White Liar (30 page)

     "Thirty minutes?"

     "Yeah," Chloe agreed.  "I can be ready in thirty."

     "Great, and maybe we can stop by Dairy Queen on the way back to the old apartment and get a banana split to share, for old time’s sake."

     Chloe swallowed.  She wasn't sure she could stomach ice cream but she didn't want to bring down her mother's mood either.  "That'll be great mom."

     Her mom seemed to pick up on her mood and pushed to door open wider so that she could walk in.  "Hun, are you okay?"

     Chloe tried to laugh it off.  "I'm fine mom."

     When her mother gave her that look that she wasn't convinced, Chloe stood up and walked over to her.  "I'm fine," she insisted and gave her a hug.  "I'm just happy for you, okay?"

     Her mother squeezed her hard.  It was the first time in months that Chloe had come to her like that.  If truth be told, she had been worried about her daughter.  For a while there, before she lost her job, she had seemed so withdrawn.  She stayed in her room all the time, and wouldn't talk to her about anything.  She had talked to her brother about it and he had chalked it up to some teenage rebellion.  Even said Erica had been the same way.  So feeling her like this, made her feel a whole lot better about things.

     Pulling back, she looked down at her daughter and lifted her hand, smoothing her hair back from her face.  It was a gesture that she used to do all the time when she was a little girl.  "I'm just going to go finish packing the car."

     "Okay," Chloe nodded, and stepped back.  "As soon as I'm done, I'll be down."  She watched her mother leave and trudged back over to the dresser.  She only had one drawer left to pack.  She could do this, she told herself determinedly.  It was just a few months that she had to get through.  Craig and his buddies had broken her before, but she wouldn't let him do it again.

     Opening the drawer, her eyes drifted down and every muscle in Chloe's body tensed.  She stared blankly at the telling photograph, a photograph that she had no knowledge of being taken.  Feeling the lungs in her chest expand almost to the point of combustion, she struggled to breathe.  She couldn't think.  Her throat constricted and she couldn't even make a sound.

      It was her.

      It was them.

      It was that night.  The night that changed her life forever.

Chapter 25

Justin walked into the hospital and was beginning to become very familiar with the surroundings.  This was his third time up here and John had already texted him his room number so he was pretty sure that he knew where he was going now.

Stepping off the elevator Justin glanced down at his watch to see that it was already a quarter after eight.  He quickly strode down the hall and stopped at the last room on the left, room 431.  He started to open the door when he heard John speaking with someone, so instead of just walking in he rapped at the door.

“Come in,” John called out.

Justin pushed the door open and walked in to see a pretty little nurse checking John’s blood pressure. He was flashing the young nurse with the flaming red hair a smile that he knew all too well.  It was that smile that was filled with utmost confidence and said ‘you know you want me’.

Justin chuckled, only John would have the balls to come across like this shortly after coming out of ICU.  It was then that he knew his friend was feeling 100% better and that he would soon be back on the football field.

“Everything looks good,” she told him. “I see no reason why Dr. Cary shouldn’t let you go home today.”

“That’s all well and good sugar, except I’m going to miss seeing your pretty face every morning.”

The nurse blushed and smiled back at him.  “Anyone ever tell you how much of a flirt you are John?”

John pushed himself up higher on the bed and stroked his stubble covered chin. You could tell that he hadn’t shaved in several days.  “Every day.” He grinned. “Back at school, all the girls love me and in return, I love them.”

The nurse put the blood pressure cuff back on her cart and placed her hands on her hips.  “John, now you sound like a player.  Exactly how many hearts have you broken to date?”

John’s chuckle filled the room and I had to admit that it sounded good to hear him like this after knowing that we were so close to losing him.  “Sugar, I may be a player but I don’t break hearts.  I love girls, and they all love me.  They all know the score and let me tell you that there’s plenty of me to go around.”

Classic John, Justin thought to himself watching the nurse shake her head.  “I bet there is,” she murmured.  “You make sure that you take care of yourself after you leave here.  Don’t take offense when I tell you this, but I don’t want to see that pretty face of yours up here again.”

John laughed. “Even though you brightened my mornings, I think I’ve had enough of this place myself.  No offense taken but I don’t plan on coming back here neither.  Are you sure that you don’t want to give me your number though?  I promise you that I can make it worth your while.”

The nurse stopped at the door and glanced back over her shoulder in John’s direction.  The sultry look that she gave him would bring a grown man to his knees. “Look me up when you finish college and then maybe we’ll talk big boy.  Until then,” her face softened, “take care of yourself”.

Turning around she exited the room, leaving John and Justin to stare openly at the closed door.

“Damn,” Justin muttered under his breath.

“You can say that again,” John added, turning to his friend.  “That is one fine piece of woman right there.”

“Damn,” Justin repeated himself just for the heck of it and walked around to the side of John’s bed, taking a seat in the empty chair situated there.

“So,” John said, looking over at Justin.  His earlier playful demeanor had vanished and was replaced with a mask of seriousness.  “You want to tell me what’s going on man?”

Justin settled back in his seat.  Trust in John to get to the heart of the matter.  “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” John said, wrinkling his brows.  “You’ve never asked me if you could ask me a question before, so now you’ve got me wondering what kind of question you’re wanting to ask.  Talk to me bro.  What’s up?”

Justin leaned over his knees and looked down at the floor.  He wasn’t sure how much he wanted to say yet.  He really wanted to get some answers for himself before he went into great detail about something he wasn’t all too sure of.  “You remember that cousin you told me about that went to Westbrook high school?”

“Cory?” John asked, clearly confused as to where Justin was going with this.

“Yeah, the one that you told me played football.”

“Why are you asking me about Cory now?”

Justin ran the palm of his hand over his face and lifted his head to meet John scrutinizing gaze. “Well,” Justin said, “Chloe went to Westbrook high school too,” as if that explained everything.

“And?” John asked, “What exactly does Chloe have to do with Cory?”

Justin groaned.  He didn’t know how to put this without giving away too much information.  If there wasn’t anything going on with Chloe and he was reading too much into this girl that he couldn’t seem to get off of his mind, then he didn’t want to raise any red flags with John.  But something deep in his gut told him that there was so much more in the picture when it came to her than what he was seeing on the outside.  And right now, he just badly needed answers for his own sake, if nothing else.  “Do you trust me John?”

“Of course,” he snorted “That’s a stupid question.  We’ve known each other since we were kids and I’d trust you above anyone else with my life.  But that brings me back to the original question, what does Cory have to do with Chloe and furthermore what does any of this have to do with you?”

Justin blew out a heavy breath.  All of the questions that John was asking him were really good questions, but questions that he didn’t have any answers to…yet.  He sincerely hoped that one phone call to this Cory character would provide him with some of these answers.  “I don’t know,” he said simply, unable to come up with anything more than that.

John studied his friend for a long minute before resting back against his pillow.  Even if Justin couldn’t figure out what was going on inside of his head, John could read it plainly on his face. “You like her,” he stated and then added, “It’s more than like though, isn’t it bro? You actually care for her, don’t you?”

Justin frowned.  Okay, now the conversation was starting to get really uncomfortable for him.  He didn’t usually care for girls. Like them, yes. Enjoy them, yes. But care about them? That wasn’t exactly his forte.  “Are you going to give me the number or not?” Justin finally asked not wanting to continue in the direction this conversation with going.

The Cheshire grin that spread across John’s lips said it all.  “Ain’t that some shit?  I wanted her for myself but it didn’t take a genius to see that she wasn’t in to me like that.”  John nodded his head, still grinning knowingly.   “Yeah bro, I’ll give you Cory’s number but when you take her to the prom, I want a dance with her.”

“Who says I’m taking her to prom?”

“Trust me on this one,” John said grabbing a piece of paper off the side table beside him.  He jotted Cory’s number down on the paper and handed it over to Justin before once again using his own words against him.  “Just trust me.”

****

Chloe gripped the picture with both hands and slumped slowly to the floor, her eyes closing as the memory of that unforgettable night began to assault her.

“There you are babe, I’ve been looking all over for you.”

I couldn’t help but to grin silly up at him.  Craig Avery.  My boyfriend of six months now. He was the hottest guy at Westover and he was mine, all mine.  I still couldn’t quite believe how someone as plain as me landed a guy like him.  I wasn’t a cheerleader; I wasn’t on the pep squad.  Hell, I wasn’t even on the debate team.  I was just me.  Nothing flashy, nothing spectacular and yet he still wanted me.

I lifted the plastic red cup to my lips and took another sip of the foul tasting liquid that someone, I couldn’t really remember who, had shoved into my hand earlier.  “It’s a party,” they said, “drink up, be happy and get jiggy with it.”

I accepted the cup and laughed as they turned away and started dancing towards a group of three other girls that I knew were on the cheer squad.  I took my first sip then and almost choked when the clear liquid burned going down my throat.

“So,” Craig said, pushing my bangs back behind my ear, “Is tonight the night?”

I offered him a shy smile.  For the last two weeks we talked about what would happen tonight.  I was totally in love with this guy and letting him take my virginity just seemed right.  He bent down so that our eyes were on the same level.  “Are you second guessing yourself,” he asked, seemingly concerned about what I was feeling.  “We can wait if you’re not ready."

And it was then that I completely melted.  His concern made me putty in his hands.  “No,” I whispered, his lips hovering over mine.  “I want this. I want you tonight.”

His answering smile was infectious.  His lips covered mine and all too quickly I was lost in the passion that only he could incite in me.  “Good answer,” he breathed against my lips when he came up for air.  “Very good answer.  Meet me in Cory’s room in thirty minutes; I’ll make sure that everything is ready- perfect for our special night.”

“Okay,” I replied, dazed by his presence.  He smiled at me and I watched him saunter off with his usual sexy, confident gait.  He shot me one more melt-your-insides smile before disappearing in the throngs of the crowd.