.”
 
She made a show of glancing down at her nail and started picking at it, suddenly looking bored with the conversation at hand.

 
 
 
Chloe could only stand there, staring back at Erica in shock.
 
She didn’t look like she had any remorse about what had happened to John.
 
She really couldn’t care less and that bothered Chloe.
 
It bothered her a lot.
 
“Did you understand what I just said to you?” she probed, looking at her expectantly while waiting for some kind of response.

 
 
 
Erica lifted her eyes from her nails and looked up to Chloe.
 
“Yeah, I'm well aware that John's in the hospital, and boo-hoo for him.
 
I’ll send him a ‘Get well soon card’ to express my deepest sympathies."

 
 
 
Hearing her flippant attitude towards John had Chloe wanting to pull her own hair out and shake the crap out of her cousin.
 
“You’re not listening Erica.  He could die because of something that we did.”

 
 
 
Erica shook her head and pointed a rail thin finger in
 
Chloe's
 
direction.
 
“Correction Chloe, something that
 
you
 
did.
 
And besides, he‘s not going to die.
 
Guys like Justin and John have nine lives. He’ll rebound, you’ll see and then he'll be back to his old tricks in no time."

 
 
 
Once again for what seemed like the umpteenth time tonight; Chloe was left at a complete loss for words.
 
 
Was she actually placing all of the blame on me for the incident?
 
 
Erica had been the one who bought the damn powder in the first place and from the second that the idea hatched, her enthusiasm was more or less off the charts.

 
 
 
Chloe fisted her hands on her hips and she snorted.
 
“You can’t be serious,
 
he’ll rebound?
" she asked incredulously.
 
"How can you be so sure about that Erica?
 
He’s hooked up to a mess of machines and you stand there saying,
 
he’ll rebound
! What in the hell is wrong with you girl?"

 
 
 
Erica knitted her brows and shrugged her shoulders.
 
“We’ll, it’s the truth.”

 
 
 
Chloe took a long deep breath, held it and then slowly exhaled, telling herself that Erica just didn’t understand the enormity of the situation.
 
She could see that she wasn't going to get through to her tonight either.
 
Done with trying to
 
convince
 
her
 
cousin, Chloe just dropped her hands by her sides and closed her eyes.
 
“I’m tired, okay.
 
I don’t want to talk about this anymore.
 
All I want to do is crawl in my bed and go to sleep.”
 

 
 
 
And that was the honest to God truth.
 
Chloe was tired.  She
 
didn’t want to talk about this anymore, especially with Erica.
 
She didn't think that she was asking for too much, especially after the night she was having.